Yamaha DG100-212

Features already covered in previous reviews, though I have to say that people always give that wow/surprised look when they see the motorised knobs moving! I have never had to put the master volume any higher than 5, though it's played in places seating close to 1000 people. I usually mic it up with an SM57 anyhow. I use various Delay settings in most of my saved presets, also some Tremolo and Reverb. I am yet to find a Chorus setting that I like, though I must say I was so used to the lush stereo Chorus in my Fender Ultimate Chorus amp.

I Use mainly the Clean 1 and Crunch 1/2 preamps, the clean is not Fender-clean but more than clean enough for me; the OD/distortion preamps are great!

It would be nice to know which amp each preamp is modeled after, I recognise some but not all of them and haven't been able to find any documentation on this.

My guitars include an 82 Jap Squier Srat, an Ibanez JS1000 a 96 Mex Tele and a cheap strat-style project guitar I took apart, stripped, re-sprayed and put back together. I play mainly rock/blues/funk - this amp does it for any of those styles and works a charm with any of my guitars.

My other amp is a Fender Ultimate Chorus and I currently have a friend's Marshall Valvestate 8080 at my place, as well as access to an old Fender Twin silverface. I can't really compare these are they are so different, but the DG100-212 is my main amp and I really love the versatility this amp offers.

Is it noisy? I haven't found it to be, though I know my strat has been known to be noisy at times so any noise can be blamed on the guitar.

OK so this amp gets a bit heavy with all the traveling I do with it, but I just love 2x12 combos so I guess I am always going to be stuck with the weight issue.

I have and will continue to use this amp without a backup, at least, till music becomes my main job and can then justify having backup tools! I bought this amp new in 2001 and have never had the slightest glitch with it. It has traveled in cars on trips ranging from 10 Km to 1000 Km, I don't have a road case for it, but I can honestly say the amp is still in perfect condition.

Never had to deal with them.

I started learning classical guitar over 20 years ago and have been playing electric for the last 16 or so. I bought this amp with very little research as my Fender Ultimate Chorus had fallen off a Bassman cab, the input and effects loop jacks were broken and I didn't have time to get the amp fixed as I had to leave on the 1000 Km trip I mentioned earlier for a small tour. I tried the amp out in the local music store and immediately knew this was the one. I haven't regretted the purchase and would highly recommend this amp.

If the amp would break, I'd pay to get it fixed. If it was stolen, I'd cry a bit then hope the thief gets hit by a truck, then again if I knew who stole it, I'd whack them with my Cry Baby, otherwise I'd probably try out a Vox AC30 or hunt for a used DG100-212.

borrowed the amp from a friend for a couple years, great amp, crisp sound and lots of effects. Two complaints, clean selections are underpowered and there is so many presets it becomes slightly mind boggling . Almost too much going on.

I use mainly a yamaha guitar with two doubles and a single. I play punk/metal with a very slight blues/jazz/funk influence. The amp sounds great with the guitar, has any distortion you'd want(if you can find it) and has a punchy crisp sound. I have giged with this amp turned up to 8 or 9 with out excess noise. again the lack of power on clean settings is a bit of a let down but i mainly use distortion and they are great.

I don't know about before i started using it but in my time with it there has been no problems. I don't have a back up and haven't needed one. this amp has been draged around to rehersal halls, gigs, and home again. I am careful with it for the most part but there has never been a problem.

Not applicable, not my amp.

Overall if you can shell out the coin for one its a great amp. It is insanely powerful( not quite as much clean). If you don't need over a hundred presets maybe it is a bit of overkill. For me i love the amp but the randall it is being replaced with will work nicely.

128 presets that can be edited
8 amp types
bass, lo mid, hi mid, treble, presence eq controls
digital chorus, tremolo, delay, 3 reverbs
2 x 12 Celestion speakers
extra speaker output jack
midi controllable
wheels for better portability
I wish it had a built in tuner like my DG Stomp and Acoustic Stomp
quite easy on the eyes

Since I play fusion instrumental music, I require very versitile equipment, because my music has many different textures etc. I have owned several Marshalls, Voxes, Peaveys and others. I can usually find the good in any amp. However, I can find NOTHING bad about these Yamaha amps. I own 2 of them, plus a DG stomp. Excellent tone, whether I want a delicate clean sound for chording or a violin-like smooth, warm lead tone.

I own several guitars--American Standard Strat, Deluxe American Strat, Eric Johnson Signature Strat, Ibanez Industrial Jem, Ibanez Universe 7 String, and, to fill in the gaps, Line 6 Variax. All guitars sound great through this amp.

Suits any music style--I play instrumental fusion music (ala Satriani, Johnson, and this amp covers any sound I need--and I use quite a range of sounds)

This amp goes from the cleanest cleans (ala fender twin) to the warmest, heavy distortion (ala marshall or Mesa boogie) and many points in between

I have had no trouble with my Yamaha Amps. I never gig or record without a backup because I am a professional. If my gear breaks down and I do not have a Plan B, then that reflects bad on me, and I want to be hired again. However, with my Yamaha, I have never had to resort to Plan B.

I work for a Yamaha dealer, and they are one of the best customer service organizations we deal with.

I have been playing for 20-something years. I own other amps, such as Vox, Marshall, Line 6 and Peavey, but I always use my Yamaha amps.

If my DGs were stolen, I would go straight to Ebay and by another. Sadly, Yamaha does not make this amp anymore. WHY? It has great tone, great versatility, easy to use, and looks cool on top of all that. What is not to love? Yamaha, wake up and start making this amp again!

I think all the spec stuff has been covered by the other reviews, the only thing missing is an on board guitar tuner.

Sounds awesome, nuff said!

Built like a big heavy tank, my only concern is that it?s digital with lots of bells & whistles like motorised knobs and digital things can fail, but I?ve had no problems in the last 5 years since I?ve owned it.

Yamaha are great which surprised me, they answer emails and send out firmware updates and stuff with out any hassle.

I?ve been playing for a living for around 30 years and over that time I?ve used/owned many many amps/cabinets and combo?s including Vintage and New Fenders, Marshals, old Solid State HH stuff, Boogies and custom built stuff. And this Yamaha is the best amp I?ve ever owned, I mostly just use the Drive 2 amp and use my guitars volume and tone controls to control the gain and the midi board for live patch changes with different effects. I?m pretty current with the new amps on the market and if it was I?d buy another in a heart beat, in fact I should really buy another now while they are still around. BTW if you are reading this and thinking about getting a smaller version don?t the 2 x12 speakers is a big part of the sound.

A sweet little digital emulation amp.

The usual: a bunch of amps, a few effects, reverb, tape delay/echo.

100 Watss into 2 Celestion vintage 30s (60W handling a piece).

The motorized knobs are like the coolest thing!

I play punkish/emo mixed with 80s metal licks rock music (think Jawbreaker meets Van Halen). I wanted something that could give me a good Mesa Rectifier sound and a classic Marshall Plexi sound.

I can't say these are spot on, but I did play a rectifier combo back to back with the Yamaha and they sound really close.

I have also tried alot of the Line 6 products (Vetta, Spider, and Flextone) and this thing sounds way better than those! All of the Line and Behringer stuff I tried sound really fake.

This thing gets damn loud as well. I have no problem competeing with 4x12 stacks for noise. w00t

Ok, so I bought it used and it was 5 years old. So I am actually not worried about it at all. The shop guy had used it for a long time and really liked it, but from what he said he found it in a head and was using that now.

No clue.

I was actually looking at a new guitar, but I need a new amp at some point too. I was using a little Roland stack for messing around and running a DS-1 pedal through a GK bass combo. That did not sound so good. I had been playing bass in numerous bands through college and had not really touched a guitar, but my current band lost our guitarist, so I got my shred on! Long story short, I saw this baby and for the price, knew I was going to buy it. I had been thinking of picking one up online (I found a few stores that still have them) for $1100... so this was like a gift from heaven.

If someone stole it, I would go ballistic. This is hands down the best sounding emulating amp I have ever played. The Fenders are ok, the Vox models seem to lack something in tone, and the Line 6 models are seriously the fakest sounding amps I have ever played. It really is a shame that Yamaha stoped making these! Not to mention this sounds louder than the other 2x12s I have played. Seriously loud.

i don't know what year it was made in. Me and my husband, David,:) are death metal pepole. This amp has held up for a while. I haven't had any problems with it yet. I am very happy with it's performance.

We have a merlin Squire, and a B.C rich black warlock. The best you can own. It can pick up alot of distortion.

I can't really answer this question because we haven't had it for very long at all. But it's held up so far.

I thinkthat the warrenty is for about 2 years. I haven't had to deal with the company yet and i'm thankful for that. I haven't found a service center yet. Do they even have them in az?

2 years. I know the first thing I would do if this were ever stolen,is I would find the person who stole it and kick their ass, then i would probaly go and buy another one. The only thing that I don't like about it is when you first turn it on, it makes too much noise, but then it calms down when you start to play. Well people those are my comments. I know that they weren't much, BUT TOO BAD!!! I love you David!!!!! I LOVE YOU DAVID! hope you read this! Jenny.

This is a update of my review December 2002. I have had this amp for 18 months and played live with it every week. It has been the best musical investment i have ever made in over 35 years. The tone has stayed constant even at flat out volumes and the midi board is fabulous. I have sold my Silverface as it was just gathering dust. Well done Yamaha. Jim Kirwin Manchester UK.

never needed em.

Have the amp since 2000 and it's been rocking since then without any problems. Have updated it (tremolo and chorus) a year later and that even made it more versatile. I play rock, blues and oldies and it covers EVERY style ever played! Even in spite of its weight it is always my first choice on stage. By the way, since I've ben playing it, sound mixers keep asking why my stage sound is so perfect and keeps cutting through all the rest of the noise. For them it's often a mystery why a such a vintage-looking amp is so perfectz to handle. I usually use a Shure SM57 in front of it, that's all.

I mainly use Fender strats with this amp, but any other will do, too. It handles everything quite perfectly. Because of the amp's power i can be heard at ANY time ANYwhere! But the best thing is its response to the guitar's volume knob: it's not like that digital crab but just like a REAL valve amp: if you want to play clean or crunch with just one sound simply use the guitar-volume: the amp somehow "knows" what the sound must be like... it's really awesome!
As said before, I use to mike it, but even its direct out is absolutely OK if there's no other way to desk.

Absolutely reliable, no problems so far. Amp has to be on stage nearly every week for three years now and it still keeps rockin'...

Customer support (homepage) perfect; everything so far worked well (update, support service)!

THE perfect amp for nearly every musical style whether it be blues, jazz, country, rock or metal, its versatility can cover EVery player's wish. You don't want to use any digital crap by other companies, because the Yamaha is WAY better. It doesn't make any problems, it's not noisy at all, it can be used with ANY MIDI-device or stomp box (tubescreamer or wah-wahs are great in front of it!). only problem is its weight...but, well, considering its sound and the fact that you won't need to carry any further equipment that's OK again. I LOVE it!

Had this amp for a few months - rather than go into technical details I'll cover how I use it, and what you can expect to get out of it if you treat yourself to one.....

Background - I went into a guitar shop in Windsor, England for a set of strings and came out with this. And a new US Fender Strat.

Forgot to pick up the strings though....

This guitar really reflects the guitar you use, so to get the most out of all the settings, it's good to have a few guitars. Eg the country tones really come alive if you use a Tele, but better to Swtich to a Streat for the bluesy ones, etc, etc. I don't own a Les Paul, but given how good the classic rock tones sound just with a Strat, you can imagine what a LP would give you!

Massively versatile tones. Unlike others here, I tend to use the pre-sets mostly, rather than digging in and creating my own from scratch - which I know I should do really, but hey, you get older, you don't spend 6 hours a day playing any more, you grab half an hour here and have a little play when you can...

There's around 100 tones - and the vast majority are very usable. Chicago blue, country tones, classic rock, fingerpicking styles, delta blues, texas blues. Even the ones which have been modelled on players rather than styles - SRV, Clapton, Knopfler - do actually go a long way to achieving their tone - they haven't been slung together as a gimmick.

Suits all my styles, plus a few I've never tried! I've never played metal, but it's hard to resist selecting the 'Rising Son' tone and hammering away at in the style of your favourite Swedish poodle haired metaller!

One great feature of this amp - the tone stays fantastic at all volume settings - keep it low if you want, you won't lose much.

Downside? You can end up playing with it endlessly - ooh, look, an 80's rock tone, hey, jazz, that'll be fun, wow, listen to this one with all the echo and delay! Do I have MY tone yet from it? Not really, though I'm narrowing it down gradually.

Twin speakers are a great luxury - helps give depth to the tone.

It even has a fair go at useful tones using an electro-acoustic, though that's not what it's meant for.

Nothing gone wrong - but I wouldn't like to drop it on its front.

Sent off an email once asking about footpedals - never got a response which was a bit disappointing.....

I love it - last amp I'll buy. It's big and heavy, and will remain in my playing room (up on a cabinet at ear height, which I like - sounds better, and no bending down to fiddle with things). My gigging days are over to be honest though I would love to have taken this out - it really impresses and (this could be a downside depending on how 'pure' you are) it's damn easy to get a really great tone just by hitting a pre-set.

But as I say - I've been through the years of knowing my equipment back to front, changing strings every week, taking things apart and putting them back together, testing gold v silver leads, etc. These days I just want to plug in and play for a hour or so when I can and enjoy myself. This amp DEFINITELY lets me do that.

After looking around for approximateley two years for a reliable amp with onboard effects I bought the DG 100 in october 2002. The reviews by other owners were shown to be honest and I decided to dive in for a considerable investment.I have been playing in a sixties band for 30 years and have always used a Silverface twin with Boss Chorus/Delay/& Compression Pedals. The DG came with the chorus and trem update already done by Yamaha. It was easy to sort out the controls to get a good sound immediately, and the store facility is also pretty bulletproof. I only really use the clean sounds, so the Amp modelling/Distorion does not really feature for me, except that the drive function makes it really punchy. The seperate gain and master controls work well, but you have to get the trim correct on the input jack or your pickups will overload the front end resulting in a sound like a wasp in a bottle. I use the DG two or three times a week on live gigs. A MFC 10 Midi Foot Controller is essetial if you are playing live. You set the amp output knob on maximum and use the volume pedal on the MFC 10. This gives plenty of deep volume like a Tube Amp but really picks out the differences of the pickup positions on a Passive Stratocaster.For me. it is loud enough for my gigs in 200 to 300 seat clubs.

The DG 100 has a pair of Celestion Vintage Thirty Speakers, they are sweet for the clean stuff and can rock it up when driven. They can handle anything that this amp can give them. There is a lot of variety in the different sounds available and small adjustments to the controls make a subtle difference to the overall sound, also, the amount of headroom for a tranny amp is pretty impressive, especially when you play next to a bass rig like a SWR or Ampeg with Trace Cabs.

Is it Reliable ! I have not had it long enough to know, but I have bought a flight case to protect those motorised knobs. I take it on its own to gigs so I must trust the reliability thing. The Silverface Twin is in retirement for now, but its nice to know that its still there and wont be sold.

I have other Yamaha Products (EMX Powered Mixer) 6 years, no problems so the One year warranty does not really bother me, although 2 years would be fair for a high priced piece of kit like this.

So. Whats Good Or Bad with this Amp. Its a pretty well thought out piece of kit, obviously designed by a person with a good knowledge of the requirements of all types of guitarist. If mine was stolen I would buy another one without hesitation. You dont need a physics degree to make it sound nice,But its pretty heavy for a Tranny and a compression option would have been good for those country licks. There are a lot of options in this sector of the amp spectrum, and the DG can meet most of them head on. I know, because I spent two years trying them all before I got a DG, I have always been a Tube Man and to find a tranny with Goolies is great for me. Also,the birds nest of wires round my feet has disappeared and stumbling round trying to find pedals in the dark is a thing of the past.Athough the MFC 10 weighs 7lb and is pretty big.