Reviewed: DigiTech RP2000
Guitar Effects System
By Brett Ratner
January 14, 2000
Introduction
The Digitech RP2000 finally
offers guitarists a truly great sounding, programmable multi-effects unit. But can
it replace the trusty stompbox? That depends on the type of player you are.
Many of us were originally drawn to these brightly-lit multi-effects boxes in
the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. We came to know them for a dizzying array of
effects, but also lackluster tones. Particularly uninspiring were the
overdrives and distortions. We also found them difficult to program for live
performances, due to massive jumps in output level between presets.
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So the old multi-effect processors
found their respective ways into pawnshops or closets in favor of a few stomp
boxes. Stomp boxes were cheaper, more flexible for live playing, sounded
better, and were much easier to use. Many of us never looked back. In the
process, Ibanez TS-9's flew off the shelves while a small boutique analog pedal
market flourished. Still, the engineers at companies like Zoom, Boss/Roland,
Line 6 and Digitech/DOD pressed on. They experimented with tubes (with various
degrees of success) and eventually settled on a technology called “digital
modeling.” In layman's term, this means simulating the effects of the circuitry
found in classic amplifiers or pedals or guitar pickups or whatever, and using
a digital processor to recreate those effects.
So here we are upon the new
year, and the aptly named Digitech RP2000 clearly demonstrates that
multi-effect guitar processors have come a long way since the Quadraverb GTs,
the Yamaha FX500s, and even the early Digitech RP-series pedals of the last
century.As far as the RP2000’s modeling is concerned, if you close your eyes
and pretend you are not listening to a digital model of a Mesa Boogie or Vox
AC/30 or hot-rodded Marshall, all you hear is solid, warm, gig and
studio-worthy guitar tone. It also “feels” right. In other words, the RP2000
requires the same amount of physical effort to make a note sing as would on a
Fender Deluxe Reverb set at its “sweet spot” (on mine, around 2.5).
So before this review
delves into features and programming and applications, it must be said the
RP2000 sounds as good through my amps as my pedals sound. In fact, it sounds
smoother, more refined and less harsh on the ears (unless you want it to sound
harsh). If it didn’t sound good, it would be pointless to continue this review.
In a Nutshell
The Digitech RP2000 is a
floormount, multi-effects preamp unit intended solely for guitar. It is
designed to either drive a pair of headphones, send a cabinet-emulated signal
into a mixing console, or even output a pure digital signal via a “S/PDIF” output.
Non-emulated tones can be sent to the front of your combo guitar amplifier(s).
However, the RP2000 is technically a preamp. The front of your combo amp is
also a preamp. Driving a preamp with a preamp is a recipe for noise and
microphonic feedback. Ideally, the unit should output directly into a stereo
power amp or into a the effects returns on a pair of combo amps.
My amps are both vintage,
however, and neither has an effects loop. I therefore turned the RP2000 to a
low output setting, approximating the loudness of my naked guitar signal. So
far, I have had no problems with noise or feedback. Also of note, if you only
have one amp, the RP2000 can be set globally to “Mono” operation. The only
configuration I couldn’t find as a possibility was, for example, to send the
right-side, non-emulated signal to a guitar amp and the left side
cabinet-emulated signal to the mixing console. As far as I could tell, either
the cabinet emulation is all “on” or all “off.” But since a DI box would be
necessary anyway, a Hughes and Kettner “Red Box” would easily allow this
configuration for live playing.
One beef: The RP2000 is
obviously a flexible unit, but it would be more flexible if it featured
emulated XLR outputs for direct signal and separate non-emulated 1/4” “line level”
outputs for driving power amps. If there was room, it would be extra special
cool if a second set of 1/4” “instrument level” outputs could be provided for
driving the front of a pair of combo amps. Most users, I feel, own combo amps
or half stacks and would find these features useful.
Effects
The RP2000 features the
requisite array of stereo choruses, flanges, reverbs, delays and such. It would
be a waste of internet ink to expound on these features other to say they sound
nice and warm and natural... particularly the reverb. Instead, this review will
focus on the RP200’s less common effects, which you'll have a chance to hear
for yourself on the next page
One unusual effect is the
“Talker.” The effect allows you to plug a microphone into the RP2000 and talk
into it while you play. You are offered 4 choices of tonal parameters (from
bright to deep). Essentially, this is an accurate imitation of the Peter
Frampton-style talk box.
For live use, there is a
microphone output, so when the Talker is off, you can sing through the mic
through the P.A. like normal. When the Talker is on, the output is muted. I
initially had a difficult time using the Talker because my instinct was to sing
the note I was playing. This ruins the talking effect. The trick is to say
sentences in time with your licks. The lower notes on the guitar neck seem to
sound better than higher notes. Chords sound especially cool with this effect.
Also of note, if you stop talking, there’s no sound. This is unlike a talk box
since guitar signal will come out of the rubber tube regardless if you are
forming vowels or not. Once a good “Talker” technique is worked up, I feel a
player could get some serious mileage out of the talker effect live and in the
studio (check out the sound clips at the end of this review).
A player could also get
much mileage out of the pitch-shifting capabilities of the unit. For starters,
the “dumb” pitch shifting enables you to set a harmony note two octaves above
or below the actual note, or anywhere in between. Depending on the scale you’re
playing, non-octave intervals will likely be sympathetic to the key for most of
the time. Other times, they will be dissonant, but usually in an interesting
way. Steve Vai loved to use 4ths in this way, if memory serves.
For further pitch-shifting
capabilities, the RP2000’s “expression pedal” can be used for Digitech’s
signature “Whammy” effects. The popular effect can bend your note as much as
two octaves up or SIX?!! octaves below. I’d imagine the latter is bad for your
speakers. Most players will probably choose to set the Whammy action to shorter
intervals. You can also reverse the pedal action for weird sounds. I
particularly enjoyed the “Harmony Bends” setting, which blends the dry note
with the Whammy note (again, check the clips).
The smart harmony
capabilities are also useful, especially for players who like to use “EBows” or
play sustaining, melodic leads. The harmony parameters let you adjust the
interval of the harmony note, the scale and the key. Oddly, it won’t let you
set two harmony notes, like my Boss Harmonist pedal does. Scales available
ranged from major to minor to blues to all the modes to the wholetone scale. I
had the most luck sticking to the minor and major pentatonic settings and
adjusting the interval either a third above or a 4th below. But then again. I’m
harmonically challenged. The final signature effect featured on the RP2000 is
the “Yah Yah” and “Auto Yah.” Essentially, this is a combination of Wah and
Flanger, producing what Digitech accurately describes as a “vocal effect.” Yah
Yah utilizes the expression pedal in the same manner as the Wah Wah would. The
Auto Yah allows you to set the speed of the Yah cycle, like an envelop filter
would. Ideally, Auto Yah should be set in time with the music you play (once
again check those article ending clips).
The first modeling feature
of the RP2000 is the pickup simulator. This enables you to imitate a single
coil with your humbucker or vice versa. The feature certainly beefed up my Strat
and made my Paul twang. The funny thing is the “HB>SC” (humbucker into
single coil) setting added hiss (one single coil trait I could do without).
Overall, the pickup simulator is a fairly accurate reproduction, but wouldn’t
eradicate the need for owning both a Strat and a Paul. I personally would
choose to use two guitars in the studio, but this could work well for live
players hoping to keep their rig to a minimum. I think the feature works best
for Strat players suffering from a thin, tinny sound on stage.
Moving on to the amplifier
models, it’s crucial to note the RP2000 doesn’t have distortion or overdrive,
per se. If you want dirt, you need to choose a model. To get dirt, choose from
among emulations of amps like blackface and tweed Fenders, Mesa Boogie and Dual
Rectifiers, Vox and Matchless-type “class A” amps, and of course a Marshall
JCM900. Once you pick a model, you can adjust the distortion level accordingly.
Some models offer tons of saturation, others only offer a hint of edge.
If you want clean, however,
set the model to clean. Even through I played the RP2000 through real vintage
clean amps, the clean models livened up the tone considerably when compared to
the bypassed sound. Other convincing emulations include a flat top acoustic
guitar and piezo acoustic guitar. These would be really nice for people who are
tired of dealing with squealing, out-of-tune acoustics at the gig. But for the
studio, bring a real acoustic guitar.
If you want no model at
all, choose “Direct.” The problem here is you don’t get any dirt. My favorite
model for my Les Paul was “HIGAIN,” which (like it is described in the manual)
is a smooth singing lead tone. Interestingly, this model isn’t necessarily
“modeled” after anything at all. (Hmmm... maybe some product manager at
Digitech was getting a killer tone out of his Peavey Bandit so they modeled
it.)
My favorite model for my
Strat was the “Mesa Boogie Mark II” recreation. For crunch, I liked the
Blackface Fender model set at maximum gain.
Now you’ll notice at the beginning
of the review, I mention these are good solid guitar tones. They are usable
tones in studio applications. They sound great at bedroom levels and at club
gigs (I tried mine at a gig). They sound just as good or better than my pedals
(including my TS9, which I swear by). However, I own a Matchless amp. I own a
blackface Fender. I have had the pleasure of cranking them up until the power
amps saturate. These models DO NOT sound exactly the same. The RP2000 tones
sound more like a nice recording of the real thing. They are slightly
processed, more refined but with fewer textures to the sound... but they do
sound good. Also in their favor, they have a beefier bottom end and a
smoothed-out high end, making them very easy on the ears, especially on stage.
They also cut through a mix nicely.
Also in favor of the
RP2000, it’s difficult to crank my Matchless in a studio and capture that
massive sound on tape. With the Digitech, it’s plug direct into the board and
play. Speaking of direct recording, the RP2000 offers a variety of speaker
cabinet simulation models... more on those later.
Programming
My old Quadraverb GT is
still the reigning champ in the “easy to program” category. But this one ain’t
bad. Helping the cause is a thorough and helpful manual which can be read in
one sitting. Especially useful is the tutorial, which walks you through the
creation of a user preset. I suggest reading the manual upon purchase. If not,
at least try the tutorial. It will save you time in the long run. If that isn’t
helpful enough, a quick call to Digitech’s customer service line will yield a
staff of patient and friendly people. I put at least three calls in and all my
questions were promptly answered.
For starters, the RP2000
contains two sets of 64 presets, totaling 128 presets arranged in banks of
four. From the factory, these start as two duplicate sets of factory presets.
The first set of 64 (marked by a green light near the data wheel) are
reprogramable into user presets. The second set (marked by a red light) can only
be factory presets. The factory presets can be changed in real time, but the
changes cannot be saved. They can, however, be easily moved and saved as one of
the 64 user presets. To start programming, you hit the “Edit” switch to enter
program mode. Parameters are grouped in one of nine groups; “Pickup,”
“Compression,” “Wah/Pitch,” “Amp Model/Cabinet,” “EQ,” “Talker/Noise Gate,”
“Effects,” “Delay,” “Reverb/Preset Level.” To access these groups, you can
rotate the data wheel to scroll through each parameter or hit the button which
corresponds to the specific group you want to modify. Once the desired
parameter is selected, you adjust it using the data wheel. You then hit the
parameter button again and you move on to the next parameter.
For example, to add Crybaby-style
wah wah to a user preset, hit “Edit,” then hit “Wah/Pitch.” You then rotate the
data wheel so the screen changes from “bypass” to “on.” You then hit
“Wah/Pitch” again and rotate the data wheel, scrolling past “Harmony,”
“Whammy,” “Detune,” “Pitch” and “Fullwah,” finally reaching “Crywah.” You hit
“Wah/Pitch” again and rotate the data wheel, selecting either “Pre” or “Post”
(before or after the amp model). You can then hit “Save,” at which point you
can rename the user preset (using the data wheel in conjunction with the
“Effects Mode” and “Rhythm” switches). You can also use the data wheel to move
the user preset to another location. Or you can just keep hitting “Store” to
save the changes at the same spot with the same name.
The task just described is
easier than it reads, but all the steps become a tad tedious by the fourth or
fifth parameter change. For many parameter changes, a lot of the challenge is
figuring out what the screen’s abbreviations mean. To assign the expression
pedal or “control pedal” to various functions (like real time volume, effects
level or model changes), hit “Assign” and use the data wheel to scroll through
the available assignments and parameters... more on the expression and control
pedals later.
Practice Applications
The RP2000 has three
features designed as practice tools. The first is the “Jam Along” feature. To
use this, simply plug the output of your CD or tape player into the 1/8” stereo
input provided on the RP2000. Adjust the CD or tape player’s output level. The
tape or CD will then be heard through your amp or your headphones. Adjust the
guitar level accordingly and play.
If a certain passage you
are trying to learn is challenging, use the “Learn-A Lick” mode. In this
setting, the various footswitches now control your basic functions like record,
stop, play, rewind, etc.. Recording up to ten seconds from your CD or tape
player, the passage is stored in the unit as a sample, allowing you to play the
passage as many times as you like. The difference is you can play the passage
at full, 7/8, 3/4, 5/8, 1/2 and 1/4 speed without any change in pitch. To exit
Learn-A-Lick, hit “Exit” or the “Control” and “Bank switches again. The
Learn-A-Lick function is pretty easy to do on the fly and makes learning your
favorite Limp Bizkit riff much easier.
The final practice-friendly
feature is the “Rhythm” mode. This is simply a built-in drum machine with a
selection of common rock, blues, pop, swing, jazz etc. beats which you probably
wouldn’t want to record with, but are just fine for practicing. The users
manual quite humorously states the rhythm mode is a “...great tool for
improving your timing, rehearsing different musical styles, or just jamming
when your drummer is out delivering pizzas.” Incidentally, if you want to use the
rhythm mode as a loop during live performance, you can assign the “Control”
pedal to activate a specific rhythm as part of a specified user preset
Stage Application
There are so many different
different ways to configure the RP2000 for live use, I quickly got a headache
trying to figure them all out. Many of those options are offered by the “FX”
mode. This mode mimics using stomp box pedals. To use this mode, select a
factory preset or user preset and hit “FX MODE.” The first footpedal turns on
and off the compressor... this is self explanatory. The second pedal switches
between amp “channels.” Each preset has two “channels” available; red and
green. You could program one to be your lead tone while using the other for
crunch or clean. The third switch turns the preset’s effects on and off... self
explanatory. The fourth switch turns the delay on and off... ditto.
The “Control” footswitch
could be used for any variety of functions. For example, it could toggle
between two gain levels on one of your “channels,” allowing for clean, crunch
and lead in a single user preset. It could also toggle between two delay times
or two flanger speeds. The control switch can also be set to “momentary” (on
only when depressed) or “toggle” (remains switched until pressed a second
time). The expression pedal can also be assigned to any variety of functions.
The most obvious use is for Wah and Whammy effects. But it could also control
parameters such as gain level. In such a case, you would adjust the pedal’s
“maximum” and “minimum” settings to correspond with the desired max and minimum
gain levels. Something which makes the RP2000’s expression pedal unique is a
“V-Switch.” This enables you to use the expression pedal itself to turn on and
off its assigned effect much like the switch on your Crybaby Wah. The
sensitivity can be adjusted depending on how hard you want to push. This is a
great feature.
Initially, the FX mode is a
very cool thing. Playing my Strat at a band practice, I scrolled to “ERIC J”
and set the machine to “FX mode.” I had all the tones I needed to get me
through a rehearsal... right out of the box with absolutely NO programming.
Once a player becomes more comfortable with programming the RP2000, he or she
will likely recognize the advantages over arranging favorite user presets in
banks of four. This corresponds to the four numbered footswitches. For example,
a logical grouping could be lead, crunch, clean and then maybe lead with a
weird effect (such as an octave or long delay). If there’s a particular effect
or two you want in several user presets (such as wah or Whammy), assign the
expression pedal and/or control pedal to turn on and off the effect(s).
Otherwise, the expression pedal can control parameters like volume. Hit the
“Bank/Preset” footswitch to move to the next bank of four. The RP2000 also
allows you to name each bank of four.
Finally, a parameter
allowing the control of user preset volume level allows the player to eliminate
unwanted jumps in volume between user presets. Other stage friendly features
include “Tuner” and “Bypass” modes. Simultaneously depressing the first two
footswitches mutes the unit and turns on the tuner. The tuner tracks well and
is great for silent tuning on stage or in the studio. If you need to compare
your sound with the straight guitar tone, hit pedals three and four at the same
time and the unit will bypass. This is useful while programming or adjusting
your amplifier’s tone controls
Studio Applications
Many of the same features
which make the RP2000 useful on stage will be of use in the studio. The
difference is the user might want to output direct into the mixing console. In
such a case, the user will likely use the “Cabinet Modeling” feature. The
cabinet modeling parameters are in the same bank of parameters as amp model parameters.
Oddly, the choices aren’t things like “open back 2x12” or “closed back 4x12.”
Instead they are “Dark,” “Warm” and “Bright.” You can also choose between 10
virtual “mic placements” ranging from the center of the virtual cone to the
edge of the cone.
A cabinet model can be
programmed into an individual user preset. However, a particularly studio
friendly feature is the ability to globally assign a cabinet model to all user
presets and factory presets. The direct signal is good for recording (as you
can judge by the sound samples). However, I believe the RP2000 sounds best when
used in conjunction with a tube amp.
Final Thoughts
The first RP2000 unit sent
for me to review was a prototype. After talking to "Digi-tech" on the
phone, it was also suspected of having an early version of software. This
allegedly caused some features to malfunction. For example, I could not get the
V-Switch to work properly. I was also having a difficult time configuring the
expression pedal to control distortion levels in a usable manner. Worse yet, it
was making some scary crackling noises, forgetting stuff I stored and
eventually it just froze up and died on me. They immediately sent me a
different unit, which has worked flawlessly. I feel confident the units which
hit the stores will work flawlessly as well.
Also of note, there are
tons of MIDI-related functions this review did not address. For starters, I do
not have equipment with which to interface the RP2000 and I would bet very few
of you do either. Unless you owned a fully automated studio or wanted your
roadie to change your presets from offstage while you perform on the MTV Music
Awards, I’d say these are features few, if any of us are likely to ever use. If
we did need to use them, though, they seem just as easy to program as any other
effect parameter. But I do believe I have a strong idea how the RP2000 sounds
and how easy it is to use... so here are my final thoughts.
Like most guitar-related
products designed for massive flexibility, the RP2000 offered me a handful of
sounds and features I really liked and tons of other stuff I’d maybe use every
now and then in a studio. To get to the few sounds and features I really liked
and make them work the way I want them to on stage, there was a lot of
scrolling and a bit of a learning curve involved.It wasn’t an insurmountable
learning curve, but it did take a good look at the manual plus a few hours of
knob twirling. Often, the act of exploring an option would present four more
options to explore, and those would lead to eight more and so on... eventually
leading to an entire weekend of knob twirling. For me, it comes down to
personal preference. For example, I don’t care for knob twirling. I don’t care
for scrolling through 11 parameters to get to the one I want to change. I don’t
want to scroll past every possible vintage and modern amp in history when I
only use two or three of them.
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Still, I have to commend
DigiTech on the massive amount of engineering and creativity required to pack this
many features in one box and make it accessible to a moderately
technical-minded player such as myself... and to make it sound so good. So for
my recommendation, I’d have to say the RP2000 would be a MUST HAVE!!! purchase
for a portion of the guitar playing community and a frivolous purchase for the
other ... let me explain.
One cross section of
players (which includes myself), will probably find that it takes too much
cranial energy to explore the RP2000. Eventually, you spend so much time
messing with buttons and knobs, your playing suffers. I’d rather be limited by
my equipment so I’m forced to invent new ways to make new sounds using my
fingers and my guitar. Conversely, guitarists with a huge appetite for sounds
could find the boundless possibilities provided in the RP2000 will set their
playing free. If you’re of the proper mindset, you could create some truly
beautiful or sickening effects with this thing. With its MSRP of $449.95, I'd
say it's a pretty good deal too. Regardless of what type of player you are, all
will agree this digital modeling stuff sounds pretty good.