Digitech GSP1101 Review
Introduction
Finally got to spend some time with the GSP1101 and man do I like this thing. The signal flexibility is incredible, you can either
use the GSP1101 as a stand alone unit or as a FX only and it does a fantastic job of maintaining your original tone. So far I've
used it stand alone and with my Rockman XPR rack preamp and get great tones with both. Here's the real shocker... the factory
settings are great which is usually never the case. The clip below is the factory DC/AC patch and with my Wolfgang absolutely
nails the tone on You Shook Me All Night Long. When I incorporate the GSP1101 into my live rig I'll use this patch for AC/DC and
Jet tunes in our show.
In the clip bellow the GSP1101 is panned hard left.
GSP1101 ACDC Patch Sample
Programming
With the X-Edit2 software (included) the GSP1101 is extremely easy to program. There are "tones" you can select from or pick the
amp model your looking to emulate. In less than 10 minutes I had dialed up a great "dirty clean" tone by selecting the Digitech
Spank model then adding the Sparkle Drive (which is my favorite distortion/OD on this unit) some reverb and a bit of delay. Once
I got the basic amp model selected via the software I used the drive and tone knobs on the front of the GSP1101 to dial in the
tone I wanted.
Effects Fun
I like to keep my rig small with easy set up and tear down (since I'm setting up lights and PA too) so my current live rig is simply
a POD XT Pro in a 4 space rack bag and monitor through the wedges or my IEMs. At rehearsal the other day I brought the GSP1101 with a Rockman Chorus/Delay and a Rockman
Stereo Echo in the effects loop just for grins. The GSP1101 seemlessly added these external FX without changing their natural
sound (Rockman stuff isn't very transparent) to the point where adding a Xpression or G-Major would give you a killer and perhaps
the most flexible guitar rig every dreamed of in 2 rack spaces. Talk about the ultimate light weight grab and go!
Next Steps
In the next week or two I'll get more clips of my Spank setting and with the Rockman effects in the loop. I also plan on connecting
the GSP1101 to my Egnater Mod50 combo and will get some recordings of that as well. I'll record from the mic output on my Egnater,
the mic outputs on the GSP1101 and also use just the preamp section of the MOD50 and record that as well. I'm seriously thinking
of trying the new 1 space Egnater E2 rack with the GSP1101 for my rig.
DigiTech GSP1101 Guitar Effects Modeling System
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