Yamaha DG80-112

Easy to use features. The effects loop could be improved. Any device connected to the effects loop is applied to all of the patches. I would have liked to be able to select which patches the effect loop is applied. Also has a direct out XLR connector but I felt the sound coming from that output seemed kind of brash and not at all like the sound coming from the speaker.

I have been playing for 33 years. My first amp was a 1966 Fender Showman, the Yamaha DG80-112 is my second amp. I love this amp. I use a 1968 LesPaul with P90 pick-ups and I am very happy with the sounds I can get. I didn't find a use for any of the factory pre-sets and I never have on any pre-set loaded equipment like the Alesis Quadraverb GT for example. I feel the Yamaha Foot Controller option is necessary
to operate this amp because I have always used a volume pedal and the typical volume pedal doesn't work well with this amp because you need a certain amount of gain going in to make the amp work.

I gig several times a month and this brings me to the reason for my post. In a couple of places I have played, the amp goes into an "E3" error message. This NEVER happens at home. I have ruled out cables and I am only left with the thought that this amp might be sensitive to line voltages, be it a voltage drop or surge. I noticed I am the only post to mention this problem but I am not sure how often the other posters' DG80 leaves their home.

Off the Yahama website I called a telephone number, it wasn't toll free and while I was waiting maybe 5 minutes, I had to listen to ads for Yamaha products, very tacky. When my call was finally put through to a person, all I got was his answering machine. I left a message and he did call back but got my answering machine, I called back within one minute of his return call and got his answering machine again. I think I need an e-mail address to deal with them.

I purchase the DG80 for two reasons, one I could get it at wholesale price, and I noticed Allen Holdsworth was using them, seemed like a good endorsement.

I think of this as a 128 channel amplifier. It sounds great and gets way loud. It's very flexible, more so than other digital amps with little more than a big dial. Others have flanger and phaser features which are nice, but not crucial to me. I think anyone shopping for an amp should check out the DG80 line. There's another model with two twelve inch speakers for the heavy giggers that have good backs for heavy lifting. Yamaha should provide a cheap, but effective footswitch at this price.

Once the DG80 was in my home, I cranked it up a bit to check the clarity. My Washburn HB35 sounds fine on either the high or low impedence jack; but my solid body Yamaha RGX612A with active pickups needs to be in the low jack to retain a clear sound. Aha!, you say - married to Yamaha, is he? Nope. I've had this guitar for about a dozen years and I just liked it better than everything else under $700 at the time. Yahama just makes good instruments.
Not all is perfect, though. It took me a bit to reset my old Zoom 9000 effects unit to sound right with my HB35 through the DG80, but then it didn't sound very good with my solid body guitar. I've pretty much given up on it. I don't find the wet/dry blend control very useful, all that should be set in the effect itself. The first amp I brought home had a bad buzz in it (something loose inside), so I took it back for another which is fine. Also, I had heard and read so much about tube amps that I had this nagging feeling I was missing out, so I went back to the store and bought a Fender Hotrod Deville. I'd read a lot of glowing reviews about it here. I took it home and set them side by side and tried every setting illustrated from Fender's documentation on the Mars Music website including everything from clean to dirty. I could not get a clean sound out of the Fender. There wasn't any sound in the Fender I couldn't get out of the Yamaha and even tweaked an open setting to emulate a nice, distorted tone produced by the Fender. I was really surprised given the praise heaped on the the Deville. I returned the next day to the Guitar Center and asked them which they thought I was returning. Both reps assumed I was returning the DG80. One actually owns a Deville, so I didn't emphasize the difference. It was an easy decision. Funny, though, according to the reps at the Guitar Center, Yamaha has dropped them as a reseller due to something about their product mix or marketing focus.
The DG80 is really versatile and has great reverb options, chorus, and a nice tremelo that I'll rarely use. The range of clean to distortion is wonderful. I tried every preset to see if they'd be useful for lead, rhythm, or both. Most are very gimicky sounds, but I found 12 lead, 6 rhythm, and 14 that worked for both. These are settings from 1 to 80, but there are additional settings from 81 to 128 that you can set to your liking. I've set ranges for both guitars and can get that muted distortion I like for blues and jazz sounds and I've found this amp sounds very good with my electric acoustic, too.

There was a bad buzz in the first one I took home, so I returned it for another. It was something in the chassis that sounded like a loose, jangling washer. I had questions for Yamaha Support which I asked via email and received useful responses. They have several third party providers in the Dallas area for repairs. I'm concerned that the built-in computer might we brittle with power surges; I like the simplicity of older equipment. Digital amps may be subject to having to reload software, too. This keeps me from giving it a better score.

My questions were answered via email. I don't recall seeing a phone number for them. I often try to reach support for a given product before considering purchasing it. If support sucks, I omit them and their product from consideration.

I've been playing for about 30 years, but only in a band for a while as a kid. I'd recently bought a new Washburn HB35 semi hollow body and thought a new amplifier might bring out the best in it. My old amp just couldn't create a bright, clean sound and the muted distortion I like for blues and jazz sounds came across broken up. It was time to replace my old amp - a fairly versatile JMF Spectra. They've since gone out of business.
The new digital amps seemed appealing, so I tried several including models from Crate, Johnson, and Line 6. None seemed to have a very clear sound; too much emphasize was placed on sounding like other amps, but their "clean" sounded dirty. I also tried playing on Fender, Marshall, Peavey, and Tech 21 amps in the stores. I was rather impressed with the clarity and range of the Tech 21, but it didn't seem very versatile in terms of tonal adjustments. Among all the amps I'd tried was the Yamaha DG80-112. It was easy to adjust and set. The knobs move so you can see how it's set, tweak it further, and then save the setting. It seemed pretty clean in the store, so I bought it. It doesn't come with a foot pedal and Yamaha's cost way too much. Digitech makes a comparable unit for much less called the Control 8, but they'd recently discontinued the Control 7 which would have suited me fine. My money will stay in my pocket until I have a compelling need to change settings in the middle of a song.
If stolen, I'd buy another (I'm a meticulous shopper) unless a year or more had passed, then I'd have to check out newer digital amps.

This is the DG80 that came without the temelo and chorus. But, the music store added the chorus and tremelo on for me via computer/midi. I was reading some reviews on this amp and really started to get pssssssssssssst. A few were saying that the distorsions sounded like crap with single pickups, DUHHHHHHHHHHH, singles have never sounded good distorted heavily !!!!!!!. man, wake up !!!. another thing people are complaining about, modeling amps can't provide a certain tube amp sound, DUHHHHHHHHH!!!, really ? i wonder why ?. I don't think any modeling amp will ever produce exact tube tones, so quit hopeing. Now, you must ask yourself ?? am i happy, if the sound is somewhat close ? do i like an amp that can do many sounds ? do i like reliability ? do i like lite weight amps ? if yes to all the above, then i think this amp is for you !!. I've had many tube amps, and yes they sound good when cranked full blast, but they're basically BORING.
if your looking for an amp that is FUN and can provided some david gilmore, black sabath, eric clapton, SRV, and so on, then this is the amp. as to the guy who said the amp's distortion broke up, i haven't herd it yet. I did buy the DG60, and it was really bad when cranked, but the DG80 doesn't seem to do it.

PRS and my SRV strat are the guitars i use. i'm able to get a pretty good SRV sound. The amp is good for many styles, although i like blues/rock. The amp at my house isn't noisy. The clean channel is really nice on the amp. No compressor is on the amp, but you can get some compressed sounds with the plate reverb and on one of the clean channels. The distorsions on the amp are pretty good. There are some i favor more than others.

i have owned for about a year, no problems with reliability.
i take it out to gigs all the time, still hang'n in there.

haven't dealt with them. But, from the personel at music stores say they're pretty good.

I've been playing about 10 yrs. I own a Fender hot rod 1-12 amp and a PRS swamp ash and my SRV signature. I play my yamaha more than the hot rod. the hot rod is a great sounding amp, but like i said, its boring. i have a Tech 21 trademark 10, very impressive little amp. I love that amp !!. if the yamaha was stolen, i would buy another. I've played many modeling amps, this one is my favorite. Art made one a while back, called the Art 830. I liked that amp also. it was my favorite until yamaha came out with the DG80. Yes, i've tried probably every modeling amp out there, except the rocktron. The Yamaha is pretty dam nice. Alan Holdsworth plays one. I don't think he would play one unless he love it. anyway, what i've concluded over the years, is that guitar playen is about FUN !!, its about trying to get man different sounds for your own music and also old sounds. If you look back when clapton and pink floyd were starting out with tone, i don't think they're were trying to copy others, but instead trying to get something different. So, i suggest you experiment.
"thats all i got to say about that "

read others

sounded great at first, but when you turn it up to gig or play with a drummer.....forget it! the distortion is DIGITAL, not only artificial sounding but the gain signal breaks up...very thin and lacking character. the clean sounds are good, that's why i give it at least a 5. if you care about your TONE at all, then do not get this amp. dont get me wrong, this amp is great if you want many different sounds, effects, and programmability, but if TONE is what you care about, you wont find it here. if you have single coils, the distortion will be horrible. humbuckers sound a bit better but still very sterile and lifeless. and honestly, only about 2 or 3 of the 8 modes sound decent enough to play at all. i had this amp for 3 weeks and got rid of it. now i play thru a Laney pro tube 50 watt head and a Boogie cab....now i can get some great TONE.

very versatile...good clean tones...poor gain sounds....artificial and lacking warmth....please do not even compare to tubes.....poor TONE.....don't you care about TONE? every true player with great tone plays TUBE AMPS...this whole digital craze is one big dissappointment!

Built in late '99, bought in June '00. 8 digital tube amp emulations, 128 MIDI presets, 80 of which are populated at the factory, though they can be overwritten if you need more than 48 presets of your own. MIDI i/o, 4 digital effects: chorus, tape echo, reverb (3 flavors), tremolo. I wish a MIDI foot controller was included, even at a higher price, since I missed having one until the back-ordered MFC10 I bought arrived. Also, it has no ground switch. That hasn't seemed to be a problem, but it seems an odd omission. Otherwise it doesn't lack any features that I use. It has volume to spare while cutting through my four- or five-piece group.

I play fusion, groove jazz, and blues, and have played for around 9 years. I'm using a Yamaha SBG200 SG copy and saving my pennies for a semi-hollow (Ibanez AS80/120, Yamaha SA2200, or used ES-335).

I was looking for 3 basic sounds when I bought this amp: tweed crunch, Mesa high-gain, and Fender clean, and when I read about digital modeling technology I was excited at the prospect of not dealing with tubes. The Mesa Nomad 55 was the other amp I primarily considered.

The sound of this amp is awesome, with tremendous expressive touch sensitivity. You can do a blackface on the edge (gain ~ 4) on the Crunch 2 model, and get warm clean sounds when laying back, or push it into soft clipping with a crisper attack. Crunch 1 (gain ~ 7) gives you the Larry Carlton/John Scofield tweed sound, so harmonically rich. I find myself using this sound for extended periods when practicing, it sounds so excellent. Lead 1 (gain ~ 7) has the Boogie down, super-smooth high gain. I haven't settled on any clean sounds that I really love, though I'm using several presets that I've saved against both Clean models. The provided bebop preset (#51) sounds very warm, clean, and natural, while my Clean presets lean toward the fairly bright Fender Twin thing, with some bass added. I also get a Marshall crunch from Drive 1 (gain ~ 5-7) that I use occasionally. This model also sounds extremely bluesy on the edge (gain ~ 4).

It's nice being able to color any of these amp models with decent chorus and tape echo sounds. The digital reverbs (Spring, Hall and Plate) are especially good, each in its place.

One note is that it apparently wasn't Yamaha's intent to emulate specific tube amp models, but rather to reproduce the essential harmonic and transient characteristics of tube amp circuit families. I'm content with that. These sounds are extremely natural, articulate and expressive, and the fact that the amp contains several of them rather than one or two is just icing for me. In other words, as the other reviewers have noted, if you're longing for the exact sound of a certain tube amp, you probably won't get it from this amp, but if you're looking for excellent tube sounds of various flavors with the reliability and consistency of digital technology, try one of these.

One surprising thing to me was that the crunch and distortion sounds clean up and get smoother and less fuzzy when you turn it up even a little (output >= 0.5), just like tube amps of moderate or more gain. The sound quality doesn't change much from there on up. Like at least one other reviewer, I expected the sound not to change between low and higher volume.

I've used Yamaha home audio and guitar equipment for many years, and have had zero failures with any of it. I expect this amp to be utterly reliable. I'll drag a backup amp to the gig because I'm conservative, but I don't expect ever to take it out of the car.

I've never had a failure in any Yamaha product I've owned, so I've never had to seek repairs.

I would definitely buy another to replace this one if something happened to it. When making my purchase decision, I tried the Mesa Nomad 55, and several Crate and Line 6 modeling amps. I chose the Yamaha for the natural sounds it makes compared to the other digitals, and in comparison to the Nomad, I didn't find anything compelling in the Mesa's sound. It was somewhat different in the various amp types, but not clearly superior. Also, as I said, I wanted to avoid tubes if possible, so the Nomad had to be superior-sounding across the most significant sounds I wanted (especially tweed and high-gain)for me to pick it. It wasn't. On a lesser note, the Yamaha was the better value due to its inclusion of chorus and digital echo, though with the needed MIDI foot controller its price is close to the Nomad's.

8 different amp settings....spring, hall, and plate reverb....tremelo, chorus, and tape echo(delay) effects....12" celestion speaker....80? presets.....can store up to 120 of your own...motorized knobs return to stored settings.....would give a 10, but doesnt come with a footswitch, and it is expensive to buy separately....

this amp is not forgiving of poor quality electronics.....you can get a good sound if your pickups are good....if you play single coils, prepare to get a lot of hum in high gain settings.....if your pickups are not humbuckers, you will think that the distrotion on this amp sucks.....i played my strat plus with lace sensors and the distortion was no good....very weak and artificial sounding, completely lacking warmth, and noisy....but man, the clean tones out of this amp are incredible...not quite as nice as fender tube amps, but almost there...clean settings are very warm and sweet...when i played a les paul classic through this amp, the distortion was very nice....not quite as nice as an all tube marshall jcm 800, but sounds and responds very tube-like....you cen get really nice jazz and blues tones out of this amp....but like i said, if you play a strat with single coils....prepare for noise and a weak thin distortion.....the effects are great, i give them a 10, overall, it's an 8

if you know exactly what tone you want, then dont buy this amp and get that nice tube amp....but for $630, this amp is incredible....you get such a wide variety of sounds....you can fine tune the amp settings and get the exact sound you want, then you can store is and recall it whenever you want! if i were to buy a tube amp with the clean tone i want, then buy another tube amp for that gain that i want, and then buy effects......i know i would spend well over twice as much as what i paid for this...i play a strat plus with EMG DG20 active pickups (Dave Gilmour model from Pink Floyd), and i can get just about every tone i want.....it's a great tool for songwriting, and practicing, and even gigging too!

This amp is fantastic! I can get a tone quite close to just about any of my guitar heroes-- more importantly, I can coax my own cool tones out of the 12" speaker because of the dizzying array of tonal filters. I think the tape echo program is great... this amp has everything you could need. As well, a well-designed MIDI pedal (not necessarily the one offered from Yamaha) will be a huge benefit and may be a deciding factor on whether the amp will work for you (the pedal is a necessity live... a good Roland/Boss pedal would really work well, among others) I feel the motorized chicken-head knobs are a wonderful idea, but what's better, you don't have to wait for the knobs to turn to their position to hear the chosen sound - it happens instantly because it's digital. Also, the look of this amp is great...a killer vibe from a classy looking unit!!!!!

Most amp settings work equally well with both my Fender Strat Deluxe Plus and my Telecaster Deluxe...even my SG screams on the same settings!The distortion can be as raunchy or as clean and smooth as you wish - I find the 8 preliminary amp models to be a great idea...
I would like to find out which Amps they actually based each of these on...Does any one know?????? They sound terrific none the less!

I've only had the Amp a little while, but am already certain I won't be worried in any way about performance and reliability.

haven't ever had to speak with Yamaha.....

I've been playing for several years, and live for almost as many. This amp is quickly replacing my Fender Twin for tone and versatilty... can't beat the price either!

Good built in effects. Great EQ including low-mid and high-mid adjustment, makes it easy to dial in sounds.Direct out with speaker simulator sounds better than my Mesa Boogie Formula pre amp. . . don't get me started on that thing! The only thing it really needs is a foot controller. With an amp this flexible it doesn't make sense not to have one. You can buy one (MFC10) for just under $300.

My main guitar is a Tom Anderson Hollow Cobra which is similar to a Les Paul. I was really impressed with the sound of this amp. It's got so much flexibity I don't think there are many sounds you couldn't get out of it. If you are looking for a certain sound from a fine tube amp you should probobly buy a fine tube amp. But if you like to play many different styles of music and like the idea of an amp that is reliable, portable, and has more than two sounds to switch between (how about 128!) you should check out this amp. It's got the touch sensitivity of a tube amp, which is pretty impressive. I would go into more detail about the sounds but there's so many. Let's just say this amp is capable of just about any sound you want. When you go to the store to audition it, take a look at the owner's manual, in about 2 minutes you'll have a complete understanding of how it works. Then you can get the full experience.

Haven't had it long enough to give a rating. I have owned a lot of Yamaha gear and it's all been 100% reliable. The only thing that worries me is the motorized knobs.

No dealings with Yamaha. Never had a problem with their stuff.

I've been playing for fifteen years or so. I've been in bands and have some experience playing live. I do a lot of recording at home and I've owned a lot of gear. If you can afford a really nice tube amp and it has the sound you like then I say do it. But for $699 I can't believe how good this amp is! I own or have owned other amps (costing two and three times as much as the Yamaha) that do a few good sounds and they're great at what they do, but this amp does so much for so little. Check it out.

This DG80-112 had the software upgrade to provide tremolo and chorus, but the panel did not show which knobs operate the new effects. (This was easy to figure out.) Please read the earlier reviews for details on other features. Assuming you like the tone, it would be versatile enough for most any style of music, though the effects selection won't please all. The included effects sound good to me. This was my second audition. I went to the store with the intent to buy it, but decided not to. (I could have bought it for $600 and tax.) I also tried some of the other modeling amps, but didn't like them either. As for the interface, I think it is the best yet for a modeling amp. What other features would I like to see? I wish the knobs didn't reset (gain and master at set at 6/7, the rest at 5) when changing amp modes. It doesn't come with a footswitch to change presets, so you have to use a MIDI footcontroller. It really needs a simple, dedicated footswitch like Line6 and others that lets you select a few presets and turn on/off the tremolo, chorus, delay and reverb. I think the power level is sufficient for most situations. If not, the S112 extention cabinet adds another Celestion G12H100, letting the amp deliver 100w -- and move twice the air.

For this audition, I used a '57 reissue Strat with Fralin pickups, and earlier, a Grosh Retro Classic with Kinman noiseless pickups. My tone goals include Beck, Gilmour, Johnson, Metheny, Stern, Ford, and so on. In other words, I want to cover a lot of ground. I don't expect one amp and guitar to satisfy 100%, but the closer the better, in terms of simplicity and getting on with making music. On the other hand, singing or playing an acoustic guitar is the ultimate simple tone solution. Yamaha's DG amp modeling is as good as I've heard, but it does not sound good enough for me to substitute for my favorite tube amps. Bear in mind, I am ready to stop using tube amps as soon as possible! They are expensive, noisy, and occasionally troublesome beasts. For distortion, the volume is typically too loud when they sound their best. But...the best tube amps sound fantastic when heard with good speaker systems! To it's credit, the DG80-112 is the quietest modeling system I've heard. OK, how did I judge the tone? Since this is a modeled amp, it shouldn't rely on speaker or power amp distortion for it's tone, although those may help. I set the output level low enough to listen up close, just like a microphone. What I heard were... Insects! Yes, the dreaded crackle and buzz of hard clipping, not the smooth, rounded tones of tubes. (The input level was set so the red LED almost, but never lit, so I am sure there was no digital overload.) Well controlled tube clipping, by comparison, is ear friendly, at least if the volume isn't overmuch. Attack transients are dynamic, but not spitty. Harmonics are connected to the note. There is simply more feel and dynamic range with the tube amps I play. I think Yamaha is on the right track with this system. Maybe in a year or two it will be good enough? I hope so.

Let's face it, getting great clean tones is relatively easy, at least with a good tube amp. It's the distortion tones that cause the trouble! Perhaps Yamaha will bring out a modeling preamp footpedal for use with existing amps. The DG series is a good first try from Yamaha. I will continue to check out theirs and other companies digital modeling amps. I will continue to seek an amp or pedal that will allow me get the edge-of-distortion and cranked tones of the best tube amps -- at any volume. Perhaps this will never be possible. I will keep looking and hoping that such a system will be created eventually. In the meantime, my Carr Slant 6V keeps me pretty happy.

Paid 8300 DKR. at my local dealer. 128 MIDI settings. 90 Factory presets. Easy to find the sound you like using the buttons on the frontplate, then store the settings in a free memorylocation. Easy to use on stage via footcontroler. Use "Digitech Control 8" with volume pedal, OK.

Guitar: Nuno Bettencourt N4 vith EMG 89 / EMG85. Play anything from British instrumental music (very clean with delay) British and American rockstyle from the sixties, jazz to heavy metal. You can make any sound that normaly comes out of a tube amp with this one. I have owned Marshall tube, Marshall transistor and Fender tube amps, Dynacords 50W, homemade tubeamps and lots of different speakers and cabinets like 4/10" , 2/12" 1/8" and many more. They were all different and were OK in their own way. What i like about the DB80-112 is that I can get very close to the sound of all these amps in a single unit. When you change the tubes in a tubeamp you will have to find some tubes with the same specs as the ones you replace if you want the exact same sound. The DB80-112 always have the same sound.

Don't know. Anything can fail.

Emailed Yamaha in Denmark once. They mailed me right back with a very satisfying answer. Phoned them once and they were very polite (almost Japanese style)and solved my problem right away. Very nice. Service is no problem, you just deliver the amp to the local dealer and they take care of it.

Playing 35 years. I do not want to stop before I die. This amp is the best that happened to me the last 20 years. Of course it is no tubeamp, but it does the job so well, that I don't need any other. I would buy another if it was stolen. The thing that would make it better is a dedicated flightcase with wheels. If you like the sound of a big tubeamp or like the way a huge wall of Marshalls look like( the impressive look of a big setup is the best music to my bassplayer), then it is your choice. If like it simple with good sound and lot of different choices, give the Yamaha a thought.