Yamaha DG80-112

Digital modeling amp, 128 presets, 8 basic amp sounds gain, master, treble, high mid, low mid, bass, presence, digital reverb and tape echo and just added in version 2 software chorus and tremolo. read the review for michael he goes into great detail (It almost sounds like he works for Yamaha ;^)

This is not a tube amp, the digital modeling simulates that wonderfully, but thats just it "simulates" I doubt if anything solid state will ever have the sound and feel of real tubes. That said it does a great job simulating the sounds of a tube amp, very responsive to picking dynamics and the guitars volume knob. It does so many things well, clean to high gain mayhem, I'll just mention what it doesn't do. I doesn't have that "ring" on the clean settings that some tube amps have, it produces beautiful clean tones but not that characteristic tube ring. I also can't get that really smooth sustaining, singing lead tone eg. Santana , again close but not quite, there always seems to be some grind. I play contemporary Christian music which can go from soft and quiet to rocking. I just started going to a new church so I'm not playing in the band yet but I bought this amp for that purpose. In the last church I attended my Peavey Classic 30 just didn't cut it I've been playing in a worship group for 15+ years and my style leans toward jazz and blues, with a little rock thrown in. I play a custom built (by myself) solid body with 2 humbuckers, an Epiphone Archtop and an Alvarez acoustic. I almost forgot the best part, dead quiet, there's a little noise on the high gain patches, but very quiet, big advantage over humming, buzzing tube amps. I have to mention this, when I bought the amp I didn' know that they would add chorus and tremolo and I loved the amp w/o them, but I was having a terrible time with effects. I have a Korg AX1G multi-effects pedal that sounded great with my Peavey but the DG80 is so quiet that I couldn't stand the noise that it added. I tried changing the settings,shorter cables, running it through the effects loop, nothing worked, all I wanted was a little chorus for clean rhythm and tremolo for that old fender vibe. Then I heard about the new software, called Yamaha, they sent it, I installed it and I'm thrilled, it's great, beautiful sounds and no noise!!!

Only time will tell? I've only had it for 3 months.

Great, I called Yamaha about the version 2 software and they e-mailed me the new software immediately, I'm very impressed. I actually talked to real people when I called, with a company the size of Yamaha I thought that I would be caught in the automated phone system maze or on hold for hours but they answered may call right away and were very helpful (an honest plug for Yamaha) I hope all my dealings with Yamaha are like that. Thanks Gary!

About the price, I bought it used on an online auction site and I don't think many people knew what it was. I got it fairly cheap and I really expected a bidding frenzy.

It's a great amp, I would buy it again, even at retail price. It does everything I need and more. Any shortcomings it may have (head to head with a tube amp) are far out weighted by its strengths, wide variety of tones, quiet, built in effects, great sound etc. Let me clarify what I mean when I say tube amp, I'm talking older Fender, Marshall, Vox, Mesa or any of the newer high quality tube amps, not the low end Peaveys or Fenders etc. It blows them away, but if you put it up against a Matchless or Victoria etc. you would hear its limitations.

The Yamaha DG80-112 was first introduced in January of 1999. If you like tube amp tone but the reliability of digital, it blows away Line 6 and Johnson amps. This amp is the most versatile amp on the market and is perfect for guitarists like myself that demand the subtle nuances normally found in a tube amp. I play rock, blues, country, jazz, even metal. I have played for 25 years and worked with many international artists so TONE is my calling card! The DG80 has a HI and LO inputs that can be used depending on your guitar output. It has 128 Patch Locations where you can store your own sounds. The digital modeling technology includes 8 amp types that KILL the Line 6 and Johnson amps for authentic tube type tone. You can go from a classic hi gain Marshall to a punchy Fender with no problem. If you use the Lead 1 amp model and turn the volume knob on your guitar way down it cleans up just like a tube amp. Then by turning the knob to 10 on your guitar you get full shred distortion. The Clean 2 is based on a Fender Twin type sound and even sounds better than my Fender Twin and is much more reliable! You can get Marshall, Vox, Matchless, Boogie, and Fender sounds with ease. The DG80-112 includes a Spring Reverb model, and a Hall and Plate Reverb from the Yamaha SPX1000 - SUPERB! The best effect is their digital model of a Tape Echo. This really sounds like an old Echoplex providing 2 seconds of delay with mirror image repeats! The DG includes an XLR output with its own volume knob on the back panel and Speaker Simulation which is really quiet and is great for recording. I've used it direct for albums. Since the DG80 has no noise gate, I was suprised how quiet it was to record direct with my Roland 1680 Digital Recorder for song demos. There is also a Parallel Effects Loop with an Blend Knob. This amp is 80 watts but screams like a 100 watt tube amp. I can even get Santana type feedback and sustain at mid volume. On top of all that you have real chicken head knobs. On stage I can grab a knob just like a normal amp and make quick adjustments. Then just hit RECALL and it gets my original patch settings back. And get this, the knobs are MOTORIZED!

I have many guitars but primary is my Brian Moore Strat and Les Paul. I also use a Yamaha SA2200 for jazz styles. This amp is much less noisy than the Johnson or Line 6 in all environments and provides the most natural sounding tones. The clean channel has tones of headroom even at loud volumes it sounds clean and has that sparkle similar to Fenders. The distortion is SWEET and you can get TONS of gain - ala MESA BOOGIE!

The DG80 has been very dependable for sessions and live gigs. The amp has not broken down in any situation - knock on wood! The best part is that I don't have to spend tons of money re-tubing it!

Yamaha has great support. I called and spoke to someone in Guitar Marketing/Support and they even sent me a brand new upgrade that adds CHORUS, TREMOLO, 80 NEW PATCHES, and MIDI EFFECTS CONTROL via MIDI File. I loaded it in using their directions with ease. The new effects are STELLAR! They also told me about a promotion that ends January 15. If you send them your reciept before then, they send you a FREE Danelectro Chorus Pedal. Mine is on the way!

I have been playing over 25 years and have worked with several big name artists. I really love this amp and so do my clients. If it was lost or stolen I would have to buy another. I love this amp for it's TONE and versatile features including the NEW EFFECTS! I do wish it had a built in tuner and its own MIDI pedalboard. I have to use my DIGITECH pedalboard for MIDI foot control. For those of you that have tried the other digital amps without luck...try the YAMAHA DG80 you won't regret it!