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MGR/John from Chicago « Digitech RP100A »
Published on 08/23/04 at 15:00I bought the RP100A from Guitar Center, where a friend of mine happened to be working. I was looking at a cheaper model (I think it was an RP80) and he suggested I spend a little more and get the RP100A. The cheaper model didn't have the same sturdy contruction, and had fewer presets. I paid $99 before taxes.
I like everything about this unit. I started playing guitar twenty years ago, teaching myself along the way. But I could never afford the good FX pedals.
The RP100A is sick, twisted, and ridiculous with how many different sounds you can get out of it. I've had it for a week, and I still feel like I've barely touched the outer edges of what I can do with it. Let me try to sum up the best things.
The different amp emulators are convincing, and run the gamut of a Marshall stack or an old Fender Tweed. There's even an "acoustic" amp. No matter what preset you are using, the default setting of the parameter knobs allow you to change the amp type, gain, and master volume on the fly. Its like having a line of amps to choose from, in front of you.
The cabinet emulators give you an even wider selection of sound. You can spend a good ten minutes just deciding what type of amp/cabinet combo you want to try out. If the box only included that, it would be worth it for me to play through my tiny 30w Crate amp. But there's more:
A built in electronic tuner, a noise gate (actually, several to choose from), a pick-up emulator, a killer delay unit and a wide variety of reverbs. Did I mention it has a compressor? Oh, and the chorus is warm and tasty.
But what I really, really, really love is the built in drum machine. It has a wide choice of 40 different patterns that loop, and you can set the tempo. I never realized how bad my rhythm was until I played to this machine.
I read some criticism that this unit doesn't have a good "distortion" box in it. Its not meant to be a fuzz or overdrive box. But with the right settings and tweaking, you can get the sound of a Marshall amp, or a Mesa Boogie. What more do you want?
Okay, let's be picky and try to find something wrong with it.
12 of the effects on the box can only be used one at a time. The important effects (like compressor, delay, gate) can all be engaged and set at the same time, whereas these other effects cannot. They are effects that you probably wouldn't want to run at the same time, like chorus, flanger, phaser, rotating speaker, etc. However, I'm an effects hound. I'd love to try to combine some of these.
The "artist" presets have a lot of sounds that are similiar. It probably reflects the incredibly poor variety of sound in the music of today, than the range of sounds you can get from the unit. The factory presets are varied and pretty cool.
The only way to start and stop the drum machine is to press a (small) button on the unit. If you have it running, the drum unit starts when you come back from the tuner setting. I'd love to have a trigger outside of the box that would start the pattern when I want it to start.
It is a sturdy metal box and comes with its own power supply.
I tested the "clean" sounds, and there is no extra noise. With the noise gate engaged, I actually get less noise than I ever had before.
This was worth waiting 20 years for technology to deliver what I was looking for.
Tonight, I played the beginning of "And the Cradle Will Rock" on my Gibson Custom, and it sounded like the guitar on the CD. Granted, the... uh... playing wasn't quite there, but the sound quality did rock. Moreover, I'm discovering the joy of playing new sounds, which is making me practice more.
I've always admired Digitech, but this box is awesome. I can't recommend it enough. If anything, if I had to buy it again, I might put in the extra $50 for the one with the expression pedal built it.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
I like everything about this unit. I started playing guitar twenty years ago, teaching myself along the way. But I could never afford the good FX pedals.
The RP100A is sick, twisted, and ridiculous with how many different sounds you can get out of it. I've had it for a week, and I still feel like I've barely touched the outer edges of what I can do with it. Let me try to sum up the best things.
The different amp emulators are convincing, and run the gamut of a Marshall stack or an old Fender Tweed. There's even an "acoustic" amp. No matter what preset you are using, the default setting of the parameter knobs allow you to change the amp type, gain, and master volume on the fly. Its like having a line of amps to choose from, in front of you.
The cabinet emulators give you an even wider selection of sound. You can spend a good ten minutes just deciding what type of amp/cabinet combo you want to try out. If the box only included that, it would be worth it for me to play through my tiny 30w Crate amp. But there's more:
A built in electronic tuner, a noise gate (actually, several to choose from), a pick-up emulator, a killer delay unit and a wide variety of reverbs. Did I mention it has a compressor? Oh, and the chorus is warm and tasty.
But what I really, really, really love is the built in drum machine. It has a wide choice of 40 different patterns that loop, and you can set the tempo. I never realized how bad my rhythm was until I played to this machine.
I read some criticism that this unit doesn't have a good "distortion" box in it. Its not meant to be a fuzz or overdrive box. But with the right settings and tweaking, you can get the sound of a Marshall amp, or a Mesa Boogie. What more do you want?
Okay, let's be picky and try to find something wrong with it.
12 of the effects on the box can only be used one at a time. The important effects (like compressor, delay, gate) can all be engaged and set at the same time, whereas these other effects cannot. They are effects that you probably wouldn't want to run at the same time, like chorus, flanger, phaser, rotating speaker, etc. However, I'm an effects hound. I'd love to try to combine some of these.
The "artist" presets have a lot of sounds that are similiar. It probably reflects the incredibly poor variety of sound in the music of today, than the range of sounds you can get from the unit. The factory presets are varied and pretty cool.
The only way to start and stop the drum machine is to press a (small) button on the unit. If you have it running, the drum unit starts when you come back from the tuner setting. I'd love to have a trigger outside of the box that would start the pattern when I want it to start.
It is a sturdy metal box and comes with its own power supply.
I tested the "clean" sounds, and there is no extra noise. With the noise gate engaged, I actually get less noise than I ever had before.
This was worth waiting 20 years for technology to deliver what I was looking for.
Tonight, I played the beginning of "And the Cradle Will Rock" on my Gibson Custom, and it sounded like the guitar on the CD. Granted, the... uh... playing wasn't quite there, but the sound quality did rock. Moreover, I'm discovering the joy of playing new sounds, which is making me practice more.
I've always admired Digitech, but this box is awesome. I can't recommend it enough. If anything, if I had to buy it again, I might put in the extra $50 for the one with the expression pedal built it.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com