DOD / Digitech stompboxes always stir up mixed feeling among gear junkies. Depending on the particular pedal, you'll find that public opinion is very polarized on the companies past lineups. It's a stark love 'em or hate 'em type attitude. Some of the stellar stompers from the past we've loved include the entire PDS series, the original Whammy, the FX13 Gonkulator, the FX-255 Envelope Filter, FX-52 Classic Fuzz, the Talker and the FX-300 Space Station. These long discontinued devices were way ahead of their time and sounded just plain fantastic. You will find these clever gadgets fetching fairly hefty sums on Ebay, doing heavy-duty studio time, or residing on many a pro's pedalboard. Despite this handful of sonic winners, DOD/Digitech's other attempts at pedal-making have been plagued by flaky footswitches, vanishing battery covers, questionable construction and lackluster sounds (evidenced by most of their choruses and distortion units). These old clunkers do little more now than crowd counter space at pawnshops and provide a way for wide-eyed youngsters to spend their lunch money. So when Digitech announced their new X-series we were very anxious, if not altogether curious, to give them a whirl.

The first thing we noticed is how much the new X-series looks like the time-tested Boss housing. The design similarities, at least in mailorder catalog pictures, are striking. I guess you can hardly blame Digitech for adopting something similar since Boss really did get the design perfect way back in the late-'70s. The solid stomp mechanism, the clever battery compartment and the concealed placement of the knobs paved the way for tons of imitators. Even many small companies like KMD, Rockson and Johnson caved in and just ended up using licensed versions of the Boss metal shell to market their own low-budget look-alikes. While these companies hardly made a dent in the effects market, they at least knew a good idea when they saw one and tried to capitalize on it. After 20 years it looks like Digitech have finally done the same. Or have they?

Once we had the actual pedal in our own hands, we were quick to realize that Digitech have actually taken the basic Boss-style design a few steps further. All the X-series are heavy in comparison, much heavier than the Boss stuff. It is one solid mass of metal and although I've never seen any pedals shatter before my eyes, the hefty nature of the pedals instills a lot of confidence. It is also slightly wider and lower to the ground which automatically wins points in stomping ease alone. The actual stomping mechanism has a ultra smooth feel and throw to it and it switches effortlessly. Gaining access to the battery is accomplished by depressing a small spring loaded pin on either side of the stomper. I've already heard a few complaints about how these pins are "so hard" to push in with your fingers. My answer to this whimpering comes in the form of a question: "Your a guitarist right? Don't you have a patch cable on ya?" Exactly! The end of a quarter-inch cable works like a charm to pop the top and get to the 9-volt inside. This spring loaded system effectively eliminates the metal screw-type method that Boss has been using all these years. Once you are under the hood you'll find a comfy horizontal cavity that holds the battery side to side as opposed to the top to bottom placement of the Boss. The X-Series battery compartment design lends itself well to routing the battery leads away from the switch mechanism and free of those pesky switch entanglements we've had with the Boss pedals.

One other very thoughtful addition to the whole X-series lineup is Digitech's cool CIT cabinet modeling feature. To make use of the simulation you simply press the pedal down and hold while plugging in and powering up. The overall sound has a nice punchy presence that definitely breathes a little more life into direct to tape sounds. We also enjoyed the added tonal colors the CIT cabinet modeling added to effects like the Digidelay and Hyperphaser pedals. Whether we were recording or going straight to the amp, we sensed a little more space and loved the hint of high-end it shaved off the signal. I'd go so far as to say it gave some analog-like punch to the recorded signals. That said, these pedals aren't going to cut into POD or Stomp sales but it's a wonderful addition to get convincing direct sounds to tape on the cheap.

Now onto the GuitarGeek gripes. With all the cool design and production efforts going towards a quality housing, smooth switching system, and tidy battery compartment it makes me wonders why Digitech would drop the ball on the function knobs. The knobs themselves are alright it's just that the actual pots are plastic. I've never seen a shattered pedal housing but I have certainly seen, and experienced, a few broken pots and those pots were made of metal! Unless you have these pedals velcro'd to a pedalboard and are transporting them to and from gigs in some type of cushy enclosure, you certainly run the risk of snapping one of those knobbers off. The plastic components also lent a stiff feel while rotating the controls (with the exception being the mode-switching morph knob which is also plastic but travels freely). This movement, or lack thereof, may work just fine for people who keep stationary settings but for those who like to make on-the-fly adjustments via fingers or shoes this may be a slight annoyance. Another pet peave among the staff here at GuitarGeek is, as always, the location of all LED status lights. All the X-series pedals have the LED positioned directly behind the stomp platform. For the those players who like to hover above their pedals during shows the visibility factor is fine, but for those who navigate the stage the LED disappears from view if you are a mere 3-4 feet back from the box. It's a small gripe but one that is well warranted. If however, placing the LED on the top edge of the pedal was off-limits due to some of Boss patent rights then we'll forgive you Digitech.

We'll be covering the separate sonic treasures of this entire line of pedals in the weeks and months to follow, but we thought an overall summary of the new design was warranted since it marks another chapter in the rich and varied world of pedal-making. With the launch of Digitech X-series I think the company is definitely heading in the right direction. We've spent enough time with the pedals already to tell you that this is one solid, and serious, set of gadgets that should finally rid the company of the "they make one or two awesome pedals but the rest suck" stigma that has plagued them for years. Stay tuned! - Guitargeek