Digitech Trio+

DIGITECH TRIO+ £219
Not just a rhythm section in a stompbox, now the Trio adds a looper and more…
DIGITECH TRIO+
REVIEW
IF
you’re an absolute beginner,
a seasoned pro, or anywhere
in between, you still need to
practise – and that practice time
can be enhanced by playing along
with a bass and drums rhythm
section. Last year, DigiTech made
that possible 24/7 with the Trio –
a stompbox that generated
combined bass and drum rhythms
for any chord progression you
played into it. The only snag was
that, with limited onboard storage,
the pedal wasn’t designed for
live use. Of course, players saw
the potential, and DigiTech has
responded to their feedback
with the Trio+, which adds a
synchronised looper facility and
a whole lot more.
You now get a choice of 12 music
genres over the original’s seven,
including much-requested metal
patterns, as well as electronic pop,
hip-hop, rock and jazz, plus Micro
SD storage for up to 12 songs and
their loops – each song can now
have fi ve song parts, too – a real
upgrade over the original’s three.
The Trio’s genre-specifi c onboard
guitar effects are still here, but
there’s also an effects loop to
connect it up to your other pedals
so you can mould your own tone.
Using the Trio+ is simple,
thanks to separate footswitches for
band and looper. Generating a
backing track is a matter of hitting
the footswitch and playing a chord
sequence clearly and in time, then
hitting the footswitch at the end
of it – stick to basic strumming,
rather than arpeggiating or riffs,
and the Trio will have no problems
tracking your playing. If you
haven’t already, you can then
select a genre to try out the various
This is a band in a box, and one
that you can use live to boot
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
styles and see which best fi ts. You’ll
get a reasonably complex bass line
initially – this was one of our main
gripes with the original Trio – but
there’s now a choice of two simpler
ones via the Simple Bass button,
which is great news for acoustic
players. From there, you can
simply play guitar over the band,
or use the looper to record initial
playing and overdubs.
These extra functions mean the
Trio+ is no longer just a practice
tool. If you don’t already possess
a looper pedal, you can use the
rudimentary loop function here
independently of the rhythm
section. There’s also the possibility
of using the Trio+ as live backing,
although you’ll probably want to
use the mixer output to run the
backing into a full-range PA rather
than through your mid-focused
guitar amp. A sequence facility
puts together automated playback
of the fi ve parts for each song,
but if that’s too rigid, there are
possibilities for transitioning
between parts on the fl y using the
existing footswitches, or adding
DigiTech’s FS3X triple footswitch.
As a practice and songwriting
aid, the Trio always was (and is)
a brilliant resource but, with such
an increased range of possibilities,
the Trio+ knocks it out of the park.
This is truly a band in a box, and
one that you can use live to boot.
Trevor Cu r we n
DIGITECH TRIO+
86 JUNE 2016
TYPE: Band creator and
looper pedal
CONTROLS: Tempo, genre, style,
loop, bass, drums, headphone
volume, Simple Bass button,
guitar FX button, SEQ button, song
part buttons 1-5, alt time button,
song button, band footswitch,
looper footswitch
SOCKETS: Guitar input, control
input, amp output, mixer output,
FX send, FX return, phones, USB
POWER: 9V power supply
(included)
CONTACT: Sound Technology
01462 480000 www.digitech.com
AT A GLANCE
GENRE
USE this to choose the genre
that your backing band
uses. It can be set before or
after teaching the band your
chord sequence, so can
be changed any time
STYLE
THIS knob selects the
styles available for each
genre; there are nine in 4/4,
three in 3/4 – the LEDs that
light up green show you the
styles that best suit the part
you’ve played
BAND FOOTSWITCH
HIT this once, play your
chord part cleanly and in
time, then hit it again and
you’ll generate a backing
track based on your
chord sequence
TGR280.gear_digi.indd 86 20/04/2016 11:43