Yamaha DG Stomp

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.

it's very easy to use. the layout is perfect and the turning of knobs as on real effect pedals or amps is very nice. no scrolling through menus and sub-menus. you just have to memorise a view things when it comes to decide if you want to use the dg stomp for recording or for playing through an amp and using the effect section only without the amp/cab simulations. but the manual is very helpful for that.

i mostly used the dg stomp for direct recording with my MAC. it was very silent, almost no noise at all, except when using lots of gain, but that's normal. the dg stomp is ideal for getting "classic rock" sounds. it sounds very warm and real when dialing in some vintage crunch sounds or overdrive. i loved those sounds in combinations with the american or british 4x12 simulation. you can realy record some AC/DC, Led Zepellin, Black Sabbath ecc. with it. i found not that much difference between the various cab simulations, thats why i almost ever only used the american or british 4x12 or 2x12 simulations. i didnt use the "clean" and "distortion" amps a lot, but they were ok.
i absolutely loved the effect section! you simply turn off the amp/cab simulation and you can use the effects as normal stomp pedals by turning them on/off. especially good sounding to my ears are: tremolo, rotary, echo and spring reverb. the other effects are very good as well. i would descirbe 'em all as warm-sounding and not digital at all.
i bought myself the yamaha expression-pedal because i wanted to use it as wah-wah, but it didnt not work out great.

i am writing in the "past" of the dg stomp because ... it's broken. i had it for 3 years and it always worked great. few weeks ago i plugged in and no sound came out. i send it to repair to yamaha and they said that the central procession is gone and it would cost about 150 euro to get it fixed. to much for me. in my opinion it should have lasted a lot more, especially since i never used it outside my bedroom and almost exclusively for recording.

they made me pay 30 euro only for shipping the dg stomp to repair and for telling me it was broken and not worth to fix!!!! who am i? bin laden? i dont have money to burn - that made me angry!

if you are looking for a recording tool to get a great "classic rock" sound with effects this is for you! if you are playing live and need some effects to depend on but dont want to carry around a big pedalboard, this is for you! if you are a metal-head, stay away from this as you want get the sound you need out of it.
my dg stomp is broken now and i won't replace it, although it really fit my needs and i was happy with the music i recorded with it. i will buy a tonelab now as i have tried it out and it beats the dg stomp.

What more could you want? Maybe more individual effects. I may buy another stereo chorus pedal so I can use the (excellent) DG tremolo simultaneously.

I was just playing along with the new Neil Young Greatest collection and was really amazed at how easy it is to jump around (using manual, not patches--I still haven't gotten around to learning patch set-up) different amp sounds from track to track. My new set-up is much better: the DG is plugged into the LINE IN on back of my old orange Cube-60. Previously I had the stereo leads split to instrument inputs on the cube and a Fender Deluxe. That sound was thin, apparently from wrong levels. Using the DG as the preamp for the cube 60 is a revolution baby! At home I could never turn the Deluxe up loud enough to get the tone and harmonics only available between 6 and 10. I do know a little bit about tube tone, been using Fender Deluxe, Deluxe Reverb, and white Twin amp. Back in the early 80s I got the Roland Cube 60 as a booster. Put a JBL in it and have used it as a second, stereo setup. Prior to getting the DG I used Boss stereo chorus and mono delay pedals. I'd always have the Deluxe a little louder than the Cube. Nice fat sound. I sold the Boss pedals after I got the DG but may get another Chorus pedal as that isn't as good on the DG. The delay is very good though. Anyway, I just plugged the DG into the Line in on the Cube for the first time and now I'm not using the Deluxe. In fact I may sell it for a premium and get a Jazz Chorus as a second amp. The DG amp models and preamp/effects sounds are unbelievably great as a direct in to amp. I would guess that an effects loop would be even better. As a direct box for recording this should be swell. Unlimited variety and TONE. I've never heard overtones like I'm getting at "let the neighbors sleep" volume.

Beautifully overbuilt. Yamaha rep is good. Knobs. Lots of knobs!

Would buy another. I sold my 20-year-old Boss DM-2 delay pedal on eBay for more than I paid new for the amazin DG Stomp. I see there's a new Stomp that's designed for computer recording but all the beautiful chickenhead knobs are gone!!!! Fuggedaboudit.

This is a nice well built unit.
It has a lot of good sounds and I was able to clone my rhythm easily.
The speaker sims work well if you know what you are looking for.
It is a great pracice or recording tool.

The sounds range from real good to why bother?
Again good for recording rhythm tracks.
I would NEVER bring this to a gig, or for that matter, plug this into an amp.

it is only good into a mixer where you can eq and add some compression ( And I use the Stomp compressor too!)
Maybe it would sounfd good into an amp with no preamp.

One mistake I think I have been making ( after reading about Holdsworth in GP) is keeping the gain too high. Maybe lowering that will make it better.
Really some days I like this thing. Some days it's too cold.

Obviously it's built like the proverbial tank.
The chicken heads are nice .
The effects are actually top notch,
Tape delay is very good.
The Phaser and rotary are standout.

I'm sure Yamaha has decent Customer ealtions but since their stuff never breaks , who knows?

I've played 41 years. This is a nice toy.
My nephew asked me to play through "Dark side of the Moon" with the CD and The Gilmour tones just melted in right withh the CD. Both thru a mixer.
The most amazing thing about it ios that with major tweaking , it sounds like I always do which is worth a good laugh if nothing else.
Shows it's range tho'.

This pedal is extremely easy to use and edit patches. I find i can get a good sound quickly and easily and the manual is clear and helpful too. The patches are arranged in groups of 3 and the footswitches can be used to switch between the three in a group or to switch effects on and off. The tap delay is also great i only wish the tap delay time would set the time for the mod effects but its not a necessity.

I run my Yamaha EG-112 guitar (like a Pacifica) into the DG-Stomp and the left output into a Kustom Solo 16-R (great sounding amp!!!). Its very quite; no noisier than is reasonable. There is a LOT of gain available when using the lead amp types and along with compression the sustain is crazy. The effects are good although i usually only use chorus. Compared to something like a Boss ME-50 (which a friend of mine has) this is more oriented toward the amp modeling than the boss which is more the effects side of things. I dont have a pedal to plug into the dg-stomp so i haven't been able to try out the wah. Overall the sound of the pedal is awesome. i can get pretty much any sound of distortion/overdrive/crunch/clean with it that i need. And its not so fancy that u feel like ur playing a computer. I had an RP-80 before i got this pedal and i have to say that the effects and especially the amp modelling of the yamaha is far better. It costs a lot but its definitely worth it. I would say all u need is this pedal and a decent amp and ur set with all u need. I am and for the money i spent on my setup I couldnt ask for anything better.

I think i can depend on it. also the stereo output means that if one channel goes i can use the other still (i use it in mono). And its Yamaha. In my experience their stuff lasts well. Its no-nonsense equipment with performance to match.

The original pedal i bought used was only working on the right channel; the left one was completely gone. So the guy at the store phoned customer service and i now have a new pedal, with no problems whatsover. They were very helpful and kind.

Excellent pedal. i just wish, as i said before, that the tap delay would set the Mod effect's speed. Maybe a few more parameters on the effects wouldnt hurt either. And just for kicks a ping pong delay...
I would definitely try to get another pedal like this one if it were stolen. It does what i need it to do and without frustrating me and taking forever. Definitely worth checking out before buying something else.

See below.

I wish the speaker sims were on a rotary knob or at the very least the speaker sim button was closer to the utility button so one-handed changes were easier to execute.

Also, I wish you could still adjust gain and eq settings while the speaker sim utility is engaged.

No rating here because I don't want to add to or subtract from the hype--I'll simply offer my opinion and you can make of it what you wish.

My current set up, which is used for home practice and praise & worship services, is: Mex Strat equipped with two humbuckers--a SD '59 neck and an Anderson HN2+ bridge. From there I either plug into a Barber Direct Drive SS or a Boss LM-2 Limiter. Then into the DG Stomp, which is amplified by a Roland KC-300. Sometimes I run from the KC-300 into the house pa. I've been using this set up regularly for over a year now with little to no complaints. I am very satisfied.

The Roland's compression driver (soon to be replaced) can be very buzzy but I can eq the Stomp to eliminate or at least reduce that. What I found, even recently, is how sensitive every setting can be and how that affects your tone. For example, turning the gain or up or down, even a little, can drastically affect your eq. Thus, you have to compensate. Volume does the same thing, perhaps even more so. Let me get to the point--each amp model in the DG Stomp has a number of sweet spots like a real amp would and only patient tweaking will give you what you are looking for.

I do not think I would be happy with the DG Stomp on its own. The Barber fattens the tone and makes fast playing easier. However, it also makes it tough to get clean or overdrive tones with it on. I know, "so just switch the Barber off". But then you get the somewhat dull DG Stomp tone. So, I have been using the Boss LM-2 to enhance picking dynamics lately. I really like this. I can now get nice, fatter cleans, and mild, warm overdrives. Shred gains are not as good but turning up the gain on the amp model seems to work fine.

All in all, I am very pleased with my set up and have been for quite sometime. In fact, I have made attempts to move on to other set ups but keep coming back to this one. The Roland KC isn't the greatest but I occasionally use it to amplify my voice, drum machines, and bass so it stays. And I actually prefer the KC to the Tech 21 Power Engine I recently bought. The KC's speaker crunches up much more while the Power Engine sounds dull in comparison, probably due to the speaker.

Let me reiterate--harsh and buzzy treble tones can almost always be eq'd out with very minute adjustments of the eq. The same goes for honky mids. Don't be afraid to try bizzare eq-ing, either. I've been surprised at the results I have gotten by turning everything to "0" and moving on from there.

Finally, I have only attempted to direct record with the DG Stomp on a couple of occasions. I was not very pleased and thought micing the KC sounded better.

No problems whatsoever.

They've always answered my emails. Incredible considering the size of the company.

I know there are many modelers out there, many I have yet to try. But I will say this, the DG Stomp has been a great modeler for me. Finding one that works with the sometimes-to-harsh Roland has been a challenge but one the Stomp has lived up to.

I have to give Yamaha credit--for their first generation modeler, they really nailed it. I would like to see them continue to improve the Stomp. The Magic Stomp doesn't count, in my opinion. I thought it was horrible.

It's a feature-laden preamp in stompbox format. Very good sounding digital effects combined with a modelling preamp. Easy to alter the settings as they are (nearly) all accessible by turning the knobs. Only some special effect parameters have to be accessed by pressing a button and simultaniously rotating a knob.
But changing the bank is a bit problematic - just read the manual.

I use a Gibson Gothic SG into a Fender Vibrosonic Reverb and an Engl 4x12" cab. This is my main amplifier, but I tried this thing with an old Dynacord Excellent (PA with 2xEL34), too.
I have to admit that the clean and crunch settings sound decent. And the drive setting is pretty cool - clean is really hard to overdrive, crunch clears up nicely with volume adjustments on the guitar and drive is beefy. But the major drawback is the lead - the only channel usable for palm-muting. There's a really ugly fizzing noise riding on the distorted sound that just sounds fake.
I also used headphones with this device - and the lead-channel sounded like an endless loop of sampled distorted tone. Hard to describe, but just sounded really bad and artificial.

The effects are top notch - but I didn't really get the difference between the two delay types. They both sounded good but the tape delay wasn't really that different. The digital effects are good - phaser is a little bit plain - stand alone phaser just sound better.

Overall it's a nice practice amp for using it with headphones - but the fake sounds it produced are just not acceptable for this price range. I sold mine.

It seemed very solid. Only the 12V~ wall wart was a little flimsy - but I think it can be replaced with any AC 12V wall wart with matching current capability.

Haven't dealt with them.

It's a very well built stompbox; the included four footswitches are a great idea - I wish more effect manufacturers of digital stompboxes would include them instead of an expensive footboard.
But the sound quality was unacceptable bad for me - even though the effects are hifi.

This is a foot-pedal meets Line 6 Pod sort of system. Does everything I want and is mighty quiet. Seems to be discontinued now - which surprised me as all the Yamaha kit seems very solid and professional quality. Edititing patches is easy, but the manual is a bit light on hard info in an understandable format. Needs a bit of studying to get the best out of it. It isn't what you might cal intuitive.

Ecellent and quiet. All the tone of the guitar seems to come through and the effects applied on top. The tremelo is a bit weak if you want heavy and sharp volume cycles. Chorus, Phaser, Compression, Phaser, Flanger all OK and sound great. Rotating speaker is a bit warbly. Reverb, Tape Delay, Digitla Delay all sound good.

Very solidly built and I'd expect nothing to break in normal professional use unless your road crew are animals.

Haven't used this but the guys at Yamaha I've spoken to in the UK are very helpful.

Great - does all I want it to in every situation. Not extreme but nice and professional sounding effects and quiet. I love the headphone out so I can use this as a practice amp with no other equipment needed. (Stereo too)

I need to add a footpedal to this to be able to Wah and use as an effects swell pedal.

Just like a amp.
Editing is just like a amp.
The manual is great if you have experience with them.

Played regularly with strats and two HB guitars with great results.
The effects are awsome and very adjustable in every way with little effect on your real tone.
Used with Old fenders and staight to a keyboard amp and direct to
PC console with great results.
I can cop tones from every catagory with minamal effort, I love the
old stuff as much as the the new stuff.
If you need more add a pedal infront it works great, My favorite is
a Fulltone distortion pro. but whatever. Anything works. A wah? Go for a Teese, it's amazing. I like the DG for modulation.(SPX 90)

I use the DG every week to save my vintage tube amps without fail.
Occasionally My amp stalls and the DG is allways ready with only a
pull and plug in with great results. Now that I know this thing the
band feels secure if I pull it out. So I locked it in on my first
pedalboard ever. Now I can switch effortlessly with it's many outputs. I bang it around with minamal respect and the thing still
is ready when I call apon it. It's a must!

Did'nt need to deal with them.
It's the SPX effects with amp modeling. NICE

I'm not going to catorgize my style I like music period!!
I've been playing for 30+ years and I don't want catagories I want
good grooves with feeling. Other gear-Matchless. Theres no match.
Start with a great tone and add to it, if you messed it up start
over. I have it.

I sold my FX550 in favor of a newer effects pedal, and I wanted something that had footswitches on it, I'm rather lazy carrying around stuff. Since I loved the 550 Distortions, I searched for some Yamaha products and found this. The preamp knob lets you choose among 8 amps sims, from two leads to 2 cleans, with OD and crunch in between. This little thing also has Chorus, (not a very good one though) Flanger, Compressor, delay, echo, and spring, hall and plate reverbs and speaker sym. No noise gate which I believe is needed and no extreme effects like pitch transposer or harmonizers. Very basic and ideal if you play straight forward guitar.

I use Strats with Gold Lace Sensors, and although in the beggining it was hard getting that Eric Johnson sound, I achieved after tweaking it a lot. The distortions here are not ver well suited if you're into rather heavy metal music. This feels much more like a 70's and maybe 80's dist pedal than anything. Actually, theres no such thing as distortion, you get distorted sounds via the Amp Sym Knob presets, then tweak them within a limited Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence range, like a real amp, no fancy EQ here. Chorus is very dry and lacks depth and richness, but if you're not playing 80's British Pop, you can get away with this. Delay and echo are great (again, I cloned Eric Johnson's echo) Reverbs ara cool too, and the speaker sym is great for headphone playing, but the DG is really a speaker box, you need to plug it in.

I use it on gigs, and it is great. It's very solidly built, knobs are certainly going to last longer than buttons and are easy to tweak. At first there is a learning curve, but then you can program patches rather easily. I hope the foot switches last some years, there's no indication of the contrary, and also seen easy to fis, if broken.

Where I live (In Mexico City) it certainly is lousy. You can not drop you items in ANY Yamaha store, you ahve to travel to the other side of the city to their service center to drop items for fixing, after paying a 15 dollar fee just for looking into the item and telling you what the problem is. They could improve their service.

I've been playing for 17 years, I like pop and blues, so this little bos works great for me. The distortions are very tube like, and the small design allows me to carry it around. I like the integrated foot switching system, love the design, and dislike the learing curve and the preset patches, they totally suck, you can use one or two of them, and they are supposed to be built by German and UK expert musicians. Right. You are supposed to be able to download patches but so far, haven't found any software for that, you have to get the 350 DLS Yamaha Midi storage system for that. No way Jose!. If it were stolen I think I might buy it again, but, I might look for something else also. Then again, I hope it won't get stolen.