DigiTech RP-300

This is very easy to use on a novice level and even better if you're a serious, sophisticated user. Right out of the box you get some great patches. With the 5 knob parameter controls you can quickly and easily modify the sound of the patch you're using and can tweak the gain, EQ or volume. I can spin the gain control up with my foot and do so frequently to kick the drive up on the patches. The expression pedal serves multiple purposes and works well as the wah wah (no, it not as good as a real wah, but right there I saved $70 to $100 on that one pedal alone). I use the pedal to control the effects in a lot of my patches so you can "dial in" the amount of chorus, detuned sound or delay in a performance mode. If you take the time to understand the settings and parameters within the patches you can do fantastic things with the modest priced pedal. Download the default patch settings from Digitech's web site and you can gain a great understanding of what you're doing and how to customize the patches. There are a growing number of patches that users post as well and many are excellent. Editing is very easy and you can store and name your new patches quickly. I've even modified my custom settings right in the middle of a practice when I realized that at performance volumes I needed to make some changes. The matrix controls for the patches makes modifying them very easy. The manual is pretty good. I've seen a lot of the multi-effects manuals and none are standouts. If you have an idea what the effects are, what they do and what the amp and speaker models do; the manual is fine. I also use this as a practice/headphone amp. With the CD input, I can boogie all night and not disturb my family. The Learn-a-Lick feature works fine as well.

I have a 65 Strat and a DeArmond S-73 (their SG clone) so I approach the RP with a classic single coil and a potent humbucker. Both sound great through the RP 300 -- but you have to recognize that the patches will sound differently for each guitar. That's a very positive note about the unit, as it does not blenderize the instruments and make them all sound identical. I even can run my Wah, Big Muff, OD pedals and a Daddy O' into the RP, using if for amp modelling and it will react much like an amp would with those pedals running into one. I use two Fender all transistor amps -- easier for me to maneuver -- and run them clean, letting the RP do the distortion thing. I'm into Classic Rock -- many different artists -- and can get an accurate patch for all of them. My favorite amp models are the ones more prone to distortion: the Stack, Rectified, Hi Gain, Boutique and they work great for me. Look, this is only $199 and includes a power supply. There are some compromises made to cram all this stuff into the unit. I would be great to have the six pedal switches on the GNX2 but I didn't have that kind of money. You HAVE to spend some time to really learn how to use this. It's easy to use and you can get some good sounds out of the box, but if you spend some time to analyze the patches and parameters, you can make this very useful. You can even set up simple patches with just one basic effect on it so you could use it like a chorus, whammy, delay or whatever, pedal and run it into your amp. You couldn't assemble these great effects AND have the option for the amp, pick-up and speaker modelling for anything close to the cost of this unit.

Had if for about 4 months. Seems very rugged. Case is pretty solid metal and the switches seem robust enough. No question that I would rely on it at a gig. I bought a back-up power unit (pretty cheap insurance) which I would do for any effects pedal or unit.

I haven't had to deal with the company but the Digitech web site is very good and the patch downloads, particularly for the RP 300 is outstanding. The parameter by parameter listing of each patch is very useful when you want to analyze and modify the settings.

I've been playing for 35 years. Way back when I was using the originals of the Maestro, Fuzzface, Big Muff Pi, Boss Tone, Vox Wah and could only have dreamed of the stuff we can get today. This unit is superb, particularly for the money. I love using it. I discover a new sound every time I plug it in. I have no unreasonable expectations that this will sound like digital processors costing thousands of dollars. But it can't be beat for the price. You have to spend the time to learn how to use it, to take advantage of it and you have to understand the limitations of the unit. I would definitely recommend to anyone that they skip over the RP 100 (no power supply included and it's only $100 less) -- or the RP 200 (no A-B channel switching) and it's only $50 less -- and go directly to the RP 300. The A/B switching, if you set the unit up right, is a great feature for performance use and the expanded display and matrix controls on the RP 300 give it an edge over the smaller units. I would buy another if this was stolen. It is a fantastic value. Just using it as a practice headphone amp saved me about $50. Add up what the cost of a chorus, delay, overdrive, distortion, fuzz, wah wah, flanger, amp modeler, and many, many more pedals would be and you're way ahead on this one. I got this for under $200, out the door at Guitar Center...can't beat that. I'm saving my pennies so I can get the priciery GNX2 in the future, but I won't get rid of the RP300 even if I have another.

Very easy to use, you'll be an expert in days. it's easy to edit patchs.

i play an ibanez SA160 with EMG81/EMG-SA/EMG-SA pickups, through the rp300 to a crate mx120r. with the noise gate, it's very quite. the flanger, delay and reverb are all pretty good, as is chorus. all the effects are pretty good actually. i don't use most of the amp models yet, i stick to the stack, rectifier, and a few different amps for clean. if you use the EQ and sweepable mid freq, you should be able to find your sound. i play death/thrash/grindcore, and i have a distortion set up i like very much. Rectifier is the best distortion on this peddle, can sound very heavy.

it seems dependable, it's metal. the peddle kind of sucks.

haven't had to talk to them, but i hear digitech is pretty good with custo support.

i've found a very crunchy, low, raunchy death metal tone, as well as good ceans and others so i'm happy. i think i might try a pod if i lost it, but it's a good peddle for the money.

Well documented in 'discernable' English sentences. Plug-n-Play out of the box.

Using it with my Bandit65 and it is really great through the rhythm channel, but you have to back it off big time for the lead channel. Sounds like a rock polisher in that circuit. And, no, this is not popular 2 me. Does away with a lot of other "noisy" stomp peds. Has a great swell effect, and compressor as well.

just bought it.

Will put it to the test soon.

Very easy to use once you get used to editing the presets and experimenting with all the fx. The manual doesn't help much. But any moron can figure it out. The pedal doesn't operate smoothly. It gets "stuck" in certain positions. Maybe it's not greased enough?

I was using an Ibanez s470 and a Fender Stage100. It was really noisy through the fx loop. I tried plugging into the front of the amp, but the effects sounded terrible that way. The rp300 sounds great through my home entertainment system with surround sound, but thats about it. I now have a 5150 and cannot stand the harsh, digital noise this thing produces. I can't get rid of the noise!!!!! Even with the noise gate on, it buzzes and hums and just ruins the warm, rounded tone of the 5150. Even in bypass mode it's noisy! I don't like the digital effects sound either. The wah sounds like crap.

Deffinitely durable. I've drop-kicked it about a hundred times and it still won't quiet down. I can't kill this thing even if I try. I don't think anyone would need a backup.

I have not had to deal with support. It will not die!

I don't want to bash it too much, but this thing just plain sucks. I play all kinds of music -mostly hard rock. This thing can get some good tone with a solid state amp, but it kills the tone of a tube amp. I would recommend it to a beginner who's not too fussy. I've been playing off/on for ten years and this is actually better than a lot of the multi-effects pedals out there for under $300. If it were stolen I wouldn't care. I don't use it anymore.

Very easy, if you haven't had a guitar processor before there is a manual. And those of you who are to lazy to read the fucking manual don't deserve this pedal.

Brilliant. This one is very good. You can switch between various distortions. It imitates all the famous amps like marshall jcm900 and mesa dual rectifier. Everything you need just a matter af taste. The effects are all extremely good and the best thing about it is the triggered flanger and phaser. The wah is ok but you can get much better results from a real wah pedal.

Very sturdy metal box. Shouldn't break if you treat it like a normal human being. I have to say they should have made the footswitches just a little bit bigger because if you accidentally step on them two at a time it will bypass or the rythm trainer is activated and that happens rapidly with me but hey just watch you step. Also my expression pedal makes an awful noise like a rusted metal door and it can be very annoying. Otherwise very reliable.

Don't need'em yet.

This is a very good processor that offers a wide variety of settings and at a good price. I recommend this unit for anyone who is young and looking to change from a boring bedroom amp and one lousy distortion pedal into better equipment.

I found it very easy to get to all of the sounds as soon as I plugged in. I wish that the guitar input was on the side of the unit like the more traditional pedals. Sometimes the cord gets tangled in the expression pedal. I did not have any problems editing the patches. In fact,within 5 minutes I had created my own. I really like the A & B switch. The manual is very helpful and easy to comprehend and the website is extremely well put together.

I am using a Squire Strat that a very talented friend of mine rewired so that I can use all 3 pickups at the same time using different level combinations. My guitar alone can sound like anything from a firebird to a telecaster. I play thru a Peavey Classic 100 watt something that I really like. The RP300 is very quiet and I found the effects to be very strong and realistic. I play anything from rhythm & blues to screaming 80's rock so rhythm sounds are just are equally as important to me as lead sounds. I love the old phase shifter and envelope filter sounds, as well as the crunch and grind. The Wah sound is not as good as a Cry Baby but then again I didn't expect it to be. My influences range from George Benson to Jerry Reed to Jimi Hendrix so I am interested in any and as many sounds as I can get. I wish that the Acoustic guitar setting was more like an authentic steel stringed sound. To me it sounds just like a regular guitar with extra treble. I have heard better acoustic samples.

I would most definitely use this without a backup. It is sturdy and has a good balance to it. Once again I just wish that the guitar input was on the side. (preferably the right side) Also, I would have loved to see an on/off switch (also on the right side)so that it wouldn't just pop on whenever you plugged it in.

I haven't had to contact the company and hopefully I won't have to. I don't foresee any problems in the near future because I am mainly a session player and rarely play out anymore. I feel that this unit and I will have a long and pleasurable relationship.

Like I said before I play almost everything and anything. I've been playing since I was 15 and I just turned 43. I don't like to label myself because I like all types of music. I also play bass and piano and own a multiplicity of recording equipment. The RP300 fits in perfectly with everything else. What really sold me were the stereo outs. I would most definitely replace this if it were stolen. I don't like the feel of the expression pedal. It feels as if it needs to be oiled. I would have made the entire unit a little wider so that the buttons would be further apart. I love the reverb and other effects. The humbucking pickup selection is awesome. To me it makes my guitar sound like a Les Paul. A love the headphone input. It makes late night rehearsal and composing a thing of sheer beauty. The A/B Switch is a great feature because it makes the unit playable in live situations. I also like that fact that you can scroll through all 80 presets with quickness and efficiency. I don't use the drum drops because I have way too many drum machines. I was turned on to this unit by a friend of mine that had the next model up. I knew that I didn't need all of that but I really liked the sounds. So after visiting my local music retailer and trying it out I knew that I didn't need to see anything else.

After editing the sound on this thing it pretty darn good; better than the Zoom GFX-707 I used to have, especially in the distortion cartagory. Editing patches is easy (A good thing, seeing as how the presets are rather boring). Getting a good sound is moderatly easy right out of the box.

The sound quality on this thing is sweet and very diverse. I'm useing an Essex EG270 Les Paul copy > RP300 > Fender M-80. (You probably don't care, but check out the review for the Essex I posted, it's a great LP Copy for only $199!) Anyway, through this setup it's pretty good, but I haven't heard it through any others. The distortions and modela are superb; I've got a great Blackface setting useing the Pickup simulator, and I sound pretty darn close to SRV himself, with an LP no less! And with Amp Channel switching, I can switch over to a Tweed model and get that extra overdrive push, all in the same patch. The Stack setting is great for anything from blues to moderate metal, and the Rectifier setting is drenched in distortion, great for most Nu-Metal lovers. I haven't found a use for any of the other models (Boutiqe, Crunch, etc.) that much yet. I find the Acoustic Model rather boring and quiet though, not very pleasing. The effects are great though, none really that bad exept maybe the Wah-Wah....I just don't like it. Feels too digital. All in all though, besides a few minor set backs, I can play an eclectic choice of music through this processer.

I don't gig; hasn't broken yet.

Never had to use Customer Support.

Overall I love it. If it were stolen, I'd cry and probably look around for something a little more. It's not perfect, but it's close enough to perfect for the price I think. Very good stuff. Look around some before you pick this, but I think if you do pick this, you won't be dissapointed.

Sounds great right out of the box, takes a while to get used to editing your own effects, once you get the basics down, it's no problem though.

Sounds great to me, aside from some of the really cheesy stuff like the ya-ya. I'm playing a Fender Tornado, through a 60 watt, all tube, Fender Blues DeVille, with 4 10" celestion speakers. I run my guitar straight into the amp, and then plug the pedal into the effects loop, I like the sounds I get this way better, and I get a little more sound control. The amp sounds great clean alone, but the distortions sucks, the RP-300 adds a good distorition element, the chorus effects are nice to. Overall, this pedal is a major step up from the RP-3, which I had been using.

I would gig without a backup and not think twice about it. It's metal, its rugged, and I haven't noticed any noises from my pedal like other people have noted.

Never had to deal with them.

I play anything from Country to Grunge, Hendrix to the Beatles and Counting Crows to Live, so I need a pretty broad range of sounds. This pedal allows that, with relative ease as well. I love the Amp A/B switch, it's great for adding dynamics to your songs, the Wah sounds good to me too. If it were stolen I'd get another ASAP, overall a great pedal if you need a lot of sounds, and the flexibility to create your own.

Extremely easy to set up and adjust even without using the manual (which is pretty good as well). One problem; no on/off switch. You have to unplug it after every use. Factory patches are a good start, but are heavy on effects. A few minutes of adjusting can bring out some great tones.

I'm a new player with an Ibanez GRX-40 (S-S-H) and and Ibanez IBZ10 amp (10W, 6" speaker). I wasn't even shopping for effects when I tried this, but was impressed with the flexibility of this unit and considering the price, purchased it. I've had it for a month now and it seems to get better every time I use it. With a little tweaking, you can get close to practically any sound you need. I originally was impressed with the heavy distortion it is able to create, but lately have found the Fender Blackface and Tweed "clean" amp models to be my favorites. The effects range from good (chorus and flanger) to cheesey (ya-ya), and I do wish that it would allow for the use of more than one at a time (say, a chorus and rotary speaker). Reverb is also very good, but the noise gate seems to chop off abruptly. The rythm trainer is a terrific feature for anyone playing at home, even though the drums have that 80's synth-drum sound to them.

The unit seems well made, though I have experienced a disturbing sound from the pedle (which I hope a little wd-40 will cure). I only use it at home, so I can't comment on how it would handle life in the real world....

Haven't needed it yet.

I play anything from Beatles to Guns n' Roses (the original ,with Slash of course!) and this unit is flexible enough to give me tone close to the originals. Obviously, it will never truly sound like the real thing, but it still has a great sound all its own. It has managed to make my little practice amp sound much better than it has a right to, and has given it a little more time before I need to replace it.

I had considered the Korg units as well, but went with Digitech based on a recommendation as well as its metal chassis and simple interface. Also, the amp channel switching and v-switch features were worth the upgrade from the RP200. If it were stolen, I would probably stay with Digitech and purchase the same or an upgrade (maybe from the GNX line).

Overall, considering the price, it's a great addition that makes me actually look forward to practicing.

This is my 2nd review. I've had mine since March 2001 and I gig with it regularity. Having said that, here's my impressions. It's easy to get a good sound. If you spend some time with tweaking it, you can get a great sound. The matrix is easy to figure out. No problems there. One critique. DigiTech, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THOSE BLASTED FOOTPEDALS. Most guitar players feet are bigger than size 5 shoe. I have to carefully flase the tip of my shor on the edge of the footpedal so I don't accadentally press another pedal.

It sounds excellent. I like the delays, I even like the wah wah, even though others have complained. The Wah's sound great to me. The amp modelling is really good. The Fender model (blackface) sounds really warm. It's sweet. The rectifier doesn't exactly sound like the Mesa, but it sounds good. One hint, use your EQ, especially the sweepable mids. You'll be able to dial in some very satisfying tones. There's lots of stuff to shape your tone, if you actually use what's provided you, you'll get some very satisfying sounds. It sounds very good. All the usual effects sound from very good to great, I'm not going to itemize them, I have no problems. I tend to be very fond of the unit's tremolo. It sounds very good used along with the blackface model. Very warm! For you gain maniacs, using the rectifier model with massive gain and scooped EQ, I get just about NO noise. The noise gate is very good! Highly recommended! I have a Peqavey Ultra amp. That amp has great tone, but it's too noisy. I've been able to get a fairly close model of the Ultra from the RP-300, but without all the noise!

I gig with the RP-300 regularly. I have no problems, but I treat my gear well. One word of advise, use duct tape to tape down your power chord as well as the guitar cable. You could accadentally kick out any one of these cables.

Never called them.

Considering the price, this unit is a winner, and it sounds as good as units $150.00 more to boot! One note, the tuner is worthless. It's not stable at all! I have an Arion stage tuner that works well for me. Here's another thought, it has the same DSP as the GeNXT line, just without the other bells and whistles. The quality of sound is the same. I've played the GeNXT1. Generally, not considering the warp feature, they sound the same. But considering a tuner that is worthless, and footpedals that are too close together, this unit is still a winner. It's pluses far outweigh it's minuses!