DigiTech Review: RP50 Guitar Processor

History:

Purchase: I bought this unit (actually, two of them) online from Musician's Friend as soon as they came out. They were $69.99 each, and we added a bass amp and stand to get the free shipping, which made it even better. Since I'm a tone freak and have actually been looking at tube amps, this gets the job done for 1/10 the price, and adds the other features too.

What I Like About This DigiTech RP50 Guitar Processor: It's all about the features and the sounds. In addition to the usual Delays and Reverbs, it has better sounds than my Zoom 505 due to the Amp Modeling - which actually does work. Nice Brit Stack, Combo, Tube -clean, crunch, and hi-gain, Fender Blackface, Tweed, everything. It even has that tube-like crunch on chords. If I didn't know better, I would think I was playing a vintage Fender Twin tube amp from the 70s. One feature that is a huge improvement, the EQ has a separate Bass, Mid and Treble setting, just like an amp. It also has a Pickup Modeling feature, which goes from Single to Humbucking Mode and Humbucking to Single Mode. This is a cool feature, and you can use it even if you already have Hummers or Singles, for a butter-smooth variation. I've been playing a Cort with stock bottom-line EMG S-S-H pickups, normally a plain-vanilla sound, through a Peavey practice amp. With this unit the sound is thrilling - killer clean and dirty Hendrix/SRV sounds. I even programmed some clean, almost clean, and reverb/tremelo surf sounds (think James Bond-007). I could never get these straight from the clean channel, but they are very usable here. Also great for playing slide. It also has a built in drum machine so you don't need a metronome anymore - or you can play up to 30 different rhythms for song practice. Suddenly playing Surf tunes is fun, and you can play progressions and jam like with a band. The Chromatic Tuner - which I rely on - is easily the best I have used.

What I Do NOT Like About The DigiTech RP50 Guitar Processor: The plastic enclosure looks pretty fragile. I would be afraid to drop it from waist high, or have something heavy fall on it.

DigiTech RP50 Guitar Processor Quality Rating: As stated, the plastic housing may not be very sturdy, but the switches, pedals, and read-outs are first rate, not cheap at all. One other thing the unit is very compact, which I like. It's not much bigger than a stompbox, but does the work of about 10 of them. I use a Wal-wart adaptor - no special one required.

Review Summary: This is a great processor. You could play a gig with one guitar and amp and get any sound. The second unit was for a friend that is learning to play. I talked him into getting the unit to spice up his practice rig. He read the manual and found the unit very easy to use, and now won't play without it. He keeps bragging about the sound and features, and what a great deal it was.

Rating of this DigiTech product: 5

This DigiTech RP50 Guitar Processor Guitar Effects Review Submitted By: copperhead

Review Date: 2002-11-28