Customer Reviews

DigiTech GNX3000 Multi Effect Pedal

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Right out of the box the GNX3000 produced excellent results. I've owned it for about 6 months now and it is one of the most satisfying guitar purchases I've ever made. I've played podxt's (and they sound very good) but the GNX3000 eclipses the pod in terms of realistic reproduction of all those classic amps and cabinets. Of course, making your own adjustments and designing your own patches is par for the course, and it is very simple using the X-edit Software that comes bundled with it (Mac and Windows versions).

Like all amp modelers, the GNX3000 is designed mostly for plugging directly in to a PA or recording rig with as little coloration added as possible. While you can use the GNX as a "stomp box" of sorts, or as a pre-amp on a guitar power amp/cab rig, that's not really the idea. It would be adding your guitar amps tone colorings to those built in to the modeler. You might like the results, but it will not make your Marshall combo sound like a VOX, etc.

How does the GNX3000 compare to a "real world" amp set up? If you are talking about the sound of a real world amp mic'd into a PA, or recorded, then I would say it's almost indistinguishable in many cases. At home I play into a studio monitor rig at my recording workstation. On several occasions I've selected an amp from the GNX3000's repertoire that I thought sounded like the guitar tone on a classic rock recording, only to find out later that the very amp I chose was indeed the amp that was used back when the track was recorded! In one case it was the HiWatt 100. I had never heard one, but when selecting an amp tone for an old Pink Floyd recording I just thought it sounded right. Later, doing some googling, I discovered that it was the very amp David Gilmore used for that track. One more thing about the GNX3000's new modeling technology: it doesn't just sample an amp, or get it's EQ. It models it dynamically. What this means is that when you run a certain amp low, or clean it sounds exactly like that amp set the same. Likewise if you boost preamp (but not output gain) it has the same characteristics as that amp set in that way. Digitech painstakingly created not just "snapshots" of amp sounds but the underlying electrical, cabinet resonances, resistances, and other characteristics that add up to make the tone of a given amp.

I have to say that often I forget I'm not really playing the real thing, or at least what the real thing would sound like mic'd and played over a truly great PA or in a recording.

Selecting the 63 version of the Fender Deluxe reminds me of my old Fender D I sold long ago (what was I thinking!). The Mesa Boogie sounds very much like my current Mesa Boogie amp/cabinet "real world" rig. Ditto the Marshall 900. And the stomp boxes are incredible. You would swear you had the original Tube Screamer, Fuzz Face, or Cry Baby hooked up. Combined with 11 digital effects that are all first rate, it rocks! Recording is incredibly easy and perfect through the USB connection to my computer. I use a Mac with Garage band, but the GNX comes with ProTracks for PC.

I feel very strongly that, those who gave the Digitech GNX3000 1 or 2 stars, only limited themselves to judge the unit for the recording issue they might've had (which seems like they had because they weren't capable of following directions) only during the process of recording music themselves, without even bothering to give this unit a chance for the remaining 95% of the features it was designed for.

I am 42, I'm a working guitarist from FL, I play live in two bands weekly, I'm a studio musician as well, I have owned this unit since 2005 (more than 5 years at the time I typed this review) and I am completely happy and satisfied with it. Important to say, I am a guitarist who plays all kinds of music styles, from Pat Metheny Group, to Robben Ford (Yellow Jackets), to David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), to Robert Smith (The Cure), to Type O Negative, H.I.M., Saosin, Anberlin, Marillion, Dream Theater, Genesis, Yes, The Police, Journey, Jeff Beck, I love jazz-fusion, progressive rock, AOR, classical/Italian baroque, new age, goth rock, EMO, country, classic rock.

Bottom line, if you are as versatile as I am, and you need a pedalboard/effects unit that sounds very realistic, you will definitely get your money's worth with it, achieving the best professional-sounding results you will never be able to get from the various mosquito-sounding, artificial-sounding units from Line-6, Boss-Roland, etc.

The GNX3000 amp models work and sound very full and realistic, the effects sound as realistic as rack or stomp effects (in some cases even far better), and I must say I have been using this unit in stomp-box mode, with the pedal set up as volume pedal (I already own a CryBaby so it's pointless to have 2 of them), and if you own your playing (as opposed to the vast majority of guitarists, who are instead owned by the instrument and feel music is a form of competition, instead of a form of art and the best of philosophies), you will find that this unit will grow with you, musically, allowing you to increasingly blossom as a musician. My previous effects unit was a Digitech GNX2, which I used for a number of years until 2005, and it still works. Digitech implies reliability, as far as I'm concerned, and if you want a strong unit at a great price, look no further. The GNX3000 is it.

This little unit puts out big sound. I was amazed at some of the models. Plus with the warping feature, you can invent an almost limitless number of amps. The effects are crystal clear and plugging a mic into the unit is a nice feature for a relatively simple recording setup. While there is some latency when switching between presets, I've never tried a multi-effects processor that didn't do that. Plus, you have the ability to go into a preset, switch the unit to stomp box mode and turn on/off the presets effects individually which would be more than I'd need for live gigging.

The drum machine sounds pretty good too. I like that they have a good number of 4/4 rock beats and don't waste presets on things like sambas and rhumbas. Oh, and it also has presets specifically for plugging a bass in. Nice, again, for recording.

The only thing I would say is an issue is the install of the software. It is not very Vista friendly. I had to go in and change the compatability mode for the executables to Windows XP (right click, properties, compatability).

The GNX3000 appears to work well, although the way you have to press the buttons to get it to do what you want it to do is sometimes very difficult.

The GNX3000 manual is clearly an after-thought to the product. It is very sparse, many important terms are not explained, some parts on how to use the GNX3000 are not included, and there is a very limited trouble-shooting section. The procedure that is given for getting the GNX3000 to record to a PC does not work, and there is no help given to resolve this problem.

The ProTracks Plus software is even worse. You only get a CD, with no manual. Unbelieveable. How does DigiTech expect you to know how to use the software? Actually there are some notes about the software in the GNX3000 manual, but it is very limited, with not a single screen shot. We have struggled for a week now to get the recording part of ProTracks to work on our XP PC with no success. Searching the Internet for help on this software didn't help either. You can't buy a "For Dummies" book on this software yet, but if there was such a book you definitely would need it.

There really should be a separate GNX3000 manual and separate ProTracks Plus manual. These manuals need to be much better and more concise than the single manual is now.

I guess in the end we bought the GNX3000 because of all the great reviews and the features, but now, having purchased it, we realize we would have been much happier with a product with less features but with better documentation.

Update, 24 February 2006:

Three weeks, it is still not working.

As to the correct recommendation above from Devin about XP SP2, I installed the ProTracks software on a new Windows XP with all the latest service packs (including SP2), all the latest updates and security fixes, all the .NET updates, everything. Despite all this, the software doesn't work.

I did find a manual for the ProTracks however: you have to print it off the CD, and it is only 59 pages, and it has only a minimal number of images of the what you see on the screen. For what I paid, to get a lame manual like this is inexcusable. Look at the manual you get with Adobe Audition 2.0. Now that is what is needed here, not some 59-page after-thought.

I did contact tech support via e-mail, and two days later was told to do exactly what was mentioned above, which of course doesn't work. The problem is that when you go to Options, then Audio, and then Drivers, the Digitech USB 1-2 In/Out and Digitech USB 3-4 In/Out drivers are not listed. The manual doesn't say what to do if they don't show up. I will try the sound community resource Devin mentioned above, because DigiTech can't get their product to work.

I again caution against buying this product as the documentation is extremely limited, the product still doesn't work, and tech support hasn't a clue.

Devin, you gave this a 5 star rating, but have you seen the manuals? Doesn't it bother you that you have to print out your own manual, and that the manuals are so very limited? Have you tried messing around with the little buttons on the upper right, for the drums, etc.? Aren't they confusing? You have to have the manual open on stage to make sense of it.

Tweaky pedal, overall. That means that nothing stock sounds very good until you tweak it. It might be OK for home and studio work, but don't ever use it live. It takes too long to electronically switch between patches. Results in "dead air", so to speak.

Hello, I know what to do to get it recording. You must go to microsoft.com and get service pack 2 and the latest framework. if it still doesn't work you must insert the usb. if it still doesn't work go to digitech.com then go to sound community and go to support. It doesn't bother me ( the manual) see I have one problem with it my usb is messed up I just have to get another usb but it records on me but I use to have problems with it the GNX4 does record on the thing but at lease the GNX3000 has more effects but confusing. Once you get use to it you'll know what to do. thats my advise I dont have any more answers I did what they said and it worked.