GNX3 Review

The GNX3's power to unleash a guitarist's creative potential is fully realized in song writing.

Ease of Use:	8.7
Sound:	9.3
Reliability:	8.6
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	8.9
Users rating:	6.5
Comments:	9

overall: 8.8

Featured review by: Minderbinder, on march 26, 2007

Price paid: $ 290

Purchased from: Brookdale music

Ease of Use: This thing is so easy to get a sound out of, once you read through the manual. Actually, you could probobly stand to read through the manual two or three times to fully understand it. Before you start to play, don't think that the pre-sets are all this thing can do. It has been upgraded twice, but this one's just cheaper. It has so many sounds that you can twaek to perfection, and, although sometimes a little tedious, well worth it. // 10

Sound: I use this with a Washburn X-50 and Brian Moore 81.13 through any amp with a aux input. This is important, because an auxillary input bypasses the amp controls straight to the speakers. If just put through a regular guitar input, it wouild severly muddy up the sounds. Now, I could go on forever explaining every little effect, but on the DigiTech website they have everything you need to know. All of the effects can be tweeaked to your liking, and the pedal can be assighned to numerous functions, mostly detunuing (to a million diffent ways as well), and doubles as a wah pedel by pressing down with your toe. Online, people post how to set yuor effects to sound like your favorite artist, it just requires you becoming a member (which is free) to DigiTech. Most of the presets are really bad, overly distorted effects, but they can all be changed. You can adjust effect's parameters, EQ on a red and green challel, amp and effects on seperate channels that can be swithced with the touch of a foot pedal, or warped together for a whole new sound. The possibilities are really endless, and no one could really do this product justice in a review. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Yes, I take it to gigs. Yes, It's on the road with me. Yes, It hasn't fallen apart. But no, I don't trust it. A lot of this is plastic, and the knobs don't feel really sturdy. The foot swithces are plastic, and one little LED light burned out, and it wasn't easily replaced. It hasn't failed yet, but I can't fully depend on it. // 7

Impression: This is a good match for any style of music. I have been playing for eight years, and I love this product. If stolen, I would definatly by another, or a similar model. I also love the fact that it has a mic. in and out, as well as midi in and out, and recording in and out. The eight track recorder is perfect. It has the count off, the drum maching/metronome, and you can combine tracks, so you can really hold as many tracks as memory will support. The internal memory, however was very disapointing. Only three min. of recording time. And the smart media cards it requires to give you more memory are expensive. But, I'm not really complaining, for the price I paid and what it cost before it was upgraded. This product is great for any guitarist serious about sound and recording. // 9

overall: 9

Reviewed by: Diceman42, on december 28, 2005

Purchased from: Tom Lee Music

Ease of Use: It's more or less plug-in n' go, right out of the box. It's got 65 factory presets, and with each of these you have 2/3 amp models to choose from, so there's a lot of variety, covering everything from (insert artist here) to (insert artist here). I'm serious. Ok, I'll try to sum up the rest of the features, which I've had to look up in the hefty manual to properly use, so that what hurts this thing in this category. The recording feature works great and is handy, as is the Drum Machine (a bit limited, but that's to be expected in all-in-one's). The jam-along feature I've never used, but it's not that great. You can hook up a mic for the Talk Box effect (which is orgasmic). And finally, the expression pedal can be assigned different functions, but it doubles as an instant Wah no matter the preset. It can also output to MIDI. I've bought a Smart Media Card to increase its recording time as well as be able to transfer teh recordings to my computer. Speaking of which, it came with 2 CDs of software for editing etc. // 9

Sound: All I can say is: great sound (no matter what guitar or amp). B--chin' loud, too: it's got an output volume which acts as a preamp and literally triples your amp's regular volume. I've drowned out so many drummers and bassists at half volume I've lost count. Very vesatile effects, especially when you begin to dabble in the custom sound setups. Plus, if you read Guitar World, you can dial up their presets to recreate the song's sound. A year into my purchase and I'm still using the presets; they really do cover a wide range (I play mostly classic rock and 80s hard rock and shred) and there are plenty of presets that Pick up harmonic squeals and such. Thrash fans wont be disappointed with presets 8 and 26. The presets fall into 4 categories: heavy distortion, warm fuzz, clean, and "The result of bored employees at DigiTech" (just because some of effects are so silly ie. the organ). Oh, there is also an effect that ocataves your guitar into a Bass (which is useful for recording and replacing annoying bassists). // 10

Reliability & Durability: Ok, here's my problem with this. Although it's shell is metal, and seems very durable, the stomp buttons are plastic, and the displays are thinly protected. One good blow could eff it up good. But I suppose that's true for all things. I'm making it seem worse than it really is. It actually looks almost brand new and it has weathered many transports to practices and gigs. // 8

Impression: I am really happy with my investment in the GNX3. Great sound, no matter what guitar and amp, great versatility, and features by the barrel. And the LEDs look really sweet in the dark. I would like to point out that when I got it, it was on special order, since the GNX4 had just came out ($900CDN give or take). The GNX4 is basically the GNX3 with a just a few more features and whatnot that were not worth the extra dough I didn't have. From what I understand, they no longer make the GNX3, so youd probably only find it 2nd hand (cheaper too). // 9

Reviewed by: unregistered, on march 02, 2004

Price paid: $ 400

Purchased from: Hugo Helmer

Ease of Use: When you first look at the front panel of the GNX3 it looks pretty intimidating, but after reading the first part of the owners manual it becomes pretty simple. The manual is pretty much just about the recorder but is pretty usefull, the version of mine is 1.4. // 10

Sound: My guitar and amp setting is an affinity squire strat through the GNX3 to the input of my Fender fm212r which it is pretty quiet with the noise gate on the effects are pretty strong and can be edited in very fine detail, to get the sound of your favorite bands and artists is pretty easy because you can download some right off of the internet at DigiTech.com. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This is pretty reliable as I would use it at a gig without a back up and for durability I would be a little concerned about the knobs breaking of but not to concerned. // 8

Impression: Overall impression is that this is an freakin awesome Machine for the money plus recorder makes it an even better deal even though I think you should be able to buy a bigger chip than 128mb but with the 128 you can get about 30 min of cd quality recording for one track and 15 for 2 see the pattern. Well now go out and buy it. // 10

overall: 8.8

Reviewed by: stromdid18, on may 10, 2007

Price paid: $ 300

Ease of Use: I love my new GNX3 workstation from DigiTech. I was able to use it within a minute of opening it. I was able to figure out how to adjust almost everyting within the first half an hour playing it. I still have trouble working the multi-track recorder. it works great and is easy to use. the manual isn't very good, it just tells you what it has and not how to use it. I still cannot figure out how to or if I even can edit the preset numbering so I can Switch through to my next effect easier and more quickly. // 8

Sound: It is all very digitally perfect. Very clear, but the highs and lows are hard to adjust. it always seem the highs are to loud and I always have to adjust more and more every time I play somewhere. that is probably just personnel preference. I mainly use a Allen And Heath GL 2000 Board with four community speakers (not sure on exact # but it's CP 15 or something) and three community wedge monitors. I was able to mimick almost to a "T" the sound settings for Linkin Park's "Hit The Floor". Also I found it easy to Crank it up a notch with the FUSSOLO setting or solo settings though was hard to control. the preset backrounds are boring but good for practicing solos and such. Some of the Sounds are very "digital" while other are very Vintage. the amp presets are stunning but the readout screeen can be tough to understand with all it's abbreviations. the Chorusses and Distortion mixes are good while the delay and Reverbs are not so good. delays seem to bee complety wrong for any rythm besides 6/16. the left output is the only one that works for a sound sytem unless you use both at the same time. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This thing has played in rain and 36 degree garages and outdoor concerts and their has not had a single querque. A great buy and will last a long time. I would use this thing with out a worry. Unless it's a poor system then I might bring a different set up. // 10

Impression: I play a lot of clean to distorted songs and I find it difficult to keep a constant volume or the volumes that I prefer. The cleans always seem louder or more full than the distorted sound effects. It has worked out alright for me. And would be great for either the heaviest of styles or the more acouticy type of styles. // 9

overall: 9

Reviewed by: dorteater, on march 03, 2007

Price paid: $ 300

Purchased from: guitarcenter

Ease of Use: It is pretty basic to use but the recording thing takes a bit of playing around with to figure out. You can create your own effects and you can add to the already made ones. The manual is very helpful bt very long and boring but if you every need to look something up it's very useful. // 9

Sound: The sound is amazing for recording and is very has a very good sound live right now I use a Marshall SV100 and it sounds incredible withbassier tones. You can pretty much get any sound you wnt out of it. There are so many diffrent optins for choruses and distortions that here is bound to be at least one that you like. // 10

Reliability & Durability: It is very dependable and I would be able to bring it around everywhere but it is very heavy and kind of big but other than that it is built solid. I have used it in studios and it still hasn't faled me yet so it's been pretty good for me so far. When it comes to carrying around it can be a bit of a pain in the but because it's so big but in gigs you can plug ure mic into it and then plug in an output to the pa system so if the sound guy turn down ure mic you can turn it back up. // 8

Impression: I play all styles of music from metal to blues and the peal fits everything I play. I've been playing fo 4 years now and I have one other smaller digitechepdal and it's pretty much garbage compared to this I can never go back to ndividual pedals now. my favourite feature on it is the the down shift effect. It s a very safe purchase if your going to buy it and it will las tyou long time. The only problem is some of the was are very unnatural and highpitched making a squeeky sound but other then tht everything is amazing. // 9

overall: 9

Reviewed by: Guitar4life0000, on april 14, 2006

Price paid: $ 299

Purchased from: Musicians Friend

Ease of Use: This effect processor is exrememly easy to get a great sound out of it with it's effect choices, and it's 8 track recorder (the recorder's time can be greatly increased with flash card). It operates only on an AC adapter so it'll never run out of battery power during a gig. Comes with an expression pedal for effects such as wah, Whammy, and ya-ya. There are two more upgrades to this product such as the GNX4.The manual is very easy to read and you'll start understanding the product in 10 minutes, even if you've never used an effects processor before! // 8

Sound: I'm using an Epiphone G-400 guitar with it and a Kustom amplifier. It's never noisy with the noise gate on. The only effect that could be enhanced is the wah because it's very weak. I could get the sound of Dave Murrey of Iron Maiden. The distortion always sounds good even with low gain, it sounds like you have a lot of it on, and it's a very clean distortion. // 9

Reliability & Durability: You can always depend on anything DigiTech for a gig or just at home for practice. // 10

Impression: This product can range from country to Death Metal in a split second. I've been playing for about 3 years and it's perfect for anyone. I love the quick changes you can make on it. I would choose anything DigiTech over any effect processor out there. // 9

Reviewed by: unregistered, on august 04, 2004

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Ease of Use: Very easy to use, takes half an hour tops to get all the features down. A little complex, but easy once you get the hang of it. The manual covers just about everything you'll need to know, but the troubleshooting is a bit short, leaving you in the cold when lost. Features:
- A monumental amount of 24-bit studio-quality effects (distortion, reverb, delay, modulation, talk box, Pick up simulator, up to 11 at a time.)
- Amp/Cab modeling, choice of over 16 amps (Fender Twin Reverb, Mesa Stack, etc.)
- Stombox modeling, choice of over 8 different stompers (Boss DS-1, Metal Distortion, Tubescreamer, etc.)
- Assignable expression pedal (a nice, sturdy pedal, unlike the RP series), includes Wah, Whammy, Volume, etc.
- Built-in 8-track recorder (requires Smartmedia card for over 20 seconds of recording time and for processor-computer music transfer), comes with Cakewalk recording program, enables looping
- Drum Machine (pretty good quality, choice of tempo and over 10 different styles)
- Learn-a-Lick (haven't tried it myself), enables you to hook up your CD player and slows down the desired lick you want to learn
- I know I'm forgetting something. // 8

Sound: I use mainly my Peavey Wolfgang Special>GNX3>Peavey 258 EFX (25watt). Great tone, studio-quality effects. Has great presets bank (includes tones of Eric Johnson, DLR-era Eddie Van Halen, Santana, among others), as well as many other great presets (vintage, metal, etc.) Of course, you can't expect to get every tone spot-on (from mags like Guitar World and Guitar One), but the tones are great, none-the-less. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Lasts long, very strong (I thought I ruined it playing a gig at a backyard pool-party, nope). The only beef I have is the led display is very vague (at best) while in daylight (probably the case with all led displays). // 10

Impression: I play mostly classic rock and blues. I would say this Machine is excellent for any genre of music. I wish I could've been given a guitar with strings that weren't dead to try it out, but, thank god, it was a great buy. If it were stolen/lost, I would compare other effects machines first, and see which one I'm more comfortable with, seeing as I more-or-less rushed this buy. I love just about everything about her. The only thing I would change is the default recording time (of about 20 seconds) to something like an hour or so (to get more than 20 sec. of recording, you have to purchase a memory card, along with a memory card reader to read the card for computer editing). I tried some Boss multi-effects processer, but loved the GNX3 because I could dail-in the tones from the song in the mags. The GNX3 offers complete freedom of the guitarist. I highly recommend this effects processor. // 8

Reviewed by: unregistered, on february 17, 2004

Price paid: $ 369

Purchased from: EBay

Ease of Use: GNX3 with footswitch (Version 1.5). Tones and sounds are endless...really cool. The manual is decent, just a lot of material to go through. // 8

Sound: Using a Hamer SATF through a 5150 combo amp. The effects are good, but you have to edit the user presets to get the tones you really want. The effects really blend together, but all the the effects are really good. // 8

Reliability & Durability: When it works, yes! My unit has some problems from the factory and I am in the process of sending it back to DigiTech. It will be working fine, then all the effects will come on at once (in stompbox mode) and will have a horrible static/hissing sound that I could not get to go away. DigiTech's hotline has been real good about trying to resolve it so far. I plan to box it up and send it back. Hopefully I will get a new unit from them.

Other than the intermittant static problem, it was sweet. // 6

Impression: I play many styles of music, and this unit helps get the sounds out for those styles. I've been playing for 12 years, and have owned Boss and DOD units. I like the drum sampler and the bass modeler, those are really cool features. The digital 8-track recorder is cool, but takes a while to figure out. I like the product, and would buy another one if this one was ripped off.

Just a heads up- the GNX1 and GNX2 are really cool too, but you will kick yourself later if you dont go up to the GNX3. // 8

overall: 9.5

Reviewed by: Tayman20, on march 03, 2004

Price paid: $ 380

Purchased from: Musicians Friend

Ease of Use: The first thing you will notice right out of the box is this things manual. Its huge. You might at some point want to read the manual. BUT, The GNX3 can easily be used right out of the box. I played with it for 3 days before even look at the manual. I would divide the EASY TO USE section into 2 parts. The beginners section and the pro section. First for the beginner: You should be able to plug it up and hack away. There are 65 preset effects. Have fun.

For the pro: There are 65 preset effects. Thats great. But there are also 65 more slots for edit these effects and creating your own. This can be a daunting task creating your own effect (reverb, chorus, delay, equalizer). But you can create some pretty cool ones.

I'd say overall it's easy to use. // 8

Sound: Like I said earlier there are 65 effects. Each has its distinct sound. There are some really really good effects, then there are some not so great ones but thats just my opinion. The pedal is fun to play with with effects like wah and such. Overall the sound is great. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Ive only had this since Christmas but I've had no problems so far. I have no reason to not trust this. // 10

Impression: This effects board is just great all around. It fits all types of music styles and is good for beginners and pros. Something I did not mention earlier is the 8 track recorder built in. This is sweet. There is a built in drum Machine to give you a basic beat to play along with. You can save your recorded song to a memory card (same kind as digital camera) and import the song to your computer. This thing is full of functions (many of which I probably haven't discovered). If youve got $350 to spend, I would recommend the GNX3. // 10

Comments

[hEadShoVeL]

i own this paddle well i duno why i cnat seem to get y distorstion sound right, but overall i love this padle really fufills me needs

[sk8nroknazn]

This processor is a great practice tool for silent practice, recording riffs, etc. but it sounds much better run through the clean channel of a tube amp (I run through a Peavey JSX head and a Mesa rectifier cab). without a tube amp, the distortion on the pedal is just way too trashy. all in all, this thing does all.

[mxh]

Should i get this or a boss GT6?

[stromdid18]

Definetly get this the boss is just like getting the GNX4 not really needed but but more expensive the GNX is way more easy to use and is lighter

[stromdid18]

the GNX 3

[bradyyy]

Is this pedal any good for metal playing?

[scott91]

hey guys
i need some advice.
im either going get the digitech gnx3000. or the digitech gnx3. but im tore between the two
does anyone have any advise on which to get ?
cheers

[Smithsc]

this thing is awesome, ive had it for about 3 years and i love recording with it!

[Obama FTW]

Im thinking of getting this, but the user rating is so low. Why? It looks pretty good, i might be able to get it for 160$. Is this a good deal?