DigiTech RP-20 Tube Preamp/Processor

The operation is tricky at first, especially if you don't have a manual. But just by poking around in the editing mode, you can form it into a tool of great versatility. When I got a copy of the maual from the digitech site I was able to tweak everything to perfection.
My unit says that it is a "RP 20 Valve Version 1.02" quite what it means I don't know.

All the Fx are fantastic, few sound digital at all, unless they were made to be (ie The Studio Bank sounds quite digital) The 12AX7 tube offers pristine clears and hard driving distortion, and you can layer solid state over tube distortions, which is a very good thing if you play alternative. The Analog Wah sounds better than a crybaby ever could. The settings allow you to
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The RP-20's main problem is the special power supply. Unlike most of the earlier RP units, that had a cord resembling the one that leads to the computer you're using. The RP20 has a DC adapter with a special hook-up to the board, which means that you have to buy extension cords, since it only stretches 6ft. It pops out easily when you accidentaly trip on it. Even when you tie it behind the built in clip on the board. I would recommend routing an extra lead to the amp, because if the RP20 gets shut off, there is NO signal. But if you have enough slack on the cord, and you clip it to the unit, you'll be in good shape.

The RP20 has a major problem with heat because of the hard working processor and the tube. I got 2 cooling fans from a Radio Shack and placed one in front of the tube vent, and one in front of the main vent. I haven't had any heat problems anyway, but why risk it.

I have never needed customer support, but if you're uing the internet (what are you doing now?) you get any help from the guys at Digitech at their website. WWW.DIGITECH.COM I have never needed the help.

Practicing with the RP20 is a breeze, just plug in the guitar and put in some headphones. I love its versatility and programming interface, but it takes a long time to get used to and you have to go through many useless functions to get to the good ones. I do wish that it had a Talk Box, it has an effect that resembles it, but it isn't the same, the acoustic sounds is just clean with reverb. But this is worth well more than any Zoom 505.

Pretty idiot friendly. The user's guide (despite all complaints) is pretty good. If you know what FX are and what you're doing, it's a friendly unit. If you are a beginner with FX, you will have a tough time figuring out what the compressor, noise gate and eq do. They're made for the musician's taste, and if you don't have taste, they'll confuse you.

Excellent sound quality. Very lush. Avoid the digital whammy, pitch shift and harmonizer. They sound very "digital". I do use them sometimes just because I like that sound. The reverb sounds digital unless you spend a lot of time programming it. Those who complain about this unit are either very, very, very professional and picky, or they haven't spent sufficient time programming.

Distortion is too high quality for my style of music (most of the time). You can get some splintering thrashing sounds with work, but they sound like the splintering thrashing sounds that are digitally recorded on a CD. They're just too good. I love this, don't get me wrong, but I use seperate distortion boxes pre-RP20 to break it up a bit and make it sound alive.

Oh sure. It does get a little hot. If you're playing a long gig, you might want to give it a 10 minute break every hour. The enclosure is a little cheap, the footswitches are plastic, so I don't recommend stomping it like I stomp on my Turbo RAT.

Pretty good, I thought. It took a while to get a response, but they were very helpful in fixing some problems I had.

I play a wide variety ranging from hardcore to stuff like The Cure, to Celtic rock...church worship hymns and choruses, blues, hard rock, etc.

Very dependable and verstile unit. Any style of music that uses guitar can use this unit (acoustic classical might find it to be too much...they'd never use much more than a reverb...) and love it!

It does sound over-processed (like any good Digitech machine), it will tweak ever once in a while...*Waiting for Data*...just turn it off and back on. Just plug it in fast. Best to use a surge protector!!! This is a "computerized" unit and a spike or surge may factory reset you (hours of programming farted away). Anyway, plug it all in and use the on/off switch on your strip for your RP20 on/off switch. Don't leave the power cord plugged in when you're not using it. The transformer gets hot and you might wear it out if you just let it run...

If it was stolen or lost, it might make me swear for the first time in 10 years. I'd save up and get the RP21 (the faster processing may promise better reverb and pitch shifting). I love the floor processing units. Rack systems are too much hassle to set up live. If you're playing live, you really need a floor machine.

this unit is very easy to get a good sound out of it almost all the factory settings are good and editing the patches are simple as well. Making your own patch is easy as well tho in my case im recording direct with this and soon to be getting a power amp and cabinet to amplify the great sounds but i was going to use this primarily in my amps effects loops which i cant get a decent sound probably because the rp-20 uses a preamp. The manual just tells the basics but its useful.

My setup goes as follows (when i use the rp-20- and since ive only had it a week it may change) fender stratocaster, esp horizon, ibanez rg520qs, peavey duel 212, digitech rp-20 or one of the three guitars listed to the rp-20 then direct to my tascam 424. It gets noisy alot of times when im not playing(when i dont have my hands on the guitar) it has a loud buzz to it that goes away when i activate the noise gate or adjust the eq on the high gain settings. Speaking of metal sounds alot of reviewrs said the distortions are not good well ive used the factory presets straight to tape and they sound really good but through my amp its not very good sounding (for example anyone who has ever hooked up to distortion pedals(or pedal and amp distortion) together you get this really bad horrible noise but again ive only had this for a week so im not doen playing around with it). Overall the enitre unit sounds amazing the harmonizer and reverb needs a little work tho but i can live with it. Can i get the sound of my favorite artists? hmm one of the presets sounds very close to in flames' lead sound in the jester race album but i dont like copying other peoples sounds i make my own.

Ive only had this product for a week so i havent taken outside of my house but i havent experienced any of the resetting of the unit as others have stated before and i do have my unit on for long periods of time. I belive i can depend on this unit it seems built like a tank .

Hasnt happened yet

I play hardcore, melodic death metal, metal, alternative, jazz, and classical. Is this a good match? I belive so i can get alot of different sound from this unit without paying alot of money for the seperate units. Ive been playing guitar for 7 tears and this is my first multi effects unit i also own a fender stratocaster, esp horizon, ibanez rg520qs, yamaha fg-401 acoustic, ibanez edg 400 bass , peavey duel 212, crate gxt 100 half stack, crate gx-20m,dod phasor pedal, boss ds-1 distortion pedal, boss tuner, jimi hendrix wah, tascam 424, ev mic, and a bunch of other items. If this item was stolen i probably wouldnt care mainly because i was interested in the boos me-8 but no one had it and guitar center had a deal on this unit so i got it and im happy with my purchase. I love the fact that this unit has so many differnt sounds in one box. I dont like the fact that the reverb and harmonizer isnt good because those are 2 features that i would use alot. Does it help me make music or get in the way? hmm a little bit of both actually when you dont have the right sound or close to it you cant be that creative but when you find the right one sparkss fly and i have found alot of good sounds outta this box. Although i got this unit to add to the sound of my amp i havent been pleased with the results so ive been using this straight to board which sounds really good very professional sounding effects

This is a great multi effects pedal. 100 factory 100 user presets which you can personally program. Meaning any sound imaginable is at your finger tips. The manual sucks but what manual doesn't. The key is to spend some time working the various effects to your liking. I am going to upgrade, but I can say that this pedal will be missed. By the way it's on ebay right now for 200. New you can find these for about 630

Well It's all in how you program this thing. It's not noisy at all

The plug really bites\\\\\\always take a backup

First of all as everyone on the planet is aware of This Digitech's Manuals SUCK!!! at least the RP7 and RP20's. If you have had any exposure to Digitech Pre-Amp multi effects Processors , however, you can most likely get around this unit without too much frustration. I Upgraded from an RP7 to the RP20. The unit sounds fantastic (In General) strait out of the box. Patches are pretty cool. My Unit has the software version 1.1 and I believe the upgrade is 1.2 I'm not sure. I won't bother upgrading it until I find out what is the difference between the two versions. It's not really a priority and I am happy with Ver 1.1 so far. If It ain't Broken Don't fix IT!! The main reason I gave it a 4 is because of the manual.

My setup is as follows: I have a Goya Strat (made in Japan) with Hot Rails which plugs into a Cry Baby then into the RP20, sometimes I through my Boss DD3 into the loop, If needed, and directly into a Marshall JCM2000 tsl with 4x12 cabs, or directly into a Digital Hard Disk Recorder. The effects in this unit are Great, Chorus is warm and lush, Reverbs are ok, morphing is fantastic! The Distortion is good due to the tube that is incased in the unit, however, if your looking for Korns Heavy Tone It ain't gonna happen. I definately prefer playing it through my Marshall stack rather than the results I get when I directly record to my hard disk recorder, perhaps thats the problem things just sound fatter when they hit tape, Digital recorders take away some warmth from your sound. There are 2 Signature banks and a total of 100 Factory set patches and 100 user. The Unit is Very Quite and Overall Sounds are great, with alittle tweeking The sky is the limit with this thing!!!

Build Very well, I haven't experienced any problems so far, I bought mine used and the first thing I did was Replace the 12ax7 tube with a new one, not that it needed it I just wanted a fresh tube in there and I will replace the tube once a year, Just for maintanance purposses. $30 a year for a new 12ax7 tube ain't gonna kill me.

Never had to deal with them.

I'm into Hard Metal. The RP20 Definately suites my needs and I could see this unit comming in handy with a lot of other styles like Jazz and Country (YUCK!!!) to each his own I guess. With some patience you can most certainly dial up most any type of sound and the tone is fantastic!! If your looking for an all - in one pre-amp floor type processor with pro-quality effects than you should seriously consider the RP20. I had a RP7 and Sold it and Bought the RP20 (used) , they are in some ways simmilar, but the RP20 is by far more programable. I am very happy with the unit. I would Buy it again, at full pop for that matter, it's worth every penny!!

I really like this box because you really do have anything you want at your fingertips. I like that's it's divided into a seperate pre-amp and effects section because it not only makes for great versatility, but allows you to set up your patches as if you were really using separate pieces of hardware. The manual is total shit and mostly useless. It doesn't even explain basic things well. I'd use it to get an overall gist and then forget it. You'll learn far more just digging in. It's true that you have to tweak some of the out of the box sounds, especially distortions. Like a lot of pieces of gear, we always assume that the engineers are getting the best sounds our of the thing. That's not always true, and you need to tweak for your setup. Don't let anyone tell you that this box is a piece of shit because it "sounds digital and just isn't as good as analog effects." This is bogus because #1. Analog effects are no-where near as versatile, #2 There's no way you can set up a bunch of pedals to do what you can do in ONE PATCH on this thing (imagine the number of stomps!!!) and #3. This box is really clean! No noise whatsover (unless you really try). I'm giving it only an 8 because of the sucky manual (this should not happen for a piece of gear this complicated!) and because you have to spend time with it to get the most of it.

I'm using a Parker Fly Deluxe, a VOX wah pedal, and a new Marshall 100W VS-102 R Valve Amp.
There is virtually NO noise. A few patches that use really intense gain may have a little hum, but nothing compared to what you get out of an amp with the gain that high. I've heard others say they dislike the distortions and can't get the ballsy sound they want. This was my initial experience, too. I needed to find a solution however, because, like another player mentioned here, I hate have to make two switches (one on the RP and a channel switch on my amp) to get to distortion. It's a pain and it leaves a large blank between the switches. I just wanted to switch directly into distortion on the RP during songs that require clean & dist, and use the distortion channel on my amp for those all distortion tunes. I solved the problem by putting all the factory distortions in my own bank together and assigning them to footswitches so I could switch between them. I also made a few experimental patches that I liked and put them in the same bank. I got the best distortion sound for my amp on the distortion channel. Then I AB'd between each RP patch and my amp to find one that was similar. Once I found one, I tweaked the EQ till it pretty much matched my amp. I use this patch as my basic distortion sound and I use my parameters changes to tell me how much I need to change other distortions to get the effect I wanted. You will also find that the distortions greatly improve if you do a couple of other things: if you're not running in stereo use the headphone out to your amp input; turn your guitar volume all the way up; turn the input and output knobs on the RP all the way up. This means you will need to adjust the patch overall level and possibly use the expression pedal for your volume control, but I found that this greatly improved the overall sound, particularly distortion. Like someone else here, I've been unhappy with the reverbs, but in all fairness I haven't spent much time with them. I just keep noticing that whenever I use one I eventually decide to turn it off. The delays, choruses, and phasers are incredibly good, as is the ability to use the expression pedal to morph between effects. I've found the wah to be a little thin and non-responsive for my taste so I've stuck to my Vox which is still more convenient for me since I use my left foot. I wish the autowah gave you a little more control; you can't adjust the rate or the depth.
I haven't tried to imitate any other artists, but I can't imagine why you couldn't imitate anybody with this box. It has EVERYTHING and the control over parameters is extraordinary. So is the ability to change pre-amp settings to sound more like different cabinets. Again I've given it an 8 only the preset distortions really should be a little beefier to begin with if they want this to compete in the market.

Fairly confident about that. I had one brief scare on a gig where I plugged it in and the LCD came up but there was no signal going through. I struggled for a couple of minutes and then unplugged it and plugged it back in and it corrected itself. I've never had it shut-down or reset on me like some other people have mentioned. It DOES get hot, and for that reason I don't leave it on if I'm not using it. I don't use a backup but that's mostly because I just bought the thing and I don't perceive it as being particularly fragile or flighty.

Never had to deal with them...

I play in an Alternative R&B band, which means we play R&B rooted music with rock overtones. That's why I bought this piece, because I wanted something that had a full range of effects, from phasers to distortions and everything in-between. I really like this box, though I think it takes a while to really get a grip on how to use it to its full potential.
I would definitely buy it again if it was lost or stolen. I love that it has every fucking effect you could ever need. I love that I don't have to plug in a gazillion pedals. I love that it has cool morphing effects and a built in pedal. I like that I have the capability to run two different sounds off the same guitar in stereo (though this is impractical if you are gigging in small to medium clubs). I hate the manual, The LCD display could be bigger (some of us are blind onstage, ya know!!!). I wish it had a power switch, because...I don't know, I've always been leary of that direct unplug thing.
I compared it to the G5. I didn't think the G5 had half as many good sounding patches or as many capabilities. The RP also seemed to be more durable to me.
It does help me make music, though the initial learning and getting it setup for your own rig is time consuming. In that way it's more demanding than a pedal setup. But it's worth it since you have everything you could ever need at your fingertips.
Lots of people will tell you bogus things about digital effects because they're negative and inflexible. You have to forge ahead on your own. Don't assume that the engineers who built the thing sent it out with it's maximum potential all set up. If you happen to play music that requires lots of split-second sound changes, don't be afraid to explore digital. Pedals would drive me absolutely INSANE! And they wouldn't come anywhere close to providing me with the versatility that the RP does.

After reading the manual, this procesoor is pretty easy to use. editing patches is very easy and you can also set up your effects in any order you want. Another cool thing is that the wah comes before the distortion which gives a cooler tone, but i stick to my Vox wah. Once you figure out this thing you will have alot of fun.

Right now i use an Ibanez Universe 7-string with a Roland GR-1 guitar synth then my signal goes into a Vox wah, a Boss bass synth, a Digitech Talker, then the Rp20. I use a Peavey 60/60 power amp into two Marshall cabs. The reason why I think most people give this unit not so good ratings is because they use the Rp20 with regualr amp heads. Being that the Rp20 already has a preamp, that person will be overloading preamps and blowing out there amps input. The Rp units sound best with poer amps beacuase your going preamp to power amp. I recommend a tube power amp. As far as sound, i PERFECTED many tones. I basically cloned a Mesa Triple Rectifier, a UniVibe, Mutron Biphsor, and others. The tube distortion provides enough low end to sahke my entire house. Sometimes I will plug in my Warlock guitar and use the solid state distortions for some shreddy death metal tones. The effects section is awesome. You can clone any pedal you have. I have over thirty five pedals in my arsenal, and ive cloned them all in the rp20. You can make a Univibe by taking a chorus and assigning its speed to the foot controller, plus its digital so its even clearer. The LFO is another part of this unit that I like.

I can definitley depend on it. My band plays many shows in Florida and it never fails me. If your paranoid just go out and buy the gig bag for it.

I had to call them once becuase it reset and the pedal range was fuckedup,but the tech there immediatly told me how to fix it. Digitech techs are the best. I hope they sponsor me in the future.

I won't by it again because i won't have to. It like a rock. I like it alot better then digitechs rack version which are really no different. I hear they are now making an rp-21 that has reverse delay but I also created that on the rp20 by using the LFo.

at first seems complicated but its realy easy to use and edit the patches...everything u need is a creative imagination.manual is not enough for you to understand the unit but gives you ideas to use it..explains the general things about the unit. when you start to make your own patches and get around with he system softhware you'll find easy..but you've got to spend time with it..

wow..this unit has everything you want..even if you are a pro player..really good effects and patches..tube inside of it gives you high quality tube sounds..and as they said in the manual: you can create almost any sound you want..its up to you and your imagination.

i can depend on the unit..reliable and wont let me down...

i have mail them before i bought the unit and asked them the list price of it in usa..they helped me..and mail me abnout that subject..

i play almost all kinds of music and this unit gives you every effect you want for every taste of music..i think this unit is enough for every player even if you are a pro.!! if i save money i have plans of buying a vgs2021. i think its still a good gear for all players. who dont have money to buy vgs2021.

The manual for this is lame,as it only explains the basic idea of editing and does'nt give you any shortcut ideas(like how to sample for five seconds,play over it and drop the pitch of what's sampled one step,which was actually a preset on here,thank god!)or tricks to make it more "Lynch-like,"Petrucci shred",etc.If they could have really gone in depthon how MUSICALLY to use it that would have been sexy.Editing on this is not as fun as editing it's rackmounted other, the 2112.NO KNOBS! That's pretty stupid.Also,it only has one S-Disc2 thingee.It would be nice to have a Harmonizer and delay,and then have the ability to have paremetric eq,phaser,etc. on the other modules (like the 2112).I have no upgrade for this guy.Good tones take lots of sculpting.My secret=paremetric eq.This works to make this box "breathe" more.

I'm using this in the effects loop of my Crate Stealth tube amp into a Gallien Krueger 4x12 w/80 watt Celestions and into a Fender Strat w/floyd,Dimarzio 'bucker in bridge and a Bill lawrence "blade-style" single coil in the middle position.I have to use the amp distortion as this Digitech does not have enough gain to use it's distortions.So basically I have to have the preamps in this on complete bypass, becuase if I turn on the clean tube voicing I have to really crank the processor to get the same volume as bypassing these.Don't know why.I have to say it's very queit indeed,no noise here I cant live with.The noise gate on this is not the same caliber as a Hush,but Digitech REALLY improved they're noise gate on this dude.The 2112 has enough gain for me,but the saturated tube at full balls was not enough.Cleans are fucking great! I love the Fender Twin thing on this. It really sounds like one.All clean sounds on this are great.The delay kicks ass becuase it has that cool "analog delay" feature that cuts off high frequencies and works great with my amp distortion.Chorus and Detune are excellent, I did however like the Flanger on my ME-8 better.The rotary speaker simulator is great when set to mild and with detune added it really sounds lush.My problem with the harmonizer on this unit is it has no levels for detune amount,so when you play harmonies with it on it sounds like all out of tune and totally shitty.That's pretty stupid to not include a detune setting,becuase how can I fine-tune the harmonies with each other?! The other problem is modulation effects unless set in parallel sound fucked-up.They actually phase in and out,so if i'm playing loud all of a sudden the chorus starts to fart out my low end and then starts sounding all shreiky(modulating my damn eq basically!).Very annoying,becuase parallel only let's you use three effects at once(damn I wish this had two Sdiscs in it)so I can't have delay,detune,chorus and paremetric eq for example.More power and the extra tube would be worth the extra $$ for the 2112.I cannot get Thrashy,Metallica,Pantera,Dream Theater sounds out of one fucking tube! Sorry guys.Great cleans though,very robust!

Here is the shit that really pisses me off.This thing keeps resetting itself to goddamned factory when I leave it on too long! VERY GAY! this is extremely annoying as I always have to re-write all my stuff again! It gets so hot after about 3 hours of being on you can't even touch it.This really sucks BAD! I plug it in sometimes and it don't turn on! So then I go "oh no it's gonna reset itself again!"This is really shitty.I have had no problems with the cord being loose like everyone says in they're reviews.I have no backup,so if it does it on stage(thank god it has'nt) then I'm screwed.Id recommend buying the 2112 becuase it's basically more professional.It has "neat" features like an EXTERNAL CORD and a POWER SWITCH! WOW! I find it pathetic that people cant have an external cord and an on/off switch on these floor processors!

Going to send in my warranty card and this thing and ask why the fuck it likes to reset itself whenever it feels like it! Haven't dealt with them yet.People say they're lame.

For my music it just needs the balls distortion-wise that the 2112 has.I used the 2112 direct in for our cd and it sounded almost as good as my Crate tube amp! The distortions on this one were designed for basic rock sounds,and it does sound good for that,but once I get in my "evil super-gain mode" it won't get angry enough.For what I play, which is REALLY heavy progressive rock,this is more versatile than the ME-8 but needs more balls.I hate having to step on the patch and my footswitch to my amp to change channels.Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass this is? Very annoying.Also,really bad delays going int different patches.Digitech is famous for that.Very good and very versatile for a floor processor,but not as good as the 2112 obviously. I traded my old processor for this,which actually was an upgrade,but now I'm gonna upgrade to the 2112.

The manual sucks ... I have had this thing for a year and I still do not know all of the fuctions...

Ok .. The effects are supendous .... And believe or not I can even get a jim dunlop cry baby sound with the wah pedal. This thing is ain't so loud but I do not think it is a disadvantage. I am ead guitarist. I play Yngwie Mamlsteen, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai 's songs and this processor is the one to make leads... It is also possible to play metal rhyms but this machine ain't for grunge music which the gain is so loud that notes are not heard. It also gives a very good clean sound with grate effects. But I think It would be good if it had fade out delay effects.

Well... This thing gets damn hot. In a concert o mine the floor was very hot because of the sun and the sun was aslo shining on the machine so the digital screen turned dark blue and nothing could be seen and the proccessor stopped working until it is cooled. As long as you keep the machine cool it works with no problem ...

I found the digitech web page pritty useful ... they answered all my questions...

This thing is the best and the most proffessional floor proccessor unit.. I use it with an Ibanez S 470 (Symour Duncan z#5) connected to a Hughes& Kettner (attax 80) amp ... RP 20 is very useful since my amp has only two channels (one clean and one dirty) with only reverb effect. It is also possible to get a very good sound through head phones. I do not think there is a better floor until.