The ART SGX 2000 Guitar Effects Processor marked a significant milestone in ART’s development of professional signal processors. Combining advanced digital VLSI technology with classic analogue and tube circuitry, it delivered the warmth of valve tone with the flexibility and precision of digital effects. At its heart, the ART SGX 2000 featured a premium 12AX7 tube preamp stage feeding a 24-bit digital effects engine, producing a hybrid sound that bridged the gap between traditional tube warmth and modern digital clarity.
The ART SGX 2000 offered musicians and engineers a powerful all-in-one preamp and effects processor, designed for both studio and live performance. With over 70 effects, 200 memory locations, and 115 factory presets, users could easily store and recall custom patches. Its wide 20kHz bandwidth and better-than-90dB signal-to-noise ratio ensured clean and detailed sound reproduction, while full programmability allowed complete control over all parameters. The unit’s inclusion of pitch transposition over two octaves, built-in guitar and bass tuner, and compatibility with the ART X-15 Ultrafoot controller made it highly versatile in any setup.
Through its advanced digital effects system, the SGX 2000 offered pitch transposition, reverb, sampling, and MIDI control functions, along with stereo inputs and outputs for flexible routing. The rotary encoder provided intuitive parameter navigation, and two assignable remote jacks offered additional real-time control. ART’s design focus on combining tube and solid-state technology resulted in a processor capable of authentic tonal warmth with precision modulation and ambience effects.
The ART SGX 2000 Express, released later as an enhanced model, expanded upon the original with hundreds of new presets, refined reverb algorithms, increased gain, and an improved dual pitch transposer. It featured an expanded digital tuner, regenerated delay with increased maximum delay time from 1150ms to 1300ms, and new effects such as the Space Phaser and Acoustic Environment Simulator. The Express version also introduced enhanced MIDI implementation and improved parameter responsiveness for foot controller use, providing a smoother workflow for guitarists and multi-instrumentalists alike.
Together, the ART SGX 2000 and ART SGX 2000 Express exemplified ART’s fusion of analogue warmth and digital versatility during the 1990s, delivering a powerful creative tool for players seeking deep control and expansive sonic options in a single rack-mounted unit.
Features
- Hybrid tube and digital processing with premium 12AX7 tube preamp
- 24-bit ASIC digital effects system with over 70 effects
- 20kHz bandwidth and over 90dB signal-to-noise ratio
- 200 memory locations and 115 factory presets
- Built-in guitar and bass tuner with expanded options in Express
- Over two octaves of pitch transposing
- Full MIDI control and programmability of all parameters
- Assignable remote jacks for external control
- Multi-function rotary encoder for parameter navigation
- Sampling capabilities and pitch/reverb combinations
- Compatibility with ART X-15 Ultrafoot controller
- Enhanced reverb algorithms and added Space Phaser in Express
- Expanded digital tuner and delay time increased to 1300ms in Express
- Refined acoustic environment simulator and greater MIDI implementation