Digitech RP200A

[ZacAttack]

I have owned this pedal for about 6 months now and I still get amazed when I start programing new sounds or re-tweak the programs I have. I have owned many single pedals in the past and spent hours upon hours figuring out the best alga-rhythm (order in which you run your pedals in relationship to one and other). Well the guys at digitech have spent more time than I could ever hope to doing just that and have done it for you with this pedal, along with countless other things. Maybe I shouldn't call it a pedal because it a modeling processor in pedal form. It also has a "rhythm trainer" or drum machine built into it which makes comeing up with the right basic beat for your song a snap. Now I know what you are probably saying "I hate cheesy drum machine sounds" well there is no queso here bros. It has a pumping kick drum sound and a tight snare too. Now it won't take the place of a real drummer but it is a usefull tool. The RP line has a price range for almost everybody, from the RP 50 for around $60.00 US to the RP 400 for around $350.00 US( I got the 200A for $150.00 US) If you have the cash to throw down on all the rack FX like the big boys, well do that but if not check out the RP line from Digitech.

[Khantheundead]

Yo, The RP200 is the sh*t

[noeljob]

rp is a workhorse. best money i ever spent.

[CAFeathers]

I had one, hated it, sold it cheap. Of course I sold all my other FX too.

[ZacAttack]

I guess it just depends on what you are looking for.

[Steelpriest]

CAFeathers said:

I had one, hated it, sold it cheap. Of course I sold all my other FX too.

Hmmm, I must say I don´t like these multieffect pedals that much. They are evil tempters that try to persuade you to use too many effects at the same time. I like them for recording if they have amp simulations or for practise with headphones, but when it comes to playing guitar through an amp I prefer keeping things very simple. I hardly use effects, some slight reverb for rhythm guitars and a very short delay for leads sometimes. A little bit of chorus is sometimes nice also, but I make sure never to use more than 2 effects at the same time. With too much effects you are likely to end up with a mushy sound that maybe sounds awesome when playing alone, but when playing with the band you will get into trouble with this "wall of sound". Also this multieffects always tempt us to fumble around with their knobs trying to find another "ultimate kick ass" sound. Well, this playing around with effects often keeps people away from really playing their guitars...

[twsk8r]

Sorry, but I'm siding with Steele on this one.
Digitech are terribly sterile, and are built extremely cheap. If you're gonna go the route of an fx unit, try Zoom. it will never emulate the true sounds as far as distortions go, but it makes line 6 and other moduling amps sound like nuts. Of course, lower end zoom isn't great, like the 606 or 505, but the GFX- 5 is an amzing unit, and I recomend it to anyone and everyone. As far the as the effects effects go(mod and delay), it's amazing. Matches Boss, but with more versitility and a fraction of the price(like 1/100)...I did a review on it. check it out here...


Price Paid: 350.oo (Candian)
Ease of Use: 9
It seems that Harmony Central has taken out the features section of the review, that’s probably a good thing, because most features can be found after about 10 minutes of research on the net. Now, on to the “ease of use”…
First off, I would like to inform all you potential buyers about a feature that isn’t stated as well as it should be on their website. Ok, each effect has 3 parameters to adjust that effect. With that in mind, it’s like having 75 stomp boxes in one unit. The parameters include stuff like tone, level, mix, depth, time, ect, ect. Also, you can use it on “manual mode”, and actually activate the effects like stomp boxes. This is what gives it a huge step up on many modeling amps such as Line 6. In the way of ease of use, on a Line 6 you can get a good sound pretty quickly. On this pedal, you can get a GREAT sound, with a little more work. Personally, I think it’s more then worth it. If you can set up a, lets say, Marshall JCM, and get a good sound easily, you can do so on this pedal. Some beginners just don’t have an ear tone, or a method to adjust EQ and gain, so they hear their hero play, but they can’t get the sound they have, that’s usually not an issue of the pedal or amp, it’s the fault of you. The pedal also comes with a VERY thorough manual, that if you read form cover to cover, you will have NO problem operating this pedal. I have a lot of experience with zoom Effects, so it was very easy for me. It is easy to adjust stuff on the spot with its plenty easy access knobs.

Sound Quality: 9
The guitars that I am using are an Epiphone G-400, Gibson SG Special, and an ESP X-Tone PC-2V (str). As for amps, I am using a Laney HCM 65R (equipped with a Celestion 7080 speaker, it is a great amp for this pedal, doesn’t have very good distortion but its clean channel works amazing with effects, I would review it if I wasn’t so lazy), and a Laney HCM 30R (equipped with a Celestion Truvox 1015 speaker, it isn’t that great by itself, but it really compliments my presence and treble, making me stand out A LOT in my band). Now to the actual unit…First off, the very useful ZNR function makes it operate SUPER quite. The distortions=AMAZING! These are HIGH quality amp and stomp box distortions. They don’t even COMPARE to a Line 6! The main things that you notice about the sound is that it is FAR from muddy, the distortions will stick out in a band like no other effect unit or modeling amp(almost as good as the original, 10 being the originals)because they have good presence, punch, midsy balls, and last but not least, the notes are actually pressure sensitive, you can hear the difference between a hard strum(a little distorted), and a light one(clean), this is something you expect from a high end tube amp. My favorite part is how I can hear my self so much in the band situation, our lead guitarist uses a Line 6, and his tone hides when we play, so he has to turn up REALLY loud. The distortion module is where it shines, but it lacks nothing in the other effects. The distortions are strong in everything from metal to classical. I personally prefer a smooth over drive sound, like on the edge of distortion, and this unit nails this tone. I can also keep this smooth sound into high gain, for amazing lead tones. You can also make amazing fuzz box and metal tones, as well as the acoustic simulator is amazing. The Marshalls are superb as well. The Mesa Boogie is great, but I’m not into that type of distortion, so I don’t use it often. Using the parameter adjustments to get an amazing array of effect sounds form each single effect, the versatility is endless. The cabinet simulator module is also good, it doesn’t have the variety of some of the other effect system in its range, but the amount they have do the job quite well. The delays and reverbs are endless and have superb quality to them as well. Ad for modulation, there is not a single useless effect in this module. All in all, you can get practically ANY sound out of this unit, from Kirk Hammet, to BB King. The drum machine is high quality real recorded beats, with a wide range of beat styles, and tempo. The sampler is fun to fool around with too; its best application is recording a riff you’re trying to learn from a cd, repeating it and at different tempos. It’s great for learning songs. Last but not least, the Energize function. This is one of my FAVORITE things about this pedal. It is awesome for when you always using your pedal in different environments, because you can adjust it to adapt to the acoustic of the environment. The reason this works so well, is because when you adjust it, it adjusts for EVERY effect, making it a simple turn to change every patch to match the area.

Reliability: 9
I’ve had for about 2 months now I have yet to have an issue with it (other then I was using a faulty power supply, but that wasn’t the fault of the unit itself). I have hauled it back and forth from several band practices and gigs, and I yet to have it dysfunction. Its solid, built like a rock, and I would MOST DEFFINATELY use it without backup.

Customer Support: 8
I have yet to use the customer support, by the dealer I bought it from said they have used them before and it was awesome. Because it’s not MY experience…I’ll give it an 8.

Overall Rating: 10
I play blues, punk, rock, metal, jazz, everything and this thing can nail every tone. I have been playing for quite a while now, and have a decent amount of gear, all of it works excellent through this pedal. If my Zoom GFX was lost or stolen, I would hunt the person down and-oops…I mean I’d by a new one, it’s a great pedal and I couldn’t imagine not having it. I would have to say my favorite part of this pedal is the distortion module. If I had to say something bad about the pedal it would be the sampler. It can not be used with the drum machine, and its only 6 seconds. This review took me a LONG time to write so please read it all, it will help you understand the product better, and also please consider buying the GFX-5, it’s a great unit.

Aaron(I doubt anyone will read it, but I love this pedal)

[ZacAttack]

>:(Well that's the best thing about opinions,,, ever one is entitled to their own. If I had owned my Fender Cyber Twin before I bought my RP I may not have needed it. But all I had at the time was my Crate G250. I was so uninspired by the limited tone I could pull out of it that I would only play once or twice a month (other than practice or gigs) but once I got hooked into my RP it was like inspiration overload. I started playing every day again. Almost each setting reminded me of a song or band that I used to like or like to play. Total recall is the only I can explain it. And now with my Cyber Twin, I just dial up which ever vintage amp I feel like playing through that day and let the RP do the rest. I admit most of the settings on the RP I will never use , other than playing around or for a cover song that has that sound. I mainly use 4 distortion settings that I like and 1 clean humbucker sound and 2 clean single coil sounds. It lest you change from a double coil sound to a single coil sound without switching guitars. I use the "BE BAD" dist for our heavier stuff, the "TEXBLUS" and "ANGUS" settings for our rock stuff, a lesser distortion for other stuff and the clean ones are programmed in order as to where I need them for which ever song we are on. Ok well that's like 7 or 8 out of over 200 available but it works for me. Best of all it inspired "ME" and that was what "I" needed for "ME". I would not call the settings sterile by no means, maybe generic but thats why they let you adjust your perameters, so one can put their own flavor into each setting if one wishes. Also the noise gate on the thing is set better to my liking for what I need a noise gate for than any I have used. I never said everybody should have one or that the RP is better than what someone else has, just that I am very pleased with mine and that if one is in the market for new FX then check it out.

EDIT::Ok more and more I am phasing out the RP during practice or playing alone. I am now further exploring the presets on my Cyber Twin. I am finding some great tone in that amp(plus I love watching the knobs turn by themselves as if by a ghost ;D . But when we play gigs I still like the RP for its sheer ease of use and dynamic sounds.

[CAFeathers]

I have had several of the different pedals (Digitech RP200, ZOOM GM200, and individual BOSS pedals) and although they can be dialed in to some extent to get the tone that you may want, I have not liked them. I sold all of my FX pedals and have just been using the 2nd Channel/Overdrive options on my amps.
I guess I'm just not into the sqealing overly distorted hard to tell if it is actually a guitar sounds as some.

[twsk8r]

Sorry if I offended you Zac! That was most deffinately not my intent, I just prefer Zoom over Digitech(over boss as wel). The RP is a nice unit, and is an excellent addition to a cheaper solid state amp. I actually find that pedals work better with solid state then tube amplifiers. Solid state amps don't have much of their own characteristics, where as tube amps do. I guess its better said that a pedal will improve a cheap amp A LOT more then an expensive boutique tube amp.
Aaron

[Steelpriest]

Hmmm, I agree with CAFeathers again though I am obviously more into distortion as he is, but I don´t like pedaleffects that much, I prefer 19" effects in an FX Loop or between preamp and poweramp in a rack system, but okay it depends very on the budget a guitar player has, but when it comes to add some character to a solidstate combo and have something that sounds a little bit more like a tube amp I still recommend the old Ibanez Tube Screamer. I have to agree that those modern multieffects all sound quite sterile. When you have a good amp let it´s orginal character shine more through and don´t use too many effects. I like the simple things...

[noeljob]

i like the gains i get out of my rp200a. also the variety of amp settigs. i like more of a hi gain, rather than a distortoin. i can turn the gain on the amp preset and program it to get that sound of that particular amp as if it were on 11 or something,without actually turning my fender twin up to 11. i get such a clean sound out of my twin w/ out fx. if i turn up my twin w/out fx there is very little crunch. so the rp settings i use come out in great clarity. the only other fx i use it for is reverb, which i dont use very much of. just a hint of it.its got a silencer on it too which is handy. ive got 40 user program sets i can put in what ever order i want. for me i like it.
the ibanez tube screamer is a good pedal also.
ive never heard a zoom except in line. im sure they're good as well.

[Khantheundead]

You guys play nice now everyone has a diff approach about effects. I have heard first hand the sounds Zac and Noel get, let me just say it's the sh*t. Then again I'm sure there is something out there better. So we can all agree we like what we like. ;D

[twsk8r]

Yeah, I'm not an effects guy either. Out of ever 10 hours I play guitar, I'm using an effect(including delay, chorus, and that bit)maybe 10 minutes. I ussually just like a nice smooth sustaining distortion. ITS ALL ABOUT MIDS! Gain is just mids' evil twin...lol
Aaron

[OzDog]

Here's my 2 cents. ;D Tone starts with your amp/guitar combination period. I don't care if your using a multi effect unit or going straight from the guitar to the amp.

In all my years I've never heard a pedal distortion that can equal a good hot tube amp. Remember, Line 6, Fenders Cyber amps etc. are modeling (trying to copy) all these classic tube amp sounds. This isn't to say they can't sound very good because they can. Infact, I'm currently use a Fender Cyber deluxe and love it. However, as good as it is it doesn't hold a candle to the Marshall 2205 lead series head I used to play through in my gigging days. Boy I still wish I had that bad boy. Sold it to help pay for school.

Anyhow, tone is really a personal taste. As for effects I agree with Steele. I think most players who use effects tend to over use them. In my opinon they are like axle grease. A little can make the wheel go smoother but too much and you just start to make a mess.

This brings me back to the multi effect processors. I've owned a couple and they were fine for noodleing around and experimenting with different sounds. But, if I was to start gigging again I wouldn't seriously think about using them on stage. However, when you start adding much more than say reverb with a little delay or chorus the overall TONE suffers.

To help me make my case lets look at a couple of guys that I think we can all agree have great tone.

Angus Young and Zakk Wylde. Gibsons played through Marshalls. It's the keep it simple stupid. I'm guessing they both use compression and noise gates etc. However, as for mod. effects, delay etc. used very little.

Ok, my final point. I'm not trying to flame anyone who likes or uses a multieffect processor. They have there place and use. However, for the amount of money spent on all these effects etc. money might be better spent on a good amp that acheives great tone. Then add certain effects like seasoning on a great meal. Afterall, if you've got a great tasteing juicy steak do you really need to drown it in steak sauce.