Yamaha DG Stomp

very manipulative preamp, very good for live use.
i love the design, it a dream come true!

im sorry , but this machine is too noisy, i like much of the distortions, but it is a shame that it hasns't got a noise gate.

i wouldn't buy it again, because it doesn't have a noise gate!! period

It is supposed to be an amp modeller that is in a pedalboard form. Preamp with Compression, Modulation effects, Delay and Reverb. Has a HEadphone jack. 90 user/factory patches. Has patch names like Space Ranger, Ratty Rotor, Black Sunday and Elastic so I know some non-guitar playing Lab Tech Calculus Major programmed this thing.

I must have a bad one after reading the other reviews. This things should be called the "DG Transist-O-Fuzz Sizzle Flatulator". I bought this from Musician's Friend and thank the Lord they have a 100%guarantee. This this is the worst preamp I have tried to date. I plugged it in the day it came and was instantly greeted with the most sterile, harsh, unpleasant overdrive garbage I have heard. Oh yeah, Did I say it also hums very bad also and is very noisy on high gain settings. I tried again the next day after reading another positive review of it in EQ magazine and found it had a great Clean sound. I tried it into the front of a guitar amp, with headphones and into a tube poweramp/4x12. The headphone sounds was just F-z-z-z-z-z-s-z-z-z. Into the amp was a buzz saw simulation(Think Husqvarna) and each model sounds the same just with more or less gain and EQ'd different. It sounds very small/boxy. The Clean Sounds with the poweramp/4x12 were Very Good I have to say. I thought the Chorus/Delay and Reverb were of excellent quality and very quiet in this setting. Patch #133 Trad. Clean is wonderful!!! Why does the Overdrive tone of this preamp suck so bad??? I have read review after review that raved about this thing. Maybe I have a bad chipset in the overdrive area cause again, mine is REALLY BAD sounding. Not a tube amp sound anywhere near my DG Stomp/Tone Destroyer. Sounds fair with an Overdrive pedal in front of it but then what is the point? Oh yeah, The manual is pretty much useless. Another thing is if you want to change Banks you cannot just go UP/Down, You press the bank button for 1 sec, then select a bank number and THEN you finally select the patch in the bank. Each bank has three patches. You can turn on/off the effects in a patch if you pre-set it but you can not change from Clean to Overdrive then. Forget trying to use this live unless you have the patches really laid out for your set list. I really expected this thing to be great after the POD was so thin sounding. If you are at all picky about your sound, look elsewhere. My Line6 AX2 Modelling amp was WAY better than this. OK, OK, Enough.

Don't care, It is going back to "Musician's Friend and Savior"!

Why????

Well, I have never had to rate a piece of gear nearly this bad. I have been playing for about 17 years. I own about 8 amplifiers now and have had almost every brand amp I have wanted to try. Soldano, Boogie, Marshall, Line 6. I had a Flextone Plus and an AX2 and thought they sounded good so it is not that I hate modelling amps and am a tube snob. I am just baffled by the reviews of this thing. Again, Maybe I have a bad one but mine shows no glitches or other signs of improper function, Just sounds like a bad transistor amp. OK, OK, Enough!!!

Very easy to use, even right out of the box. The large knobs make it especially easy to change your sound quickly. Editing the patches is a breeze.....with all of the knobs and led's labeled right in front of you, it takes alot of the guess work out of it. The manual, although intimidating at first, is rather simple to use and understand, assuming you need to use it in the first place.

I am running this through a Fender 4X12 cabinet and Rocktron Velocity 250. I have a Les Paul, Ibanez RG something, and a Yamaha Pacifica 112 with upgraded electronics. It sounds great with any of them. I also have a chameleon 2000 which I can get some hellacious heavy tones out of, so I was concerned at first as to whether or not this could compare. I am very satisfied with the distortions. They are not as brash as the chameleon, but that's why I got it. I had a feeling that they would be tighter sounding and more cleaned up distortions. They are or can be very heavy, but sound more professional, rather than everything cranked to 11! Great artificial harmonics too! I love to use these when I play ala Zakk Wylde and they really sing with clarity and punch with this unit. The only reason I detect noise is because I am sitting inches away from the cabinet, which is in turn plugged into the same socket and 2 feet away from a 36 inch tv and home thatre setup....you figure it out. I think the noise level is fine, even though others note that they feel the unit could be a bit quieter. All of the effects are easy to access and sound greta. I enjoy the fact that manufacturers today are combining leading edge technology with the keep it simple approach. The combination of these 2 gives you a great sounding unit that is very easy to use.

I've only had it a few days, but it seems to be sturdy and I would not hesitate to use it on a gig or as a backup.

N/A

I play mostly metal and hard rock, but enjoy clean and pristine tones as well. This unit has it all.....especially for the price! I would get another one if it was stolen, especially since I think these units are going to become bigger than the POD. Don't hesitate to pick one up, you'll be surprised what a fresh sound will do for your playing.

I purchased my DG Stomp from a local dealer in February, 2001.

I bought it for use as a live preamp, a recording interface, a personal headphone monitor for practice, and as an "emergency backup amp". In my role as an itinerant Church musician, I will be running it into a variety of PA systems, guitar & keyboard amps and recording equipment.

At age 46, my "death metal" years are pretty much behind me, so I mainly favour the clean through mildly dirty sounds.

The factory presets give just a taste of what is available. They don't seem to organized in a particularly logical way, and seem to be there more as a demo. The amp sounds are mainly of the Fender, Marshall and Boogie variety. I haven't been able to coax any authentic Vox tones from it... All in all, I find the range of tones more than ample.

As reported elsewhere, the unit gives immediate access to three independent sounds at a time. If you require access to more than three sounds per song, you'll need a MIDI pedalboard. Without a pedalboard, switching banks to pick up the other 80-odd patches is best left to the pauses between songs.

Some people might wish for more flexibility when using the DG Stomp live, although it still kills the Line 6 POD in that area. In my case, three sounds per song is plenty...

The user interface is fairly straightforward, but you WILL have to crack the manual. I would rate the interface wars this way: The POD is a little easier to get into initially, but is rather shallow when it comes to programability. The Yamaha interface is a little less intuitive, but is deeper and more flexible once you get into it.

MIDI programming is a breeze. In fact, you can ignore the onboard sounds altogether and use the DG Stomp as a simple MIDI pedalboard. Don't forget to plug in the expression pedal...

The manual is not the greatest. After compressing 29 pages into a 2-page cheat sheet, I would have to say that my cheat sheet is easier to understand. I laminated a copy of the cheat sheet, and keep it in my gig bag.

I haven't had a chance to play with the digital out yet, so I have no comment on how well it works...

This thing is VERY flexible. I would put it in the same "audio swiss army knife" category as my Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro. You can use it mute, as a MIDI pedalboard. You can bypass the amp and cabinet sims, and use it as a 48kHz, 20-bit digital stereo effects processor. You can use it to replace a solid-state combo's preamp stage, as an overdrive stomp-box into a good guitar amp, or as a full-featured direct box.

The included effects are better than expected. One excellent feature that puts it ahead of the Line 6 POD, is the "tweakability" of the effects. This is an area where the DG Stomp definitely pulled ahead of the POD, at least for me.

One interesting option that seems to get overlooked, is the possibility of controlling up to EIGHT control parameters simultaneously from the expression pedal. How about varying the Leslie speed, while simultaneously "morphing" between two gain settings and adjusting the reverb? It's not just for making "space alien" noises- you can achieve some very subtle effects this way...

Given the price, I can't really think of anything that's missing. Maybe some more esoteric effects like reverse delay, etc.?

Single-coil: Parker Nitefly, Yamaha AE3000 archtop
Humbucker: Parker Nitefly, Yamaha AE3000 archtop
Piezo: Parker Nitefly, Takamine cutaway acoustic

Before I talk about tone, a word about noise. I have found the DG Stomp to be acceptably quiet, by and large. Things get buzzy on the high-gain settings, but give me a break! I can TALK into the piezo pickup on my acoustic on some of the heavy distortion patches, as if I was using a cheap vocal mike. We're talking serious gain here!

However, I have noticed that the Stomp is susceptible to hum in buildngs with old/bad wiring. If it gets to be a problem, I may try out Armin's mod at http://www.soundside.de/_music_studio/DGStomp.htm (WARNING: I'm an amp tech. I wouldn't suggest trying this unless you're quite experienced. And forget about the warranty once you diddle around in there!).

Just like the POD, the Yamaha sits well in the mix when recording, although the Yamaha sounds a little nicer to my ear when the parts are soloed.

For me, though, the real test is how it sounds when you plug into some sort of amp and run it live.

I am very picky about tube amp sounds. For me, tone heaven is found in that narrow zone where clean sounds "bloom" without totally breaking up. Great amps have a kind of springy "feel" on pick attacks, make virtually any guitar sound good, and inspire you to play.

It doesn't always have to be an expensive boutique amp, sometimes it's that one-in-a-hundred beat-up old blackface Deluxe or your buddy's late 60's Super Reverb.

The DG doesn't achieve that kind of magic. However (BIG however!), it sits in a very attractive spot somewhere between the multitude of mass market amps that don't quite have "it", and the expensive/ancient/unobtainable ones that do.

When I matched it off against a bunch of tube amps at the local dealership, it beat out all of the low and most of the mid-priced competition, like: Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, Vibrolux reissue & Blues Junior, Peavey Classic 30 and 50, Ampeg, Boogie Nomad 45.

Still, at the end of the day, the best tones and feel definitely came from an unusually nice blackface Deluxe Reverb reissue and a Custom Shop Vibro-King. Of course, they both cost a lot more money, and lacked flexibility compared to the Stomp.

I also checked the Stomp out against assorted tranny and modelling amps and the POD 2. None came close to the sound and feel of the Stomp. You can hear the subleties of string, wood and pickup choice much more clearly through the Stomp than through the Line 6 or Johnson modelling gear.

In my experience, the DG Stomp might not be your exact cup of tea, but if it sounds brittle, tizzy or noticeably "digital", you're probably using it wrong. It takes some thought and experimentation to find the right cabinet simulator settings, etc., to match a given amplification system.

I'm in the process of setting up banks of patches, so that I can easily switch between the right settings for the power amp input on my Acoustasonic Junior, a keyboard amp, the PA at my home church, etc...

The best way to suss out the DG Stomp is to take it home for a week or more. Failing that, the best prospect for a quick audition in most music stores, is to plug it into a good keyboard amp (!!!??!!).

Final verdict:
- For intuitive access to slightly sterile, pre-processed Top 40
sounds, buy a POD.
- For really serious direct recording, buy a Lexicon Signature 284
and a rack full of pro gear.
- If you want a real relationship with your amp, buy a Kendrick,
Demeter, Bogner et al.
- For the rest of what you do as a gigging musician, go with
the Stomp.

Of course, none of you were greedy enough to expect "boutique" tube amp magic out of a sub-$500 footpedal, now were you?

Too early to tell. I have high expectations, though, as I have rarely been called to work on any piece of Yamaha gear that was less than 20 years old...

Even when I'm playing at a church where I know they have a great guitar amp, I throw the DG in my backpack just in case. Sure beats lugging a half-stack around as a backup...

The Toronto, Canada distributorship was very helpful when I was looking for old keyboard manuals a while back. No dealings since.

I've been playing and teaching (mainly bass, some guitar) for well over 30 years (ouch!). I own a broad range of pro and semi-pro PA, recording and other gear from AKG, Audio Technica, Fender, Mackie, Roland, Tascam, Sony and others.

I'm between good tube amps at the moment, while I finish my latest project (homebuilt, mildly tweaked blackface deluxe). I won't feel right until it's done. I still think that every guitarist should have access to a really nice small-to-medium-sized tube amp, for the sheer, inspirational pleasure of it.

In the meantime, the DG Stomp is a wonderful tool for day-to-day use. It's relatively inexpensive, extremely portable, unlikely to break down, easily replaceable, and incredibly flexible.

It makes a perfect companion for the Parker. Imagine hitting the gig with one guitar and a small knapsack, yet having access to every sound from acoustic-electric to vintage Fender, to hotrodded Marshall and beyond, all in lush stereo...

I can keep a one-trick-pony like my Deluxe at home, and use the DG for everything else. I would definitely replace it if it was lost.

I prefer it over the POD for five reasons: Better reported reliability, deeper programming capabilities, more lifelike amp tone and feel, better channel-switching for live work, and a big price advantage ($50 bucks less than the POD, and doesn't need an optional footpedal for channel-switching).

NOTE: If you're on a budget or have a bad back, consider this: The DG Stomp can transform a ho-hum old transistor amp into a cheap, lightweight tone monster. There are all kinds them on the used market, often with good speakers and a reasonably clean power amp.

For example, in my junk closet there's a Roland Cube 60 chassis stuffed in an open-back cab, driving an old JBL 12. In combination with the Stomp (plugged into the power amp input), I've got a great-sounding two-box setup that plays alarmingly loud, and won't break my back. Total investment? Less than the price of some cheesy "tubessent" solid-state practice amp.

Ive waited ages for this!The lurverly sound of the DG amps in a POD style format.90 preset and 90 user patches, and a digital out for pure signal maintanance.It has all the usefull effects and unlike most other multi fx units,it has none of those slightly frightening weird ones that sound like an alien screaming in agony(hurrah!).Too good to be true? You guessed it!A multi FX unit without a noise-gate? Are they crazy?I would rather pay extra and have completely quiet operation.Only other thing is the weird way of selecting patches but I'm sure I'll get used to it.Everything eles is BRILLIANT.

I use this with a PRS CE22(my baby!) going into the effects return of a Peavey bandit 112 amp.I have diverse musical taste and so I need loads of different sounds, and this is the only unit I have found that comes to within an inch of perfection.The presets are very good, varied with scope for tailoring them into your own sounds.Clean settings are gorgeous but tend to need compression to give them a little more punch.Overdrives are EXEPTIONAL and high gain sounds are nice and chunky with a certain smoothness but they still retain good clarity especially on that all important bottom end.People who expect this to sound exactly like a valve amp are FOOLS!What do you expect for this sort of money?But I'll tell you one thing, it gets alot closer than the other units.It has a real warm and organic feel to it.Eight amp models plus loads of speaker simulations gives you all the tones you need.Effects are top notch too, what a great tape echo! But I sorely miss that noise gate.Its worst on the LEAD models making them unusable in the studio.Add a boss NS2 for perfection but would rather pay extra to have it included.How annoying!Still get a ten though coz it sounds SO good!

Only just bought it.Looks very solidly built, but I havent gigged it yet.I would have to gig with backup but thats mostly because I'm paranoid!

No dealings with Yamaha yet.But i will contact them about the noise issue.I plead with all Stomp users to do the same.Lets get something done about this!

Ive owned loads of different multi fx units,as well as stompers, and have thoroughly tested the POD(I work in a guitar shop)and nothing gets close to the warm natural sounds of the Stomp(shame about the slightly crappy name!).But for pity's sake put a noise gate in it!(or at least bulls**t us that its designed to mimic the microphonic valve hum of a 1969 Marshall Plexi!)If you want youre guitar to sound like an elephant making love then buy a Digitech RPwhatever.If you want a seemingly infinite range of great quality useable sounds Get the Stomp.IT WILL MAKE YOURE LIFE BETTER!

Okay, out of the box this thing has some pretty amazing presets, within 10 to 20 minutes of sitting with the thing, I figured out how to start creating my own sounds. I have had it for 2 weeks and have yet to get into the "deep" editing mode. This is where each effect has a mind boggling array of tweaks. I will be spending many late nights with this thing, not that it is hard to use at all, it just allows you to create everything from your own chorus sounds and types to the frequency and sweep range of the wah that you can control with an add on expression pedal. Listen up people, this is nothing like tweaking the knobs on a chorus pedal, it can do that to, but lets say you want more chorus or just another kind, rather than go buy another pedal, make it on this. So to speak. This thing can be as simple as a distortion pedal, or as complicated as a rack full of gear. You get 90 user patches you can use, its hard not to go nuts filling them up. The manual is okay, its a manual. this thing has 2 output 1/4 inch jacks, 1 digital out,<----way cool...one guitar input with high and low sesitivity settings, which does effect how this thing responds, both are good. Midi in and out. expression pedal in and headphone jack. the effects are compression, chorus, flange, phaser, rotary, tremelo, delay, tape echo, 3 types of reverb, I may be missing one or two, forgive me. It also has wah if you have an expression pedal. All of the effects sound good but the phaser and compressor need tweaking. The cabinet simulator, which I might say is the freakin best I have ever heard, POD owners may now weep, has American, British and Yamaha 4x12s, 2x12s, 1x12s, 4x10, 2x10, etc. all sound good depending on the amp you want. The amp types are clean 1 and 2, crunch 1 and 2, drive 1 and 2, lead 1 and 2. I give it a 9, its as easy or hard as you want to make it. My only complaint is they could have put the hidden paramitters on the pedal itself, as is, you need the manual. by the way this thing has a built in tuner you can actually use, you step on the bank pedal for 3 seconds it goes into tuner mode and mutes your output to your amp so your audience does not hear you tune up. way cool. perfect live and for studio, I have a roland vs880 and this thing blows away anything that has. Cosm guitar effects my butt.

I use 2 les pauls, one with a 57 classic plus, 1 3 humbucker with JB SH-4s in it and a fat strat with a distortion humbucker at the bridge. This thing is NOT noisy at all. Super clean even without a gate. The effects are excellent, if you own a lexicon you might not wish to use the effects on this, other than that, happy tweaking. I use this in the effects loop of a 5150 head bypassing the 5150 preamp altogether and using a cheap 80s peavy P.A. head/mixer. both go into Fender RockPro 4x12s. and it will be all processed through a BBE sonic maximizer. Okay, now that the formalities are out of the way lets talk amps. The cleans are exellent, even with the gain cranked all the way up this thing is crystal clear. both of them, they are voiced differently, they are like completely different amps, I will not say one is better than the other, that is personal preferance, I do get greak funk tones and with an extra delay pedal combined with the delay and chorus on this I can "nail" that U2 edge tone, which is very difficult with just about anything else, trust me, I've tried. the crunch one and 2 are tweed sounding as all get out. The drive 1 and 2 are beautiful and the Lead 1 and 2, well what can I say, I have a 5150 head and dont even use the preamp anymore, its that good. So your asking yourself, what does it sound like? Mesa? Marshall? etc. I can tell you this thing sound like them but that would be a lie. I am not constrained by money and yet I still use this thing. The amps sound and FEEL like tube amps, even through solid state amps. I highly recomend you try this thing out. Use this as the preamp however for best results. And guys, combine the crunch and drive settings with on overdrive pedal and what can I say, you will get misty eyed, it is such a thing of beauty. I have used POD extensivly, I have owned Rivera, Fender, Marshall, Mesa, Peavy etc. this is my favorite amp tones ever, period. When combined with a ts9 maxon 0d808 etc. this thing makes me weep. its sounds so full and warm. no noise. the pedal just ads more crunch to the crunch sounds. and each amp sounds COMPLETELY different than the next. this is why I recomend an OD pedal. Some of the amp tones dont have enough gain for me but they sound beautiful, and an OD, head room for years. this thing is for everyone. Unless you consider a DOD death metal pedal to be the epitome of good tone. I wish I could give this higher than a 10.

the thing is built like a tank, all metal casing, heavy duty jacks and knobs, tiny out of the way effects buttons, It weighs like 5 or 6 pounds. Solid.

never dealt with them.

I play all kinds of stuff, from U2 to industrial. I have been playing for 7 years I have spent thousands of dollars on all types of amps, I have been gigging for at least 5 years, I know what road worthy gear is, and Im sold on this thing. I would replace it in a second. Everything on here is meant to be stored, and then recalled using the foot switch, great for live use, these guys did their homework. I wish I had heard of this a long time ago. How does it compair to the DG1000? same thing but without motorized knobs and with added effects. However to my ear the DG1000 has a tad more gain. Nothing a good OD pedal cant fix. You just cant beat this thing. The only thing I could wish for is a rackmount version, but then you would have to buy a foot switch. I applaud Yamaha. POD owners should take note. Heck everyone should. Even tube heads.

First, I'll be positive. This thing sounds far better than any other modeling box I've ever heard. It sounds about perfect on the Marshall, Boogie, and loud Fender amp sounds. The hype is true, and this box is a steal at $300. What it doesn't do AT ALL are the "expensive" clean sounds. It can do the funky clean Fender thang, but it can't get near a JC120 with TC Electronics chorus sound (think Tim Mcgraw's "Don't Take the Girl" or any Celine Dion song). Boss's GT3 can apporximate this far better. If you don't need that sound, this box is the way to go.

There seems to be some disagreement over whether this box is noisy or not. It is, sort of. If you have an over driven Boogie dialed up, it's gonna make some noise, even with no guitar plugged in. I'm using this with a Vintage Strat with Fralin single coils (if you're a Strat player and you don't have these, stop reading this immediately and go over to fralinpickups.com and order some) The noise is there, but not enough to make me bring a noise gate. A gate would absolutely ne necessary if your using high gain souds. Yamaha was really brain dead not to throw a noise gate in there and charge us another five or ten bucks.

The effects are merely ok in my book. I'm mainly disapointed with the chorus. It seems everytime I use a patch with it on, I'm bending down to adjust it. It never seems to sound quite right. Don't buy this for the effects. But it for the amp sims. They make the Boss amp sims sound like a $99 Zoom pedal.

It's built solid, except for the small plastic buttons. They seem cheap to me and if this didn't say "Yamaha" on it, I'd expect them to break. I'll give this a cautious "8".

I've been playing for 30 years, and I pay my mortgage with my guitar playing. When appropriate, I use this instead of an amp, going direct into the PA. I think it sounds great on the three previously mentioned sounds. I wish it was bigger, with easier banking up and down and more than three sounds in one bank. Hey Yamaha, how about making a pro unit with first class effects, a decent wah, and a JC120 amp model? Or better yet, I wish Boss would license some Yamaha amp models for their next FT3-5 foot pedal.

Wel, the features are known by now y suppose, so no comment from me here.
Versatile and well thought out.

Oke, my setup: Strat with Seymours (APS5 and SSl2 with a splitter in bridge position.TSL100 on a 4x12 1960A cab.Morley Bad Horsie, Boss NS2 , Marshall Compressor.My style : Rock, Blues and everything in between.
My experience so far with the Stomp is that for me it is the best simulation box y heard and played with. Y also got a POD2, and although the Rectified sounds are great on the POD and it has a bunch of amp simulations to choose from, its sound is still to thin not deep enough if you now what y mean.Then the Stomp, y compared the POD and the Stomp and must honestly say that indeed the Stomp wins without a doubt as far as it concerns the sounds.
Y hooked the Stomp up to the effect return of my TSL100 and hell , it sounds very, very oke.At some points even better then my TSL100.
Allright it didnt sound excactly like my TSL and if listened carefully y could hear that it was a digital sound and laks the warmth of a real tube but, the sound it produced was very pleasant.
The Stomp made the sound much smoother, not with the razorblade edges my TSL produces.Then y used the Stomp only as a effect processor by switching the Pre amp and Cab simulations off and hooked the thing up to the send/return of the TSL. Result: Far out! For live i,m ussing the Stomp this way, in combination with a NS2 (wich it surely needs!!)and a Morley Bad Horsie it gives me a great sound.
Chorus is fat and rich, Delay especialy the Tape echo is a bliss, Flanger gives me also very nice twinkel sounds , Rotary, if used with care, Hendrix, Trower is within reach.
The pre amp gives you all you need from full clean to heavy distortion
(however a rectified sound like the one you get on the POD y couldnt get out of the Stomp).
The overdrive channels do give you warmth of tone, 3 dimensional , round , violin like.
Very good.y also use this Stomper for Harddisk recording, and it sounds even better then played through the TSL , and also better then the POD wich sounds still to 2 dimensional when recorded to disk.
All with all, great device .Like mentioned by others, Fender and Marshall like tone , more then enough.Full gain or just an edge all were very good.Personaly y like sounds with just an edge of gain the best and the Stomp delivers this sounds very nicely.But if you wonna go Search and destroy, you wont be disappointed, lots of gain.

No experince here and also no complains. Build very reliable.

Oke. Had some questions concerning MIDI and phoned with YAMAHA in The Netherlands. They answered all my questions and more.
Interresting was the fact that the person y spoke with told me that maybe in the future there would come a Editing Tool(like Sounddiver software) for Computer editing. This will be interesting.

Overall: Great Box and very versatile thanks to the Foot switches you can use it live aswell, wich y already do.
Y would buy it again, without a doubt.
The only minus is the lack of a noise gate like mentioned by other users, but i.m using my NS2 for that and everything is fine.
Also the Compression could be a bit better.
Y think the STOMP is a box that dont get the attention it deserves, the sounds are much more tube like then the POD wich get the most attention. If you think of buying a pre amp box for recording or live playing you realy should check The Stomp out, it would be a shame if you didnt.

well, it takes a little time to get acquainted with this little guy. There are a lot of editable parameters, and they can be confusing, but it's also possible to get a great sound without diving in so deep. The cabinet models are very subtle, so that can be confusing. It takes a while to get used to the switching system also, but it's worth it.

I use this mainly to go direct for live playing and its awesome. The Lead 2 channel, and both Clean channels are delicious. I have a Music Man Sillouette with a SD '59 in the bridge and the sounds are so thick and powerful. Very Percussive. I like to go from very clean, to very distoted, and this thing is the first setup I have been actually happy with. The high gain channels are pretty noisy, but I think a noise suppresor would fix that(NS-2). All the effects are usable, very clear sounding. The phaser is kind of wierd, but I'm not using that anyway. Awesome amp simulators, and so many cabinets to pick from, and they make a huge difference.

I think this is the most solidly built piece of equipment I have ever seen, next to my lead bar. It is heavy, solid and just feels great in my back pack. I don't use it with my band where we jump around a lot, but I do use it for praise&worship at church where there is little or no chance that it will be jumped on, so yes I use it without a backup twice a week. I don't hae 300 bucks to spend just in case.

nevr dealt

I play what I like to call emo-influenced heavy pop, and I don't use this for that. I use this for modern praise and worship on Saturday nights at my church where we are very loud and yes, sometimes heavy. It works better than any other amp simulators I have had, and it sounds almost as good as my Mesa Dual Rectifier, better, in fact, on the clean. I only wish it had the ability to use two different modulation effects at once, since thats mostly what I use. Oh well, I use it with outboard effects anyway. This thing rocks, plain and simple. It doesn't sound digital, which is good, and I love it.

Very well thought out and desined! with the exception of the delay in the fx chain of the unit,,, it sounds great but a ping-pong (stereo) effect would of been.

i use to many guitars to list sounds good with all of them! I play all styles and the unit accomadates and works with them like a chamilion. others have mentioned a noise problem,, as i also encountered untill i relized the low/high impedence setting. Then I was amazed on how silent it was! there is no noise gate because there is no noise TOOOO gate! speaker simulations were the most realistic ive heard ANYWHERE recorded properly no one will know u recorded direct. Go listen to one for yourself. let your own ears judge for yourself. The chorus sound is not as good as it could of been,,,but im spoiled by T.C. studio processors. Still the chorus was good though.

Seems solid. I havent giged much with it yet.

I have been playing and teaching for 15 years. Working as a studio musicain for 8 and doing just music fulltime for 7. Ive heard alot of crap as far as digital "tube emulators". This is the first unit i have heard as a all in one box that sounds and FEELS like real amps for diffrent styles! And the digital FX are great especially the HALL reverb. would of gladly paid twice the price for it!