New Tech 21 Geddy Lee DI-2112

[HeavyGroove]

I think you are going to be VERY appreciated my friend! Nice job with the video! You have just been knighted.
Best wishes and stay healthy!
Brent

Hahaha, that's not me, so credit is due to that gentleman!

 

[BrentSimons]

Hahaha, that's not me, so credit is due to that gentleman!

Ah you're still Sir @HeavyFingers in my book!

 

[HeavyGroove]

Ah you're still Sir @HeavyFingers in my book!

Quite indubitably!

 

[dStar]

Agree. I know it's made to Geddy's specs, but there are a couple of things I'd like to have front switches for. A tight switch, the combine switch, and effects loop bypass, to name a few. It's not the most convenient, but it sounds pretty great.

I got my rack version the other night. I gotta say at first I really hated it. I was mad that I just spent so much money on this stupid thing. It did not sound good. I love the YYZ pedal soooo much, but I don't really like the pedal without the "tight" switch engaged, because it's too farty for my purposes. I don't really want to sound exactly like Geddy. The tight switch on the YYZ pedal gives it this sweet grindy distortion that I just love. But there's no tight switch on the rackmount. I fiddled with it for a loooong time, but could not get it to sound as good as the pedal.

Then I did a little more soul searching and forum searching, and learned about the internal mods you can do to the rackmount. Now I like it a lot more. I can't say that I like it a TON more than the pedal. But a little more. And it's more convenient for my new (back to the old) rack setup. The pedal is really easy to dial in a usable tone with. At least a tone that I'm happy with, which is just a hint of grindy distortion. The rackmount does a lot more, but somehow seems less intuitive because there are more options. Even though it shares many controls with the YYZ pedal, the controls don't do the exact same thing or don't respond exactly as they do on the pedal. Not that they should, necessarily. For example, if I set the controls like EQ and blend the same as I have them on the pedal, it doesn't really sound like the pedal. It takes time to really understand and dial it in.

It took a lot . . . a lot . . . more tweaking with the rackmount to get it where I like it. But I do like it now that I understand better how the knobs interact and how it all works. It's fantastic. It can do a lot more than the pedal, but I don't need all of the extra ins and outs and some of the features that it offers. I'll likely never send two signals for bass somewhere, but it's nice to have that option if I ever want to. If I didn't want to consolidate as much as possible in my rack, I'd be perfectly fine keeping the pedal. But now that I've got it dialed in, it sounds so great.

I think the two biggest advantages that the rackmount has over the pedal are a separate saturation knob for the deep channel, and the clean blend on the drive channel. It's just enough to give it an edge, in my opinion. I think some of those features are on the tabletop 2112 version as well. But I never really looked into that one because I wasn't interested.

All in all, though, the pedal sounds just as good in all the ways that matter to me, and though it's not as versatile, it's sooooo much easier to dial in a great tone with. If I wasn't going rackmount, I'd be perfectly happy with the pedal.

If you plan to keep the pedal, you could do the internal bypass mod on the rack mount. then you could bypass the rack mount and switch on the pedal for two different tones.

 

[jacoby75]

If you plan to keep the pedal, you could do the internal bypass mod on the rack mount. then you could bypass the rack mount and switch on the pedal for two different tones.

Dang. That's a good idea. I wish I had thought of that. Now I might have to buy it again. Crap! At least for my purposes, it's easy enough to get some different usable tones out of the rackmount version. For example, just a little hair through the drive section. Turn up the drive level and the drive channel's volume a teenie bit for more hair. Turn the drive channel off for farty tube amp sounds out of the deep side. It's surprisingly flexible. But your way makes more sense. I could probably have a small pedalboard of just YYZ pedals to give me presets, lol. I said some time ago I wished they had made a programmable version like the VT deluxe. That would have taken my money in a heartbeat instead of the tabletop version they came out with.

 

[Rocksolid]

A YYZ deluxe would be a winner for sure...

 

[Gefilter1001]

 

[kevmac]

Awesome! Its really a killer preamp, and as you mentioned the "Tight" switch really adds another dimension to it.

You seem quite knowledgeable on all the Gedals.I own the YYZ( it unfortunately quit on me and is in the shop) and love it so much so that I'm thinking of an upgrade.The Two note Le bass has my eye and I wonder if that is a better preamp choice since I own the YYZ,sick though it is.

 

[kevmac]

Yes, I own the rack unit as well.
I played the di today, through a mixing table with my headphones and it's definitely a beast.
What I like is the internal switch, both the deep and drive section goes through one output if you activate the switch.I'm really curious to see what it does through my amp.
The tight switch makes it even more fun to play in my opinion. It delivers a wonderful growl.
And after 2 hours of playing I can say it's a lot easier to achieve your sound than with the rack unit.
I'd recommend it to every single bass player

Does the table top have all the options of the rack mount?

 

[Bart De Decker]

Does the table top have all the options of the rack mount?

Yes, it does, see it as a small version of the rack mount. With a tight switch. Personally I think it's easier to find "your sound"
I've been using the di-2112 for a couple of months now, and I don't want anything else.
Every time I turn it on ,I'm amazed by the sound it delivers.
I play in different metal bands and I play both finger and pick style and my bandmates are amazed by it too.
It's worth every penny

 

[kevmac]

Yes, it does, see it as a small version of the rack mount. With a tight switch. Personally I think it's easier to find "your sound"
I've been using the di-2112 for a couple of months now, and I don't want anything else.
Every time I turn it on ,I'm amazed by the sound it delivers.
I play in different metal bands and I play both finger and pick style and my bandmates are amazed by it too.
It's worth every penny

I have the YYZ but I crapped out on me . It's in the shop but I need (a relative term) another preamp so I'm thinking about this.Also have been eyeing the Two Note Le bass but the Gedals' tone is so good.

 

[jacoby75]

I have the YYZ but I crapped out on me . It's in the shop but I need (a relative term) another preamp so I'm thinking about this.Also have been eyeing the Two Note Le bass but the Gedals' tone is so good.

I never tried a LeBass, but have tried many, many other products over the years in search of a Geddy-ish grind. Nothing nails it like the YYZ line of products IMHO. Which makes sense, since they all have his face on them. Other things get close, but there is a sweetness to the midrange of the YYZ grind that I have not found elsewhere. Something that might be close is the new Billy Sheehan ultimate signature drive, which I recently got to complement the YYZ. But that’s a distortion pedal, not a preamp. And part of the secret sauce of the YYZ line is in the eq of the deep channel, which, when combined with the drive channel, is pure magic.

 

[DigitalMan]

Is there a bypass switch? Ty

Late reply - but no, unfortunately it does not. Also, the blend only works on the drive channel. Beyond that, the EQ on the drive channel still changes the tone even with the blend all the way down.

It’s basically a rack unit in a pedal form factor. To bypass it, you’d need an external bypass box.

Great sounding box. Not a great design in other areas IMO.

 

[PeterH]

Late reply - but no, unfortunately it does not. Also, the blend only works on the drive channel. Beyond that, the EQ on the drive channel still changes the tone even with the blend all the way down.

It’s basically a rack unit in a pedal form factor. To bypass it, you’d need an external bypass box.

Great sounding box. Not a great design in other areas IMO.

After moving away from rackmount, it’s great to have the sound back. But having to use a loop pedal/active blend box to use the 2112 to its full potential on a mono rig is a big setback. I know it’s designed for Geddy’s uses specifically, but I don’t know why making a blend feature or a bypass is too much on the DI.

 

[TonyRo]

A YYZ deluxe would be a winner for sure...

I have been begging for this for a long time, I think I've emailed T21 about it multiple times now. Took me literally 10 minutes with the YYZ to find 5 tones I wish I could call up at any time, from clean to nasty!

 

[tech21nyc]

After moving away from rackmount, it’s great to have the sound back. But having to use a loop pedal/active blend box to use the 2112 to its full potential on a mono rig is a big setback. I know it’s designed for Geddy’s uses specifically, but I don’t know why making a blend feature or a bypass is too much on the DI.

It does have a Blend control on the Drive Channel. It wasn't designed as a pedal. If you want to use it as a regular DI with no tone shaping or amp emulation use the Drive section with the Blend off and the Treble, Bass and Mid at noon.

 

[kevmac]

It does have a Blend control on the Drive Channel. It wasn't designed as a pedal. If you want to use it as a regular DI with no tone shaping or amp emulation use the Drive section with the Blend off and the Treble, Bass and Mid at noon.

I just upgraded from the YYZ to the DI-2112 and the two outs ,Drive and Deep have me scratching my head.What would be the best way to go out on my pedalboard? I'm using Drive out to the next pedal and that works, but why 2 outs?

 

[Rocksolid]

I just upgraded from the YYZ to the DI-2112 and the two outs ,Drive and Deep have me scratching my head.What would be the best way to go out on my pedalboard? I'm using Drive out to the next pedal and that works, but why 2 outs?

There is an internal mod apparently to change the output so the deep and drive outputs go to all outputs blended. you have to contact Tech21 for info I believe. I looked at this model but ultimately went for the YYZ for this reason.

 

[Zbysek]

I just upgraded from the YYZ to the DI-2112 and the two outs ,Drive and Deep have me scratching my head.What would be the best way to go out on my pedalboard? I'm using Drive out to the next pedal and that works, but why 2 outs?

IMHO, the best way would be to use both outputs as the unit is able to do bi-amping. In case you decide to use only one output (which is possible), than I doubt the upgrade was worth it...

 

[hbabels]

Found a video that shows how to combine the outputs. Super simple. Here ya go :



Tech 21 should REALLY consider adding a switch the top for easy access. I get that Geddy may never use this feature fair enough he doesn’t need to he’s Geddy Lee, but for the rest of us mere mortals it would be awesome to be able to quickly switch from dual output to combined output easily without having to remove from pedalboards / remove battery doors or other wise fuss about with it.
The real world of many gigs and sessions and that channels / setup times are often limited.

Awesome sounding pedal though !! Love that the tight switch from the YYZ is added. I always have that engaged on my YYZ.