Behringer GX 112 Blue Devil

Well documented in earlier posts. A fine sounding S/S combo with an abundance of digital EFX to stir the pot. This amp seems to have some of the tonal compression that is usually the sole domain of the tube amp. I like that. The 3 global tone controls have a large effect on the overall timbre, more so than most amps I've played. Comes with a useful dual footswitch and an all-too-short power cord. I find the basic sound of this amp to be a cut above other S/S amps and the additional EFX are a fine icing on the cake.

It's rated at 60 watts coupled with a 100-watt rated speaker in a closed-back combo enclosure - unusual for a 1-12" amp I think. The efficiency (volume) seems fine although my 60 watt '83 Fender Concert sounds far more powerful when pushed. The EFX sound fine and are somewhat user programmable but you are limited to one effect per channel at a time. There are a couple of combo EFX but by and large it's one at a time. There is an EFX loop on the back to add your own processors as well. The EFX are in stereo but are summed to mono in the amp. There is a pre-eq'd stereo line out that exploits the EFX in stereo for direct connection to a recorder or mixer. All in all a really impressive little $300 amp. It's easier to cart around than my heavy JBL-loaded Concert amp too and that's a big plus for me.

I'm a longtime Fender man with a Strat & a Tele and they both sing thru this unit. My styles fall more into Mark Knopfler/EC/Roy Buchanan territory than anywhere else. The amp itself is quiet and noise only becomes a factor with single coil pups. The clean channel (Heaven) sounds really good - somewhat "Fender" like with a bit of the "thunk" that a good tube amp usually provides. Moving the cut & boost EQ controls enables wide timbre changes providing a lot of flexibility. The midrange in particular is very effective in character modification.

The distortion channel (Hell) has a fine, creamy sound to it and is very musical throughout its range. Again the EQ selection makes a huge difference in the overall sound. I don't find it particularly aggressive but then again I'm not looking for that either. There is an additional channel volume control that lets you easily match the loudness of the 2 different channels when switching. This is a good thing.

The EFX must be mentioned. Housed in this amp is basically a rack-mount Behringer EFX module that provides 24-bit digital reverbs, delays, modulations, pitch changes, compressors and some different speaker and amp voicings. You can align one setting to each channel at a time. There are some combo EFX (chorus + reverb or delay) but mostly it's one thing at a time. The inclusion of an effects loop was a wise choice. The built-in EFX sound good and there is some good variety available but one thing at a time is somewhat limiting. Still, to get this much choice on a $300 amp is a very good thing. Not all the EFX suited my taste out of the box but there are a couple of parameter settings you can adjust and save that let you voice the EFX to your own taste. This also is a good thing.

My rating is based on this amp against my Concert. Against other S/S amps it would be a 10.

Unknown at this point. The basic integrity of the unit was good out of the box although the box itself was a mess. I suspect the packing department at Berhringer will soon be re-thinking the shipping box (see other reports on this below). I bought it at the local Mars music store with their 30-day return policy JIC. My feeling is that I will not need it.

Knowing the main company is half a world away was not a good selling point. The warranty is only for one year, a little light considering other comparable amps. I doubt I would have bought a more expensive amp with these considerations. But my experience with S/S devices is that if it works as it should out of the box and for a couple of weeks or so than it should continue to work for a long time (barring any user-inflicted abuse). So I was willing to take a bit of a chance on this amp for $300 - there's a lot of bang for the buck here.

There is one authorized service center in the US and it's nowhere near Texas so I realize I'm kinda on my own with this one. If it passes the burn-in (and so far it has) it should be fine.

I started playing music professionally around the time when Sgt. Pepper was released and I'm still at it. I don't buy a lot of equipment so I have learned to get the most from what I do have. For example this amp is the first amp I've gotten since I bought my Fender Concert back in 1983. And my primary reason for getting it is that my ol' self is weary of hauling that heavy tube amp around, at least to rehearsals and stuff. I've been looking at S/S combo amps for many months and until I found this I was looking hard at a Fender Princeton amp (among others). Although the Fender sounded fine this amp offers much more variety than the Princeton for only a few dollars more and the EFX are a good bonus. And the basic tone of the Behringer is every bit as good to my ears as the Fender so it was an easy choice.

I do wish I could combine more EFX at one time but again, for the $$$, this works out just fine. Behringer thought it thru well enough to give an EFX loop and a line out to keep the options open. I think it's a great value but even the best value don't mean diddly if the tone isn't there - it is. What really caught my ear is a soft, tube-like compression there seems to be in the amp, kinda like a gentle squeeze to the sound, much like a tube amp when it's pushed. I haven't heard this in any other S/S amp and I think that's what really sold me on it.

Pretty packed out as far as features go. Clean and Distortion channel with one shared EQ, Master volume, Seperate Aux. volume, Digital effects section, one 12 inch speaker, Closed Back cabinet, Effects loop, Stereo Line out, Headphones out, Stereo Aux. input (for something like a drum machine or cd player), two button footswitch (one switch for channel, other switch for effects on/off), and midi input for using a midi foot controller (or other midi device, like a sequencer) for controlling the effects section.
The effects section is a processor based on Behringer's Virtualizer and Modulizer rack processors. It offers several (really good) reverbs, delays, modulation based effects, speaker simulations, and others...
I've scored an 8 here for going above and beyond what most amps in this price range have, though it lost a point for not having seperate EQ controls for each channel, and one point docked for not being able to do alot with the effects section .The effects processor has 99 patches available, which are user editable, though you can't specify which effects sit in the patch. For example, patches 43-47 are Chorus with Delay. You pick which patch you want to use based on the chorus sound you are looking for, and then you can edit the patch to reflect the delay time, delay mix, and chorus mix you are looking for. Also, you can't really create your own patches. There is a patch for a cabinet emulator, but if you use it, there is no other effects in that patch so you can't have reverb and cabinet emulation.
One of the nice things about this amp, however, in the absence of a midi control device, you can set a different patch to each channel.
Considering these limitations, it's still an awful lot of stuff for an inexpensive amp.

Sound quality is amazing, and super versatile. Taking some time to actually fiddle around with the volume/gain and EQ controls will result in many different kind of amp sounds. I've been able to go from bright jangley alterna-rock to solumn bluesy clean to classic rock crunch to full on hard rock. Distortion channel alone will not land a good scooped modern metal sound. You can get to a classic Van Halen sound, or an AC/DC sound... but no Metallica or Pantera or Fear Factory (etc.. etc..) If you combine the Distorion cahnnel with the cabinet simulator, you can get the ultra heavey sound (with out being muddy I might add), but as I've noted in the features section, you've just disqualifed using any other effects. I would highly recommend using a stomp box for really heavey distorion, and most likely you'll need a stomp box with a full EQ section (I'm using a Morley JD-10 myself). The amp tends to retain good note definition and balance too.
This amp behaves as any good amp should. The amp is very responive to pick attack, and the guitar's volume. With the distortion channel's gain dimed, this is still a little extra grit to be had from digging into the strings really hard, and backing off of the volume (or playing a little bit lighter) will result in a warm smoother crunch. This is very unique for an all transistor amp. The clean channel (with the channel volume dimed) will "compress" nicely with the guitars volume up, and will settle back down to a nice sweet tone whenever the guitar volume is backed down a bit.
The amp doesn't discrimnate between single coil and humbuckers (though you'll have to totally redo the EQ when switching from les paul to a strat). Also, it does really great job at representing and respecting the natural tone of your guitar. There are a lot of amps (especially the digital modeling amps) that no matter which guitar you plug into it (short of a drastic change in pickup output) the tone that comes out the speaker is exactly the same. This amp doesn't do a whole to color (or hide) the characteristics of the guitar.
Tone could be improved a bit if there wasn't a slight difference in voicing between the clean and distortion channels (The distortion channel has more presence to it even with the gain turned to zero...)
Also, the EQ controls could stand to be more flexible... sometimes turning them doesn't seem like they do a whole lot . Also the amp can be a bit bassy if you aren't carefull when switching between channels (one of the things a seperate EQ for each channel could have prevented).

The Effects section sounds REALLY good. The "wah" effect may have sounded better if it wasn't behind the preamp... it is the only effect that is pretty much useless. The time based effects are pretty lush. and the modulation effects are nice and full without being over the top. Of course, as with most other effects processors, there is a signal drop when changing from one patch to another (so, if you have a reverb set on the clean channel, and a chorus set for the distortion channel, there will be a signal drop when you switch channels).

The AUX channel works really well too... BTW.

Pretty nice sounding all around, really versatile for its price.

I can't comment on the reliability. The cabinet will not survive moderate blows as it is made of a soft particle board. The first one of these amps that I had ordered, had been damaged by the carrier, and I sent it back. American Musical repacked the second one before they sent it to me, and it came to me in prestine condition. Basically, the way I see it, is if you don't expect the amp to survive a 6 foot drop, or being run over by a truck and treat it accordingly it'll do OK.
The foot switch it comes with is built like a tank however...

Can't comment on customer supprt from Behringer. I had e-mailed a couple of times for just general questions when I was shopping around for amps, and they never replied.
Off Subject from the review, American Musical Supply is who I ordered this amp from, and thier customer service is GREAT... simply the best.

This amplifier sounds good, and feels great. I feel kinda silly for pointing out it's short comings as you would be hard pressed to find an amp close to this price range, that sounds and feels this good with this much versatility. The tech21 trademark 10 sounds just as good (and can get the scooped metal sound to) but doesn't have the same feel factor, nor all the extras...
This amp isn't a good amp for gigging. Its a little bit irritating to get the sounds you need on the fly. For someone who is just a bedroom rock star, or needs an amp for working out ideas or recording when thier primary stage gear is a bit unwieldy, this amp is prefect. It's not as good as a $1500 rack solution, but it isn't $1500 either. Also, don't expect this amp to sound like a fender or marshall amp... it sounds good with its own sound.
I'm currently using two different Gibson Explorers (different wood and pickup configurations), a Fender Strat, and a Peavey G-90 (very much like a Jackson) and the amp plays well with all of them.
For anyone who has gotten this far through this review, and if they happen to care, this is how I've got mine setup...
Guitar to Dunlop Crybaby 535Q to Morley JD-10 (set for a really heavy modern distortion) to the amp. I've got the amp's clean volume almost dimed. Nice bluesy clean... with a good thick modern distortion with the pedal kicked on. I've got the distortion channel set with the gain set really low, so I have a good old school classic rock crunch, and a nice presence boosted lead tone with the distortion pedal turned on. I eventually plan to add an ABY switch between the wah and distortion box so I can route the signal to an amp modeling preamp/efx processor that will be plugged into the AUX input... that way I can switch to that for 5th sound option, or play through the two signal paths and have two different tone setups simultaniously.
I would like to apologize if my review was verbose or prosaic... hope it helped.

2001- 2 channel switching with seperate effects + effects loop + headphone + 60w S/S 1x12 combo. 99 (count 'em!) fully editable effects for customizing to your needs. Comes with footswitch included. Mono 1x12 but outputs in stereo for awesome recording or PA sounds.

We play a mix of Ambient/Psychoverdrive original music that needs to jump from Ultrs Clean (and quiet!) to Brutally Distorted Overdrive in the blink of an eye which is really tough for the tube amps. Without spending $3,000 you're either going to get one or the other. Haven't been super impressed with S/S amp distortion until lately...here it is

Behringer doesn't make crap (that's my dollar-4-dollar experience) and although they must save money to put something this astounding into the hands of ANYBODY with a job they are quite brilliant at choosing where/when to save $$$. Never-ever-ever has a company been so insistant on delivering high quality equipment into the hands of ALL people and not just the wealthy. I've had it a couple of months and had no problems what-so-ever. If you notice on this page another guy complaining about his being "cheap" and returning it to "Musician's Friend" I now own THAT amp. They sold it to me as a "Dent-n-Scratch" item for $250 (tax& ship included)*thank you very much*

Haven't really had any communications with Behringer in Germany except to send them "Thank You" E-Mails for each piece of equipment I purchase because I can't believe that I'm buying equipment and producing recordings of this high grade quality for so little spent. The people who receive my recordings assume that I have this incredible high dollar studio and trust me...that ain't the case! I record in a bedroom that I rent from a homeowner in the S.F. Bay area. I have not had any need to contact Behringer except to thank them!

I love guitars and own many. Currently have Mesa/Boogie & Line 6 amps with a Budda on the way as well as the Blue Devil. Most of my dough goes into recording equipment which is all Behringer except for the multi-tracks & stuff they do not make (yet!). If it were lost or stolen at this price I would buy two more and use them with an "A+B" switch for really outrageous effects (if you know what I mean). If I get time I'm going to build a custom cabinet for it (that's where they had to save $$$) out of oak (sealed for incredible bass response) on rolling rubber casters for mobility. Everyone is going to wonder what brand of "Boutique" amp this is!

Well explained in other postings.

I use mainly Gibsons and Epiphones and they sing quite well with the Blue Devil when it's working.

Okay. I bought mine from Musician's Friend and was so impressed I had a friend buy one also. Within 2 weeks, we had both returned our units due to power loss while playing, unexplained farting noises, etc. I noticed that the shipping crate was crummy and cheap, but I didn't see any exterior damage. I sent it back and got another one which arrived damaged with a crack along the bottom edge of the amp. So far no trouble with the electronics, but I'm debating whether to throw the dice and return this one hoping to get one that (1.) works and doesn't overheat and lose power, and (2.) survives the rigors of BASIC SHIPPING! I'm very disappointed because Behringer had been known for quality before my experience with them. ISO9000, indeed!

I haven't dealt directly with Behringer. Musician's Friend has been quite accomodating. So much so that I'd be willing to give the amp ONE MORE TRY before marking Behringer off my list for good.

I've been playing for 34 years and was looking for a "tempest in a teapot" to use at gigs that were smaller venues than my Mesa Boogie Heartbreaker warranted. I'm not big on effects, but I wanted to see what technology had done for smaller 1-12" combos. So far, I haven't been impressed. I don't expect a $299 amp to have Mesa quality by any means, but you should at least be able to get it out of the box before it's screwed up!

2 footswitchable channels, 99 effects presets, 60 Watts of power and a 100 Watts Speaker, a footswitch that if you are not playing orgy or nine inch nails type of music is just fine (and if not you can get a midi footswitch). I've been playing with it for almost two months to this day and for me it's still hard to believe that i only paid $300.00. When i got this Amp i checked the whole list in the musician's friend website, and believe me you are not going to get anything like this for the price. When i bought it i took a chance, i knew it was a new model and there wasn't these few reviews, i had 45 days to mess with it, and i don't regret it.

I'm playing a Gibson Les Paul and my influences are very wide, one day i feel like playing black sabbath and the next day probably eric clapton, without mentioning that before the black sabbath day was over i wanted to be jimmy page. With all the effects its almost impossible to run out of gas. When i'm getting tired of practicing all i have to do is change the effect and it's a brand new thing, like starting all over again. The built in distortion it's pretty cool, really dark and heavy, but if you want more crunch there you have 3 tube imitations and 3 cabinets, and if you take your time with the settings each one can sound different. Another cool thing is that you can use one distortion effect with the clean channel and have two different distortions for one song, and if you mix the heel channel with a cool effect...i tell you for $300.00 there's nothing like this out there. One thing is that i think could be a little louder, but if anyone knows a little bit about amps you should know that with a 100 Watts Speaker it's harder for the amp to overdrive, and even so the distortion at low volumes is good. And if you are going to play a gig i suppose you are going to mike it or send it to a PA. Another thing is that if you are really picky about distortion you might not like the ones you have, go to e-bay a get a Boss and there you go.

The box it came in seemed really simple but thank God it came in good condition.The amp seems pretty hard for me, but honestly not like my little fender, i suppose that if i drop both of them the blue devil will suffer more, but i am very careful with my equipment so for me that's not a problem. As far as i know amps have nothing to lookk for in the air so try to keep it in the floor and you'll be fine. The power cord could be short for some applications, buy an extension at the hardware store, they are really cheap.

I have never dealt with them and i hope i never will.

I remember one day that i practiced with a borrowed crate and i just wanted to kick it out of the window, i don't think it can compete with this one, but it's up to each one's opinion. If i would lost this one, first i would be really pissed but the i'll be happy to know that i only need 300 bucks to get another one. If you feel to much for something like this save some more and get a marshall, but if you are willing to try something that maybe will sound like you and not like someone else, try it.

This is basically the new wave of amplifier. A solid state amp with pretty much a rack system full of effects that can be controlled in real time by midi foot switch.This is definetly the begining of the next wave of amplifier. 99 preset effects with the ability to tweak the parameters and mix of the effects. They did a good job on the speaker set up, 60 watt coming through a 100 watt speaker so the sound will still be good quality at loud volume.

I have only had this thing fo a day and i am just touching the tip of the iceberg of how to mess with all the effects and settings but what I have done with it so far has been great.the effects are real quality sounding, and when you tweak with the effects it really gives you different ranges of sound on the effect you are using. The distortion alone is a good rock distorsion for me but if you are looking for crunch you will have to add some effects to it but it is there, you just need to find the right effect(s) and play with them.One of the things i really liked about this amp is the closed back cab that will no doubt increase the sound quality when playing loud.

I have only had it for one day but it looks pretty sturdy. I will throw it down a flight of stairs this weekend and let you know.

It says they have it on they're web site.Hopefully I will never need it.

I have been playing the guitar for about 10 years or so now and i have had pretty much every kind of amp type. You can't really compare a new style amp like this with older stuff because technology changes. However the the Crate GFX 30 I sold to buy this amp was only about $70 cheaper than this amp was and the Behringer is 100 times the amp the Crate wanted to be. All I have to say is if you buy this amp and give it a crappy review on here you are a fool. This is a $300 amp with 60 watt rms and 99 preset 24-bit effects that sound excellent built right in , not to mention the midi foot switch option and stero line out for extra speaker hook up for true stereo.Oh yeah and it's German, they don't mess around. Long live Krautrock

Built in effects, 60 watts, MIDI switching. Ordered mail order; Poor shipping box caused cabinet damage the first two units (returned). Awaiting third unit. Electronic portion of amp seems to sound good, at least at low volumes. Cabinet is inferior and very cheap. Definate cost cutting by manufacting. Appears to be painted particle board! Incredible! Behringer's German design and electronics are good, but CHEAP chinese made cabinet leaves me scratching my head wondering why they don't charge another $25 and use plywood and vinyl. And $2 worth of thick cardboard to bolster the edges of the shipping box! And a 3 foot power cable??? CHEEEEEEP!

If any of you Behringer guys read this, please accept this advice as a design engineer: Consider the operational environment of the unit. A combo amp is moved around a lot, banged up and dropped occasionally. Your electrical stuff is fine, but that cabinet???WAKE UP!!!

At low volumes, this amp seems to sound pretty good. As both units are being returned, I've not tried it out with the rock band. So far, every solid state amp I've tried sounds good with low volumes at the store, but when played loud with a band, they get that "inside of a coffee can" washed out sound. I'm just now also playing with a lounge band, I think its clean sound will be highly adequate.

See below: My two units were both damaged in shipping, the cheap cabinets were damaged but the electronics are unharmed. The electronics portion must therefore be pretty rugged mechanically. Should be dependable electronically, but I suspect that unless treated very gently the CHEAP cabinet will eventually fall apart.

IMPORTANT INFO: The guy who designed the shipping box needs a lesson in packaging and engineering. I got the amp mail order from Musician's Friend, and the amp was broken in transit. My forensic opinion is that the box was dropped on a corner; the upper LH metal bump guard was dented. The cabinet failed along the upper glue joint completely. The small styrofoam inserts in the shipping box were disintegrated. Musician's Friend sent me a second unit; it ALSO arrived damaged. The box took a blow midway along an edge, no styrofoam or cardboard reinforcements in this reagon to protect, so the cabinet edge is dented for about 2". Both units functioned when plugged in. My third unit is in route; I told them to carefully double box this one. Maybe that will protect it.

I've been playing for over 20 years. My primary rigs are Marshall; I've got an "old 1975" 100 Watt head, and a rack with the Marshall midi tube preamp and that monster Marshall tube power amp. I use a Behringer Virtualizer in the rack. I play in a band that plays Hard rock, and this stuff is the best, but it is a bear hauling around those heavy pigs to gigs. Half stacks are overkill with my lounge band too. I wanted something portable, so I took a gamble on this little combo amp. For $299, nothing else comes close. I suspect that you won't see these for sale at Guitar Center because it would stop Crate amp sales dead in their tracks.

Purchased from Musicians Friend.
Here are the features... To get more info, go to www.behringer.de.

GX112 BLUE DEVIL Ultra-flexible 60 Watt Guitar Workstation with Digital Multi-Effects Processors. Powerful 60 Watt RMS Guitar Workstation with authentic VIRTUBE ? tube emulations. Custom-made 100 Watt heavy-duty 12" guitar speaker SHARK 12G100A. Two independent channels with separate volume controls and effects. HEAVEN channel delivers clean and slightly distorted tube sounds.
HELL channel offers a broad range, from modern crunch to high-gain sounds. Dedicated vintage-type 3-band EQ. 24-bit stereo multi-effects processor with ultra-high resolution 24-bit AD/DA converters
31 original VIRTUALIZER ? /MODULIZER ? presets with world-class effects such as Reverb, Delay, Phaser, Chorus, Flanger, Pitch Shifter, Speaker Simulator, Rotary Speaker, Magic Drive, Compressor, Expander, Wah, Tube Emulator and various effect combinations.
99 outstanding and easy-to-edit user presets. Quasi-analog operation: three FX parameters per preset can be edited with dedicated controls
Adjustable aux input for playback or other line-level signals (e.g. CD player, drum computer, etc.)
Stereo line output for recording and live applications
Insert facility for external effects devices (stomp boxes, wah-wah pedals, etc.)
Channel select and effect bypass footswitch FS112 included.
Complete MIDI implementation for channel and effect selection as well as real time control. Master volume control and stereo headphones output. It is an open back...very small slot - 1" -@ bottom of cabinet. It is fairly heavy @ 48 pounds - no casters. It is a dark blue color...the covering is not tolex, but what looks like sprayed urethane...similar to the covering on some of the Carvin amps.

Plenty of power for what I do...playing the world's best bedroom rock guitarist.

I am playing a Dean Avalanche - strat style - H/S/S setup. Amp if quiet except on the single pickups...all amps seem to be noisy with singles. I primarily play classic rock, heavy metal, some blues. The Blue Devil covers all of those sounds without a hitch. VERY loud. The HEAVEN channel is crystal clear, not too bright, but when you dime the volume control...you get a smooth slightly overdriven tone. The HELL channel covers everything from a mild crunch to full out metal sound. The effects are great except for the WAH setting. -1 for the WAH.

It's new, so I have no opinion, although since it is solid state, it should be reliable. Invest in a good surge protector...will protect the effects module. It would probably do fine @ a show, but never forget Murphy's law!!

No contact. 1 year warranty...could be much better...look @ Fender's warranty. -3 for the warranty.

I've been playing steady for 1 1/2 years after a 25 year dry spell. I kick myself daily for putting it down for so long...oh well. I love the tone that the amp has...the effects are good enough for someone to get rid of all of their stomp boxes. Wish the WAH function was better. I was seriously looking @ the Hughes & Kettner Tour Reverb, and the Fender Deluxe 90. Without taking the onboard effects into account, the Blue Devil still sounded better...when you factor in the effects...it just destroys the others. The Tour Reverb and the Fender were a bit louder, but so what. It's not perfect...the Wah could be MUCH better, and the warranty could be longer.