Digitech Review: RP100

History:

Purchase: Bought this unit at Guitar Center in 2001 for $99.00 US.

What I Like About This Digitech RP100: On first read, this can be a great little multieffects unit for both beginners and heads to dink around with. Its got a stack of effects, some great and some not so great but for the beginner, it is an inexpensive way to learn how to shape a guitar sound that is all your own and become acquainted with using effects chains. One thing critics of this box need to understand is that this is an ampmodeler with other effects - not a ditstortion modeler. This means that whatever gain/overdrive characteristics you hear from any of the factory sets are based off of how the amp models are being "driven" via the gain setting. If you use distortion boxes before your RP100, you may want to think of the RP100 as your amp and so select an amp to use (amp modeler) and adjust the gain as if you were running a distortion before the amp. This also means that any amp modeling you use may be "colored", even negatively, by plugging your output into another amp. It would be like running a mic'd signal from one amp and running that into another. Could be messy, or could sound glorious. In this way, the RP100 is great for recording and playing live if you do directly into PA mains/monitors. If you like using an amp, I suggest turning the amp modeler off first and using the effects stack into your amp and see how that works.

What I Do NOT Like About The Digitech RP100: For $100.00 dollars there is nothing to really complain about. I do wish the process of switching between patches would be momentary with on delay - then I could really use it like a footswitch on an amp. As is, when you switch mid-song, there is a noticeable delay and moment of silence between switches. In this way, this it truly NOT a stompbox.

Digitech RP100 Quality Rating: The construction is great. The plastic footswitches might seem suspect but I am rough on stuff and they are holding up fine. The knobs/pots are ok. After over 1.5 years, some of my knobs are a bit scratchy when turning but not after they are set. Since I don't adjust the knobs mid-song it really doesn't matter to me.

Review Summary: Great investment for beginners and live gigging for direct to PA setups.

Rating of this Digitech product: 4

This Digitech RP100 Guitar Effects Review Submitted By: Mike Chung

Review Date: 2003-10-20