DigiTech EX-7 Expression Factory Inital Impressions

[marnold***]

Color me surprised! I went to my homebrew club's meeting yesterday and when I got home, there was my EX-7! Apparently DHL delivers on Saturdays. Who knew? One thing that immediately struck me is that someone at DigiTech has a problem with gauging sizes of things. The pedal is roughly the size of a standard wah-wah pedal. The box it comes in is a little less than four times bigger. The manual, on the other hand, it teeny--3" x 4" (7.5 cm x 10.5 cm for you metric folk).

The pedal is quite heavy and made almost entirely of metal. It seems very rugged. You could probably beat an intruder to death with it. There are two inputs: one for the guitar and one for the optional foot switch. There are two outputs: one for going out to an amp, another for going directly to a mixer (which adds in cabinet emulation). You can also rig it up to output in stereo to a mixer or two amps. It comes with its own power supply--it cannot be run on battery power.

First off, don't do what I did and plug your guitar into the foot switch input. If you turn it on like that with the first model selected, it goes into calibration mode, which is very confusing. Well, it's confusing if you don't realize that you are in calibration mode. Add to that the several beers I had at the homebrew club meeting and you see my problem.

Anyway, I like the Cry Baby wah a lot. The sound is exactly what I was looking for in a wah pedal. The XP300 aka Space Station model is very cool and very easy to get some interesting sounds out of. My guess is that you could use this to play Van Halen's "1984" on guitar alone.

The Whammy model is pretty cool for doing some harmony solos or doing whammy bar-like effects on my hard tail guitars. There aren't anywhere near as many options as there are on the original Whammy pedal, but most of the big ones are here.

I turned on the Uni-Vibe model and immediately thought of Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs." That model sounds quite a bit like the recordings I've heard of artists using it. The Leslie, to my ears, sounds better than the rotary effect on my AD30VT. I have no idea if it actually sounds like a Leslie but the reviews online have been quite positive. The only effect I really haven't figured out is the flanger. I'll have to fiddle with that one some more.

Some reviews say that you can't use the distortion models (the same ones that are on the Distortion Factory pedal) alone. That's only partially true. If you select the Whammy model and set the wet/dry mix all the way to dry, you can play with the distortions to your heart's content. I haven't messed with the distortions much yet. The TS-9 model sounds somewhat like my Behringer, although with less drive. I like the Boss Metal Zone and Big Muff models. The Big Muff is more of a fuzzy distortion which seems like it would be really cool for old Sabbath stuff.

I tried plugging my Vox foot switch into the EX-7. The DigiTech foot switch is three-button but the Vox is only two. I've got to play with it a bit more to find out what things the Vox foot switch actually changes. I would think that if you were to use this pedal in a live situation, you'd want the extra foot switch. At home by myself it's not a big deal.

For those of you who are concerned about running a modeling effect into a modeling amp (viz my AD30VT), there have been no problems so far. I've been running it into the Boutique CL model with the effects on the amp bypassed.

So far, I'm really happy with this pedal. Most places online have it for $199. I managed to get it for $149 on eBay brand new from Waddell's Drums (no affiliation, yadda, yadda). That makes the price much easier to swallow. When you consider how much it would cost to get all of these pedals separately, it doesn't seem so bad at all. I will continue to play with the various settings. Hopefully this week I'll have some sound clips posted. Until then, you can check out DigiTech's EX-7 demo or the sound clips on MF.

[Lev]

Glad your enjoying it Marnold! I've had mine for about six months now, I don't really use the distortions, leslie or univibe but I get quite a bit from the space station and whammy effects. I used it on my take on Super Swede's Roadkill backing track - the space station effect is at the start (sounds cool when used with a whammy bar on your guitar) and the whammy effect is in the main hook.

http://www.box.net/public/v1dy6aa8h9

[marnold***]

Lev, I liked that clip a lot. Nice restrained use of the effects. The natural inclination for me is to abuse them That will probably change as I get over the "gee whiz" period of owning this pedal.

I did some more messing with the distortion models with no other effect (whammy model set completely on "dry"). I A/B'd the EX-7's Ibanez TS-9 model against my Behringer TO800. It is very close with the same settings. I like the TO800 slightly better. It seems warmer to me than the EX-7's model but it's darn close. Honestly, if I didn't have the TO800 already, I probably wouldn't have a need for a separate OD pedal.

As I mentioned before, the EH Big Muff Pi model is a fuzzier distortion. I can really nail the Black Sabbath tone with it with all of the settings at noon. I don't have a fuzz pedal, so that model will definitely be a welcome addition to my arsenal. I also intend to try it with the Univibe effect for a little Jimi action.

The Boss Metal Zone is quite nice too, although I prefer the sound of an OD pedal driving the Vox's UK70s amp.

The rest of the distortion models are nice enough. The DOD Overdrive model seems like it might be a good solo boost. Beyond that, I prefer the tones I can get from my Vox with our without the TO800 in front of it. I have no idea how faithful any of the models are since I don't own any of the pedals that the EX-7 is trying to emulate. A friend of mine had a Boss DS-1 and that model sounds very familiar to me. If I ever get my hands on any of the original pedals, I'll try to A/B them.

[marnold***]

I really wish the whammy model would have more options for dropping down an octave or two. You can use the "Reverse 2nd Down" position for some light quasi-Bigsby whammy action, but there's no real way to do a dive bomb despite the fact that the description notes "accurate dive bombs." There's an Octave Down > Octave Up setting, but that's more for octave doubling. You can't run it dry and then drop an octave. Pity.

[Robert****]

Still liking it? Seems like a nice useful pedal.

[Lev]

It's definitely a cool pedal and they've packed a lot into it. I really bought it for the whammy and space station effects but I've recently got into the univibe and wahs. I guess the draw back is the price and the lack of flexibility in a live situation.

On the price issue, you do get 7 FX and distortion models but at the end of the day it's a pedal that you'll probably only use on about 10% of your repertoire - so you need to weigh up whether it's worth splashing out cash on or whether you might be better spending money on something that you'll get more use out of. Having said that if you get a good deal then go for it.

On it's use live, you need to take a note of your settings. There's no digital memory on board here so you adjust the knobs independently for each effect. I find you need to fine tune the settings (Especially on the wah) to get the sweet spot but then if you switch to the whammy and move the knobs for it, you lose your sweet wah settings. So you need to take a note of the settings and tape them to your pedal board. This also means you can't use two of it's effects in the same song unless you get the drummer to do a drum solo while you tweak

All in all, for it's sound I would give an 8/10 but for practicality a 5/10.

[SuperSwede]

Marnold, I really liked the original whammy pedal. This one seems to be even better. Congrats

[marnold***]

I agree with Lev in that in a live situation, the EX7 would be difficult to use if you intend on using multiple effects, especially within the same song. Obviously sitting in your room practicing, that's not an issue. I don't dislike any of the models on it. The only thing that gets me is the tracking on the whammy effect sometimes (similar to what Robert experienced with his octave pedal).

The advantage for me is that even though it was relatively expensive (although I got mine for $149 brand new), it is much cheaper than if I bought a fistful of distortion boxes and all of the effects. It gives me a wide tonal palette that I couldn't get easily another way. Basically, I bought it because I wanted a pedal that combined a wah, volume, and whammy in one. It succeeds in that and adds a lot more. If it had like three or four memory settings it would be perfect.

[Justaguyin_nc]

you guys with this pedal... anyone have some demos with the space station or and leslie.. the digitech demos sound neat..wondering what actual user has come up with.. used prices seem cheap enough... the univibe sound was as good as any on the demo.. thats alot of pedals for the money.. excluding the distortions..

Edit: oops...missed this at first...
the space station effect is at the start (sounds cool when used with a whammy bar on your guitar) and the whammy effect is in the main hook.

http://www.box.net/public/v1dy6aa8h9

really like the sounds lev...excellent!

[Lev]

Hey Justa,

checkout Spuds post on Michael Thompsons pedal board. He gives a good demo of this pedal.

http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php?t=3996

[marnold***]

you guys with this pedal... anyone have some demos with the space station

Here's a little something I made up using the Space Station model. The pitch shift is set at 5th up. The chorus/pitch balance and swell attack time are both set at noon. The expression pedal is toe down. The riff (belief it or not) is just an arpeggiated version of the main riff to Crazy Train. At the end I hit an open A and dive bombed with my whammy bar and brought it back to pitch. Lev is right--you can get some cool sounds with the Space Station and whammy bar.

I'm using the neck pickup on my Floyd Rose with the pedal's mixer out going straight into the sound card. I used Audacity to remove the 60 cycle hum and amplify it a bit.

Space Station Demo

Ideally, I'd like to split the signal from my guitar and run one part through the Space Station model and another with a clean Fender tone. That'd probably be pretty cool, I would think.

[Justaguyin_nc]

That is slick Marnold.. I had no idea what made these sounds.. and obviously there are others..but this space station seems like a kick to play with. thanks for the demo!

[Robert****]

Beautiful sound. I should get me one of these pedals!

[Justaguyin_nc]

YES!!!

She gave me an early present.. Didn't even know she remembered this thing..

total surprise!!!

So far.. I just messed with it a few minutes... and to her.. Some guy named Marnold was the GAS that pushed this into existence..

I have only tried the Space Station sound.. amazing!!!

Strum a chord and sit back and smile..

Awesome pedal...

HoneyMoon Vibes and all!!

thanks for demoing this thing..

Now can I really replace all those pedals for this one...
time will tell.. it got a bunch of 'em!!



I have it running out to two amps.. I guess thats ok?

[Tone2TheBone]

Congrats buddy. I may sell some pedals and get one of those babies myself. Good to see you post again. Great samples you guys.

[Justaguyin_nc]

Congrats buddy. I may sell some pedals and get one of those babies myself. Good to see you post again. Great samples you guys.

I wanna add a sample..

Man, you guys got to understand.. till a few years ago I didn't have a clue what made any sounds!

Ok, So I can't use many of them yet..lol.. but this thing is so cool..

Just listening to chords strummed in the space station - synth swell setting.. sheesh..
(Mind you, this is not related to my Hemp mention in another posting..Umm I don't think anyways)

I just can't believe something can do so much with so little (Im the little)

Here is me sample.. ignore the playing.. but pickup on the idea of how cool this is..

You guys that can play... it would be awesome..

Guitar+ex7+amp or computer.. sheesh.. it's a symphony!!

Umm this is me just strumming chords to the song City of New Orleans..
One take.. no trying to get it right.. justa messing.. saved in 117kps speed..so... anyways... listening to it live.. wow.. it's "Magic"
all that sound.. one guitar.. nothing else.. sheesh.. Im amazed!!

[oldguy]

Knocked out!!
(Hey, Justa, will you produce my next video??)

[Lev]

Sweet justa - I nearly broke my neck with this pedal a couple of weeks back - I wanted to record the Space Station volume swells into my RC-2 looper and jam over the top. I was using my right foot on the EX-7 and my left on the RC-2. I was so engrossed in trying to start the loop in sync that I hit both pedals at the same time - forgetting that from a standing position it's not always wise to lift both feet off the floor at the same time!!:

[marnold***]

She gave me an early present.. Didn't even know she remembered this thing..

total surprise!!!

So far.. I just messed with it a few minutes... and to her.. Some guy named Marnold was the GAS that pushed this into existence..

I'll leave it to you to pick whichever response you deem appropriate:
1) "I'm sorry"
2) "You're welcome"

When I first got my EX-7 the Space Station was used most frequently. With it set to an octave down I think I could do the music for a horror movie all by myself