fantastic concept with a couple goofs 
by Will from peoria, il, June 2008
Music Background:  semi-pro guitarist, hobbyist Recording Engineer

I finally bought a guitar processor to replace the Digitech RP20 that I have loved for ten years. That in itself says a lot about the GSP1101. I play acoustic and electric in the same solo concerts, and I need to uplug one, plug in the other, and go. Furthermore, I use a Lexicon JamMan in my setup, so I need a unit with thorough MIDI implementation. The GSP1101 has finally answered the call!

However, there are a couple major goofs that I wish I knew about. First (and most importantly), there is no way to change the delay time in a live situation other than switching or editing the preset. I need to set the delay time to quarter notes and prefer a tap-tempo function such as the RP20 and many other processors have. But currently (firmware version 2.0) the delay time cannot be mapped to a MIDI controller. Digitech knows they goofed and say they are in the final stages of developing an update that will fix this, but they will not even estimate a delivery date ("It will be posted when
completed").

The other goof is the XLR outputs: Basically, they make my acoustic (Taylor 414CE) sound muddy--like they always have speaker compensation even when I choose "Direct" for a cabinet model (strangely, the "Direct" model sounds exactly like the "DigiTech SpkrComp" model). The only way to get a clean sound is to use the 1/4-inch outputs and uncheck the "cabinet to amp" control (which apparently forces a bypass around speaker compensation). In my correspondence, Digitech did not acknowledge this as a problem and says, "The Direct cabinet means no cabinet model is active, but speaker compensation is a subtle eq application to the XLR outputs that is present and active all the time." Bottom line, for acoustic guitarists, the XLR outputs are useless.

I can live with the 1/4-inch outputs, and I trust Digitech to fix the delay-time issue, so I am not returning mine for a refund. Besides, I have programmed the daylights out of it and love everything else about it. So, in summary, we have a winner--I think.

Write Your Own Review!
We all love gear, and we all love talking about gear with our friends and bandmates. Why not share your thoughts with the hundreds of thousands of customers who regularly visit Sweetwater.com? Write your own customer review on this product! To begin, just Click Here!