Customer Reviews

DigiTech RP50 Digital Amp Modeling Effect Unit

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Digitech's RP-50 is a reasonably priced multi-effects unit tiny enough to take up very little space on a shelf or in a gig bag. It will provide more than enough bang for the buck for most guitar hobbyists. It contains multiple flanging, delay, chorus, autowah, and distortion effects. These go beyond the "bread and butter" stock sounds that many Korg and Zoom boxes provide, giving us truly useful and musical sounds. I'm particularly impressed with the various amplifier simulations; there are some beautiful clean Fender and Voxlike sounds hidden in here. There's also a gorgeous acoustic simulation that will strongly evoke a piezo pickup if you play without distortion. I'm also happy that the presets aren't oversaturated nonsense but actually highlight the varied sonic qualities of this multieffects package. Furthermore, the RP-50 can be used as both a headphone amplifier (perfect for when you don't want to wake up the house) and a direct input for recording. I've used the RP-50 for a lot of home recording since 2003, and the sound quality is very, very impressive even when plugged directly into my computer. In fact, I prefer the RP-50 for that use instead of using it to replace a pedal board. There's also an excellent tuner that's easier to use than some other pedal-based tuners I've tried.

Is this as good as more expensive models? Customization is, unfortunately, limited. Since you can't totally control all the parameters of each effect, exact synchronization of delays (for example) is impossible. The onboard EQ is limited to "Lows," "Mids," and "Highs" making it almost impossible to dial in nontraditional tones. There's a great-sounding drum machine included which (you guessed it) can't be reprogrammed. You can select a different drum pattern and choose a different speed, but that's it. You can't create your own patterns, and the drum speed isn't given to you in beats per minute (BPM). The selection pedals are very small and I would worry about stomping on them too hard on stage.

I've used the RP-50 since May 2003 and have never once had a problem with it. It's a valuable practice tool, sounds great, and is a terrific value. I'd buy it again if I had the chance!

I am a guitar instructor in the LA area. I teach over 50 students a week. I insist that the parents of my beginning students purchase the RP50. It is not only very affordable, but it has several features that will ensure your son or daughter (or, if you're an adult beginning guitar student, then you too) will learn at an accellerated pace:

* Chromatic tuner -- allows not only standard EADGBE tuning, but also every open tuning (open tunings are an essential part of my lesson plan for beginning students as this allows you/them to focus on the right/picking hand)

* 30-pattern drum machine -- all the benefits of a metronome, but allows the student to learn how to synch-up with the groove...also makes practicing more fun -- which means you'll do it -- which means you'll improve faster.

* Perfectly decent digital models. The models encompass pickups, pre-amp, power amp and speakers, so they're more than realistic enough for the beginner. There is honestly no reason that a professional guitarist couldn't record an entire CD with nothing more than the models contained in this pedal (might make for an interesting exercise / endorsement!) The tones modeled range from clean to every shade of distortion and allow the student to obtain desirable results when practicing cover tunes.

* Portable. The RP50 is lightweight and can be run off of battery or AC power. Therefore, it can go with you on spring/summer/winter vacation and, with a set of headphones, you'll be able to keep-up your studies. Don't forget those scalar sequences to build the chops and left/right hand synchronization.

dont be fooled by the price this has the same quality and effects as the more expensive digitech pedals it just doesnt have a footpedal to manually control the wah and it has less effects but its so easy to use and setup so perfectly i use this instead of my rp200 this is the most important thing young electric guitar players can buy for many reasons one it has built in noisegate meaning no longer will u hear hums when u crank your amp when u let go of the strings the noise stops and it has 40 good presets you can switch to instantly so no need to bother with trying to find a good sound wanna sound like led zepplin? hit the number 1 preset for a perfect classic rock distortion that sounds like jimmy pages old orange amps want to sound like old metallica click the number 2 preset for a kill em all sounding 80s marshall crunch want a more smoothe modern metallica sound click the 24 preset and you get a justice for all smooth mesa boogie distortion want to sound like bbking click number 7 for a nice singing blues tone it has auto yah that sounds like a human voice it also has country sounds 50s sounds and every effect you could ever ask for you can use the presets like i do or create your own sounds and store them it has 40 factory presets and 40 spaces to put your own sound you created it even has a nice sounding built in drum machine that comes on with the click of a button so u can play along to a beat if u have no drummer a perfect way to develop your timing i play in 2 diffrent bands and im a very skilled guitarist and i own much nicer effects processors but i always comeback to this its setup great the presets are great it has everything u need to go from 50s rock classic rock blues country jazz metal death metal and every effect u ever will need this little processor will make your amp into a powerhouse my friend wondered if it only sounded so good because i use it on a nice marshall so we plugged it into his 10 watt crate amp and his amp sounded atleast 3 times louder and he was blown away by the crunch it added and it makes it sound like a real tube amp they wernt kidding about the awards this little sucker won this pedals killer if it cost 300 bucks it would be worth it and its only 59 dollars todays guitarist sure are lucky when i started out years ago in the late 80s early 90s you would easily pay 500-600 dollars for a processor that doesnt sound as good as this so buy this today youll thank me later

I purchased the RP-50 for my home recording studio. I'm an intermediate-level guitarist, and needed a wide array of effects at an affordable price. I got all of that and more with the RP-50.

The RP-50 comes with 40 presets out of the box, which give a good range of sounds. There are also 40 memory slots where you can create your own sounds and recall them whenever you like.

Everything you'd expect is here - chorus, flanger, phaser, delay, reverb...basically all that you would want. You also get a built-in drum machine, which is limited but great for practicing.

The biggest and most original feature of this unit is the simulated cabinet modelling. There are 11 amp models built in with very authentic sounds. You can call up a Blackface, British Stack, Clean Tube Amp and many more very easily and all are available with varying levels of gain setting. There is also something called "Cabinet Modelling", which is great if you want to bypass an amp for recording into a mixer or a computer sound card.

The only minor frustration is that the buttons need to be manipulated with your fingers and can't be controlled entirely by foot when you're programming the unit. However, that's offset by the fact that this unit is extremely portable and can be taken just about anywhere.

In short, this is a great, great effects pedal and for the price, I haven't seen anything remotely close in terms of features and quiality. If you're looking for a good multi-effects pedal, I don't think you could do much better than the RP-50 for the money.

Lots of fun in a small, relatively inexpensive unit. I bought this for my 13 year old son who is just learning to play. With all the different effects this unit can create, he already thinks he's much better than he really is!!! It keeps his interest up, and he plays longer. The fact that there is a headphone jack is great for people who don't want to suffer through the learning curve.

I ordered this unit to 'replace' my Line 6 POD that I usually travel with since the RP50 is considerable smaller and lighter. The reviews had all been positive. I spent a good 2 hours with the RP50 going thru all the patches and effects. I was impressed by some of the reverbs' density and lushness. The built-in drum machine is great for practicing or coming up with riffs. I wasn't crazy about the drum sound but, for $60...? My main beef was the lack of clean guitar sounds available from the different amp-modeling selections. It seems that if one chooses a certain make of amp that it's assumed that the sound the player wants will be full-on metal distortion. There's no way to control the amount of "drive" on the amp selections. You want "clean", you have to go with the "blackface", etc. Selection of amp models and effects is tedious because of the up-down pushbuttons. The delays are all fixed time, only the amount/mix is variable. The EQ is not very effective at all. The most fun I had was with the octave effect. I might have kept this unit for that alone! All in all, this is a good product for the money, but I need the kind of control I have with my POD, which of course costs four times as much.

Good entry model for 60.00. Great for a beginner or so. I admit you can't go wrong with it for 50.00 - 60.00 .... but I do have to strongly recommend the RP150 over this one. Just came out and its 100.00 (160.00list) with A+++ Lexicon Reverbs, studio quality drums, strong metal case, USB to work with the PC and much much more for 40.00 more. Made in the USA.

Wonderfull how you can improve your guitar sound for just this price, if you are thinking of buying a distortion pedal and waste 40 bucks for it, you must be in the flintstone age, here you got all the basic and not so bacis effects ever dreamed in just one cheap and beautifull pedal!!!

It doesn't have a wah wah pedal, there are no preset switches. Now that I have gotten the negatives out of the way, let me tell you why this pedal is the best purchase I ever made. This thing has all the sound of all digitech pedals rolled into one, it's very reliable (I have had mine for about 8 years and it still works amazingly well). It is very easy to use and you will master it quickly. The sheer multitude of effects alone is worth the price and if you want to get particular styles you can group effects together for easy switching. I even created an effect on it that allows me to mimic Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames" with only one guitar! This is a must have for any beginner and a great practice and studio pedal for people like myself who have been playing for years.

I am a new guitar player and this item really adds a great variety of sounds and options. The built in tuner is excellent and super easy to use. I simply plugged it in and was playing like a pro in a few minutes. My friend who is the lead guitarist of his band loves it and is getting one for his stage set up.I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to learn how to play guitar or even some one looking to add some new ideas to their performance.