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Non ADA Gear => Rack Gear => Topic started by: Systematic Chaos on September 13, 2017, 02:26:49 AM

Title: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Systematic Chaos on September 13, 2017, 02:26:49 AM
Somewhat "inspired" by Dante´s and RG´s TubeFex thread and my comments concerning the Digitech GSP2101/2112/2120 units I snagged a 2120 including the Control One on the used market
Analog preamp section including:
- Analog Compressor
- Analog Wah
- Analog 4 Channel Tube pre (2x 12AX7)
- 4x analog OD/Dist
- 2x Analog 10Band Graph EQ

Dual S-DiscII Digital FX (max 8 per preset/patch) incl Harmonizer/intelligent pitch shifter and delays up to 10s

This is the 3rd and final incarnation of Digitechs flagship Preamp/MultiFX unit from the 90s. I bought a 2101 new in 1994 when they were introduced and it was like 3000$ for the preamp plus another 600$ for the Control One back in the day.

I´ll sure as hell gonna have some major fun these next days fiddling around with this  8)
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af41/MagnusBausW/4897C954-EAE2-43EC-9E3F-5786664FABE6_zpscz9afshg.jpg)
 
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: vansinn on September 13, 2017, 06:31:15 AM
Yup, those are very cool devices. The 2020 Artist model features an additional Texas processor for speaker emulation, though I've never found any soundclips illustrating the emulation direct out.

You mentioned the input structure; actually, all these models are dual channel.
Input is Y-split. One leg runs through the tubes, then into the digital effects machine; the other leg runs directly into the effects machine.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: rabidgerry on September 13, 2017, 11:28:16 AM
Somewhat "inspired" by Dante´s and RG´s TubeFex thread and my comments concerning the Digitech GSP2101/2112/2120 units I snagged a 2120 including the Control One on the used market
Analog preamp section including:
- Analog Compressor
- Analog Wah
- Analog 4 Channel Tube pre (2x 12AX7)
- 4x analog OD/Dist
- 2x Analog 10Band Graph EQ

Dual S-DiscII Digital FX (max 8 per preset/patch) incl Harmonizer/intelligent pitch shifter and delays up to 10s

This is the 3rd and final incarnation of Digitechs flagship Preamp/MultiFX unit from the 90s. I bought a 2101 new in 1994 when they were introduced and it was like 3000$ for the preamp plus another 600$ for the Control One back in the day.

I´ll sure as hell gonna have some major fun these next days fiddling around with this  8)
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af41/MagnusBausW/4897C954-EAE2-43EC-9E3F-5786664FABE6_zpscz9afshg.jpg)
 

This may be the TubeFex I wanted! 

I sold my TubeFex and all, made some profit as well.  I'm sad I could not love it.

This Digitech however has a lot more analogue stuff going on, I like it.  For example, the drives are analogue!!  On the tube fex I was never going to be able to use the digital drives and I was hoping to solely rely on the tube preamp.  But jesus I could not handle the feel of that thing.

Now I have a Digitech Ips33 and this has impressed me.  Perhaps the 2120 would also, I like it has intelligent pitch shift built in! 

Did these digitechs always have tubes?  I am surprised that this one even does!  Impressive run down of stuff it has.

TubeFex is still awesome, but not for RabidGerry.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Dante on September 13, 2017, 11:39:55 AM
Very cool rig!!  :thumb-up:

BTW: the lil' Behringer pulled off a gig last Saturday night and did great (can't believe I'm saying that about a Behringer)
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: MarshallJMP on September 13, 2017, 12:44:30 PM
Nice but now we will need some soundclips  ::)
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: vansinn on September 13, 2017, 01:13:38 PM
Yep, clips requested ;)

And yep, all in the 21xx series had two nice shining bottles of near nothingness in 'em.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: rabidgerry on September 14, 2017, 01:03:10 AM
Yep, clips requested ;)

And yep, all in the 21xx series had two nice shining bottles of near nothingness in 'em.
Are you implying then that these tubes are just a gimmick, i.e just for show and have no bearing on the tone?

I can vouch for the TubeFex and say that it's tubes definitely where significant in the tone.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: vansinn on September 14, 2017, 06:24:54 AM
Nonono ;)  Those are real tubes in absolute functionality.
Just my way of expressing my love for those shiny bottles with metal shrapnel in near outer space nothingness, haha
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: rnolan on September 15, 2017, 12:08:06 AM
And the more "near nothingness" ie vacuum, the longer the tube lasts, unfortunately the manufacturers don't pump (pump out the air) the tubes as long these days so the vacuum is not as "hard" so the tubes don't last as long as they used to.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: vansinn on September 15, 2017, 12:42:28 AM
^ correct, but the less vacuum is mostly a problem above 250-270 volts on the plate.
ADA's, even MDRT'd, runs lower that that; not sure about the Digitech 21xx series, but IIRC less than 250.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Systematic Chaos on September 16, 2017, 06:57:32 AM
real tubes, not just for show....
I just hammered down some sloppy leads over a random backing track with a preset i set up on the fly, see/hear attached. Took me some time to get re-accustomed to the UI and the controls of the 2120....hell, it's been 23 years since I programmed one of these for the last time.
I used Tube Voicing #4 („Saturated Tube“) with gain @ 50%, a bit of Quad Chorus and 250ms Delay on the 2120 and an IR (Boogie 4x12 w/ 70W Celestion V30, mic'd with SM57 and KSM313) from the AxeFX II.
Signal Path was Guitar (Ibby Swamp Ash RGR with CrunchLab and Air Norton) > 2120 > AxeFX II (IR only) > MacBook Pro.
The amount of gain/distortion/saturation I can get with this baby is more than enough for my tastes...might be lacking for them folks who put a Boss Metal Zone in front of a Triple Rectifier.
The FX loop is (unfortunately) located in front of the Tube/Analog preamp (right after Comp and Wah), but if you slave in a Preamp with enough moxy (MP-1/-2; Triaxis; Engl; Rockmaster;....) you're more than good to go.
The FX section leaves nothing to be desired and blows any other Multi-FX from that era (Quadraverb, Intellifex,....) outta the water hands down....Lexicon and Eventide might be competitors though.   
(http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af41/MagnusBausW/42385F85-FF58-4755-86B0-2081F010C24A_zpsggxko6ky.jpg)

*edit* Tinkering some more with it with fresh ears this morning I can get some real in-the-ballpark Engl Savage 120 sounds outta this box. Saturated Tube, Gain 50%, front panel eq (B/M/T) flat at noon and just some preamp 10band graphic eq settings (goes -15 / +15):
80Hz 5
140Hz 3
250Hz 2
450Hz -3
800Hz -5
1.5kHz -2
2.5kHz 5
4.5kHz 6
8kHz 5
15kHz -15

This is THE Savage 120 w/6550s tone spot-on.

As of now, that thingy is a keeper  8)

I also attached the schematics for you thechies
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: rADAr on September 18, 2017, 02:03:13 AM
Hey, SC! What happened to your Axe-FX II/Carvin combo? Axe is out, DigiTech in?  :o
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Systematic Chaos on September 18, 2017, 02:18:41 AM
No, AxeFxII is main. I gig out once or twice a month so I don´t lug the heavy poweramp around. AFX direct FOH (Out1) and Out2 to either whatever FRFR is avlbl or in the Return of some backline amp. I even used a Zoom G3X provided by the venue last time. Band sound was ok and we felt comfy.
 
The DigiTech is just for fun and wasn't even 3-figures $ , so an absolute no-brainer for a blast from the past. 
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: MarshallJMP on September 18, 2017, 05:26:02 AM
Sounded quite good to me. :thumb-up:
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: vansinn on September 18, 2017, 11:08:08 AM
Yummy sound, fat and juicy, me likes a lot - and cool playing too, dude :bow:
And thanks a bunch for the schematics :thumb-up:
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: rabidgerry on September 25, 2017, 03:19:29 AM
Well I think it sounds good when anyone can play that well.  Wish I had some of those skills!!

Excellent.  Sounds nice and smooth.  Is this the unit by itself?  Wonder what it's like into speakers and an amp?
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: vansinn on September 25, 2017, 07:32:49 AM
...Sounds nice and smooth.  Is this the unit by itself?  Wonder what it's like into speakers and an amp?

See SQ's post #10: He used it with the AxeFX, purely handling IR's, so while the sound isn't fully native, most of the tone and soundscape you hear is the 2120 itself.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Dante on October 13, 2017, 08:14:07 PM
Hey SC, I could totally play that if I was you - haha

Sounded awesome man, really nice. I run a bit cleaner than you, but hey, that's my problem ;) Which guitar were you using on that? Pickups? Woods? C'mon man... you know how I am about that crap  :facepalm:

Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Systematic Chaos on October 14, 2017, 05:00:53 AM
I used Tube Voicing #4 („Saturated Tube“) with gain @ 50%, a bit of Quad Chorus and 250ms Delay on the 2120 and an IR (Boogie 4x12 w/ 70W Celestion V30, mic'd with SM57 and KSM313) from the AxeFX II.
Signal Path was Guitar (Ibby Swamp Ash RGR with CrunchLab and Air Norton) > 2120 > AxeFX II (IR only) > MacBook Pro.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Dante on December 22, 2017, 03:44:22 PM
Okay, I finally tried the EQ settings and I liked them very much!

One thing though, all my default levels are starting at 100%. So my patches are much louder than your settings. I think I may have to go back and turn them all down some, so that I have a bit more head room.

For some reason, mine only covers -12db/+12db, not 16 (?) I'll send you one of my patches very soon
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Dante on January 01, 2018, 10:19:49 PM
Okay, I went through all my patches (3-4 banks) and turned the Master Level down about 20% for each patch. I couldn't stand the way the patches were all set to 100% already, it left me NO headroom. Some needed a bit of fine tuning, but it's better overall now.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Dante on February 15, 2021, 06:56:09 AM
Bump...

I'm always trolling Craigslist and Reverb.com to find used rack gear. Usually, when something does show up, it's ridiculously overpriced. Not today. I found a 2120 at a local shop for a decent price...and it's MINT! I just started fiddling with it & it took me a few minutes to re-remember how these things work.

Once again, all the patches were set to 100%  :dunno:  I do NOT see the logic in that. Turned them all back to 50% for headroom. I thought this thing had a direct out, but I guess it's just 1/4". Sounds decent in the headphones, better with the poweramp and speakers. My wah is making all kinds of buzz, I may have to look into something else (I'm using a Boss V-wah, which is a modeling pedal really). The buzz is only there in the amp, not with headphones, I'll look into it. Could be my One-Spot power supply.

Anyway, I'm digging having a rackmount unit to play with again, and it's very pretty - haha

Would I gain any benefit from rolling tubes in this thing? Or, does it just take any ol' high gain tube, like the MP-2? Tube rolling in that thing doesn't really do much to the tone, just warms it up. Changes in tubes are much more drastic in the MP-1, MP-1 Classic. It's a PITA to change the tubes, so...

The pitch shifting is pretty dang nice, better than my Boss MS3 (which is about 20 years newer). I think Digitech always had the upper hand on pitch shifting with their wammy stuff. My EHX Pitch fork does a great job with wammy FX on my other pedal board. I won't need it with this.

UPDATE: Next morning....the buzz is gone. I blame a cable. Gotta find it.

This thing sounds really good, when you dial back the settings a bit....I think they overdid it, trying to demo all the features, turned them up to 11.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Dante on March 28, 2021, 08:35:51 AM
UPDATE: I've been rocking this thing at home for a good while now (a month). It's  performing wonderfully. I have a bank of patches that seems to work well with pretty much every guitar (not the case with some ADA gear or with some amps, like my Boogie). I have 4 different crunch settings and I cannot decide which one I'm keeping - haha - they all sound good, in a different way. I have a big bottom metal tone, a chunky modern tone, a big midrange classic tone, and then one wildcard that kinda reminds me of an 80s crunch tone with scooped mids. They all sound good  :banana-rock: and I find myself trying each one during a song.

I have not done any tube rolling (again, it's a PITA to get inside the case to do it and it sounds good, so don't fix what ain't broke). The direct out is not ideal, it's okay, but I'll probably invest in a H&K redbox 5 (DI and speaker sim). It's small enough to just tuck in the back of the rack for running direct. This thing sounds so good, I am wondering why I ever got rid of my 2112 (which was upgraded to the 2120).  :dunno:

Having the luxury of a rack rig is pretty awesome. I missed the convenience. Now, I need to ship my ADA Classic off to get repaired (hi MJMP :waving-banana-smiley-emoticon ) while I have something else to use in the interim.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: Dante on April 11, 2021, 10:08:47 AM
BUMP: I played my first outdoor gig with this rig (and my first one in over a year, thanks to the Covid). I gotta say, the purple people eater kicked arse  :banana-trip:

You know how, you set your volume levels at home in the bedroom, then they're all wonky when you turn up loud? Yeah, that didn't happen.  :o   My levels were fine, every patch. Wha?!?

We only played one set, sat in with an acoustic act (haha) and brought all our amps. I just wanted to try out the rig more than anything else, and I got to. It's awesome. I can't wait until I have my Classic back, I'll have two rack rigs again. My other guitarist ran his Line6 Helix into an EVH head, into a 1x12. We were rocking the 1x12 cabs....they were mic'd. Probably the best I've ever heard his Helix sound...he used to run into a Mesa 50/50 rack amp...the EVH sounds better, but he has NO cleans. It's like he's got a 3TM.

Sorry I didn't get a pic of the rig at the gig, this is in the living room.
Title: Re: DigiTech GSP2120
Post by: rnolan on April 14, 2021, 12:26:42 AM
 :whoohoo!: :thumb-up: