Yamaha DG Stomp

Features are quite generic, and dealed with in other comments.

Used with '77 Strat, a pair of '79 Fender 75 amps, '68 Hiwatt 4x12 cabinet, and TS-9 for overdrive.

The DG-Stomp is a live, swiss army knife affair. Everybody knows that amp modeling is OK for submitting a pitch for a TV add, but for a real soundtakes there's just no replacing the real thing. I use it with the pre-amp emulator thing off, always, except in reharsal, where I don't carry an amp. The 'emulators' sound is OK for reharsal, and will 'fool' 90 % of the audience, and even the occasional tone challenged bandmate. But I'm the kind of maniac who plays for the 1% that comes up after the show and asks : those are Fane speakers, right ?

The effects cut it live (although the phaser is very brittle and the flanger harsh) but the pseudo-tape delay is actually quite OK, plus, its tap-tempo, wich is a real life-saver. Chorus is usable, but chorus is a cheap-o effect anyway. Nobody in their right mind would use the reverbs on this for a studio take. The high-end resolution sounds like its in the 4 bit range, for god's sake. The tremolo is OK, and choppy as hell if you need it to. I used the rotary speaker effect (sounded OK live) on a studio take once (the leslie didn't fit in the car) and lived to regret it each time I hear the song on the radio.

There's a reason why an actual real effects chain will cost a couple grand, and this costs quite less. There are no miracles. In sound, and in quite a few things for that matter.

The tuner is utterly useless. I can't even believe Yamaha put it in there (their acoustic guitars are quite well intonnated). The compressor is gadget-level, the attack-time is way to slow.

It's not noisy at all, and doesn't really screw up your tone if you EQ it right. The high-low impedance switch can actually heat up your tube amp a little, wich is OK.

It's made of steel, with real switches. End of debate.

It failed to turn on once, right before a show, but never did it again (yeah, the power-bar was on). Yet, kind of makes you nervous.

I got the pdf manual free on the net, so that's OK with me. And you do need the manual, because getting to some of the features is a two-knob at once affair.

I'w been playing for 20 years.

If it were lost, I might try something else, like an actual effects board (I was always to lazy to build a custom one).

I love the fact it's compact, tap-tempo, noiseless, and saves me fifteen minutes in setting up 7 pedals before a show.

I don't really 'hate' anything about it, its just that you have to take it for what it is : a 500$ machine that tries to emulates 80 grand worth of gear.

I had ~ZERO~ luck getting the external Wah pedal to sound good but im submitting this because with a $50 Roland EV-5 used as a volume pedal its great with the DG stomp.

Pros: SMALL compared to the big Boss multi effects rigs.
This wont sterilise your tube amp like Boss digital or POD.
All metal with big metal buttons and knobs.
Delay and Reverb is GOOD!
Volume petal jack is GOOD!
EQ is ok!
There is some magic in this box!

CONS: Built in Wah is CRAP with big tone hit and 20% drop in sound level.
Cant use flanger and chorus at once? Same with rotary, only one at a time. Delay is independent.
Comp is a little lame.

Im using with single coil strat.
This is how I use it. Its on my pedal board in the loop with a bypass switch, although I keep it on 100%.

This is how I got the ~BEST~ results.
1. I programed a BLANK sounding patch with volume pedal program and saved as #11, first program.
2. I have the tone as close to my natural amp as possible and its almost bypass with all effects and EQ at 5.
3. Then I run my effects.
Boss Compressor CS-3 >> TS-808 >> Dunlop Wah >> larger analog multi effects IBANEZ Pie-5 Tube, Loop into the DG stomp.

Its great this way with a little comp/sustain and TS-808 as a booster.

Now the important this is this is not a POD, although it has a "Pre amp" that gives a ton-o gain I never use it ever! Just get a good tube screamer or gain channel amp.

Its very natural sounding and im running this with extremely expensive all hand wired amp, custom strat, 1979 TS-808 and its a keeper. I can get this thing almost transparent! So for a tube purist its even a good deal, your ears wont know its on! Then start to add a touch of reverb, touch of delay.

The PSU got really hot once. Then it quit but the next day it was ok.
On a large pedal board it gets REALLY REALLY HOT! I dont have the feet on it rather I use Velcro. I imagine it needs space under there to dissipate heat. I imagine it might break but ill just get another if it breaks.

talked to a rep once, nice guy knew nothing about the stomp as Yamaha moves so much products in and out they are distached.

If lost id get separate effects but that would cost $300+ and take a lot of room, over $60 in cables to install. Iv had this for sell 3x in Craig's list and it never sold but im keeping it now now that I use it for SUBITLE delay and verb. Not to much or it goes south.

Thing to remember is be sparing with the effects, to much will ruin the sound. Just like I said, make a blank natural patch save as #11 then dabble the effects very slowly in.

I use this as a time based effects unit only and really get my distortion from a tube screamer or high gain amp.

Over all for a guy like me with a hand built amp with ABSOLUTELY NO FEATURES! This little box gives me reverb, delay, some amp Sims.
I cant tell when the amp Sims and drive, lead, lead2 is moved. My big amp 4x12 kind of nutralises that some how. I suppose its a little change in ambiance not anything I spend my time with. Stays on clean setting.

This is my tweak box and im always finding something NEW and useful out of this. Sometimes the sound is down right magical.

Like any effect you use moderation or you get a ball of mud.
I do not like the pre amp or gain as it just adds a ton o grain and dirt. I just crank my tube amp for that.

When I was all digital this device did provide some realistic "Tube" sound.

Lastly, im building a small night club for me and my friends and I will take this off my rig and install on the "House PA" for a guest guitar or second guitar player that might not want to drag his amp accost town.

Its plug and play tube amp simulation;, no wire fuss. Minimal use of effects and its very natural, very warm.

Use a Tube screamer and comp on the front end and its great!
The Rotary effect is good! but the external foot pedal did not change its parameters so I might look for a real Leslie.

Last comment, changing programs is IMPOSSIBLE. They really failed with no UP/DOWN button. I had to pay $50 for a midi up/down but when its about tone you can overlook that.

It's the tone and effect jack and small size that keeps this on my precious over crowded effect board.

Iv seen quite a few guys with $4,000 Tube amps using a DG stomp.
Dont bother with the external pedal jack use it as a volume or swell.
Im very fussy about "Digital" stuff and remember a real analog delay will run $250 alone and this box is around $90 so off you go its ambient to country, to classic rock... Its really old school if you want.

Fetures of this product you can find in earlier reviews. It's very versatile, indeed. Another plus is elegant design. No plastic star trek like crap, solid and simple metal construction. It feels better to be used connected to pa or transistor amplificiation like tech21 engine. The bad thing is you cannot setup effect chain. For example flanger will be always before delay and so one. I found dg-stomp useful for my musical ideas from jazz, ambient and rock.

Used with yamaha erg121 and ibanez af77 ( hollowbody). Stomp gives well textured sound and it reacts diffrent with diffrent guitars and pickups congurations. Can be noisy with single coils. You can get smooth modern jazz sound, type o negativ drive and everything between. Cleans channels are great, distortions good. Effects are somewhat basic, but quality is still very good. I found it very useful in recording. Before stomp i used line6 kidney and m-audio black box. Stomp is simplier ( believie it;s good) and sound quality is much better then kidnej and black box. It's very melodic, full of life and precise tool.

never had problems with this tool. Metal, solid and full of quality.

never dealed with them

I've been playing for 7 years, dealed with music school in jazz guitar class for a year. I would buy it again. very usuful, simply and elegant. I wish it had option to setup effect chain. Exept that - it's perfect for my demands.

Well its got a lot of features Im no expert and this is the only pre amp I own. KNOBS! DUDE!

It has all the classic AMP knobs, gain, master, EQ, all that stuff.

In my opinion its got a great tone. Its not suited for heavy metal I think you can stack a tube screamer for that I dont know.

I can get a great sounding realistic "Crying woman" tone.

Very "Classic Rock" metal heads look for something elce.

I tend to think it sounds better then other units like pod and I would like to think my expensive swamp ash guitar retains its tone and individual finger harmonics.

8 for what it is...

Sure its no tube amp.

10, it looks like it belongs in a police squad car in a retro dash board.

ITS LIKE CAST IRON.

If you had to you could kill someone with this and I just might@!

I talked to a rep in the freaking store and I had an issue with the clock running at 48 hrz.. Ok it was my fault I was using the digital out and recording at 44hrz so play back was SCREWED.

This guy was "Hay buddy I really dont know"

On the other hand the manual is online in PDF I hate how roland bangs you for $30 for the instructions.

SCREW that I hate that kind of crap.
Freaking jerks.

playing for 20 years off and on.
If it was stolen Id hunt them down and beat their heads in with the cast iron unit. Then Id buy one from ebay if I could.

What I like is the knobs and the REAL tone.
You can get so many tones from this! You need to be a little smart I admit for years it sounded like hell untill I removed it from my mixer LOOP FX send return. Its pretty complex unit Im guessing to copy 6 or 7 Stomp boxes.

At $100 used ebay alone its worth the value as an EQ and little over drive.

I dont mess with the amp sims or speaker cabs The ability to reach over and add a little compression is worth the $100.

I dont own other guitar FX so I cant compare this twords a pod

(Id never own a POD and dont want to sound like an army of "Crud" or what ever is the latest NEw metal band with a great metallica face.

Sound like Duane Allman or any old school Classic rock BB king.

The pre progroamed patches kind of suck at at first I was a total beginner with amp sims and I wanted to download some banks but NO they dont have online patches you have to dial them in.

You wont be happy with out putting a thinking cap on.
If you put a little work in this thing is a fantastic deal!

O did I mention that I have this installed in CUBASE with Midi and I can go back and it recalls the bank/patch when I load up my song if I choose to redo an audio track.

ALSO the thing is a tad noisy when used to chain together other midi gear and use as a foot controller. its crappy for a floor foot controller unless you can tapdance.

I took it out from my midi chain of gear (I play midi guitar) and the noise went away. (You could hear little BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP when the midi guitar volume or EQ was adjusted)

SUCKS as a flood controller even though it has the foot switches im still unsure what the hell they are used for.

VERY quiet unit when used with the digital out!

The DG Stomp is a floor based guitar preamp\modeler with built in effects. The effects are Compressor, Modulation (chorus, flanger, phaser, rotary, tremolo), Delay (digital or analog), and Reverb (spring, hall and plate). There are eight different "amp types" for the preamp\modeler section, and large adjustment knobs like on a real guitar amp. The Stomp can be used with or without speaker emulation and has a wide variety of cabinet types to choose from. It is also possible to disable the preamp and use the Stomp strictly as an effects unit. You can plug in headphones for silent practice.

Has a digital coax out for direct to computer recording, has MIDI and is fully programmable. Changing user banks is not as easy as it should be and requires a fair bit of tap dancing.

I bought the Stomp used, to use as an effects unit for live work, so I'll review the effects section before I get into the preamp part. As far as the effects go, they are VERY good. The modulation effects are excellent, especially the rotary, although accessing the secondary parameters is a pain. Delays (up to 2 sec) are fine and have tap tempo. Reverb is limited to 'type' and 'level', but good enough for live use. The Compressor works, but does not have any fine adjustments. An expresssion pedal can be used to change FX parameters in real time. As a simple floor unit effects box, the Stomp really shines, even though it does not have any fancy effects like harmonizer, whammy, pitch shift or that other stuff that I would never use anyway.

I just started playing with the preamp part a few weeks ago. I own several tube amps, Fender and Laney, and have my own studio out in the country where I can play as loud I can stand. I dont really have a need for amp modeling. I did buy a Line6 amp once upon a time back when they first came out, and returned it after a few days. Modeling simply cannot capture all the nuances and dynamics of a real tube amp. (We all know this). But I have to say Yamaha has come the closest to doing that of anybody I have heard so far. The other day I decided to do a side by side comparision, so I plugged into my Laney combo amp and adjusted the preamp gain to get a nice, crunchy Strat tone. Then I ran the Stomp direct to my mixer and into the computer, and was able to dial in pretty much the same sound easily using one of the "Crunch" settings. The Laney was, of course, more 3D sounding and responded better to picking dynamics and volume knob changes on the guitar, but the Stomp did a remarkable job of emulating the feel of playing through a real miked tube amp. I was quite impressed. You could certainly use the Stomp to record direct and probably fool most people. I think it's the best modeler I've heard so far, much better than Line 6, Digitech, or even Sansamp. I also tried running the Stomp in front of the Laney and a Roland JC like a stompbox (with speaker sim off, of course). It sounded better using the Stomp to push the tube preamp section of the Laney than the solid state Roland, but it worked fine with both, like a stompbox overdrive with fine EQ adjustments. No, its not analog but doesnt sound overly digital to my ears.

You cannot get "deathmetal" distortion out of the Stomp, but just about anything else, from country clean, Hendrix, SRV blues to Billy Gibbons nastiness is certainly possible. It is a little noisy on high gain settings, but so is a real tube amp (sorry, no noise gate built in). The main thing is to always have the speaker sim turned on if you are going direct, and to try different cabinet types to get the sound you want. You cannot judge the Stomp by the presets, some are OK, but building your own from scratch is more rewarding.

The Stomp would be a perfect backup system if your tube amp went belly up on a gig, you could just run the Stomp direct into the PA and finish the gig, no problem. It's worth picking one up just for that and the effects section. If you find that you love the sound of its modeling then that's even better.

Built like a tank, solid metal. Love the chicken head knobs!

Dont know.

I have been playing for over thirty years and own\have owned Marshall, Fender, Laney and Roland JC amps. Strat through a tube amp is the sound for me. I also play a Godin ACS nylon string with a GR30 guitar synth, and I use the Stomp for effects on the guitar at gigs, with an FC7 expression pedal for volume. It works great for this. My days of carrying around a big pedalboard full of stompboxes are over. I'm into toting the least amount of gear with the smallest stage footprint possible. Previously I was using a Digitech RP200, nice and compact, OK effects, but cheaply built expression pedal and I couldnt handle it anymore. The Stomp does a better job but does require an external expression pedal.

Yamaha discontinued the DG Stomp a few years back. They were expensive when they came out, but are cheap now. Fantastic value for the effects alone, much less the very good preamp\modeling (if you are into that). The Stomp is a veritable "Swiss army knife" box. There's a reason why it won an editors pick award from Guitar Player magazine back when it came out - it's a quality unit.

If you cant afford an all tube amp, dont want to haul one around, need to get good tones at apartment volumes or do direct recording, then get one of these, I dont think you'll regret it.

Easy to use just turn knobs dial in what your looking for and save config and your set. Has a midi-in, can be controlled by midi controller or other midi devices. It also has a on/off power switch which most guitar eff's processors don't. I don't care for the tuner but that why I rate it 9.

The amp modeling sounds fantastic can get Marshall or Mesa & clean Fender sound with the right adjustments. Modulation eff's sound excellent. Compression, chorus Falnger Phaser Rotary Tremolo, Delay & tape-Echo, Spring Hall Plate reverb & Speaker Simulator. and all adjusted & saved.

Never had any issues it's built like a tank.

I've never tlaked to them...

It's too bad Yamaha stopped making these, soon after they intergraded it into there amp's they stop production...The new guitar eff's processor they make sound no where as good as the DG Stomp, sorry Yamaha you lost it. I used Boss pedals Digitech RD's & Pod's which I feel are over rated, Korg ;there better the Digitech! and many others. Come on yamaha go back use the technology from the DG add a few other eff's ring mod for one and a better tuner & lay it out in a full control board like Korg AX1500 Boom!!! your set.

I love the effects in this item. The chorus and phaser are wonderful. The delay has two different settings (tape and digi, so it easy to dial in any kind of delay with a tap function built in!!! That's right, no extra controller required to adjust the delay time! The only reason why I give it a 9 is the deep adjustments require holding a button down (for chorus, rotary speaker, phaser, and flanger). That's a pain in the a** to adjust on the fly

Why spend the money on Line 6 stuff when you can buy this for half the price and get the same tones.

I have used it for many a gig. It is built like a tank!

I have yet to deal with Yamaha on anything (See my review for the UB99 Magic Stomp).

If this item was stolen, I would search all over EBAY to find another one. I originally bought mine from Guitar Center as a refurb for $125.00, and have yet to regret it a year later. I got rid of my Line 6 stuff after this item (and the Magic Stomp). It simply allows the guitar to be the guitar.......

For the benefit of all those who seem to think that this is an effects pedal, try plugging your fuzz box ( ;D ) or whatever effects that you use into a PA or mixing desk and see what sort of applause you receive......It's a preamp, it wont work without a power amp and a power amp section wont give you any sound to speak of without it. Still not convinced, stick your headphones into the output of your tubescreamer and tell me which ear the mono signal is coming through. How many of us are poking it in the guitar input on our combos? I know I do but I have no illusions. The effects are a bonus and are what probably enticed you to buy it. I admit, that's what sold it to me.
Just my opinion of course!

before i bought this, i tried as many guitars through different amps as i could find, in search of MY sound. i finally settled on a les paul through a yam dg combo (#1,000+ worth...hahahaha), but i was already aware of the dg stomp, and figured it'd have SOME of that sound. let me tell you, it sounds amazing! anyone who can sound bad through this unit needs their hands chopping off. the presets are awesome, and a 50 yr old could edit the patches. the manual is brilliant, too, tells you all you need to know!

i use a les paul, a fender tele(previously with stock poickups, now with bare knuckle pickups), and a homemade electric through this unit, i then go into the mac, or through a marshall 15 watter on the clean channel. sounds amazing, it's a touch noisy on the high gain stuff, but it just adds to the 'balls out' fun of it all, and to be honest i don't do that much high gain shit. i think all the sounds, effects, and cabs are great on this box. i've fallen out with gear before, become dissatisfied with the sound, but i won't ever sell this!

i bought this in june 2001, and i've never had a problem. it appears to be built like a tank. i would never gig without some kind of backup, only a damn fool would, but i trust it not to let me down!

haven't had to deal with the company over this, but i did once before over a keyboard....i've dealt with better, but their gear is top class, so it's not that much of an issue.

i play all sorts, but not so much really heavy stuff. i think it could do any style. a touch noisy on the high gain stuff, as i said before, but it just makes it sound more 'real' to me.
been playing 20+ years. i reckon i'd buy another, unless i was loaded, and would buy the combo, but i'd probably have one of these in the house, too. i love the sounds, some people might prefer it with a noise gate, there are better units for switching banks easier, but some of em don't sound as good as this, anyway, you can arrange your patches together, so thats not such a big deal. it's one thing i can just plug in and it does the job, some gear, it takes you ages to set up, and then you don't feel like playing/recording by the time you're set up. i hate that!
frankly, i was amazed to see that there was no feedback for this product already...it f'kin rocks!

Already despribed in other reviews. Just one thing: with the expression-pedal you can change so many parameters per patch that it's like having 6 patches in a bank and not only three. What I really don't like is the tuner and the wah is useless, because there is a hughe drop in volume when the wah is active. I use a Cry Baby for that.

Well, I had used this thing years ago in front of an amp as an effects-unit and sold it 2 years ago and switched back to stomp boxes. But I live in a city and I'm always go by public transport, so I wanted a solution, that I can always carry around with me. So I decided to give the DG-Stomp another try.

Now I go direct into the mixer and I'm very happy with this solution. The sound is really good. The other guitarist in the band is using a Engl Thunder Combo, but it's me who gets the compliments for a good sound. The unit delivers excellent clean and crunch sounds but high gain sounds won't satisfy you, if you're into NuMetal. But for Rocksounds like Van Halen or Stevie Vai it's ok. I play lot's of blues, rock and jazz and therefore the unit is great. The unit reacts like a good valve amp, especially when playing with your guitar's volume poti. Effects are of good quality too.

One important thing: this unit really amlifies the charactaristics of your instrument. So a shitty sounding guitar will sound shitty trough this unit. It does not polish a bad sound. Next is, that you have to do the right ajustments for your playing situation (speaker-sim, imput sensivity) otherwise it won't sound any good. I recommend doing the mod another guy explained here. You can find the link in his review. It's done easily and totally cancels noise.

So far I had no problems in cutting through the monitor on stage. But I'm thinking about purchasing a small active cabinet for situations with bad monitoring.

For me the price-/performance ratio is a clear 10.

Built like a tank.

Didn't have any contact

IMHO still the best modelling-unit out there, also production is discontinued. The new Magic Stomp is no good for live applications and Line6 units don't sound any "tuby" to me. But I have to say, that I didn't try the Voxe Tonelab Series.

If you can get a Stomp, buy it! There are some stores still having some units laying around and in most cases they sell them cheap.