DigiTech RP-20 Tube Preamp/Processor

figuring out how to use it is somewhat a pain, but honestly a lot easier than the rp355 i just bought
once you know what youre doing its easy to create any sound you can imagine

it has a tube,so basicly it sounds amazing.
i wish i could transfer my sound onto my new unit.
i agree with the comments about the factory sounds being horrible.
the volume is all over the place from preset to preset.
but then again i dont know why anyone would use a preset without tweaking it.
i always used multiple eq's and could get some crazy tones.
I would have bought another one (brand new) if that was an option.

ive never had any problems with the power supply coming out durring play, unless it was my own fault. its not like the cord just pops out. but i do agree its an unstable connection and unless you unplug it from the wall itself the box makes noise even when you disconnect it from the unit.
aside from that ive had mine for over 10 years when they were new and its been all over the country with me, its taken its toll, one by one the buttons have all failed until i have one active switch.(5)
my main reason for replaceing it. that and the save button doesnt work anymore either.
not to say its put together poorly though, its a great unit, but 10 years later i have to lay it to rest, it died about 3 years ago.

never dealt with digitech
it worked great for about 7 years
no problems

if you can get this cheap definitely get it.
unless its been severely damaged (like mine) it wont let you down.
ive played it with a jackson king v consistantly through multiple amps and always sounded great.
it was crazy expensive back then but im sure you can get it real cheap now, and it would be worth whatever you pay

Just a great unit.Wish I had another.

Great sounding and versatile.

Dependable

No

This is probably like milking a dead cow,but I own an RP-20 which was purshased new for $800.00.I was lucky,it was returned after a few days by some kid who did not want it.So for 600.00,it was mine.I love this thing.Matter of fact,my son has been using it,so we tried to find one used on ebay and craigslist,no luck.I would get one without a thought if one is found.We settled for the Boss ME-20 which also sounds SWEET.It is really impossible to judge any effects system.Guitar,pickups,strings and amps make all the difference in the world.Even the player.I use a vintage Marshall Super lead 100 with 2-4x12 cabs on either a Gibson V or a Westone.Gibson has super distortion pickups and the Westone has a Humbucker.Sounds great in stereo into line in jack on the pc or head phones.I give the RP20 5 stars all day long.
JimmyZ - NY

There's no doubt that you will need to spend some time with this unit. It's great for gear heads. Probably not a great unit for people who want to just plug and go. For one, the presets aren't save-able - even just the volume changes you make, so if you want them to be different, you'll need them to save them to a user spot. I say this because, as others have mentioned, the preset volumes are all over the map. It is unlikely that you will be able to just plug this box in and switch from sound to sound either onstage or jamming. For recordig it would be fine, but for other situations, you are going to have to do some homework.

I didn't find the manual terribly confusing (nothing like Roland), but then I'm used to worse. Editing is a breeze once you've got it down.

My firmware has never been upgraded.

I have two of these units - one that I've used for my guitar setup and one that I used for a violin/mandolin setup alongside it. First let me say that this is a great unit. I wouldn't have two if it wasn't. It is incredibly versatile and provides you with almost any effect you will ever need. The distortions are not stellar right out of the box and I will admit - are somewhat digital - but can be worked with. The dual distortion thing is actually quite cool. The reverbs, delays and choruses are excellent, and I don't think you'll find better unless you invest in seriously high-end stuff.

Having said all that - there are some effects in this unit that sound more digital than others. I'm not fond of the phaser or the flanger, nor is the wah of any practical use unless you want to throw auto-wah on something weird just to get the in/out of phase thing happening. The distortions benefit from going through other pedals on the output - mine is going out into a Red Snapper and it really helps beef up the distortion on the unit. The tube drive is actually pretty nice on its own, though you will likely need to tweak the EQ.

I use mine with a Marshall Valvestate amp and sometimes a Fender Princeton Chorus.

This unit has one issue (mentioned by others also) and that's the power supply chord. In almost every rehearsal I've ever had, someone had stepped either on or near the power chord and turned me off. Onstage, I took extra care to make sure this wouldn't happen, but it's not easy - there's no good way to provide extra security other than maybe duck tape. The provided cord clip on the unit is no guarantee, though it helps a bit.

These units are old now, and I have had one totally die on me (Digitech repair ROCKS!), so they are definitely a slight risk without a backup. Then again, I always figure if you're a decent player you should be able to pull off a gig with just your amp, but depending on the band, this could be a problem.

The unit is built really tough. I have always loved that it is actually made of metal unlike all the other multi's they make now.

Digitech repair rocks. You can take it to any large guitar store and they will send it off. One price for any fix ($80 the last time I checked). Got it back in two weeks. No complaints.

This unit is great if you are interested in having an arsenal of sounds. The morph feature is also really cool (you can set up the pedal to morph between sounds or to turn an effect on or off). I used it primarily for an experimental rock project where having a lot of different sounds was key. For that situation, it was absolutely the best.

I play two primary guitars - a 72 Fender Mustang Competition and a Parker Fly Deluxe. I have also run a bunch of random instruments through this unit - mandolins, electric violins, and drum machines. It's a great tool and very versatile.

The unit is also incredibly quiet and great for recording. My band has made several records and I've recorded a lot of tracks direct using this unit whenever recording through an amp wasn't possible. (you can check some of them out if you'd like at www.myspace/jariyamusic). The space effects are stellar, especially the reverbs and you will be hard pressed to find a plug-in (if you're an audio engineer) that rivals the reverb you will get out of this box.

I would definitely replace it with another of the same model. Having two not only provides me with a backup (you can dump all your sounds from one onto another using the MIDI i/o), but allows me to route other things through it onstage. I'd have to agree that there is nothing out there in the price range that is nearly as impressive. Especially since you can pick them up now for a little over $100. Rock solid housing makes this unit a keeper. I bought mine new when they first come out and I'm still using that one as my primary box. I have gigged with it for the whole time I've had it.

I have one tip and that's to always use the headphone output as your out (if you're in stereo - get a stereo cord). You'll find that this out sounds better than the others. Using the stereo out is particularly great for recording.

It's not easy getting a good sound of this thing.It's always one or another when i was playing in this metal band in va.I could never get a good balance between the highs and lows when i was cranking up the distortion the sound was either muffled,very muddy or weak and harsh making it difficult getting a good mix at band pratice.

the gain type of effects such as distortion and wah are flat out fake.The wah sounds like some bad chorus/tremelo effect.These so called personal programmable settings like grunge,angus young and evh dont sound like a damb thing close to what it represents.The death metal scoop setting was probably the best out of all of them for that tight chunky rythem but not enough bass.I had to fiddle around with the eq settings between the clean channel on my marshall valvestate and the processer itself a million times to get something halfway decent.Although i found that the noise gate helped out a little bit either to clean somethings up and quiet down some of that excessive noise and hum for those tighter rythem breaks between pauses.

I've played numerous gigs w/this processer in the va/del/md area never had problems.After a year or two later i"ve stopped using processers and went back to the old drawing board of using stompboxes and distorted amplifiers and been happier ever since.

I play basically metal and some classic rock type of stuff.I pretty much gave up on the processer in fact i sold it back to the guy who had sold it to me a couple of years earlier.Although i have a little RP50 that i plug into my tascam 4-track when im at home working on a guitar riff which in fact sounds alot better than the RP20 with the amp and cabinet modeling.Digitech has gotten alot better in the last few years but it's nothing compared to the sound of a overdriven marshall.Yes it's pretty cool to have all these diffrent sounds in one package like the various reverbs,delays.flanger/phase shifters which is pratical for the money considering that i dont have much use for them.The important key is to not sacrifice good tone but all the other weird crazy effects are OK because thats what they are.Lets face it if you want a wah sound get a dunlop crybaby,vox or even a morley theres all kinds to chose from.Last but not least plug into your marshall,mesa,peavy etc...and crank it up to hear the pure heaviness of rock and roll not some computerized crap telling you otherwise.

Well, I bought the RP-20 a year ago and only now I was writing this review. Why? Because now I have the knowledge to submit a real review.
Easy of use is relative. I had a RP-10 a time ago and i'd like it so much. So, the algorithm of the RP-20 is in "Digitech form".
The factory patches sucks. But you can better someones easily :-P
This unit have many FX effects and require some time to get all the possibilities (you can mix some FX too! :) !)
I'm brazilian and have 2 manuals: English and Portuguese (but i prefer the English manual, the translation of Portuguese is a bit mess...)
It become with original firmware version on 1.03, but I upgrade it to version 1.54 (beta firmware), addin some effects and full MIDI implementation. Now I can use it with RPEdit and the patches editing are easy are ever! :-)

Yeah, this is a little trick. I have a korean Squire by Fender guitar with Spanich pickups (Brazilian pickups! Good! :P ) and a Fender Frontman 15 cube. It's a bit noise, but I think is because the pickups of my guitar (without the RP-20, sound still noisy :/ so..)
The effects box are amazing. Reverbs, chorus, tremolos, Analog Wah (yeah, its good too!) and, finally, Whammy!
You can do anything with this unit. And clone sounds of your favorite bands. But you may have time for it.
I play rock, metal, blues and some jazz. Sounds like Angra and Dream Theater (my preferreds..) can be played with it.
The tube and hybrid distortion are amazing, mainly if you mix them.
But is a litte trick to get a better tube sound: replace the tube with a 12AX7 NOS tube. In Brazil, it's very hard to get a good tube like Philips JAN (and the prices are expensive too...), so i bought a Tesla/JJ and replace the original tube. The distortion now sounds wonderful then ever.

I have it for a year ago and use it without a backup. I've listening another guys that have problems with the footswitchs. I'm a electronic technical and repair some RP's in my job. So, if it broke, I will repair it.
Another point is: it's hot! :P
The power supply circuit have 3 IC's that's get hot a lot!
Solution: I implemented a heat dissipator with a cooler on the backstage of the unit. It's work fine and noiseless.
If anyone have interested, I have pictures! :P

Some time ago, I repair a RP-6 unit and need a plastic footswitch for it. The brazilian Digitech autorized service sell me the footswitch that i'm looking for, but the price... :/

Whatever I say above, i play rock, metal, blues and a little of jazz. I playing for 8 years, and in my humble opinion, this is the best effects unit on the whole world!
Digitech rocks on this pedalboard. I have a chance to play in a new GNX-4 pedalboard effects and believe it: the RP-20 sounds better.
Why? The tube, obviously.
The only problem on it is the unique expression pedal, for use between Wah and volume. But i bought a very old Digitech MC2 MIDI expression pedal and solve the problem.
I'm a Digitech fan. Seriosly. My rating is based not only in RP-20 unit (that is great, believe it), but in my history with these fantastic units.
That's all!

It is very easy to use. I have seen some DVD's that are hard to use but with little time I was on my way.
When you figure out what the buttons do and their function you can do anything you want with it.
Firmware is 1.05
The manual give you more information than you need. It will also get some users in trouble because they will fool with things they think they know about.
For these idiots, sorry, mentally challenged people, they have the tech department that will get them on the right track.

The best for studio/on stage, you name it.
I use two LP's/ two Fenders and a handfull of guitars I built. I do custom guitar building for a living and have heard everything and nothing comes close to this unit.
I did use a couple very large Marshall amps and found that I could just use a 600 watt power amp and two 4x4 cabs and set the unit to sound like any amps I wanted!
The factory distortion settings were a little weak for my taste but a tweek on the massive EQ abilities took care of all that.

I know the systems have a internal problem of shutting down and resetting it self.
Giving the unit to the Digitechs repair department for a going over, I got it back a few years ago and have never had trouble sence.
I want to give the unit a 10 on reliability after the repair but new from the factory I don't think they were reliable. I will give them an 8

The repair department for Digitech is great. They have done a fantastic job of repairing my RP-20
The also returned every Email I sent and also explained to me what they were doing to repair my unit.
They also have a flat fee to repair anything wrong with your unit. "ANYTHING"

I bought one new from Digitech and many years later after my son was old enough to show a interest in guitars I bought him a RP-20 just like mine because they are still the best thing out there!
I got mine when they first hit the market for $675.00 "I think" can't be sure but I did buy my sons used for $125.00. A price I think is fantastic. I wish I paid that much for mine. LOL

At first it is intimidating and if you don't like setting things up before you play, you won't want to spend more than 5 minutes on it before getting fed up. But I think if you really care about your music enough to buy a processor like this you should spend the time to tweak your sound.

I haven't spent a ton of time messing with the settings but i've looked at the menus and they are fairly straight forward so far... nothing a good day of jamming with it on my own couldn't solve.

I have a Fender standard fat strat (strat w/humbucker). I've used it in a plain P.A., a 100watt fender 'Stage Lead' amp, two small 'Gorilla' practice amps running sterio, and various other funky setups just to mess around. With a normal guitar amp, it sounds great, with two amps hooked up or some stereo setup, it sounds awsome. The stereo chorus and dual channel effects make plain riffs sound sweet, and now i'm looking for a good sterio setup just because of this pedal.

Noise gate works great, but without tweaking, turning off distortion on any of the 100 preset voices that is factory set to use distortion will nearly mute your guitar, requiring a switch to a different voice instead of just bypassing the distortion section. This is most vertainly due to the noice gate, because there are good clean voice presets that sound fine, I just dont know how to tweak the settings enough to where i can switch off the dist. on a distorted voice preset without loosing my sound.

This thing has several distortions, i havent tweaked much but there are tond of possibilities because you have solid-state and a tube to play with, even at once if you feel like it. it will probably get any distortion i'd ever want with some adjusting.

Bought it used at a yard sale for $5... Never staged it, but i'm going to in the next few months. hasn't shut off unexpectadly yet, gets a bit warm but it that wasn't normal it wouldn't have 12in worth of vent slots in the back... maybe i'll rig a fan for it...but i doubt it.

One thing i'm definatly concerned about is getting unplugged onstage, there's nothing to hold the power supply's cord in the thing and one wrongly placed step could potentially ruin a concert, and the pop this thing makes when it's amplified and you pull the plug isn't very cool. Especially if you have a big $$ amp i would definatly use some tape or rig up a brace or box for it. I think i'm going to make a carrying case for it that can tilt up so i can see the clip light and back paned easier and something that will hold the chord tight. But if you're careful and don't dance around the chord it's fine.

Long-term reliability...not sure yet. hasn't appeard to have any faults when messing with it... I.E. no screen blips or sound cuts...so i think its fine, i will carry a backup chorus and distortion to any gig just incase... but only until this proves itself.

none yet, may call in for info on tube life, the input level knob, and ask about a replacement expression pedal piece...but until then...

(the pedal uses a light that shines through a piece of plastic that is clear on one end and fades to solid black on the other, which obviously hits a light sensor of some type to catch the movement of the pedal, and it got scratched when the unit was apart and put together slightly wrong ...the plastic part wasn't in straight and scratched itself.. so be extra sure you don't put it in crooked if you open the unit up for whatever reason, and unscrew the rear panel connections so they will slide out of the case and not brake off.)

Alternative rock, punk, 80's rock, older stuff, and some nice clean bits.

been playing 2 years, this thing is going to make it all so much better.

if it were stolen i'd immidiatly look into getting another one similar, or finding it on ebay (they do pop up, don't loose hope)

i love how i can carry this and not having a ton of stupid power supplies, batteries, patch chords, and several heavy pedals to carry around in my gig bag... grab this, my guitar, amp, and my significantly lighter gigbag and i'm off.

I wish it was a different color, and maybe some sturdier feeling footpedals...

once you get used to the menus and assigning the parimeters it gets real easy. but even on the first day I was jammin gwith some really cool sounds. and super easy to eliminate any parimeter from banks 6-0 for easy control of sound changes durring songs.

every sound I ever needed and then some I problly have no use for, yet any way i use it through either my mesa boogie for large venues or my line 6 for smaller cocktail lounges. I have very little adjusting from one amp to the other. I use a few different guitars with this. My strat sounds sweet and my hammer has the depth and my gretchs sound spitacular. this thing even sounds great over my practice amps (danelctro, fender front man , mashall) I also use this with my yamaha and taylor aquistics

It has always worked for me and I have had it now for over 5 years

I havent had the privlege of using the support yet for it has always worked great for me

I bought this as a discountinued model through the Guitar Center in Canton MI. along with many other items. however they gave me a great deal because of the $ I was already spending there. Wow what a deal the only thing I didnt care for, was that if the unit was pluged in it was on. no on off switch but hey I can live with that for it has never failed me yet and if it did die I would check out more from digitech

its very complicated unit
and manual is very hard to understand

i have a gibson lp classic and ibanez js100 w dimarzio evolution in bridge, rp20 sounds super with evo,
i had rp20 4 years ago,this is my second one,
i was using 1st one for 3 years, and in my opinion rp 20 ist the best floor fx ever(i had almost all fx rack and floor), if you have good guitar and amp, it sounds very good

you have to set drive to 50% and eq to 0,except eg 8 and 15khz to -12db
you have very cool drive

i have a hughes triamp but i think rp20 sounds almost better,
huges is real and punchy but rp20 is my sound

you can get any sound if you play vith eq,think! pod is just mfx with preset eq

fx are good

hm footswiches will die,

so i will boy a midi controler and make changes fom there

im playing rock www.levitanband.tk(sory slovenian),blues and a bit of INSTRUMENTAL(www.urostheplaninc.tk this page is in english:)

im playing for 12 years and have owned a lot of gear,i bougt rp20 because its the best for me, i was a tube purist for 2 years, but always missed rp, and i never found better fx,hm what is digitech doing these days???????????

I HAVE A QUESTION FOR ALL RP20 USERS?
IF IS IT POSIBLE TO ASSIGN FOOTSHVITCHES 6,5,7,8,0 TO CHANGE USER PROGRAMS? EXAMPLE im in bank1 and i want sound from bank3 to be on footswitch 6 in bank 1...if i could do this rp20 would be perfect
PLEASE WRITE AN ANSWER,here or email me!!!!

it makes me play more,gives me tube sound,and think less about how i
should play a note

thanks for help

I've had my sound set to cranked on tube distortion and grunge since I bought the thing new, many moons ago. I actually think that the edit features on this are better than my GNX4 because of the detail that you can get into. Never had a problem with the manual, and I've never upragded the firmware. I was a veteran of the RP6 and the BOSS ME6 before I bought the RP20 anyway, so I found it easy to dive right in.

I'm using a few Wolfgangs with an Ampeg VT-120 half stack and the tone is amazing. In my experience the tube distortion and clean tones are unmatched. I can't parallel the distortion using the GNX4 and its annoying the crap out of me.

I can depend on this for the construction, definitely. However, the same thing is happening to me with the RP20 that happened with the RP6 and the BOSS ME6...the pedals themselves are starting to deteriote as far as functionality is concerned. The parameters and banks are still navigable and useable but the pedals are beginning to become inoperable. I understand that the pedal is about 6 years old and nothing lasts forever...

The pedal problem is the main reason why I bought the GNX4 (which I may start regretting here soon because I can't get that RP20 sound out of it). Has anyone else had this issue with pedal functionality?

I've always used the RP20 as my main board with no backup.

No opinion yet...lets see if Digitech can help me on the pedal problem...

I'd say overall the whole pedal is outstanding. The tube that comes with it gives it amazing tone. I've been playing for 14 years and I'm disappointed that the pedals are smoked on the RP20...I never thought I would have to replace this particular model.

The unit is easy to use as long as you aren't all smoked up. Edit your sound can be a little better but to get a good sound is somewhat time consuming. If everything was so easy to do it wouldn't be worth the trouble. The upgrade for this only helps the volume in the tuner setting, You don't want the volume up when tuning on stage. Also it helps the midi controls and adds two more effects that I don't need or want. The unit work well with a bit of brain matter at use.

The volume between settings does suck and having to set them is a pain in the dick but if you are going on stage you need to cover your ass and set the Volumes before you look like shit on stage.

I had a problem with the unit resetting it's defaults when hot at times. I sent the unit to Digitech and the did the repair and scratched the expression pedal sensor. Unit never sounded better. Never had another problem in 4 years. Studio recordings sound better than ever,quiet no pops between settings. The unit is a tank and is very strong in construction.I wouldn't need a backup with this unit.

Better than ever. I had quetions that were replied to and if you have a problem with Digitechs support, you just need to ask to talk to the right people. "The people that work on the units"

I play all kinds of music
I build and play guitars. Playing over 30years
If the unit were stolen, I would get a Digitaech rack model w/outboard pedal control. The price for the unit was high at the time but all electronics were expensive then.Units have gone way down in price while the units have gotten better sound wise but the units are made of cheep plastic. The outer housing is great on this thing!!

No comeco um pouco dificil, mas apos alguns dias ja da para dominar todos os parametros.

Excelente qualidade sonora tanto dos efeitos digitais quanto da distorc?o verdadeira valvulada.

Um problema de todas as pedaleiras digitech e o funcionamento dos foots que sempre tem que ser trocados porem somente esse defeito.

Como dito antes, seus foots sempre tem que ser trocados mas sempre que mando ela para avaliar o retorno e bem rapido, pois parece que a Digitech sabe desse problema e tem um estoque bem grande de foots.

Excelente pedaleira para qualquer estilo desde Heavy ate Axe, porem exije que o musico ja tenha um conhecimento grande de timbragem e ate mesmo de tocabilidade para ter uma facilidade maior no seu manuseio. Ja tive varias pedaleiras como Zoom 8080, rack zoom 9150 valve, boss gt-5, boss gt-6, mas nenhuma bate a rp 20. Somente uma coisa que questiono e a falta de input/output para loops externos de efeitos, porem ela possui uma gama t?o qrande, que vc consegue fazer qualquer timbre nela. Abracos, espero ter auxiliado vcs quanto a RP20 valve.

maybe i'm just really dumb? if the manual would give you any clues as to how to work the thing, it would be ok.
who wants to spend hours of the day trying to tweak the awful sounds?
one of my main problems is trying to get the volume between patches even. total nightmare!
on stage playing a nice little rhythm part on a fairly clean effect, going into the chorus and want that extra punch from the sound,(don't do it, bad idea!) when your foot makes contact with the pedal, WHAM! the gain goes up by about 10db and there you are looking like a twat drowning the whole band out. it's useless.
to fix the problem just read the very useful manual(not!) and spend days fucking around!

they are quite bad but some are a little better. the cleaner effects seem to produce better sounds.

had no problems with it's build and power etc. that is not the problem.

never dealt with digitech but if they had some degree of intelligence they would write a manual in plain english!
not everyone wants to mess around for hours

it was very expensive when i bought it. yes i have slated it and yes i do think it is crap. however, i'm a guitarist, i want to play guitar and write music. for those of you who don't want to do this as much and like fooling around with sounds for hours... go and get one now! i personally can't be bothered.
if you want to buy mine my email adress is:
danmcclew@hotmail.com
i'd be pleased to get rid of it.

Once I scanned through the manual (available on Digitech's website if you don't have one), it was pretty easy to figure out, but getting into the editing screens is not completely intuitive and I don't recommend advanced editing without at least having the manual available as a reference.

As someone else has already said, there is too much variation in gain/volume to use the presets as is, especially when using it in a live setting, but with some tweaking I was able to tame the beast and get my own sounds... I ended up starting with the "Funk Strat" setting since it has the best basic clean tone for my sound and added/edited the effects & settings I wanted in that preset. The clean effects are nice and very useable--much better and more convenient than using a bunch of stomp boxes.

While the tube distortion sounds are ok through my tube amp on clean setting (a Fender Twin, which by itself has almost useless distortion!), direct they are lacking... they sound harsh & still somewhat digital to me, even with much editing. Since I have to go direct 90% of the time (I play in a church and we can't use amps since the room is so live) I use this in conjunction with an H&K Tubeman Plus to get the tone I want... I use the Tubeman for tube crunch & distortion and the Digitech for everything else (chorus, reverb, delay, etc.). It may have something to do with the fact that the tube in the Digitech is being used in a low wattage setting, while in the Tubeman it's fully driven just like it would be in a real tube amp (I'm not an electronics person so I don't know all the technical details here--I just know I can hear a big difference). Swapping out the tube may help, though I haven't tried that yet.

The expression pedal also isn't that great for wah sounds--it goes too quickly from no to full volume without a nice gradual sweep as it's currently programmed (I think it can be edited, though it's not too necessary to my playing style so haven't spent a lot of time on it). As a straight volume control pedal it's ok, though.

Built like a tank. In a way, this is my backup, b/c if for some reason my Tubeman doesn't work, I would rely on this even though I'm not 100% happy with the distortion tones I'm getting out of the unit. It's had some minor power problems though--occasionally I have to power down and power back up in order for it to work properly (yes, I have the original power supply). It's never not worked after doing this, though.

An on/off button would have been nice, though. I'm a bit dubious about just plugging it in to turn it on and risking frying the electronics.

I've not dealt with any company reps, but the website is very comprehensive and discontinued product support is available, including manuals, FAQs, etc.

For clean playing, it's great. For those who like 80s style digital tone, it's great. For me, it works ok in conjunction with my other gear, but not by itself. I'll probably be retiring this and my rackmount gear for a Vox Tonelab SE (floor pedal version) once that becomes available, but I'm fine for now--no rush.

Easy to use

Sounds awsome if you came from the days of MXR pedals...LOL

spilled alot of fluids on and in it,works like new

dont know yet,never needed any...

I see some bad reviews,this unit is only good as to what is plugged into it and what it is plugged into,not to mention who is playing the instrument and setting up the parameters.This rp-20 is clean and sweet,I use a gibson flying-v and a westone guitar through an original Marshall 1959 super lead 100 amp with 1960 a/b cabs.Kicks major ass.The RP-20 isnt going to do all the work for U. :) ONLY NEGATIVE FROM ME WAS THE PRICE.

Very intimidating at first but I got used to it

Impossible to get any good sound out of this thing. All the presets are not only crappy-sounding but are too quiet. I read all the other reviews about tweaking the EQ and all, but after hours & hours of messing with it, it still sounded bad. I plan to get rid of this thing soon and go back to my RP-1.

Made me look like an ass at a gig, when switching presets, one was way too quiet and I had to adjust it mid-song... sigh... Gets quite hot, but otherwise it's built really well.

Why can't a machine this advanced & expensive just be plug-n-play?? Who wants to mess with parameters for hours on end just to find a good sound? NOT worth it. However, the volume pedal & built-in tuner are great to have... the display is easy to read. If only it SOUNDED good.

It's somewhat easy to get a good tone out of the RP-20, you just gotta know how. When I first started using it, I was dissapointed because the distortions were weak, but I soon realized that the EQ plays a big role. It also helps to turn the Input and Output levels up. Editing patches is a breeze. The interface is very easy to get around in, but if your after a tone that is not preset, it takes alot of tweaking. The manual is good, but it is very misprinted. I went through the manual a few times before I even had an RP20 and once I got one, I pretty much knew my way around rather well. I'm currently using the 1.02 version, but I plan on upgrading to the 1.504 Firmware.

I have an Ibanez Joe Satriani model, which goes into the RP20 into an Ibanez TB50R amp. It is very quiet. The only time it is noisy is when I'm using the MaxSustain setting on the compressor, and this only hapens when I am very close to the amp. It's easy to get good sounds like Eric Johnsons or EVH's, it just takes some tweaking. The effects are very good, but the distortion takes some EQ-ing to give it some balls.

The RP20 is a reliable unit and I would gig with it without any backup, but the only problem is that it gets very hot.

I've called DigiTech to get a replacement Data knob, and the operators were very nice. I was expecting to pay for the Data knob, but they're sending it to me for FREE!

I play rock and metal, with some jazz and classical, and this unit does very well. It goes great with my gear, and for the price I paid, I couldnt have gone wrong. Since RP20's are hard to come by these days, it would be hard to replace it, but i certainly would try. If unsucessful, I would definetly get another DigiTech product. I wish the distortions had more balls though. Luckily theres the EQ. I was gonna get a BOSS GT, but these Im sure are way better. You can get a whammy in a BOSS now can you!

you can plug this pedal in and play.....so it doesnt take much brains to use it....it has 100 factory presets to use....if you cant figure out how to edit then those should be sufficant untill you grow a new brain....the manual is always a good place to look if your stuck.....

sounds very very good.....there are so manny sounds to play with and tweak out......my personal favorite is having the expression pedal controll the time of the delay....you can get some crazy sounds like that....it has a noise filter so it doesnt have alot of unwanted buzzing....but of course there are settings that will buzz.....you can make the effects sound however you want really so its good for any style of guitar playing(i personaly LOVE the smashing pumpkins and it really does the trick for that).....im useing a fender frontman 25R and it sounds pretty good....i dont turn the volume on my amp up at all....i just use the volume on the RP20 because i think it gets a better tone that way...it still gets really loud....the one effect i dont really see any need for is the panner...i mean who wants there sound cutting in and out???....the GEQ is another nice touch to tweak the sound so its just perfect for your individual needs...

i cant really comment seeing as how im using the wrong power supply at the moment...so the screen wont light up...and its reset itself a few times and ive lost ALL my presets....but even then it was my error....you have to turn down the volumes on the back before you unplug it or it just might force a factory reset...could be the power supply thing....and yes...it does get kinda hot....it has tubes in it remember....nothing too major....

i tryed to find out why it wouldnt light up and stuff by e-mailing them from there website....they were verry helpfull and let me know i was using the wrong power supply...(its off by like one number)...and gave me the adress of the manufacturer of the one i needed along with th ecorrect model name and number....

I Play alot of music....i mostly write my own....but i LOVE the smashing pumpkins and this pedal is rad ass for playing pumpkin tunes...ive been playing for seven years now...i like how this pedal has an expression pedal and that it can be assigned to any peramiter you desire.....this pedal is amazing and id recomend it highly.....

I feel the unit is very easy to use, but it isn't the first "RP" unit I've owned. Editing patches is easy. I'm a male..."What instruction book?"

The digital effects are descent but the distortion sounds are horrible!! I play a Peavey Ultra 112 amp (Tube) and the solid state distortions, properly tweaked, sound more like my amps original distortion than the tube settings do.

Very dependable, gets fairly hot though.

Input level potentiometer got smashed and Digitech sent me a replacement free of charge in 3 days, with installation instructions and a spare...that is pretty good for me.

Been playing for 11 years. I play alot of 80's shit....usually covering keyborad on guitar. What do I wish it had?...my amplifier's distortion sound and it would be almost perfect.

It takes a while and you have to be very very very (very) patient and have a lot of time to tweek and retweek. But once everything is perfect, it an extraordinary tool. NOT FOR BEGINNERS OR IMPATIENT PEOPLE!! Typical of musicians, I immediately tossed the manual aside and jumped in with both feet. I eventually went back to the manual after a couple days to figure out how to do details and stuff. I reccoment that if you're good at figuring things out and enjoy a challenge.

I'm running an Ibanez Jem with Dimarzio Evos in it and from an Ibanez RG 7420 (7 string) with Evos as well. I run from that to a splitter first, than an Ibanez Punk Slam (for intros/special effects) to a DOD Supra distortion (for "tubesy boost"). I run from that into the Digitiech unit straight to a Boss 7 band EQ. That's for the left, the right side is my "simple" side, just a TEC 4X with simple distortion and clean sounds. The Digitech side is my main, upfront sounds. That runs into a vintage Sunn halfstack (highs) and Peavey 1x15 (lows). The "simple" side runs straight into a Carvin Legacy 2x12 combo. Everything runs into the EFFECTS LOOPS on the amps (very important!). I really need to smplify my rig, but I am very much a tech head (I'll admit it).

The effects are very "there". I mostly use the effects mixed with the clean sounds, pushing the effects back a bit and letting the untainted sounds stand out. The dual and quad chorus effects are very fun with major tweaking, as are the flangers. I find the analog delay to be very tasteful and have fallen very much in love with that setting.

This is a problem. Power chord is very poorly fit and tends to fall out if you're careless. Duct tape is reccomended. Aside from that, as long as you don't get screwed by stepping on that and having it reset, you can play as long as you please. Our band perdiodically goes on long jams in practices and often end up playing for upwards of 7 or 8 hours in a day. With very few breaks this thing toughs it out. I am going to buy some small fans to help out with the heat. It tends to bget very hot when you're creating/editing patches.

Never tried...

I play a little of everything, but the band I play in is mostly a mix of jazz/R&B/hard rock with various ethnic odds and ends thrown in there to keep it fresh. I like a lot of effects pushed back to create a canvas, if you will, for the crystal clean sounds. This is very useful for mixing it up and the wet/dry control. The hard rock comes in on the choruses and whatnot. This unit has some very useful distortion (both tube and solid) sounds with the right anmount of time in them. The parallel effects feature makes this unit very powerful.

Sometimes I sit in with various jazz groups and the clean sounds are lush and full with just my Sunn 4x10 halfstack. Very full bottom end and the the tube makes it glow. Otherwise, I sit in with "full bands" (keyboards, horn section, drums, bass, lead singer and ensemble). The unit is very at home with this as well; this requiring jazz chords, and chili peppers style (with horns) for uptempo numbers. Also requires the distortions to sound good, but not cranked. This works with the compression dialed in correctly. As for that, I play in a side project of a super melodic punk band (in the same vein as Blink 182's "Stay Together For The Kids" and also their Boxcar Racer). Mixing the levels of tube and solid distortions makes for a very full sound. Somewhat brainless music, but altogether fun.

Overall, this unit is very powerful and an incredible value, especially for the price (thanks Dan!). I'm not sure I would buy it new...for the price, I would keep on saving and buy me another Jem (I'll never need a wife with this babe). But seriously, if you want an intermediate to professional unit, this will work for ya. I built a solid cherry wood box with padding in it and a perfect fit so the pedal doesn't move. Definitely needs that! I expect to be using this for a long time.

I love the sounds that you can get out of the RP-20. You can get good sounds for any type of music you play. You can edit the sounds to get the sound you are looking for although this is not as easy to use as it could be.

I use a Peavey Bandit 212 amp and a Gibson Studio Les Paul and I get a great sound for all the effects. I can get sounds from Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Led Zepplin, pretty much any artist I want. I like the variety of distortion and chorus effects.

I got a great deal and bought mine used. For the most part I feel I can depend on it without needing a backup.

I play rock and jazz and feel that I can get great sounds out of the RP-20 for both these styles. I've played for 6 years and feel this product is as good as any other. I love the variety of sound you can get but wish that it was a little easier to edit the sounds. I've found that it helps me in all my styles of playing.

Its very easy to set the patches, but very difficult to get the right sound, however you ever will get it.

Sounds really cool, but distortion aren't enought powerfull than a marshall's distortion i like.

Excelent

Poor shit, digitech is ever absent.

wonderfull, on stage, on studio and house, you only needs the right amplifier and right guitar, and patience to programming and testing and do it again until it sounds rigt

if u do not have the manual it is hard to use...not seems like a japan made.:)))

i used roland gp 16 digital effect processor. it has very noisey distortion (i never used); good overdrive. but the digital processors
can not give the high notes (after the 15 fred)cleary; for ex. gp 16 , boss se 50. after i meet this machine i have the smooth, powerfull blues & rock sound. this is about an analog , about the tube!!! one of the bad point is the expression between the effects is not quick. (1/2 sec)...so it is not be real good for live performance.

The rp20 is not very difficult to program, but getting the right sound out of it is somewhat tricky and time consuming.

If you are a metal head this unit sounds great. If you aren't, you will be disappointed. I am not a metal head. I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio through an Ampeg amp. The distortions and overdrives are crap-they sound somewhat muddy. If you want that old fuzz sound, get a vintage fuzz pedal. They sound much better. The wah pedal is the worst I have ever heard. Absolutely minimal range to it. The delays sound alright. The phasers and flangers sound decent and are actually quite versatile. But overall, the sound quality is disappointing.

I have never had a problem with it.

The web site has hardly any information on the rp20 since it has been discontinued.

I have been playing guitar for 24 years. I play blues, country, rock, jazz, and classical. The rp20 sounds great for metal, and newer styles of music. But if you are looking for any vintage sounds, forget it. Buy an old fuzzrite pedal and vox wah instead. The rp20 is not as clear sounding as the old stomp boxes. It is too artificial sounding. Don't waste your money on this one.

this effects unit is a bit tricky to figure out (for beginner programmers) but once you get the hang of it you realize how the interface is actually laid out pretty well, and quite user friendly. The pre sets are really lush and thier are so many distortions you can easily find one that comes close to the sound you want and easily edit the preset to your own customized likings. Editing your customized exsisting patches comes quite easy. The proccessor interface has l.e.d buttons that tell you where you are on the led screen interface. Any editing being done can instantaniuosly be compared to the original patch by holding down the program button. This makes making changes not so painful. The processor also tells you the exact parameter changes you have made and saves the original until you overwrite that patch. The manual worked fine for me but I just ued it to figure out a few functions, I found it easier just to jump right into it and start messing around with parameters to find what sounds I liked. My unit is the upgraded unit.

I find that this processor is pretty noiseless in comparison to other effects units i have used. The noise gate on this unit is great. Some of the distortion channels can create some noise, but hey isn't that what it is? Any how if that is a problem it can easily be diminished by the very effiecient noise gate. The effects are always extremely rich and on point. The flanger and phaser offer the user multiple options to create different wave shapes and speeds. Both effects are also extremely rich in quality. I run my Rp-20 through a Mesa Boogie dual rectifier effects loop using the rectifier as my main clean and main distortion but use the processor to create alternate clean and distorted patches as well as all the other effects the processor offers. It sounds "Bad Ass"

I always can depend on this unit. I have not only used itfor guitar applications but also used it for vocal effects as well as processing computer based samples. I really enjoy the sounds I get from this unit as well as its versatility

Never had to get my unit repaired so

I play all different styles from Heavy Metal to extremely melodic soundscapes and found this unit to accomidate all my effects needs