PDA

View Full Version : Just got the RP50



birv2
July 29th, 2008, 10:22 AM
I was in GC yesterday doing some shopping for my birthday :) , and saw the Digitech RP50 for $50. So I had the clerk plug it in for me and I fiddled with it for about an hour, playing with the amp models mostly. I usually steer away from mfx stuff, but the amp models sounded pretty ok, and the reverbs also sounded pretty good. Plus it's got a tuner! So I bought it, figuring I've got 30 days if it turns out I don't like it.

Spent a couple hours with it today, so here's my first impressions:

1. As with most MFX boxes, the presets are pretty useless to me. Either not my style (I play blues), or too much delay and gain lathered on for my tastes.

2. It's very easy to change settings and fiddle with stuff. I like simple. It's a tradeoff because you don't get infinite tweakability, but that's OK with me. I just get confused after a while. One of the reasons I love the Pro Jr: 2 knobs!

3. I don't have enough experience with the amps that it's supposed to model, so I can't speak to that. But there are some pretty good sounds in there, once you strip out the delays, etc.

4. The reverbs were immediately useful, esp since my amp doesn't have reverb.

5. I read a tip somewhere (HC?), which said use your own OD pedal and put the RP50 after it for reverb and any other modulations. I tried this with my TS9DX and it worked great!

6. So if I have nothing else, I have a reverb pedal, a stage tuner, compressor, and a gazillion effects I can use if I so choose... for $50. I've been researching reverb pedals for some time now, so that alone is worth $50. Add in the other stufff, and what's not to like?

7. I can play with flanger, phaser, delays, wahs, etc. to see if there's anything I like for future reference.

So it's a pretty good deal!

Anybody else playing with one of these?

Bob

ShortBuSX
July 29th, 2008, 01:53 PM
Ive got an RP200 that Ive had for years and used it regularly on my SS Crate, I stopped using it after I got my Vox, but Ive still got it, as well as a stack of patches for it.
I was able to dial in some great artist patches like U2, the Police, Sabbath...
The ONLY thing I didnt like about it was that you werent able to stack effects like a full pedal board...but that was the only limitation I found. GREAT PEDAL!

And one time I was having problems with it, I even went as far as to disassemble it and clean everything with electronics cleaner, put it all back together...still nothing.
But me, being the dumass that I am, I forgot about the "factory reset":thwap:
Once I did that, everything was perfect again...except my patches were lost, no biggie.

Algonquin
July 29th, 2008, 08:19 PM
Sounds like a good score for you Bob... $50 bucks is a bargain if you use it. Just saw a YouTube demo and it looks like a pretty cool little pedal!
Congrats! :beer:

birv2
July 30th, 2008, 05:57 AM
It's quite the steal.

Hey, Algonquin, where in Ontario are you? We used to live near Ottawa.

Bob

tjcurtin1
July 30th, 2008, 07:15 AM
My brother bought me one of these a year ago, and I've had a lot of fun with it - having only a little practice amp, I might have given up on electric due to limited tones available if I hadn't had it. You can layer on tons of effects - more than I would ever use. In fact, I can't imagine what I would do with one of the higher model versions as there is already more here than I would use. I can't compare it to anything else, but it gave me a good variety of sounds, esp the reverbs and a good selection of amp models.

I just got an AD 30vt, and was wondering if I would have any use for the RP50 any more, unless it turns out that it has some amp models not available in the Vox, or unless I find that I like the presets that I had worked out on the RP50 better than those on the Vox - but from what ShortBusX says, it seems that won't be the case.

ShortBuSX
July 30th, 2008, 01:27 PM
I just got an AD 30vt, and was wondering if I would have any use for the RP50 any more, unless it turns out that it has some amp models not available in the Vox, or unless I find that I like the presets that I had worked out on the RP50 better than those on the Vox - but from what ShortBusX says, it seems that won't be the case.

What I meant was, for example, if I was chasing an EVH tone, I found I wasnt able to use Chorus, Flange, Delay, Wah, etc...all at the same time, I couldnt model more than 3 effects at the sametime. Granted, its been a bit since I tried programming a model on mine, so my list of effects and the exact number you can use at one time has slipped my mind.

But once I got my Vox I retired the RP200, maybe youll find a use for it, but the Vox has so many features and effects I tended to get overwhelmed and could imagine putting that into the mix.
...but after reading Birv2's post and seeing him using one on a Fender amp has got me thinkin bout breakin mine out of the box again and adding it to my board...Im thihnk in Id get lots of use out of that Delay...or even the volume pedal...

Thanks for the topic:AOK: