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Digitech 2112/2120 question


DeadNight Warrior

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Ok well... basically, I've heard these in action (at gigs) before, and thought they had some pretty decent sounds in 'em. I'm considering finding one to slap in this rack I'm putting together. I tried downloading the manual for a bit o' info to start with, but the digitech site asked me for some password 'n' shit, and I dunno WTF's going on. :o

 

Basically, I'd be using it in combination with a Mesa Quad. The Quad would be my main preamp, sitting in the loop of the digitech, which'd be for effects (maybe for the occasional preamp sound too).

 

So most importantly for me is, how's the loop function in terms of tone sucking? If it's bad, that pretty much writes off that idea for me.

 

Aside from that, how are they in terms of flexibility? Can you change the order of the FX chain? How tweakable are each of the effects? Any gaps in sound between patch changes? Err... I dunno, anything else worth noting? :o:confused:

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Originally posted by DeadNight Warrior


Basically, I'd be using it in combination with a Mesa Quad. The Quad would be my main preamp, sitting in the loop of the digitech, which'd be for effects (
maybe
for the occasional preamp sound too).


So most importantly for me is, how's the loop function in terms of tone sucking? If it's bad, that pretty much writes off that idea for me.


Aside from that, how are they in terms of flexibility? Can you change the order of the FX chain? How tweakable are each of the effects? Any gaps in sound between patch changes? Err... I dunno, anything else worth noting?
:o:confused:

 

I have a 2120 in the FX loop of my F-50. Before that I used it with my Nomad 45. The FX loop on the F-50 is better, the Nomad had a nasel, phasing kind of sound. The buffers in the 2120 will change the tone of your amp. I like it, it cleans things up, brightens or puts a bit of edge on, like and EQ (bty, the 2120 has a 32 band eq as one of the many EQ type effects). Some might say there is some tone sucking, but it can be EQed. The 2120 is extremely flexable, you can put any effect in a chain in any order. You could even put 8 chorus effects chained together if you wanted, stereo or mono. You don't have to use any of the pre-amp effects if your not using the 2120 as a pre-amp. The is no gap between switching effects. So if you use a heavy delay patch, you will actually hear some of the echo's carry over as you begin (switch) to a new patch. It has just about every effect you would ever need and is extremely flexable in how you can apply them. I've had mine for 6 years now, it only locked up once and I did a re-set and eveything was cool. As with all rack effects, make sure you backup your programs. There are (2) 12AX7 tubes in it. Swapping them with clean things up if you us the tube distortion effects.

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Originally posted by GTM



I have a 2120 in the FX loop of my F-50. Before that I used it with my Nomad 45. The FX loop on the F-50 is better, the Nomad had a nasel, phasing kind of sound. The buffers in the 2120 will change the tone of your amp. I like it, it cleans things up, brightens or puts a bit of edge on, like and EQ (bty, the 2120 has a 32 band eq as one of the many EQ type effects). Some might say there is some tone sucking, but it can be EQed. The 2120 is extremely flexable, you can put any effect in a chain in any order. You could even put 8 chorus effects chained together if you wanted, stereo or mono. You don't have to use any of the pre-amp effects if your not using the 2120 as a pre-amp. The is no gap between switching effects. So if you use a heavy delay patch, you will actually hear some of the echo's carry over as you begin (switch) to a new patch. It has just about every effect you would ever need and is extremely flexable in how you can apply them. I've had mine for 6 years now, it only locked up once and I did a re-set and eveything was cool. As with all rack effects, make sure you backup your programs. There are (2) 12AX7 tubes in it. Swapping them with clean things up if you us the tube distortion effects.

 

Thanks for the response. :)

 

"You could even put 8 chorus effects chained together if you wanted, stereo or mono."

 

How the hell does that work? :eek: It's not something I'd find particularly useable, but how does the FX chain work? Is it like, a set number of spots that you can fill with any effects in any order, including doubling up on FX, or what? :confused:

 

So far, from what you've said, I'm quite interested in checking one of these things out. :)

 

Thanks again. :)

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Originally posted by DeadNight Warrior



Thanks for the response.
:)

"You could even put 8 chorus effects chained together if you wanted, stereo or mono."


How the hell does that work?
:eek:
It's not something I'd find particularly useable, but how does the FX chain work? Is it like, a set number of spots that you can fill with any effects in any order, including doubling up on FX, or what?
:confused:
Thanks again.
:)

 

There are a bunch of templetes or blank chains you use when setting up a patch. The pre-amp chain is always the same, I don't remember the exact order but it's something like compressor, tube distortion, EQ, SS distortion, EQ, noise gate, etc, etc. Then you can select the effects chain. It depends on whether it's a stereo or mono chain and what type of effects you use. Like I said the templets are blank and you dial in what effect you want. You choose the effect and the order from the main menu of all the effects available. An example would be to dial in EQ, chours, reverb, delay. Some of the temples use up to 8 effects. You also have global effects like cabinet type, expression pedals, midi stuff, etc. You can progran the foot controller to select patchs or set it up like a stomp box (assign effects like chorus or delay on/off to the foot pedals) or you can split it up, assign patchs to half the foot controller and stomp effect to the other half. The foot controller gives you 10 banks of assignable 10 patchs. Hope this helps.

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Originally posted by DeadNight Warrior



Is it like, a set number of spots that you can fill with any effects in any order, including doubling up on FX, or what?
:confused:

Thanks again.
:)

 

Yes it's something like this, but there are several different "FX-position-chains" you can choose from. There are some "daisychains", some with two parallel chains.

And the "FX-posiotions" come in 4 sizes:

- quarter

- half

- threequarter

- whole

which means how much DSP-horsepower they take.

The 2112/2120 have two DSPs.

 

Its hard to explain. The manual is quite good at explainig this matter though...

 

If you use more than one DSP there will be a short break during switching. If you use only one DSP you can have for example the delay of your last patch continue into the next patch.

 

By the way the manual can be found here.

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Fwiw, I would highly recommend checking out the 2101 Artist with the PPC-210 upgrade, before going for the 2112 or 2120. The effects are world-class, and you not only have the option of filling in the blanks for effects-chain templates (called algorithms, for the 2101), but you can create your own from scratch. With the dual S-Discs, you can create two parallel fx chains completely independent of each other in one patch, if you want. But the main thing to me is the overall tone of the unit -- the 2101 always sounded much closer to "natural" to me, and since you asked about tone-suckage, I think the 2101 would be worth a look.

 

And I'm NOT just saying all this because I have one for sale! :D

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Originally posted by JamesBlood



Yes it's something like this, but there are several different "FX-position-chains" you can choose from. There are some "daisychains", some with two parallel chains.

And the "FX-posiotions" come in 4 sizes:

- quarter

- half

- threequarter

- whole

which means how much DSP-horsepower they take.

The 2112/2120 have two DSPs.


Its hard to explain. The manual is quite good at explainig this matter though...


If you use more than one DSP there will be a short break during switching. If you use only one DSP you can have for example the delay of your last patch continue into the next patch.


By the way the manual can be found
here
.

 

Thanks for the explanation, and the manual. For some reason when I tried getting it before, it asked me for a password or something. :confused:

 

Anyways, I think I kinda follow what you mean with the FX chains 'n' whatnot. I guess I'll find out more when I read the manual.

 

I guess this is a bit of a hard question to answer but, how often would one be making use of both DSPs? I mean, does it take much to get both going? I'm not that big an FX user, more just EQ, subtle delays and reverbs, maybe an occasional light chorus or something on a clean sound... but I don't use huge swirling combinations of phasers and flangers, with a huge delay and an slight detune effect 'n' heaps of simultaneous whacky shit. So would you say I'd probably be fairly safe most of the time in terms of having that seamless switching?

 

Sorry for the shit question. :o And thanks again. :)

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I think it might make sense in a recording situation, because then the time for switching is irrelevant, and you need the best soundquality.

There is a reverb that takes up one DSP on it's own. So if you want that and something else you end up using more...

That reverb can sound really very good and is ultratweakable.

 

Live you can stick to more basic fx and overlapping patch changes.

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Originally posted by draelyc

Fwiw, I would highly recommend checking out the 2101 Artist with the PPC-210 upgrade, before going for the 2112 or 2120. The effects are world-class, and you not only have the option of filling in the blanks for effects-chain templates (called algorithms, for the 2101), but you can create your own from scratch. With the dual S-Discs, you can create two parallel fx chains completely independent of each other in one patch, if you want. But the main thing to me is the overall tone of the unit -- the 2101 always sounded much closer to "natural" to me, and since you asked about tone-suckage, I think the 2101 would be worth a look.


And I'm NOT just saying all this because I have one for sale!
:D

 

Thanks for the info. Sounds quite interesting indeed. The parallel FX chains sounds like quite the monstrous tool to me. JamesBlood mentioned something about parallel FX chains in the 2112/2120... is the 2101 significantly better in that area? I'm not sure how much I'd be using it, but it certainly sounds like something I'd like to have at my disposal.

 

Not sure your 2101 would be an option for me though. Being in Australia, I assume I'd have to have it modded, or run a transformer, no? (I assume it's not a separate power supply type dealie).

 

Thanks. :)

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Originally posted by GTM



There are a bunch of templetes or blank chains you use when setting up a patch. The pre-amp chain is always the same, I don't remember the exact order but it's something like compressor, tube distortion, EQ, SS distortion, EQ, noise gate, etc, etc. Then you can select the effects chain. It depends on whether it's a stereo or mono chain and what type of effects you use. Like I said the templets are blank and you dial in what effect you want. You choose the effect and the order from the main menu of all the effects available. An example would be to dial in EQ, chours, reverb, delay. Some of the temples use up to 8 effects. You also have global effects like cabinet type, expression pedals, midi stuff, etc. You can progran the foot controller to select patchs or set it up like a stomp box (assign effects like chorus or delay on/off to the foot pedals) or you can split it up, assign patchs to half the foot controller and stomp effect to the other half. The foot controller gives you 10 banks of assignable 10 patchs. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, yeah that does help a bit. :) Sounds quite interesting indeed...

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Originally posted by JamesBlood

I think it might make sense in a recording situation, because then the time for switching is irrelevant, and you need the best soundquality.

There is a reverb that takes up one DSP on it's own. So if you want that and something else you end up using more...

That reverb can sound really very good and is ultratweakable.


Live you can stick to more basic fx and overlapping patch changes.

 

Ahh I see. Yeah, I guess I intend for it to be a live thing really, and yeah, to me using the finest reverbs around 'n' whatnot doesn't really make much of a difference live, at least not for me. I don't think the nuances of a fine reverb really make that much of a difference when you're blasting the crowd with brutal metal stuff. :p

 

Thanks :)

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Ok, another question. The manual that I'm now reading claims that the Digitech floorboard thingy responds better 'n' whatnot than if you used some other MIDI controller. I'm a lil suss on that, so are they talkin' bull or not? :confused:

 

 

And yeah, the manual's helping quite a bit with understanding the FX chains 'n' all. :)

 

Thanks again people. :)

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Originally posted by DeadNight Warrior


I guess this is a bit of a hard question to answer but, how often would one be making use of both DSPs? I mean, does it take much to get both going? I'm not that big an FX user, more just EQ, subtle delays and reverbs, maybe an occasional light chorus or something on a clean sound... but I don't use huge swirling combinations of phasers and flangers, with a huge delay and an slight detune effect 'n' heaps of simultaneous whacky shit. So would you say I'd probably be fairly safe most of the time in terms of having that seamless switching?


Sorry for the shit question.
:o
And thanks again.
:)

 

I have never had any problems with seamless switching. I have made up about 70 - 90 patches over the years, some more complex than others, all of them are seamless.

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Originally posted by GTM



I have never had any problems with seamless switching. I have made up about 70 - 90 patches over the years, some more complex than others, all of them are seamless.

 

Thanks, that's quite reassuring. Looking at the manual, it did seem like it'd be pretty easy to set up the patches to switch seamlessly most of the time. A lot of those big delay and reverb effects and whatnot that take a lot of processing power probably wouldn't be of much use to me live. :)

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Originally posted by DeadNight Warrior



Thanks for the info. Sounds quite interesting indeed. The parallel FX chains sounds like quite the monstrous tool to me. JamesBlood mentioned something about parallel FX chains in the 2112/2120... is the 2101 significantly better in that area? I'm not sure how much I'd be using it, but it certainly sounds like something I'd like to have at my disposal.


Not sure your 2101 would be an option for me though. Being in Australia, I assume I'd have to have it modded, or run a transformer, no? (I assume it's not a separate power supply type dealie).


Thanks.
:)

 

 

Ah, I should've looked at your location thingie -- sorry! :) Don't know what the power supply differences are between Aus. & the U.S.

 

As for which Digitech is better, all I can say is that, to my ears, the overall sound of the 2101 is more natural and "realistic," whatever that may mean. :p Programming-wise, the 2101 allows you to build completely new fx algorithms (templates) from scratch and route the effects in them in whatever order you choose, even doubling back & repeating individual fx. I don't know for a fact, but it was my understanding that the 2112/2120 were a little more limited in that regard. Also, the 2101 has true stereo operation, meaning you can run two inputs into it, process them separately, and run the results to two outputs. I don't know if the 2120's loop is stereo or not -- but these other folks should be able to tell you that.

 

As for the Digitech foot controller, I never bought one, never used one. I used the ART X-15 ULTRAFOOT midi controller, because at the time it came out it was the only one with two built in expression pedals. Those pedals can be midi-linked to *any* parameter in the 2101, btw, and each pedal can control multiple parameters at the same time in real-time. Very cool for making subtle fx changes when going from rhythm to lead, for instance. The only downside was that the ART could *not* accept phantom power from the 2101 and had to run its own power supply, but it was better built & more effective, so I didn't sweat it. :)

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I have a 2120. I love it and highly recommend it.

 

I've had bad luck with the Control One Footcontroller (or whatever it's called). I've had 3 of them break down on me in the last 8 years or so. I finally got a J12 a couple years ago and that's been solid.

 

As people have said, with the 2120 you select a template which defines the order a bunch of FX are in (they can be in various combinations of series / parallel), you then pick what you want the effects to actually be (chorus / phaser / delay / etc).

 

It's all very configurable and you can assign pedals to control any parameter of any effect. This is incredibly useful. You don't just have to turn an effect on/off, you can assign a button to make the reverb level go between 10 and 30% type thing. You can make a button toggle the delay send level between 0 and some percentage, so the delay continues to decay after you turn it off..

 

I'll record a demo of the tones I can get and put it up in the next day or two.

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I had no problem with the ControlOne, my first 2112 only worked for 3 or four hours, but I got a new one right away, no problem so far.

Well, as long as you remember to first connect the ControlOne to the 2112 and then power it up. If you do it the other way around it might work. It might work for months. But someday (happened twice to me till I figured out what the problem was) you will be left with the patch you start up with and the first patch you change to. :eek:

Guess when this happened to me? Right! Just before a gig... :mad:

Solution: Factory reset!!!

Last time this happened to me was 4 years ago, no problem since.

 

ControlOne Special features:

- Displays Patch Name

- Indicates where you can turn single FX on/off (led)

- switches faster than MIDI

- Displays tuner

- step on a button --> your new patch, step on the same button --> previous patch

 

I think everything else can be done with a MIDI Controller too

 

Another Difference between 2101 and 2112/2120:

Yep 2101 is more flexible, but (what I've heard) also more complicated. But that wouldn't have really bothered me. I bought the 2112 because it hase to preamps, that can be used individually, blended from and to (sort of morphing) and simultaneously!

 

Well ok, later I found out one of these preamps sucks more than the other and it's quite hard to ge a top notch metal sound out of this box...

Well it's better than many other boxes, but te other guitarist in my band has a Crate Blue Voodoo and blows my sound away easily. Not that I like his sound much but the 2112 only sounds good when he's not playing...

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Originally posted by draelyc




Ah, I should've looked at your location thingie -- sorry!
:)
Don't know what the power supply differences are between Aus. & the U.S.


As for which Digitech is better, all I can say is that, to my ears, the overall sound of the 2101 is more natural and "realistic," whatever that may mean.
:p
Programming-wise, the 2101 allows you to build completely new fx algorithms (templates) from scratch and route the effects in them in whatever order you choose, even doubling back & repeating individual fx. I don't know for a fact, but it was my understanding that the 2112/2120 were a little more limited in that regard. Also, the 2101 has true stereo operation, meaning you can run two inputs into it, process them separately, and run the results to two outputs. I don't know if the 2120's loop is stereo or not -- but these other folks should be able to tell you that.


As for the Digitech foot controller, I never bought one, never used one. I used the ART X-15 ULTRAFOOT midi controller, because at the time it came out it was the only one with two built in expression pedals. Those pedals can be midi-linked to *any* parameter in the 2101, btw, and each pedal can control multiple parameters at the same time in real-time. Very cool for making subtle fx changes when going from rhythm to lead, for instance. The only downside was that the ART could *not* accept phantom power from the 2101 and had to run its own power supply, but it was better built & more effective, so I didn't sweat it.
:)

 

Thanks for all the info. I think for now I might grab a 2120 and see how I go with that. If I'm liking the unit in general, except maybe for some tone suckage or something, maybe I'll look for a 2101 to try instead. :)

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Originally posted by DoubleAgent

I have a 2120. I love it and highly recommend it.


I've had bad luck with the Control One Footcontroller (or whatever it's called). I've had 3 of them break down on me in the last 8 years or so. I finally got a J12 a couple years ago and that's been solid.


As people have said, with the 2120 you select a template which defines the order a bunch of FX are in (they can be in various combinations of series / parallel), you then pick what you want the effects to actually be (chorus / phaser / delay / etc).


It's all very configurable and you can assign pedals to control any parameter of any effect. This is incredibly useful. You don't just have to turn an effect on/off, you can assign a button to make the reverb level go between 10 and 30% type thing. You can make a button toggle the delay send level between 0 and some percentage, so the delay continues to decay after you turn it off..


I'll record a demo of the tones I can get and put it up in the next day or two.

 

Yeah, from what I've seen in the manual, even with the set template thingies, there seems to be a pretty wide range of possibilities. I don't think I'll have any problems there. Then again, I don't think I fully comprehend how it all works just yet, and won't really get it 'til I've actually got one to play around with.

 

Good to hear it's all assignable 'n' whatnot. I've had my GT-8 since they first came out in Japan, so I'm quite used to having that kind of flexibility now.

 

Thanks :)

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Originally posted by JamesBlood

I had no problem with the ControlOne, my first 2112 only worked for 3 or four hours, but I got a new one right away, no problem so far.

Well, as long as you remember to first connect the ControlOne to the 2112 and then power it up. If you do it the other way around it might work. It might work for months. But someday (happened twice to me till I figured out what the problem was) you will be left with the patch you start up with and the first patch you change to.
:eek:
Guess when this happened to me? Right! Just before a gig...
:mad:
Solution: Factory reset!!!

Last time this happened to me was 4 years ago, no problem since.


ControlOne Special features:

- Displays Patch Name

- Indicates where you can turn single FX on/off (led)

- switches faster than MIDI

- Displays tuner

- step on a button --> your new patch, step on the same button --> previous patch


I think everything else can be done with a MIDI Controller too


Another Difference between 2101 and 2112/2120:

Yep 2101 is more flexible, but (what I've heard) also more complicated. But that wouldn't have really bothered me. I bought the 2112 because it hase to preamps, that can be used individually, blended from and to (sort of morphing) and simultaneously!

 

Thanks for the info, especially on the Control One. I guess I still have a bit of learning to do with all this MIDI business anyways. I'll need to buy a Axess CFX-4 (or two), and figure out how to have all the switching on the Quad controlled by the floorboard along with the 2120. I guess a lot of learning and research for me to do yet...

 

I guess I'll decide whether I go for the Control One or something else a lil later on when I'm figuring out all my switching crap. :o

 

Thanks :)

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Hey dude..

 

I threw up an mp3 of me wanking on guitar for a bit to demonstrate the 2120. Go to:

 

http://www.greggirardin.net/originals.html

 

Please note:

 

1) my sloppy playing.

2) This was all one live take, including the leads over the backing parts.

3) I didn't use an amp, so the distortions sound crappy.. this isn't really the 2120's fault.

4) The Wah indeed sucks, but it's usable in a live context.

5) The tremolo speed can be assigned to a pedal.. that's how I was changing the speed at 5:40

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Originally posted by DoubleAgent

Hey dude..


I threw up an mp3 of me wanking on guitar for a bit to demonstrate the 2120. Go to:


http://www.greggirardin.net/originals.html


Please note:


1) my sloppy playing.

2) This was all one live take, including the leads over the backing parts.

3) I didn't use an amp, so the distortions sound crappy.. this isn't really the 2120's fault.

4) The Wah indeed sucks, but it's usable in a live context.

5) The tremolo speed can be assigned to a pedal.. that's how I was changing the speed at 5:40

 

Thanks, that's cool of you to do that. I'll check it out when I get home from work. :)

 

Question, while I'm at it... you mentioned the wah... is it adjustable at all? Is there a few preset wahs and that's it, or can you tweak the Q, or range, or anything like that?

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very little adjustment can be done to the wah. Only controlling whether forward is the treblely position, or backward. My 2120 is old, this could possibly not be true with later firmware, but I suspect this behavior is in the hardware.

 

But the wah is ok for live, it's just not good enough for recording IMO

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Originally posted by DoubleAgent

very little adjustment can be done to the wah. Only controlling whether forward is the treblely position, or backward. My 2120 is old, this could possibly not be true with later firmware, but I suspect this behavior is in the hardware.


But the wah is ok for live, it's just not good enough for recording IMO

 

Thanks for the clip. There were some pretty interesting sounds in there. Makes me want to add some more experimental and atmospheric aspects to my band's sound. :o:)

 

Yeah, the wah was nothing special though. I was a bit disappointed to hear that it's not really tweakable. :( Then again, I'm not a huge wah user anyways, so it's not that big an issue. For recording, I could whip out my 535Q, or even the GT-8's wah (which I'm quite happy with).

 

Generally, quite impressed with what I heard in the clip.

 

Thanks again. :)

 

If it wasn't for my steadily decreasing bank balance, I'd have made up my mind already. Even so, I'm changing my pants every few hours just thinking about it... :o

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Originally posted by draelyc



As for the Digitech foot controller, I never bought one, never used one. I used the ART X-15 ULTRAFOOT midi controller, because at the time it came out it was the only one with two built in expression pedals. Those pedals can be midi-linked to *any* parameter in the 2101, btw, and each pedal can control multiple parameters at the same time in real-time. Very cool for making subtle fx changes when going from rhythm to lead, for instance. The only downside was that the ART could *not* accept phantom power from the 2101 and had to run its own power supply, but it was better built & more effective, so I didn't sweat it.
:)

 

I did this some time ago. Crude, but effective. I still gig with it to this day.

 

http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/x15art_mod.html

 

-Trip

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