Yamaha DG100-212

2 inputs (high & low) plus you can fine tune the input sensetivity
8 different amp voicings (jazz clean, fender clean, fender crunch, british crunch, jcm 800, boogie, rectifier, soldano).
good EQ (bass, low mid, high mid, treble, presence)
tape delay, reverbs (spring, hall, plate), chorus and tremolo
motorized knobs (you can actually see your current amp setting)
2 x Celestion Vintage 30 speakers
recording out (adjustable level!) for recording or PA
effects loop
MIDI in/out (Tech21 Midi Moose fits perfect^^)
128 user presets
more than enough headroom for clubbing

I play all kinds of guitars like US strats, Washburn Nune Bettencourt (E-flat), Ibanez Reb Beach, Custom Line6 Variax, etc. through this amp and the best thing about it is that you actually can hear the character of the guitar through the amp (I had the POD and the AX-212 from Line6, both sounded the same with every guitar). I play everything from jazz to blues to rock, jam to Dream Theater or Megadeth, Genesis, ACDC, you can get almost every sound you want out of this amp. Could use some more gain, however if you use a good overdrive/distortion in front of the amp, you can get pretty good sounds (Nuno's pornografitti sound - no problemo).
You can get nice clean tones by just lowering the volume on the guitar, great for a digital amp!!!!

Had some problems with the amp (software problems, couldn't change channels any more), but I did the upgrade and since then I have had no problems whatsoever (upgrade includes chorus and tremolo effects, can be found in the DG group at yahoo).
The amp itself is rugged and sturdy, so don't think it would break easily.

Never dealt with them, however this amp went out of production about 8 years ago, so I'm not expecting the best....

Been playing for 16 years now, and this amp is great if you dont want to spend money for 3 or 4 different amps to get the same variety of sounds. This amp is much better than my Line6 AX-212, much more transperent.
If it were stolen? I'd cry like a baby (wah wah wah...) and probably look for another one. The new JVM Marshalls do look like a alternative when it comes to flexibility though ;-)

All in all: the Yamaha DG 100-212 is a great amp!

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.

Digital emulator amp. 100 watts, 2 vintage celestion speakers, 3 reverbs, delay (tape echo), 1 channel, motorized knobs, headphone jack (yes it has it, but it's not a toy amp), no foot controller comes with the amp. Professional piece of gear. The amp is really versatile if you need to know if the machine can produce different shades of sounds. Jazz, fusion, full warm cleans, and creamy distorted lead sounds and all others in between. You can't even compare this amp with other famous digital amps. This is a real amp based on a new concept. Not a toy good for Christmas present. One mere channel is not to much indeed, but the fact that you can count on 128 preset through a midi pedalboard should lets you face every gig. Speakers are simply among the best. Celestial performance! Maybe they should add a midi pedalboard. Without it the amp lose half of its potential.
The amp is powerful, not as a 100 watts valve AAA amplifier, but you can surely play live with it (for a better live sound you should always mike any amp, it plays better and moreover, you don't need a 300 watts beast to face a club audience. Granted!). The best thing is that because of the fact that it is not a valve amp you can play it in your bedroom at a consistent volume and still have a really nice sound that can be extremely close to a true valve amp with its volume up (and your neightboors will not call the Police to jail you!). This is a thing that I did not read in other reviews. In the end a lot of people play the most in their bedrooms, unless they are rockstars, so I think it is really important to have an amp that could be played in every situation. This amp can do this thing gracefully. Why own an amp that can be played in a stadium if you are not a rockstar? Just to look at it and think (Wow I own this valve wonder so I should be a great player)? (I did it so I know what I'm saying) Thinks to your needs when buying an amp....
Uh it' heavy, but absolutly not as a valve amp......Did you ever try to move a 100 Mesa combo?
I miss the compressor .....but you can buy one for a ridicolous price and so you have everything you may need to shape great sounds...

The amp is truly to the guitar you plug in. This does not happen with line 6 toys for example. Line 6 (talking about the flextones head and combo) has good sounds but you can plug in a tennis raquet or your electric toothbrush and it sounds the same. It's not enough for a player who really needs to hear and feel his fingers and his guitar. Sounds are really nice from Jazz to distorted leads and consistent crunches. What set this amp apart from the other digital stuff is the clean sound. This is quite nice, not obviously full and lushious as my '65 Fender Twin sound but it's quite good. You can surely play a jazz date with this amp and sound wonderful. You can't dream a valve amp and buy this one. Valve amps are something different. This is a tool that was meant to be different. It does its job extremely well. Distorted sounds are spectacular (if you consider that this is a digital emulator). They are fully, creamy, rich, again not as a Mesa turn up to 7 or 8, but who cares? This amp is a nice piece of gear that stand on its own, that can help you in a lot of situations, and is a funny thing to play, a joy. A little of noise here and there, but nothing dramatic.

You never know.... shit happens with every thing you own.....once I owned an Ampeg valve wonder (that had a montruous sound), but it never really worked properly......this thing is very well crafted and I think that if you take well care of it, the amp will last. But who knows?

15 years of playing. I owned every valve amp you can think of, VHT Pitbull, Ampeg, Mesa (a lot of them), Marshall, Fender (a lot of them), Peavey 5150, and I can tell that this thing sounds extremely well really close to these valve babies. But try to enjoy this amp without compare it... does it sounds good to you hear? Well, buy it. Every amp is a piece of your sound so if you think it can match your palying that's great! Consider tha fact that it is a really clever amp that can help you shape your sounds and make your practice excercise in your bedroom and can give you the right same right sound at a very consistent volume..... this is an important thing.

This is a followup review for this amp. Don't buy it!!!! i loved the amp itself, but since the day I got it, it was faulty, and not a reapair guy in Arizona could fix it. First, it started popping after being on more than an hour. Then the knobs went bad, and sometimes wouldn't move. Finally the midiprograms just died completely. Luckily I pawned it off on guitar center, and bought an old fender, best move I ever made. It's a great amp, it just is built like a piece of shit.

If you could give a zero, I would. The customer service is pathetic. They said since it was used, I had no warenty, and they couldn't even tell me what was wrong. They said that by the time I shipped it to them, it would be cheaper to just buy a new one. Whatever, that's the last digital amp I'll ever buy.

100 watts, 2x12" celestion vintage 30`s, built-in chorus, tremolo, tape echo and 3 reverb types, digital modelling (8 amp types) motorised faders. It`s big enough...it`s heavy enough...it`s loud enough and it`s clever enough.

I play a rickenbacker 330.We play The Jam Who Kinks Beatles Small Faces stuff as a three-piece and I personally couldn`t find a better amp for anything like the money...

lots of gigs and never squeaked...Check life insurance policy if lugging another one of these around as a backup.

Had a problem with the version upgrade...you seem to need the most obsolete soundcard you can find...I spoke to Mick Sweeney at Yamaha and he was very helpful.

playing guitar for 20 years - but I stop for meals and bathing etc.
for what it`s worth here`s my opinion...

1 find the guitar you REALLY want and buy it
2 find the amp you REALLY want and buy it
3 go out and play and enjoy it...you`re a long time dead

I`ve played through Vox Fender Marshall Laney Carlsbro H/H and Yamaha amps.
I own a Yamaha DG100.

This AMP is for sale, contact me at motokev@networld.com
$350 + shipping
this amp has the additional tremelo, delay and chorus
its a vey versatile amp
also has a line out for direct recording, which works very good
comes with vintage celeston speakers, a nice touch !

the amp has to be the best sounding effects amp around
never herd one with such great tube like tone.
the amp is very quiet
i think u can get any sound you desire with this amp
i wish it had a compressor, but you can almost achieve it with the delay.
The revebs are very very good

no problems with the amp
the amp was damaged during shipment
it was a BLEM from the yamaha factory

don't know

what do i like ?
1. simple to use
2. sounds very good
3. very versatile
4. reliable
the amp has some damage to the cabinet
can be repaired

check other reviews for features, one note ..line6 misses one big feature of the yamaha amps....TONE and FEEL!

every guitar that you plug in sounds like itself! i use a (real) kramer pacer custom 2 and a yamaha pac 311s( humbucker tele). i play all types of music but my band does hard rock, this amp can do it all. the clean is sweet and the other models do what they are intended to do, i could care less if it modeled mesa boogie, vox, marshall,blah blah, this amp models sounds.and it has so much tone it is amazing! it sings ,it has dynamics and the FEEL is so cool. our bass player has been whining for me and the other guitar player to get marshalls, but since i got my dg100 he could not stop telling me how awesome my amp is!!!

i trust yamaha, they do have thier act together and this is a solid amp. i don't even think of it as a digital/solid state amp. it is a real amp!! i have had chance to play a friends mesa b rectoverb, and yes it sounds nice but it didn't sing to me like this, honest! the yamaha is so easy to dial up. and you can have all you sounds saved . every thing it does it does for a reason, some people think the motorized knobs are a gimick, well it is there a visual reference and easy tweaking. any one who spent any time "on the floor" tweaking a multieffect processor knows how crappy matrix tweaking is when you should be playing. yamaha dg100,, yeah i trust it and they make good gear. try one .

don't know, never dealt with them personally. but all the yamaha gear i have had has always been top notch.

been playing 20 years on and off. if i lost it i would get another, if it was stolen i would kill the asshole. one reviewer complained of the weight, well it is a 100 watt twin celestion combo with tone, it will weigh what it weighs..duh. who wants an amp designed around a specific weight? and the guys who compare it to monster racks should dig thier heads out of thier asses, it is a two 12 combo at 100 watts, would you compare a mesa boogie studio 22 to a dual marshall stack setup? and if it doesn't sound like your amp with a tube screamer in the front end , it is because it isn't your amp and does't have a tube screamer in the front end dummy. marshall doesn't sound like fender and fender doesn't sound like mesa. bottom line don't take my word or the others word, listen for yourself and forget all the marketing crap from the other over hyped manufacturers. this amp can cover all the bases and sound damn great doin it. i had line 6 and found it lifeless. i do think the dg100 can be pricey when bought new, but you do get what you pay for. i wish it came with a simple footswitch for channel switching and effect on and off. guitar player reviewed the dg80 and said the cons were no trem or chorus and now the newer ones have those as well as a free software upgrade for people like me with the first series. sounds like they listen ,unlike other manufacturers.bottom line: quality amp with quality tone and feel.the extra options are usable and well thought out. damn it i love this amp. my wife thinks i am nuts, but bless her for supporting me on my quest for tone. this is the first time i read a review on gear in a magazine and i agreed 100 %. this is aa awesome amp.

This thing rocks!!! 8 separate amp models, delay, reverb chorus and trem. Tone monster, and loud!!

Allright, using carvin dc guitars, in to boss cs1, modded morley wah, boss nf1, and boomerang, with a middi buddy to switch chanels. This amp is amazing. I have owned fender, mesa, marshall, peevee, and more, and none of them pleased my style at all. I play in a band that does everything from phish to holdsworth, and all betweene. I mainly use cleans one and two, and drive one. The chanels all have their own awesome qualities: Lead one, very fussion, high gain, think holdsworth, fat, and warm. Lead 2 very bogneresque, less mids, and more crunchy. Drive 2, amazing lighter tones, much like Scott henderson, and Brett Garsed Drive 1, more mids, more like Phish tone, higher gain. Crunch 1, and two, very similar, 1 has slightly more mids, and breaks up quicker. The cleans go from fender punch, to marshall, more mids, and less bass. You can get amazingly loud with this amp. My bassist and rhythm guitarist both have heads, and 4x12 cabs, and i can be louder when I need to be. It doesn't break up at all, even cranked.

My drummer dropped it from his pickup, and it was fine, no tubes to shatter, or replace.

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Alrighty then, I got my amp back from my tech, and it cost me $100 and three weeks to get it back. Evidently, something had gone wrong on a circuit board, and he had to replace it. Not sure exactly what it was, but my amp is back, and I played it the next day, and everything is working properly. My tech did gush a little about how nice the amp was. That made me feel good. So my rating for reliability is a solid 9. Two straight years of service, and it needed a small break, no problem! I guess we all need servicing once in a while. Still, no gigging w/o backup. No matter what!

Yamaha did nothing for me. It was out of warranty. I'm not sure if it was in warranty I'd take it to them. They seem abit, um, loopy?!?

I'm so glad to have it back. I've sorta been looking on ebay for a used one to have if this one breaks down again. That way, I could get the same tone even with an amp down. I just expect to sound a certain way, and without this amp, I don't sound like me. I really recommend trying out this amp.

Mine is a 2001 model with all the features described in the other reviews. Coolest of all are the motorized knobs. There is however one thing I don't like and that is the weight. This is one heavy amp. But it sounds just a little better with the 2 times 12 speakers versus the 80 watt 1 times 12. So sound was the reason I choose this heavy Japanese sumo amp.

The amp features only three amp types that I use: lead 2 and clean 1 & 2. Not that the others are bad but they don't give me the sound that I want. If I want a crunch sound I like lead 2 with the gain on three better than the crunch channels on this amp. But that is the beauty of these modelling amps, you have a collection of stuff to choose from. They are versatile. The channels I do use remind me of Marshall JCM 800 meets dual rectifier and fender clean to fender "really clean' . And that's the stuff that gets me going. Why in this day and age of modelling amps the yamaha and not line 6, fender or hughes and Kettner. First of all because the yamaha is the only one that gives me the feel of playing through a real tube amp. When I tested the Zentera it sounded like I was listening to a c.d. of me playing. The sounds and effects were great but no interaction. The fender had the problem of being extremely noisy and very oriented on their own catalog of amps. That is understandeble but some more marshall, hiwatt, boogie, soldano, etc. would have made it a little more attractive. As far as player-amp interaction (and this one features tubes in the input section), it could'nt even match the yamaha. Line 6 has a problem with their power amps. I tried a couple of their combo's and last weekend I went to an introduction of their new Vetta amp. Each time I heard a very unpleasent high end, ear pearcing shimmer on all of their amp simulation tones. Than I tested the pod through a tube power amp, and it wasn't there. So I bought that one too for late night playing - not disturbing the neighbours - through headphones. And it is brilliant. But back to the DG 100. I tested it also side by side with the rocktron. They were around the same price (much cheaper than all the others exept for the line 6 Flextone II) and the rocktron had so much more features. The Yamaha however had one thing the rocktron didn't have. It is like playing through a tube amp. The rocktron comes closer as the others but not as close as the yamaha. Even though the DG 100 isn't a imitator of a zillion famous amps it is the closest you'll ever get to tubes without the obvious hassle. You can go many ways with the yamaha. It doesn't have many effects but they are all of the highest quality, (although I would have liked some more reverb types) and as said before the cloosest you'll get in this moment in time to a real tube amp.
Not a perfect ten but an honest nine.

No problems so far, it works like a dream.

Never dealt with the company but my local music store is very satisfied with the support they get from yamaha, so I trust that if there ever is going to be al problem it is going to be fixed. But since I never had to call for help I leave this category without a rating.

Overall I think this is the best modelling amp. It doesn't give you famous amps but it gives you the best tube like amptone in a digital amp. If you want the best immitations of famous amps the line 6 pod is the best way to go, together with a good poweramp, as a direct recording tool or with headphones. But when I plug it in the effects return of my yamaha, the dg 100 is the winner by far. For being just not really tube not a perfect ten, but very very close.

I bought the amp in 1997, just before I went to university to study music. I have a monster rack setup of a Soldano X99 preamp and a Mesa Boogie 295 Poweramp but that stuff is too big to lug around to anything but a real gig. I bought this unit to function in any situation other than live rock work.

The amp is versatile indeed. I come from a metal background but have been playing a much wider variety of styles in the last few years from classical to a bit of fusion. This amp can cope with the varied demands of any of these styles.

The Yamaha DG100 212 is a 100 watt combo with 2 twelve inch speakers and full midi control. Plug in your midi pedal and select a patch and the motorised knobs all move to the appropriate place. This is a very good way to get a real time sense of what the amp is doing and it works a lot better than the crap looking digital readouts on most amps.

The DG100 212 is a 'modelling' amp. It is not valve. It is not solid state. It is digital and therefore software can be upgraded to give new sounds etc. It is a new technology and other companies like Johnson, Line6 and even Fender are getting into it as well. In my opinion Yamaha do it best. This combo sounds great at high volumes whereas the Line6 gear I have heard falls apart when you crank it.

The DG100 212a has built in Tape Echo Delay emulation, Reverb (three types), Chorus and Tremelo. People who buy the straight 212 hav only Delay and Reverb but you can get a software upgrade from www.yamaha.com to give you the extra features. All the effects are very tasty. The Tape Echo delay is the finest digital delay I have ever used. I wish I could work it through my rack setup. It also has a direct output jack for recording but I never use it, as even with amp simulation it sounds better if you mike up the old fashioned way.

This amp has loads of headroom and I have had it on 10 a few times without losing the sound quality of clean or mega distorted sounds. There are 8 channel sounds to choose from and to begin with I only used two, but since I upgraded the software the additional effects bring the other six to life.

The only feature I would like to have is an extra output jack point, so I can run the built in speakers as well as another 2x12 speaker box. You can route the amp to another cabinet (and it sounds mad) but I prefer to run the unit plus an additional box.

The amp is not noisy unless you want it to be. You can get all the usual sounds out of it that are normally associated with valve amps. You can back of the volume on your guitar and notice the gain decrease on the amp. You can get all the feedback and harmonic tones you need.

The distortion is quite brutal. You wont be playing Death Metal on this amp but it can cope with Prog/Power metal style heavy with ease. The clean tone is pristine and sounds very sweet with my LRBaggs piezzo. It is especially good now I can add a bit of Chorus and Tremelo.

I use this amp a lot for recording with my Soundworks Custom guitar (Mahogony/maple with Seymours and an LRBaggs Piezzo bridge). If you want to hear it go to my web site http://go.to/sonicoverflow and to the My Music page. Read and download. If you want to see a photo of the unit go to the Gear page. The beauty is you can get a great rock tone without cranking it to silly volumes that are needed for tube gear.

I also get some bitey blues sounds and some cool 70s rock tones. The four distortion preamp sounds on this amp are magnificently divers. The only sound that is still eluding me is a Schofield style clean jazz with a touch of gain. This might me due to the wood of my guitar being so dark, though.

The only sound problem I have is that sometimes when you sustain notes it seems to compress them a little at the tail of the tone. It is a bit annoying but in those situations I whip out a Boss Compressor pedal and can usually milk it for long enough.

I pulled it away from the wall without disconnecting the power lead once and caused the lead to separate from the power supply. This was my fault and was easy enough to fix.

More importantly, the upgrade from DG100 212 to 212a (extra effects and 80 new patches) was a problem for me. I am running Windows 2000 and an SBLive Value. The update began, cleared my amp image and restarted in download mode. The download began then died, leaving me with a very expensive paper weight. If you screw up the process you have NO sound at all from the amp. I repeated the process on a different machine (NT4 with a SoundBlaster 16) and it worked just fine. The documentation from Yamaha is vague, they seem to think the process will just WORK. It didn't for me, and I certainly have very standard hardware. If you are going to do this yourself try and get a Soundblaster 16 card - they are old and work with everything. The upgrade is also worth the price of a PCI SB16.

Never used it. 12 month warranty I think. The service centre are also the people that built my guitar.

I have been playing for 11 years. I also own a Soldano X99 Caswell Preamp, a Mesa Boogie 295 Simulclass Poweramp, a Marshall JFX1 Effects Processor, a DOD Power Soak and some other stuff. I play a Soundworks Custom and a Music Man Silhouette.

I am selling my rack gear because I am recording at the moment and don't need the live rig. The Yamaha sounds great recorded - check it out at my site http://go.to/sonicoverflow even though I am just getting used to home PC recording.

It is the only amp I have bought that gets me ALL the sounds I want. It is NOT perfect at everything, but it is excellent at most things. It is a great all round compromise for people that dont want or cant afford a house full of vintage and bleeding edge equipment.

This is a follow-up review to my yamaha digital amp, the dg100-212. Since I purchased this amp, I have learned so many things about tone and effects. To be honest, I probably bought this amp for all the cool gizmos and whistles (motorized knobs!) more than for the pure tone of the different pre-amps. When I got it, the amp had three digital reverbs and a tape echo delay. Since then, I've been able to download chorus and tremolo from Yamaha's website along with some pretty cool presets, some of which I found I could use without any tweaking. It has the xlr output to run the signal straight to a mixer, but miking(sp?) the amp sounds better than the output even with the speaker sim on. You definately need a midi foot pedal to use this amplifier in a live situation.
This amp is very versatile. I can't think of any type of music you couldn't play with it. My band runs the gamut of styles, and it performs well in any situation. I've never needed to turn it up past eleven o'clock, and it sounds great at whatever volume you play it at.
I really can't think of any features this amp needs to have. I already don't have to buy a chorus, tremolo, or delay pedal. Plus it has an effects loop with a wet/dry knob. What more could I ask for?

There is no question for me on what to give this catagory. Each preamp serves a purpose, and I love the way they are all different. And I love the way each of them sound. I've played many different guitars through the amp, and some preamps are better for a single coil, while some are better for a humbucker. I guess that's why there are different types of guitars. There isn't anything in the sound catagory that I don't like about this guitar amplifier. It can be very full and rich, or soft and mushy, or in your face, depending on what your looking for in the song.
I used it in the studio for our band's latest record and the amp is not noisy at all. I love the way my guitar sounds on the cd, so that is what counts. From tube-like hi-gain to solid state clean, it does it all, and it does it all with substance.

This is one of the reasons I've decided to review my amp again. For two solid years, absolutely no problems, and then one day.... nothing. I don't gig without a back-up fortunately, and my band was in Kentucky (we're based in Oklahoma City) We had played that morning at a youth fall retreat, and loaded up to drive the 30 minutes or so to the church for a youth revival that started the next day. We got to the church and set up and blink... nothing. When we got back to town I put it in the shop. All the motorized knobs were working, and all the presets still worked, but no sound was coming out of the amp. So it has broken down, and I'll let you know how long, and how much it costs to fix it. The warranty was one year contrary to the three years that a girl at Yamaha told me when I purchased the amp two years ago.
Let's face it, everything breaks down eventually. ALWAYS take a backup!
I will give a rating when I get my amp back.

Like I stated above, there was a mixup when someone told me the warranty was longer than it was. Evidently Yamaha power amps have a three year warranty, but their guitar amps only have a one year warranty. Like I stated in my first review, loopy!?!

Overall, I'd say that I love my dg100. I hate that I don't have it right now. It makes me sound like me. There is a reason that people buy backup amps that are the same as their gigging amps. Oh if I could afford another one of these right now. There are a couple of things that I don't care for on the amp.
#1-If you take the battery out, or try a hard reset, all your hard work of coming up with your own sounds is gone like a fart in the wind. Buying a midi data filer is very important! Lesson learned the hard way for me! If and when I get my amp back, I'm going to have to find my sounds again.
#2-It's in the shop!
This is my amp, and I love it. No amp is going to be perfect, but this one is perfect for me.
Maybe you too!

This amp has all the features anyone should need, but it would be nice if the midi foot controller came with it. An amp like this that has the ability to make all of these different sounds is only half complete if you can't dance around between all of the patches easily.

I play Hamer teles and strats for single coils. That means Seymour Duncan Alnico ProII's on the strat and Seymour Duncan vintage Broadcaster lead and vintage rhythm on the tele. For humbuckers I play an Ibanez V and an Ibanez Destroyer. I also play a custom tele that has EMG active TC tele pickups. The sounds this amp makes are absolutely great. Don't get me wrong, it will not nail to a "T" every famous amp voice you could ever look for. For instance, I'm still looking for the spank that you get from a tele or strat through a Matchless. This amp comes close, but it doesn't nail it. But realistically, it does everything great instead of one thing perfect. Depends on how anal you are about tone, I guess. I do think that the digital tape echo is excellent, I stopped thinking about buying an old Echoplex once I got this amp. And many of the tones are very warm. But like I said, if you just have to have a certain tone from a particular model amp, and it must be dead-on, then buy that amp. I don't have enough money for all the amps I want, so this one will do quite well with just a little bit of compromise on my part.

No reliability problems yet, and good thing. Read on about Customer Support...

Yamaha is not too hard to get ahold of, but here is where I have a complaint. I downloaded the V.2.0 software upgrade from the web and tried to install it via Midi from my computer. WARNING!!!!! The midi interface on this amp WILL NOT work with ALL computers/soundcards/midi interfaces. It is picky. My HP Vectra PIII-500 with onboard Crystal Fusion Soundcard would not work. A Midiman Midisport Serial Bus midi box would not work. What's worse, when I tried it through the soundcard's midi port, it passed the initial test on the Yamaha download program, but then errored out once the transfer started. And if that happens, it wipes out all of the programming. What you have on your hands at that point is a $1000 paperweight that no longer works at all!! Guitar Center, who I bought it from, were idiots, they didn't even know what I was talking about when I called them (San Jose). The closest service center was 50 miles away, and the tech guys had no clear cut answer at that point. I even wrote three letters asking them to lend me an MDF-3 to do the download and never even got a response. I thought I was screwed, but I began carting it around to various friend's houses to try the download on their computers. It finally worked when I hooked it up to a Dell. The Dell used a generic soundcard, which utilized Yamaha OPL3 driver sets (Gee, wonder why it worked, duh!). So beware the Midi interface, or at least Yamaha's download executable that's available on the web. You screw the pooch and you're on your own, as far as Yamaha is concerned.

I've been playing for about 28 years, and I've owned a zillion different guitars. I've had many amps, although in the past I was partial to GK solid state amps. But they always sounded a little harsh and tinney to me. As far as solid state goes, this amp's versatility is a winner. If it were stolen, I'd go listen to the DG60 or DG80, simply because this mutha is HEAVY! I'm sick of lugging it around, but it is a great amp. I'm still going to have to go buy a Fender and a Matchless. There are two distinct tones there that I'm not willing to compromise on anymore, at least in the studio. For everything else, as well as live gigs, the Yamaha fits the bill for me.

The amp's features have already been listed before on this site, so I will be brief:
- Choice of low and high guitar inputs
- 8 guitar amp models
- Genuine knob interface with motorized knobs which rotate to correpond to patch settings
- Reverb, Delay (Chorus and Tremolo on later models, also available via download)
- Effects send and return
- Balanced output with (or without) speaker simulation
- Celestion 12 inch speakers
- MIDI controllable

I bought this amp used in October 2000, and it was manufactured before chorus and tremolo were included as effects. Because I already use a BOSS SE-70 for effects (and perhaps because of laziness!), I have not yet downloaded the software for chorus and tremolo into the amp.

I play a Parker Fly Classic (which I have also reviewed here at Harmony Central) into the Yamaha and sometimes use the BOSS SE-70 for effects. Between the Yamaha and the SE-70, I pretty much have all the features I want.

Whether the amp has enough features or not depends on what you are looking for. If you want every bell and whistle (pitch shifting, wahs, flangers,...), you should look elsewhere (probably a Johnson Millenium or a Rocktron Taboo). But if you want a single replacement for a variety of tube amps, this is the way to go.

The two feature suggestions that I would have for Yamaha (these should be easy, should not compromise the design or quality of the amp, and should be really useful to all guitarists) are:
(1) A headphone jack
(2) An electronic tuner

I play a Parker Fly Classic which has a great warm magnetic pickup tone and a crystal clean piezo pickup tone. The Yamaha DG 212 is a great complement for the Parker, because the variety of sounds that you can get out the combination is incredible. Moreover, most of the sounds are really good (which is the bottom line).

I play a lot of 80's rock, some progressive rock, and recently some ethnic (South Asian) folk music in a rock format. The amp handles all responsibilities very well. What it really excels in are warm, tubey sounds with a sweet midrange (some of this is because of the Parker Classic guitar). The amp cleans up really well as you turn down the guitar's volume (something I rarely did before I bought this amp).

The Yamaha is faithful to the characteristics of the guitar's original tone. It does not "homogenize" tone across guitars or pickups. On my Parker Fly Classic, a change in string gauge (nines to tens) made a very noticeable difference in the sound, even in a high-gain patch. Moreover, I played a friend's Fender Strat through the Yamaha and the amp handled single coils very well.

One thing the Yamaha will not do by itself - the "scooped mids" heavy metal sound. You need to put a pedal before the amp for that.

The amp is usually very quiet, which is impressive because it does not have a noise gate. But despite its quiet preamp, powerful lights, interference from other instruments, etc. can cause some noise. A noise gate would have helped in such situations.

A last word about sound - the amp has plenty of transparent power in the power amplifier to preseve the exact tone that you dialled into the preamp, all the way from low to very high volumes.

I have had this amp for about 3 months now and it has never given me any trouble. I use it without a backup for gigs, because if something were to happen to my Yamaha, I would simply use the distortions and amp simulators in my BOSS SE-70 (which has faithfully served me for 5 years) and go straight into the mixer.

I bought the amp used and haven't dealt with the company.

I have been playing guitar for over 10 years now. I also own a Parker Fly Classic, a BOSS SE-70 and a Fender Champ.

My overall recommendation is: If you are a serious musician interested in gorgeous tone that rivals or even exceeds those from your classic tube amps, check out the Yamaha DG100 212. It is very different from the other digital modeling amps out there - interface, sounds and all. It may not have as many bells and whistles as some other amps, but its fundamentals (tone) are unrivalled by other digital modeling amps in its price range.

Okay....
Eight diff. amp voicings; tremelo, chorus, echo, 3 reverbs; 2 celestion vintage 30's. 128 locations to save your sounds. Don't expect specific amp name brands in the amp voicings. Yamaha goes above that marketing bullshit to give the pro some seriously useful tools to gig with. This amp provides distinct, professional sounds with the balls to deliver what the working musician needs, for rock, country, jazz, blues, and more. The variety is amazing, mixed with simplicity of use.. you'll be amazed. Pay attention to this amp, kiddies. Your fancy, expensive, name-brand shit is cool and all (yes, I've played 'em), but Yamaha is on to something, and many pro players will be paying some attention to this product's technology before too long. It sounds so raw and real (not synthetic at all). The moving knobs are addicting, and they feed the intuitiveness, which only makes it fun, instead of tedious. You can punch buttons to get to the 128 sound locations, or buy a foot switch` to get to 'em instantly on stage (thru very easy MIDI) - that's what I do with a Boss GT-3, as well as control volume via its volume treadle.
Twist knobs until you like what you hear, save, and move on. Or play to your heart's desire. I usually find myself playing guitar late into the night because it's such a damn fun amp. And of course, it shines at gigs - it has done so for about 1 year. Has lots of power. I don't worry about what I'm up against in any situation anymore, volume-wise. But not just volume - tone.

Versatile!
I'm a realist. I don't pick nits down to the thinnest pubic hair. Yes, tubes are wonderful - I agree. I've played them. But if Mr. Purist can put away the pride long enough to really try this out, I believe he'll be pleasantly surprised. It's got balls, dynamics, and will let your guitar's color come out the front. It's as tubey and raw as I've seen yet in the digi world. I've seen lots of people here both praise and criticize either its clean or distortion sounds. My take is that the cleans can be rich (and clean), and are very good. Distortions are tasty and can be really mean.. but if you don't want a lot, back off the gain and enjoy the gnarly shit in between, because it delivers that too. This amp responds very close to the way the amps of yore did. I'll end this section with the word I started with... versatile!

One year.. no problems yet. Yamaha is known for higher-end shit in the pro musican world. So yes, I do trust this amp - it appears to be built to last. Put it this way - been packing it around to gigs for a year and it's fine. But a word to the wise: Always treat your shit with a little respect when packing it around. I lay my amp back-down over a foam rug in the back of my truck (w/campershell). If it goes in another band members rig I make sure it's secure and un-encroached by other gear. It's basic respect for your stuff. But hey, if you lay a combo tube amp down on it's back, you might worry about the bumps in the ride messing up tubes or their connections. Not me. And when I get there I plug in to the Yammy and get a great tube-like sound everytime.

Yamaha's good for helping you out. I know this first hand. The head honcho of Yamaha guitars and amps (Gary) personally responded to me to provide the V2 update before it even reached the public. I do feel comfortable with Yamaha in this category.

As you can probably tell, I'm content with this piece of gear. If you've done your time and are tired of tedious, extraneous programming with complicated shit, or you're tired of having to search for (or keep) 28 amps around to express yourself, try this amp out. It is pure simplicity, with major balls and tone. Add to that 128 sounds you save to access at any time. It's a winner.
Yep, I love it! It'll be a serious piece of gear around my place for a time to come.

Try it.. crank it.. do whatever they'll let you in the store. Except for various guitars' noisy-ass pick-ups (or PU configs), this amp is noise free.. so I wouldn't be blaming an obnoxious experience on this amp. So many people do that, mostly the unexperienced. To them, I'd suggest flipping your guitar switches every which way - if you get a noise-free sound somewhere in there, your amp is doing fine. When you get an obnoxious one, blame it on your guitar. Or turn your body and guitar a bit to minimize it, and live with it (your guitar).

Great amp.. muscle.. simplicity.. versatility! I know the game is subjective, but I can't see disappointment being delivered in this amp. Rather, I see a lot of eyes opened. Moreover, pleasure!

PREVIEW: I don't own this amp yet, but would like to, but I've been messing with them in stores for a while. I would like to point out a few things until I get the chance to post a decent review. The first thing is, why is this thing not getting "10"s all across the board in the features department. Doggone guys, you've got motorized knobs that turn when you get to a certain preset, can instantly save them (with the touch of one, count 'em, one button), and everything is automatically there, including any about or setting of reverb, simulated tape delay, chorus, and tremolo. AND an effects loop. I realize there are maybe 100 people in the U.S. that might need more, but I just can't imagine (I grant that some need midi).

TONE TWEAKS: First off, I will freely admit that the DG amps can very easily sound edgy and brittle (best words to describe the phenomena), but I have remedies for that (stay tuned). One thing to remember is that this amp needs a lot of tweaking, as it has a lot of sounds that are available. Don't let the cheesy factory presets turn you off. Do some knob twiddling of your own when you check one out. Now, I'd been playing these for quite some time, and I think it's perfect for anyone who needs a lot of different sounds (at least decent ones) at the touch of a footswitch, like Pink Floyd one song, SRV the next, and then Rush, U2, and Zeppelin. However, one thing that bothered me was that the gain tones still sounded a little harsh. It seemed that no matter how I dialed it, I still couldn't lose that edgy, brittle quality totally that's inherent in the overdrive. And then I learned the trick.

HERE'S THE TRICK: I learned this from Steve Lukather (actually, from someone else who learned this from Steve Lukather). One way to lose a bit of the harshness (aside from the usual treble and presence tweaking) is to access the effects, and while leaving the chorus' rate and speed controls all the way down, turn the chorus level all the way up. Trust me, this fattens things up in a big way. It's not overwhelming, but it's the one thing that totally (in some voicings) eliminates that edgy brittleness. "Luke" says that's how he got the lead sound in Rosanna, by doing the same thing with a TC Electronics Chorus+. In Crunch 1, with the gain all the way up, I could get eerily close to Eric Johnson lead sounds, and Cream era Clapton stuff. Does this sound just like a real tube amp? No. It still has a bit of that modeling sound, but if you tweak the amp right you almost don't notice it.

CONSIDER: All this is coming from an admitted high end tube amp snob who has owned both vintage Fenders and Marshalls (sixties pieces, guys), Kendrick, Bogner, Diaz, Dr. Z, Mesa, and I still own a Matchless - and I've played a lot more amps than that, "where folks that know what a good tube amp is supposed to feel and sound like". The sounds don't really edge out any of my aforementioned amps. But they do come close. In some cases, real close, when dialed right. You just have to play with it. And when you consider you'll pay a little over $1000 for the 100w 2x12 combo, and the fact that you can recall 128 patches instantly, and the knobs(!) are motorized, it's really undeniable that this is probably the world's greatest gigging amp for guys that need a lot of sounds "right now", and don't want to fool with racks and footpedals and a thousand cables, etc. You owe it to yourself to at least try it if you haven't and are able. You might not like it much, as personal taste is a consideration, but you have to admire the people at Yamaha at least for all the thought that was put into this. Kudos.