DigiTech RP-300

i thought it was easy to use (but then again some things i thought were easy others found hard, but.....). read the manual! not only does it tell you everything you need to know about the unit, but it gives you some background info on some of the stuff it's emulating (I thought that was cool). it takes a little (not much) getting used to, but is real simple once you've mastered it. it does take some doing to get a really good sound, though, and its easy to get a bad sound, but its not that bad.

i use a Peavey Raptor plus EXP guitar (which is a really good guitar for the price) and run it through anything from a marshal solid state amp at my church to the huge (and i mean HUGE) sound system in my school auditorium. so far i have no complaints. sometimes you have to tweak the EQ a little for the different sounds various amps give. i don't get any noise cause of the sound gate (a real life-saver sometimes where feedback is concerned). all the effects are good but i haven't gotten a hang of using the phaser yet, and theres some effects that i never use (like the auto-wah and the pitch change). i don't really go for the sounds of my favorite artists, i just make up my own stuff (altough i did make one that sounds almost exactly like Third Day's "Agnus Dei" on accident) the distortions are great, but you can't get insane amounts of distortion out of it (but then again i don't play any deathmetal) and its best for punk, rock, clean and old school stuff (like zz top, etc)

like a rock, or a tank or any other solid object that won't break. made of metal. i've dropped it several times on hard surfaces (on accident of course) and have bumped it against thing lots and it's still as good as new. nothing's broken, sounds fine. i'd give it a 20, but that's not a choice

never had to use it, see above ^

i play punk, rock, some softer metal, clean/acoustic stuff, and just about everything else, and it fits everything (just don't use the compressor on clean and low gain presets, i learned that the hard way). i've been playing for about 2 years or so, had this pedal for about the same, a little less. if it were stolen, etc. i'd most likely buy another one (or do my best to find it and steal it back) or i might go w/ the one that is the same but w/ mic outs and midi stuff. overall its a great pedal, well worth the money, its versital beyond anything i've seen (my friend uses a zoom and it stinks and he uses stomp boxes and they seem like a pain) and definately helps me get a good sound.

reading the manual you'll be able to edit your patches very soon,it'really easy,and the manual is well done,but it don't explain very well the channel A/B tipe of setting.

I use a fender stratocaster and a marshall 2005 as a monitor,I usually enter the mixer and go out trough jbl speakers (don't remember the model cuz they're not mine.the effects are very weak and I find the distortions sound like mosquitoes.I think weaking a bit you can have good delays and choruses,for clean sounds.
it also sucks cuz when you pass from a patch to another the volume is always different.I found the preset really terrible,but I bought it
to have the chance to edit my own,if that day I'd stayed in bed...

I won't depend on it no more cuz I've just passed to a more pro babe that's my brand new Boss GT-6,and it's now taking dust in the corner,waiting for some1 who want give me some euro...

I didn't deal with it.Hope is good.

I play in a cover band and so I need a lot of different sound cuz we space from melodic to revival when playing in marriage party,and rock when we play clubs(Toto-VH-Queen-Lynyrd-Gov't Mule-Allman-Joe Walsh).I
never owned a mfx,but some stomp,I bought it without checking it cuz the keyboardist said that the precedent guitarist had the RP50 and he had some good stuff out of it(I think he was a magician).
I found useful the jam-a-long feature and the learn-a-lick,but sometime you switch two pedals together and you succed in doing what you'd not.
If stolen I'll thank-you the one...
Don't buy it,go for something serious!

Very easy to use and modify patches. I have different patches for different songs and I have them programmed in the order in which my band plays the songs, so its easy to just go up to the next song. I also have a few songs that I switch up and down during the song, and that works out great as well. My biggest complaint is the "learn a lick" feature. Its really annoying when playing live and you accidentally push the far two buttons in and it goes into this mode. I'm thinking of gluing on a bar or something to prevent this from being "foot activated". Other than this, I would have given it a 10.

I've had this unit for 2 years now, and I have been happy with the sound quality. I play it through a vintage Ampeg VT-40 tube amp, 4 x 10 combo, and this unit sounds great. I also play it through a little crate practice amp, and its OK, not great. It also works pretty good for demo recording direct into a computer.

I mostly use the Chorus, Delay, and Tremelo effects. For the amp mods, I use a Tweed, or Clean for channel A (30 - 50 gain), and Hotrod for channel B (75 - 90 gain). I also like the FUZZ setting for some good distorted leads. The wah-wah pedal is also very useful and I use it on one of my songs.

For playing through an amp, make sure you turn off the cabinet simulation. I also don't use the compression or the EQ. I use my amp EQ to adjust the sound I want. I also use the Reverb on my amp, though the Reverb on this unit is very good.

I play a standard strat, and I use the noise gate, it helps.

I've noticed that some poeple have complained about a drop-out when switching between patches. I have never noticed this, and its not a problem for me, I change patches mid song and it works like a champ.

So far the unit has been reliable ,except for the "learn a lick" engaging when I don't want it to ( I guess my foot must be too wide...)

Battery option would be nice, because I once went to a gig and left the power adapter at home. Had to just play clean...

Never had to deal with customer support.

I would rate this thing as a 9. For me its great to be able to program a different patch for each song. My biggest complaint would be that you can't have Chorus and Tremelo at the same time. You can have Delay, and Reverb, along with a list of effects, but you can't turn the Delay off or on. You can program the pedal to change the level of the effect, which helps, but I usually program the pedal to increase volume or gain.

I've been playing on & off for about 20 years. This unit works great for my style of music which is basically rock. I used to have multiple effect pedals, which was very hard to keep up with, especially during a live gig, so I find that having it all in one unit is a better way to go. I'm sure there are better units on the market, but for the price, you can't beat this unit. I think that Digitech makes the best delay & wah, and this pedal has both. I also use the tuner on stage, and I think it works just great.

I would recommend this product, and I would buy it again if mine where ever lost or stolen. I would also consider stepping up to the GNX versions because you can save and download pathces to a computer.

great pedal for a beginer, the manual that came with it is easy fowlow along with. editing and efects is a little tricky at first so I recomend for one to look at the manual first. and the drum machine is easy to use.

I use my digitech with a peavey stereo chorus 212 and a imataion strat. When the pedal is plugged I get some feed back (buzzing coming frome the speakers).the efects a good but the distorion is weak and there no gain settings. I can get the sound of most of my favorite music bands such as Jimi Hendrix, Alice in Chains, and metallica.

I dont know about reliblity becuase ive only had for about 7 months and abought new at GuitarCenter.

I sent Digitech a waranty form online a couple months ago and never got a reply saying they got my form of information.

I play hard rock and this pedal dose an ok job at i have been playing almost two years now and own a imation stratocaster guitar peavey stereo chourus 212 amp (130 watts) , deam markley k15x wich I bring back forth to school because the peavey is to big for a bus ride. if it were lost or stolen i would probaly buy a diferent product from a diferent company. I bought a used zoom 505II last year had for a little bit and then just stoped working right so if you are one of those people tied over the zoom and digitech stay away from the zoom it's a crud and you only will be wasting your hard earned money.

As long as you read the manual, you'll be fine.

I generally use it with my two ESP guitars (Explorer & M252) and my Marshall Valvestate 10 and Carlsboro Colt 45L amps, recently used it for recording and played it through a Marshall AVT150H. The effects always sound great IMHO, but I only got it two weeks ago so I'm still exploring. Have managed to get a sound pretty close to Kirk Hammet's by using the Dual Rectifier sim and using the V switch for the Wah.

Yeah I think it is pretty reliable, as it's made of metal it isn't gonna break when you play it live, but ask me when I've owned it a year.

Haven't had to contact them yet.

I play mainly hardcore punk and thrash metal and this pedal has definately added to my playing, recently used it to record my band's demo. I have been playing seven years, I own an ESP M252, an ESP Grassroots explorer, a Marshall Valvestate 10 practice amp and a Carlsboro Colt 45L amp. I really like the versatility of this pedal, I did look at a Zoom 707 but it has nothing like the amount of effects that the Digitech has, and it's plastic so is way more likely to break. It is a great tool for writing and recording, haven't gigged with it yet.

Easy once you read the book

I use various strats, pauls, tele's and a few I hand built. going through the fx loop of any amp makes this unit silent when idling.But running through the front end of any older non fx loop amps (aka) Super Reverbs Twins, etc, the unit is noisy, and because the effects are lined up for optimum sound you can't put the gate at the end of the line.

two years old and so far so good

have not met them yet

After 40 years .....you name it, I've probably played it. I would not buy it again based on the noise problems at rest( hissing)

The digitech RP300 is a multi-effects pedal with 40 different emulated guitar voices on-board. It is fairly easy to use, but certain features are very annoying, like the fact that you have to scroll through 20 setting to get from 1 to 20. Also the fact that the tone controls automatically re-set themselves each time you switch to a new voice, but the actual knobs stay in place. This means that until you turn the knob, it has no bearing on the sound. This feature took me a while to figure out, and was the source of some frustration.

The RP300 is a great unit for multi-effects... if you're 13 years old. Anyone who has ever heard what a real guitar amp sounds like will be disappointed by the cheap, fake sounding emulations in this pedal. The only good ones were the really heavy settings, and they were all the same. I think if I had any problems with mine, the one thing that bothered me was the sound quality.

The unit itself seemed built like a tank. It's metal, and quite sturdy. Unfortunately, the ac adaptor on mine broke after one year of use, and no other adaptors work. For this reason and others listed above, I recently sold it for 60 bucks.

Sent it in on my dollar, and they wouldn't even replace the ac adaptor. If you ask me, they aught to stand behind their product a little more. For that I must give them a 1.

Overall, I think this is a good little toy, but that's all it is - a toy. It doesn't have good tone and most of the voices are the same thing over and over again, but If you just want something to play around with, and you've never had something like this before, go for it. I can't deny that it has a lot of cool features, like flange and wah, but you can find those elsewhere - and in better form. All in all, buy this to play with, but not if you're over twenty.

This is an UPDATE OF MY REVIEW for this pedal after owning it for several years. I was one of the first people to buy and review it here on harmony central. (You know the REALLY long review at the bottom?)

When I first bought it I didn't quite have the ear that I have now. You'll always think something sounds great until you hear something that sounds better. The distortions were "okay" at best. The cleans were laughable, absolutely no sparkle or chime. So I thought I'd keep the pedal around for effects purposes. Na-uh. The effects, even the chorus and phaser which I once really liked, are totally sterile sounding. No life to them what-so-ever. The boutiq wah, on the other hand, wasn't bad, and the tuner isn't all that terrible (unless you compare it to a strobe).

I sold this effects unit on ebay several months ago. This pedal is for beginners who aren't serious about tone, or someone who just wants something cheap to play around with. As a whole the pedal sounds STERILE and one-dimensional. After I started buying better equipment I found it useless. When comparing it to other high quality effects (boutique and otherwise) the RP300 sadly scores no higher than a mediocre 4.

The RP300 is very easy to use. Just with a quick scan of the manual, u know everything about it. All you have to do is plug in and you're ready to play. The only problem i have with this unit, is that it is kind of hard to switch between patches fast. i wish they had a bank switch.

The sound quality is amazing. I plug straight into a PA system, with a custom fender strat. It is not noisy at all. The effects arent that great with the factory settings, but with a little tweaking, u can make them sound awesome.

I feel like a can definitely depend on this effects unit. its very sturdy. I would also definitely use this on a gig without a backup.

never had to deal with them

I play rock, punk, and also metal. this is a perfect pedal for any of those sounds. If it were stolen, i might buy it again, or upgrade to a bigger pedal. For the price, this is a great unit to buy.

Lots of presets that sound pretty good. A few others that I'd never use. Manual is just OK for a guy like me who isn't highly proficient at playing with these things. Took me a while to figure out the editing process but was easy once I did. There are so many available options that it can be overwhelming. In fact, you could spend days exploring all the options. I bought this pedal to emulate various guitarists for a cover band. It would be nice to have presets labeled "Keith", "Eric", "SRV", etc. rather than having to figure them all out for myself. Also, you can't jump to nonsequential presets, say from 3 to 22, without going thru the whole scroll.

I use a 1983 modified American Fender Strat and 1975 Gibson Les Paul Custom 3 pickup thru a 1972 Fender Twin. Since this pedal is intended to emulate other amps, I put the Twin on a neutral tone setting (all 5's). The pedal is quiet at home but at one gig it made so much noise as to make it unusable. Must have had something to do with the light dimmers or electrical line. Easy to get a bad sound - takes a bit more work to get a good one. But the available effects sound pretty good for the price.

Hasn't broken yet. I've had it a year. Had a noise problem at a gig (see above)

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Overall, this is a nice little toy, but it's not really a professional quality piece of equipment. But, hey, whay do you expect for $200? When you consider the price, this is really a great product, even given my luke-warm feelings expressed above. I play a wide range of music, but use this pedal with a classic rock cover band. It's a lot of fun to fool around with. And like I said, a lot of product for the price. For what it is, it's a great value.