DigiTech RP1000 – The most detailed review ever, and tips on how to get the best out of the beast

by Daniel Thorpe on July 10, 2013

The DigiTech RP1000 is the company`s flagship multi effects processor and has been a huge success with good reason. It’s no surprise why it’s still their number one effects processor. It is my effects processor of choice, and alongside my Marshall 8100 amp, the core of my sound. It may of been around for a couple of years but it`s still selling in big numbers and you can see why as it`s a huge step up from the still superb DigiTech RP500. It`s simply one of the best multi effects pedals around and after a two and a half years of using it extensively, I’ve created what is probably the most in depth review ever.

Ease of Use

Just like the RP500, the newer and slicker RP1000 is very simple to use and navigate. Compared to the old Boss units or some Line 6 pedalboards I’ve tried, it’s an absolute walk in the park. There`s 10 footswitches, and you can play in `Preset` mode or `Pedalboard` mode where the top 5 footswitches turn effects on and off and the bottom 5 change presets.

This is pretty awesome and turns the unit into a very flexible beast. It has a nice, bright display and it has an easy to follow manual. Thankfully, you can get it out of the box, quickly turn the dials and get a solid amp tone without having to be Bill Gates to programme it. Programming is easy, just don`t stick with the factory presets, they sound rubbish in a band situation. The factory presets sound great in shops as they have no mids (which usually sounds quite cool) but when in a band situation you will not be heard. So, before we go any further, when you are creating patches, remember to be generous with your mids!

Build

It’s a solid pedal board, it’s almost like it was made from the same genes as Arnold Schwarzenegger. All the parts except the plastic dials are either solid metal, or very durable plastic. It would of made the unit feel that little bit more durable if those plastic dials were made from metal, but I’ve never had a problem with them so can`t complain too much and the RP is definitely more durable than a lot of other guitar pedals out there.

I have actually dropped mine a few times, (yes, after a few too many beverages after a gig), but never had a problem with the RP itself. The only problems I have had is with the power supply. Twice, I’ve had to have it replaced, but having a 3 year warranty with Thomann has been handy.

Sounds

Amp tones

As is always the case with every multi effects processor in my experience, the amp tones, and modelling ability varies hugely. They are always a mixed bag and you have to work hard to get ‘your sound’ whereas if you use the real amp you can dial it up and get it quickly.

One of my biggest pet peeves about the RP modellers is that if you take the original amp and put it alongside the modelled version, the tones are very similar, and very impressive, but and it’s a very frustrating, but, is that the RP lacks a lot of the flexibility of the original and adds a slightly unnatural EQ harshness. This is possible to EQ out though.

For example, I love Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifiers, so when I got this, I quickly turned the dial and put the dual Rectifier setting on and was initially impressed, but then a bit frustrated. The problem was that a dual rectifier does much more than the big modern high gain sound that a lot of people associate with it. It can do, crunch, cleans up well, and gives a ballsy, tone, not just huge gain. The RP version unfortunately doesn’t though. No matter where you dial the bass, mid and treble it still sounds huge and pretty scooped. The gain goes from super high gain, and if you drop it right down, goes to low gain crunch. What is really annoying is that it sounds fantastic; it just lacks the flexibility of the real thing.

With the dual Rectifier model, you hardly get any mids, so when playing in a band situation, you get lost in the mix very quickly. Even when the mids are turned up to ten! I know a real Dual Rectifier doesn’t sound like that. When I had it set like this, I think I neatly melted our bass player’s ears off at practice, as I had to turn up so loud to be heard.

One way to get round this is to use the built in EQ if you don’t have your own EQ pedal. Set the mid band to roughly 2000 Hz, and increase the boost to about 2 or 3. This makes a significant difference and thankfully solves the problem of not being heard.

You may find in the other amp settings you have a slightly different issue, such as the Marshall JCM900, (which is another one of my favourites) and is known for it’s more mid based sound. So, for this one I had to cut out a touch of the EQ as there was a slight grating frequency not heard on the original.

So, you see what I’m saying, most of the amp models are heavily based on and similar to the real version of the amp they are replicating, but only the most well known, stereotypical `sound` the real amp produces, whereas the real amps are often far more varied and subtle. That to me is the biggest difference between the RP and real amps. It’s definitely not a deal breaker, as you have a LOT of choices, it just means you have to tweak and try a lot of the amp models out and that does take time.

Play about with lots of different amp models and see which you like best. Listen out for the differences. I mean, really try and listen. Having access to all these different tones will really help your ear improve if you listen intently to what is happening to the tone. Check out this post for more on improving your aural skills.

The top three amp models I love the most are the Dual Rectifier, JCM900 and Peavey 5150. This is definitely due to my own taste, as I love that thick, powerful, tight modern sound that a lot of the bands I love go for. There are some fantastic classic amp models available too such as the Marshall Master Volume, (my personal favourite `classic` amp), Marshall Jump Panel, and Orange OR120.

It is possible to find what you’re after on here without doubt and when you do, it’s good enough to use live. If you want to just use the RP1000 for its effects and flexibility, but use your amps tone, this is where the trusty 4 cable method comes in.

`4 Cable Method`

The 4 cable method allows you to fully integrate the DigiTech RP1000 into your current setup and this is where it truly shines. As a guitarist, you no doubt have your own favourite amp and stompboxes. Well now you can keep them and work in the RP1000. It’s a simple case of plugging your guitar into the pedal, and plugging 3 cables (as opposed to one) from the RP1000 to the amp.

Now, this allows you to use your amp`s tone, switch from clean to drive on your amps footswitch as usual, use the effects from the RP1000, turn your own stompboxes on and off, and switch between your amps tone, and the modelled amps. This is mightily impressive. The only thing you can’t do is use the RP to switch your own amp`s channels.

For you, that may not be a problem. In my case, I use a Marshall 8100, which has a stunning drive channel, but an ordinary clean tone. I therefore, use the RP1000`s clean, and my own Marshall 8100`s drive, using the RP1000 to control the switching of tones. That’s really impressive and allows for a huge sonic pallet of tones when live or in the studio.

My single biggest annoyance of the pedal is that there is a latency (a short pause) when switching between different patches. This is hugely annoying and it means live I’ve had to restrict my sounds. It’s only a slight lag but imagine when you`re playing live and the song is transitioning from a clean verse to a distorted chorus, you want that transition to go as smoothly and nicely as possible, not have a slight dip in sound. Yuck. No thanks.

I read a couple of reviews for this and can’t believe no else mentioned it. The reason for it is apparently DigiTech designed the RP1000 to have only one processor, so it can’t deal with information fast enough when changing patches. I have been hoping for this problem to be solved or improved upon on system updates for the machine, but no luck so far. If you only use one patch per song, then it’s not a problem, but if you use a few and have patch changes in awkward places, be prepared to hit the pedal just before the change transition in the song. It works, but is hugely annoying having to hit the pedal half a beat early. The 4 cable method allows you to switch without the lag, as you can switch the channel on your own amp with no delay at all.

If you’re not using the 4 cable method, you have to use your imagination get round the problem of switching between a clean and dirty tone. I found a solution which works pretty well, but isn’t perfect, and that is to use the RP1000 in pedalboard mode (which is far better than preset mode in my opinion) and use one of the top rows as a volume booster and cutter. Edit your patch so that one of the top row`s on/off buttons is set to `volume pre` by using the down arrow to edit the `expression` part of the patch. (I usually use number 6 which is the on/off switch for the compressor). Edit the parameters of the volume pre so that the volume is at zero or 1 when the number 6 switch is off and 100 when the stitch is on.

This will cut your signal so it sounds clean when off and boost it up to normal when on. The trick here is to set up your distorted tone first and use the volume pre on/off to cut it to a clean tone. A lot of guitarists do this with an external volume pedal especially when they only have a two channel amp and want to get a third tone from it. The volume pedal effectively cuts your guitar signal going into the amp, allowing for that clean one. It works great with the RP1000 and allows you get a variety of tones without that awful bit of latency.

Recommended (High Gain)

Modern amps

’01 Mesa Boogie® Dual Rectifier

`93 Marshall® JCM900

99 Peavey® 5150® II

Classic amps

74 Orange™ OR 120

’68 Marshall® Jump Panel

’77 Marshall® Master Volume

Recommended (Clean)

’65 Fender® Blackface Deluxe Reverb®

’60 Gibson® GA-40

DigiTech® GSP2101 Artist Clean Tube

Cabinets

The cabinets on offer are pretty good too, although I never really `feel` an amp simulator. If you are playing the RP1000 through an amp you`re not really a big fan of, you may be tempted to put an amp simulator on. To me, it sounds better with it turned off, and only used if you are not playing it through an actual amp such as a PA system or Audio interface. When in need though, some sound much better than others. Try the Marshall `69 and Johnson Vintage 30`s for classic tones and the Mesa Boogie `07 for big rounded modern gain sounds. I must give a shout out too to the `96 VHT. They sound incredible and give that blend of modern and classic tones. Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle and Ashes Divide used to use a VHT can and he has one of the best tones live and in the studio I have ever heard.

I`ve always found getting a clean tone I enjoy a lot easier than medium to high gain tones. As long as it is a warm, glassy sounding amp with the right settings to suit the guitar and pickup I`m using, it usually takes care of itself. That being said, the Fender Twin Reverb and Gibson GA-40 add a nice layer of warmth to my tone which I adore.

Recommended (high gain)

Most of the amps are matched to their respective cabs, so try them first. Or try these.

GREN4X12 – 4×12″ Marshall® 1969 Slant w/Celestion® 25WGreenbacks™

VNTG4X12 – 4×12″ Johnson® Straight w/Celestion Vintage 30’s

RECT4X12 – 4×12″ ’07 Mesa/Boogie® w/Celestion® Vintage 30’s

BOTQ4X12 – 4×12″ ’96 VHT® Slant w/Celestion® Vintage 30’s –

Recommended (Clean)

GBS1X12 – 1×12″ ’60 Gibson® GA-40

TWIN2X12 – 2×12″ ’65 Fender® Blackface Twin Reverb™

All in one pedalboard

Compressors

Compression isn’t actually a huge part of my sound. I have always enjoyed having an expressive, dynamic sound, and when using medium to heavy gain, your sound is compressed anyway. So, I don`t turn it on very often, apart from when doing some djent style chugs, or wanting a lead line to be really smooth, but when I do I go for the CS1. It`s adds a nice, gentle smoothness to your sound. Just don`t overdo it. Not really a fan of the MXR Dynacomp. It just doesn’t suit my taste buds. I think it sounds a little bit spanky which is just something I`m not into.

Distortion

I’ve tried quite a few of the distortion stompboxes and most are good. The ones I use mostly are the TS Mod, and fuzz. I do like the Amp Driver a lot too, but I always try to be consistent with my settings so, only really stick with the first two. The TS Mod is based on the customisation a lot of people do to the Ibanez Tube Screamer to bring out the best of the stompbox. It is wonderful, just be careful with the settings, you don’t want the tone dial set too high as it tends to push up the treble and make your sound a touch messy. Play about with the settings, and once you find the sweet spot, you`ll love it. Try adding it to your basic rhythm sound for when you need a bit more bite and aggression.

The Big Muff is a classic, and rightly so. It`s not very often I put this on, but when I do, it rips up the sound, especially live. I love it for its distinctive sound. If you`re into grungy fuzz, then you can`t go wrong with this. Easily the best fuzz on the RP1000.

Not all the distortions sound so great though. The DigiTech Death metal is just scooped gain. Not great at all. There`s no flexibility to it and the DigiTech Grunge is a pedal I used to own but really didn’t like that much. The RP1000`s version replicated the sound of the Grunge pedal really well, but it just isn’t a good sound. Think of `Dirt` era Alice in Chains, but with a much weedier tone and zero flexibility. Now, don’t get me wrong I love Dirt era Alice in Chains and the tone Jerry Cantrell had, but the Grunge pedal, just doesn’t do it well. And, besides, Grunge was such a varied sound, why did DigiTech just pick one bands` sound to replicate?

Wah

There are three wahs on the RP, but I always use the Cry Baby. That’s because I love Dunlop’s Cry Baby Wah, and own the Zack Wylde ZW45, but I can honestly say I prefer the Cry Baby in the RP1000. It is based on a different model wah to the great hairy ones wah, (which is throatier). The RP`s Cry Baby just sounds incredible. I’ve used this wah on recordings numerous times, it’s that good.

The DigiTech Full Range is a bit useless to be honest. It sweep is too large. Toe up, there`s hardly any sound and toe down there`s too much. The other two, sound fabulous for what they do, but I like to be consistent with my tones and effects.

Effects

Effects are a huge part of my sound as a guitarist. Ever since I got into bands such as Rage Against The Machine, Muse, A Perfect Circle, Incubus and Dinosaur Jr, I have always love adding an effect here and there to add that sparkle and uniqueness to various parts of songs. The trick with using guitar pedals is to know when to use them and when not to. My favourite effect is probably the DigiTech Whammy.

It was probably hearing `Killing in the Name` for the first time that my jaw dropped and I thought, “Whatever the hell is making that sound, I want one!” Eventually, I did get one, and I have to say the RP1000`s version does it proud. It very smooth and articulate, and does the job bang on.

I also use the Electro Harmonix Small Stone, DigiTech Tremolo and DOD FX25 Envelope Filter frequently. These all do the job they were meant to and replicate the originals very well indeed. The Small Stone adds that wonderful spacey, swirl that only a phaser pedal can deliver. The tremolo brings that stuttering trippy vibe, and the Envelope pedal works just like the real thing would. Play soft the tone is softer and with less attack, dig in with a hard attack the pedal screams. Brilliant!

I must also give shout outs to the ADA Flanger, Electro Harmonix Small Clone (chorus) and the `Scattertrem`, which is wonderful for those trippy Tom Morello-esq tones.

Not all the effects are as good though, the harmonizer is downright poor. It`s pretty weak and has a few off sounding tones which are the last thing you want when harmonizing. The YaYa and Synth Talk have never found a way to get into any of my songs as they just sound rubbish. (Give me a shout if you`ve ever managed to get a good sound out of those two!) It seems they are there as a bit of a filler.

Delays

Delay is a huge part of my bands sound, and alongside Whammy and Wahs, the only effects I couldn’t live without. There`s nothing better than a slap back tempo synced delay that has locked into the groove. The delays here don’t disappoint. As well as 11 different delays, you have multi options to adjust the parameters and a tap tempo button to sync the delay to the track. Perfect if you ask me. The best delays by far are the Boss DM-2 Analog Delay, Digital Delay, Lo Fi Delay, and Modulated Delay.

The delays based off analogue models don`t do quite as well. They sound a touch mushy and not as crisp as the digital delay. This really is to be expected, delay is pretty simple yet at the same time quite complex. Replicating analogue subtleties in a digital realm is no easy task. The RP1000 does them reasonably well, but they’re not quite to my taste. The digital delays however are superb. They give a nice crisp edge, and cut through the mix without much fuss.

Reverbs

The reverbs are mightily impressive, but do we really need reverb on multi effects processors? When playing live, I hardly use reverb, as it often muddies the sound of the guitar, and gets me a bit lost in the mix. Instead, I prefer to let the rooms natural acoustics create the reverb, and I stick to delays to get my dose of ambiance. Similarly, when recording, would you use a built in reverb, or use one of the fantastic flexible reverbs that come as a plug-in? Most people would go for the plug-in. The plate reverb isn`t really to my taste though, as I`ve never really liked the plate reverb sound on guitar parts anyway.

Saying all that though, the reverbs on here sound fabulous, and if you find a use for them, maybe you’re playing in a dull room, dry room, or don’t want to mess with plugs in, you’ll get a lot of mileage out of these reverbs.

EQ

The EQ is pretty good. It’s not up to the standard of a rack mount EQ, or a stompbox version. If you’re using the RP1000 for all its glory, including the amp settings, is recommend buying a separate EQ to tweak the tone. You’ll do better with that than the built in one which is ok, but does the job. It just isn`t as transparent as something like the MXR M109 or Daneleltro Fish and Chips (ignore the stupid name, it`s a great pedal).

Gate/Swell

The gate is also ok, it will do the job. Again, not quite like a standalone one. The swell is something I’ve never used that much as I like to keep the gate on and you can’t have them both on. Sounds cool though. I may try it in a song at some point, but always wondered why I should sacrifice the gate for it?

Conclusion

One thing that would make this an even better pedal would be to add the front dials off an amp to RP1000. Imagine having the dials off an amp somewhere on the pedalboard, so when you want to change your tone. Say you want to increase the drive as you`re playing a lower output guitar, at the moment you would have to go into all your presets and increase the drive and save them all. If you`re like me, you like a consistent high gain sound, and use it across most songs, but have different presets for the various effects each song requires. Now, if you have to go into all these presets and change and save it`s a huge pain. DigiTech, if you read this, add some global controls to the next version. It would make things so much better.

The effects lover in me would like to be able to turn more than one `effect` on at one time. Not a major deal, as you don`t really need 6 flangers on at any given time, but it would be a nice option to have for those trippy psychedelic moments you can still get some amazing messed up sounds from the effects, delays, wahs, and LFO`s you can have on at any one time.

Phew, that was an in depth review of the DigiTech RP1000. After two and a half years and over 30 gig, two singles, an EP and lots of lessons given, I’d give this unit a 9/10. It’s not perfect, but it does an absolute ton of things brilliantly which would cost you an arm and a leg if you were to buy all the amps and effects separately, or if you were to buy the Axe- FX II. There are alternatives such as the Boss GT-10 or Line 6 HD500. I have never tried the Boss but Line 6 products have never really done it for me at all.

There are faults, and it would be nice if these were ironed out for the next RP unit DigiTech releases, but it does some things incredibly well. A lot of people state, and rightly, that you can use it straight out the box, but in my experience it will take you some time before you really get to grips with its brilliance and limitations. Overall, the DigiTech RP1000 is definitely one of the best guitar multi effects processors on sale.

If you get it, tweak it, crank it, and have fun with it as it’s a truly inspiring beast.

Score: 9/10

A few small tweaks to the layout as mentioned above, getting rid of the latency between patches, and a couple of better sounding models, this would be the perfect pedal.

Coming sometime soon, will be my main presets for you to download, and plenty of other tips and tricks to make the most out of this wonderful pedal.

{ 43 comments… add one }

Comete August 23, 2013, 10:22 am

Hi,

thanks for this review and tips. I own a rp1000 too and i’ m very happy with it. Something i didn’t understand in your review is : “If you’re not using the 4 cable method, you have to use your imagination get round this problem. I found s solution which works pretty well, but isn’t perfect, and that is to simply.” –> I’m not using the cable method so what is this “solution which works pretty well” ?

Thanks

Reply
- Dan August 27, 2013, 3:45 pm
  
  Hi Comete,
  
  Thanks for the kind words. That was an error (bad proof reading on my part!) The article is now updated. Thanks. Dan
  
  Reply
Comete August 27, 2013, 9:36 pm

Thanks for your answer and the nice tip, i didn’t know it was possible to modify the FS6-10 functions. But, i’ve still got a problem, if i set “vol pre” to 0 it doesn’t sound clean but it doesn’t sound at all… no sound. If i set it to 1, i can hear a very very low sound. So maybe i didn’t understand your explanation.
I’ve tried to set “Amp gain” instead and got better results but doesn’t really sound clean. For example, i tried this with an Orange amp. The minimum gain set to 10 and max to 99.
Did i misunderstood something ? Thanks for your help.

Reply
- Dan August 27, 2013, 10:53 pm
  
  No problem. It sounds like you have followed the instructions correctly. Using `vol pre` usually works, but I have noticed on certain patches the RP1000 treats it like a `vol post` which sounds like what is happening on your unit. It seems like a glitch in the software. The only way I got round that is to copy a different preset and build my patch on top of that. Using `amp gain` is definitely a good alternative. It depends on how `gained up` your sound is to begin with though. Try setting the minimum gain to 1 and set the maximum gain to taste (without going too high of course, try 70 to begin with). You can then use FS7 for any extra distortion boost. This should give you better results. Hope this helps.
  
  Reply
Comete August 28, 2013, 11:14 pm

Thanks. I’ve tried the “vol pre” tip with many different default patches without success. But with “Amp gain” set to min: 1 – max: 70, it works better, it depends on the amp simulation chosen. Some got a clean sound, others are a bit crunchy.
So thanks again for the nice tip ! 😉 This unit is a really nice peace of hardware, i use it through a 2×12 TECH21 PowerEngine and the sound is magical !

Reply
3arcdave November 25, 2013, 8:51 am

great review! im thinking about getting one and this article helped a lot. i ha d a pod hd500 and it was hell to tweak. question is: how’s the tone loss/suck on this unit? is the bypass transparent or is there some loss of frequencies?

how long is the patch change delay in milliseconds? I think the zoom units have 1ms patch change latency.

thanks in advance!

Reply
- Dan January 22, 2014, 9:14 am
  
  Thanks Dave. The tone suck is pretty much non-existent in my opinion. The RP1000 is a very transparent sounding pedal. As for the patch latency, I couldn`t give you an exact figure, but it is definitely more than 1ms as it`s quite noticeable.
  
  If this is a concern though, try it out with the `4 cable method`. This is where the pedal really begins to shine!
  
  Reply
Joe January 20, 2014, 10:23 am

Hi Dan, I have read most of the reviews on the RP1000 and must say yours is the most comprehensive and informative.

I have had this unit for a few years however have gone back to discrete analogue pedals, but more recently have wanted to try and use this live. I found that some of the sounds were thin when used on stage and interestingly when I would practice with this unit by having my headphones plugged it it sounded very rick, why is this so, is it as you mentioned in your article that the mids need to be tweaked? Since I am not into modding the patches I just simply use the factory ones and would love to get my hands on decent 3rd part patches, can you share any with the community please.

Thanks Joe (from Australia)

Reply
- Dan January 22, 2014, 9:36 am
  
  Hi Joe, Thanks for the comment.
  
  You are right in saying the factory presets are thin sounding. To be honest, I have never tried a pedalboard where the factory presets sounded good! They always seemed to be programmed to really show off what the pedal can do, and impress in the guitar shops (which is a million miles away from playing with a band). The mids are usually cut, as cut mids sound cool in a quieter, non-band environment, and the effects are cranked up for maximum exposure.
  
  For that reason, I would avoid the factory presets and spend a small amount of time getting a core tone from the pedal. It really is a case of experimenting. Don`t be afraid to turn the dials up to ten and then down to zero to hear what they really do. In my experience, modellers react very differently to real life amps, and therefore should be experimented with differently.
  
  At some point soon, I will do a `Part two` of this article, where I will be sharing my ten best patches for everyone to use. In the mean time, I will be happy to send you a patch if you let me know what type of sound it is you`re after.
  
  Reply
Joe February 5, 2014, 11:26 pm

Thanks Dan, I would really appreciate if you could send me some patches so I can compare to what I have. I would really love to “love” my unit but so far I have been having this love hate relationship with it – if you know what I mean.

I play in a band and we cover a wide range of genres from heave to ballads, so any patches you are willing to share with me I would love to try out, thanks.

My guitar of choice tends to be a USA Fender Standard strat with hot rail PUPs in the bridge and neck position, amps can vary depending on the venue we play at.

Regards
Joe

Reply
alan April 24, 2014, 2:14 am

just got a rp1000 from ebay its a used unit, couldn’t afford a new one ,have just done a factory reset and will play with it this weekend.i would love to try out Cubase le5 that came with it ,but need an activation code for it. have had a boss gt8 was nice but to hard to work out, so far this one seems easier and have downloaded some patches to try out.

Reply
Comète May 22, 2014, 7:32 pm

@alan: It’s a really nice unit, try it if you can through a pair of active monitors or a tech 21 powerengine 60 (i use a 2×60 one). If your unit doesn’t already run it, you can update it with this firmware (the last one):

http://www.mustbebeta.com/rp/rp155_255_355_500_1000/JUpdaterRp1000vB96.exe

Features list is on this page:
http://www.mustbebeta.com/rp/rp155_255_355_500_1000/RPn55_10_500_users.html

Factory presets are not very good (ex.: noise gate everywhere…) but if you take the time to create your own presets, you won’t regret it 😉

Reply
thomas June 16, 2014, 5:47 am

I want to know how do I bring the LF0 down some so it want be to basses thanks thomas

Reply
Pat Gifford September 10, 2014, 2:05 pm

Hi Dan
Thanks for the excellent review, I am considering the RP1000 right now so all information is useful. I have two Line6 Spider Valve MKII amps now, a 40 watt combo and a 100 watt head. One good thing about the SV MKII is that you can use the Edit software with a very intuitive graphical interface to define all aspects of your presets. The bad thing is that if you don’t have your computer in the studio or on stage, you have to make changes to your presets (and save them) with the front panel controls…and this is not so easy (for me, anyway!). I already had an RP350 before (sold it on eBay!) but I did like the way the effects are laid out before your eyes, you can make changes on the fly pretty easily. So the RP1000 is potentially the best of all worlds, it has a wide range of effects, it’s industrial strength, you can bypass the amp/cab simulation, you can turn individual effects on and off, the controls are pretty intuitive. If I do buy one, I will come back to your review and use your recommendations!!!
Thanks again
Pat Gifford- Munich Germany

Reply
Paul October 14, 2014, 12:56 pm

Hy folks…I have read all these comments and article and I have question…
I have it for a year now (I mean RP1000). I also use it with marshall dsl401 (40W combo) of JCM2000 series…I have G&L legacy and it sounds sort of telecaster bright sound, and I have another guitar which is sort of hybrid…Charvel body with mapple neck of G&L. Both great guitars, and this second one is more mellow tone…closer to the sound of Gibson…anyway…pretty decent equipment…but no tone at all when I connect it all.
Distortions sound bad…lifeless…no energy in tone, drive, nothing…those solo channel are either to metal sounding (and I preffer more of classic rock sound) or simply weak to be solo chanell…can anyone advice me on what to do? I mean I know it is quite good piece of equipment, but I cant seem to get a thing out of it…And its not like I am begginer…

Reply
Daniel Smith December 21, 2014, 9:43 pm

I am looking to go with a hybrid recording setup using the RP1000, an analog mixer, a Scarlett 8i6 interface and a computer with a DAW. I want to be able to run my guitar through the RP1000 and feeb both a “clean”(no effects, no cab model) signal to the input of the mixer on one channel but also be able to send the full chain (with RP1000 effects and models) to a separate input channel on the mixer AT THE SAME TIME. Any ideas on how best to wire this up? Thanks – great review on the unit – best I have seen by far (PS – for the clean vs. distorted / boost issue I have done something similar using FS-6 to trip the EQ on and off which is a great way to give a 10db boost for lead work, etc.).

Reply
Renato H. Chea January 30, 2015, 3:55 pm

Nice recommendation, I really appreciate it.
It will very helpful to me!! 😀

Reply
Jorge February 3, 2015, 3:11 pm

Hi, great review, thanks!
I have my RP1000 for 2 years now, and I simply love it, it sounds much better than other multieffect pedals I’ve tryed, with a thicker, richer sound
I use it with a Blackstar tube amp most of the time, I’ve also tested it with a Fender blues deluxe and an Egnater tweaker, sounds great on them also, I only use the amp/cab modeller when playing through a PA, a not so common situation
I have to say that I really had to give it time tweaking through the sets to find the sound I wanted, I had to read a lot about sounds and settings and still now I’m finding surprising new sounds tweaking, searching, reading and hearing, both, studio and live
I love the possibility to change F6-10, I changed the F10 to a higher setpoint of Distortion instead of Reverb so I have up to two distortion levels in each set, and a clean, of course
I use it with an 87 American Standard Fender Strat, a 2012 Gibson Les Paul and a 2009 Ibanez Prestige, and th RP1000 is flexible enough to mantain a great sound with any of this trio

Regards
Jorge

Reply
Chad Folzenlogel February 8, 2015, 4:21 am

I just received my RP1000 yesterday, and haven’t had much time to look through it, but I’m wondering where are the amp models? Are they named something different other than their actual names? Maybe I just missed it, as I said, I only had a brief amount of time to play with it yesterday.

Hopefully someone sees this and can respond, thanks.

Reply
Lance May 9, 2015, 12:03 pm

Had mine a couple of years now, and had the 355 before that. My tastes are vastly different from yours (most of my recommendations differ from yours according to what I like), but that’s largely subjective. I’m quite impressed with the unit; there’s some waste here but some of the models are astonishingly good—and I use this thru a stereo mixer along with my keys and GR 55, so I HAVE to rely on the models; the Twin and Jazz Chorus clean models alone are nearly worth the price, as are the 68 plexi/800 Marshalls and the HiWatt/Fane (swear you’re at Leeds). As with programmable stuff all the way back to the 70s, the factory patches sound like they were tweaked by monkeys, but some patience really pays off. This thing is actually so nice that some of my gripes and stuff they left out seem worse in contrast. No MIDI??? WTF??? Only one parameter at a time assignable to the pedal? At least if it had MIDI I could hook up my decades-old-and-still-sublime ART X-15 foot controller and do EVERYTHING at once. One feature I miss is the delay-time control on the Echoplex model that I could use to do runaway flying saucer stuff a la Hendrix and Randy California; I could do it on the RP355 but NOT on the 1000. I love the sound of the TC chorus but it starts doing thundery digital smear after a few moments (fortunately, for some reason the MultiChorus doesn’t do that, and it’s close enough in sound to be acceptable), and once in a while the whole unit will go into a loud high shriek that won’t stop til I switch the patch. I also don’t understand why there’s no manual panner, but I got an outboard pedal so I’m okay there. I’m hoping that some of these issues can be addressed at some point with factory software upgrades, but then I’m usually to lazy to plug the fckr into my computer, so c’est la vie. Having pissed and moaned now, I can confidently say I’ll be keeping it. I actually had a couple of drunks get mad at me at the gig one night because they WOULD NOT ACCEPT that I was getting this good a sound running thru what amounts to a very clean PA system—they were convinced despite the clear evidence of their own eyes that I had a few Marshalls stashed behind the stage. So it goes….

Reply
jhon Ospino May 27, 2015, 12:19 pm

Thanks for the great review, give me a few tips.
I have a thought change RP355 at RP1000 but I doubt come because I thought it was perfect.
I have a kustom kg100hfx and kg412 but not if staying with and complement the distortion RP355 analogs pedal separately (I have no experience with none) seek the truth sound she wolf intro riff and RIP, Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica and justice for all.
I suggest that you pedals.?
The rp not giving me that sound just some Megadeth peace clasiscos sell and amp ac dc mod versión void, and I have to turn up gananacia.
notice a problem, when I connect the input rp kg100hxf and play the swallows and sound distortion with less gain or weak the original rp gain.
but with headphones it sounds very good profit only rp.
I’m a little frustrated not being able to get the sound of holy wars with rp.
I once watched a friend take it out with one distortion pedal but dod not reference
sonoba spectacular if you tell me what those dod get them so they are used.
please help.

Thanks

Reply
Hernán May 20, 2016, 6:03 pm

Hi, i have a question, the delays have dotted eighth function?, thank you.

Reply
- Dan Thorpe May 20, 2016, 10:17 pm
  
  Yes, mate, and they are very good 🙂
  
  Reply
Hernán May 23, 2016, 4:56 pm

Thanks for your answer, i read they have a harmonizer problem?, its that true?

Reply
Hernán May 23, 2016, 7:03 pm

I forget… do you recommend use a beta firmware or official?, thank you.

Reply
Brendan May 26, 2016, 12:53 am

Questions about the downloadable tones. Why do almost all of them sound nothing, and I mean NOTHING, like the songs they are supposed to mimic? Just asking…

Reply
tommy June 23, 2016, 6:51 pm

Hello, when the Amp Loop button is off on the RP1000, and you deselect a preset, you get BYPASS, which with the 4-cable method, feeds your guitar direct to your power amp section of the am, thus blowing your ears out, if you have a 50 or 100 watt amp. I can’t believe that this does not appear to be a problem with users, or Digitech. It is a flaw and outright shortfall for Digitech. You should be able to attenuate or mage adjustments to BYPASS on the RP1000. Does anyone have insight or ideas, how to resolve this? Am I doing something wrong?

Reply
- JOHN January 29, 2017, 4:32 pm
  
  hey.. i just got mine a few days ago…and found out exactly what you said with the bypass/4cm…. blew my head off… have NO idea what this is about or why it happens let alone how to hinder this issue. i had a gt8 that was good but a pain to work with.. i’m an exp player with years of gear… built my own studio too, just looking for a good basic setup for this unit… i have 10gtrs so leveling off inputs and outputs kind of really doesnt matter as they are all drastically different in their makeup. so, what works good for one gtr may destroy the sound of another.. so i am pretty much, like with the gt8 going to have to find a mid point that sounds good across all elec gtrs as well as my acoustics…bit of a pain, but thats what happens when you arent rich and can have a custom bradshaw switching/matching system with an fractal fx rig… with limited funds and limited room in my 10×12 studio, dont have much floor space left.. maybe we can figure out the issues! you have my email. hope we can help one another.
  
  Reply
  - Tommy May 3, 2018, 6:57 pm
    
    Hi John, I just saw your message. Sorry I missed it, and it is May 2018. Do you still have the RP1000? I don’t know how to e-mail or contact you privately. Thanks- Tommy
    
    Reply
SteveK October 30, 2016, 9:06 pm

I finally got around to setting up my special effects bank…which was supposed to include a long delay with the delay time controlled by the CC (wah/vol) pedal. Like taking the tape echo and slowing down the speed and then speeding back up again. Real trippy. Nut guess what? RP1000 doesn’t control delay time with CC. Are you f’ing kidding me? It can control “time divisions” (nearly worthless)..and stupid things like wow and flutter, depending on the chosen delay.
But not delay time. I’m stunned, and very disappointed.

Reply
Steve Mantel March 15, 2017, 6:26 am

I find your review very honest and appreciate willingness to spend time to get to know this machine. I own one for a while now, and absolutely agree with noodling around with all settings to be able to find perfect sound.
To my ears, this unit is better than all in this price range and maybe Eleven Rack or Line6 Helix or HD500 are on this level or better, but nothing around this price.
Three hundred bucks is nothing and you can find your holy grail of tones, if you spend time figuring, what’s working best with it.
I got so used to it and need that flexibility to find great tones and add or remove effect on the fly, that even when I have tube amps and love them, I always find myself searching, how to make RP work with other things and scenarios. Only so called problem I deal with is the best way how to power this with sound. Through tube amp, PA speaker or with large choice of guitar speakers and tube power amp.
I am tone nut so for me this is all fun, but others may say this thing just sucks.
Best thing is, that with this and two cheap analog amps from Fender, Roland or Vox you can have powerful, amazing semi-pro, versatile unit under 500 dollars and that counts!!

Reply
Joe June 8, 2017, 11:54 pm

Hi Dan, not sure if you ever got round to your 10 best patches however is it possible to share some with me please, I am after cleans, delays and distortion, thanks.

Reply
alex June 23, 2017, 3:05 pm

Hello Mr.Dan, I’m writing to ask you if it’s possible to resolve this problem: I have a verbzilla Line 6 linked to the Rp1000 as external stomp box, connected through the “stomp box section” in the rear panel.
It sounds very good when activated with the clean sounds presets, but very bad when in the the chain there is an overdrive: the beautiful magic sound of the shimmer becomes something dirty and distorted. What is your advise? Thank you in advance

Reply
Maloi December 6, 2017, 12:20 pm

Hi Dan, surprisingly I have the Marshall 8100 also, and I’m trying to use 4 cable method with my RP1000, but all the time I have the same problem – it sounds unbearable noisy and buzzing. Have you ever had the same problem? I’ve started thinking that this Marshall amp is not acceptable for RP1000
Thanks.

Reply
- Dan Thorpe April 17, 2018, 10:03 pm
  
  Hi Maloi, I never found a solution. Apparently, it was to do with the effects loop. It was a series loop but it needed parallel to work (or vice versa, can`t remember). I think the 8200 had one but couldn`t get one. This was all a real shame as the 8100 sounded great!
  
  Reply
Jeff Summers April 18, 2018, 7:20 am

Do you have any videos on how to navigate the RP 1000,also how to build patches?
Thanks!

Reply
Rob Brandenburg July 13, 2018, 6:35 am

I own a line 6 PODxtlive and a DigiTech gnx4. I like them both but the xtlive is much easier to navigate and I’ve found it’s high gain models in that unit will pretty much react to volume changes and picking nuances much like a real amp. The gnx 4 sounds good but to my ears,the high gain amps all sound kinda fizzy. I have experimented with the gains and eq settings even have the supermodel CD for the gnx4. The models on the CD sound good but still…fizzy. I get way more realistic crunch tones from the xtlive. I have never had the opportunity to try an rp 1000. I’ve checked them out on YouTube and was impressed but the comprehensive review I just read leads me to believe that it has the same volume and picking nuance issues as my gnx4 with better sounding amp models. Anybody wanna give me their thoughts on the rp 1000. Thanks in advance.

Reply
Brandon Wise March 4, 2019, 12:15 am

Excellent review and it has helped me with a lot of things. When I first started using it 3 years ago, I used to run to it and then either have a powered speaker or a Power amp handle the load, which works, but if I ran direct for any reason the signal overpowered the Mixers.
I now use a Boss Katana 100w head that hooks into a Marshall 1960A Lead and have been very happy with it.
One question though, have you ever had to clean the unit itself?
Recently the RP1000 signal has been cutting out, the signal either halves or cuts out completely. I have found that it has to do with bank switch, when you press either the up or down the signal goes back to normal, but it’s only temporary.
Any ideas or suggestions?

Reply
MasalaNZ July 3, 2019, 11:17 pm

Hey Mate, absolutely great review. I switched to the RP1000, 2 years ago and up until a year ago I could never get my Hot Rod Deluxe drive sound. I have not used pedals for the last 30 years’ I play weekly gigs and I needed to get rid of my amp on stage (Too Bloody Loud), and play straight through the Digitech direct to the FOH plus I am sick of carrying amps.
I finally sat down one weekend and went through every amp and cabinet and flat out figured out the EQ. I now play straight through with the OR120 and 4×12 vintage 30s cab with various stages of drive for Rhythm and lead and completely EQed to my taste, and switch through for lead. I use the Fender twin for my clean completely EQed as well and just a bit of Reverb and drive just below break up. I now am 100% satisfied with my live sound and don’t have to carry anything.
You can get what you want with this unit, just take the time to dial it in and you CAN BE HAPPY.
Cheers Mate
Danny

Reply
Mike September 20, 2020, 6:56 am

Can you run this through a a FRFR speaker Like the Headrush FRFR 108 Speaker?

Reply
Ivan June 3, 2021, 12:41 am

Hi Dan, thanks for your really great review! But would you be so kind to name the frequency you cut out in Marshall JCM900 (because it seems like I have the same grating frequency issue with Marshall JCM800 and can’t find it).

Reply
Karl K December 9, 2022, 9:19 pm

I’ve had my RP1000 for a couple of years now and it has served me well. The only real problem I have had with it is the EQ in that a lot of the presets sound kinda muddy at times. I took your suggestion and will be adding a standalone EQ pedal to the board. The fact that only one modulation effect has been mitigated by adding a standalone pedal (a Digitech Multi-Chorus) and a Wampler Db+ boost pedal to the stomp loop. Instead of running the RP1000 into a conventional amp, I run it through a Hotone Loudster and straight into a 1×12 cabinet for rehearsals or as a stage monitor. Otrherwise, I’m able to go direct to the desk thru the XLR outs (a feature that is showing up on fewer multis these days). Like you, I’ve had to replace my power brick and the problems I thought it was giving me went away. Thanks for the review and the tips!

Reply

Next Post: A Perfect Circle – their top 5 most awesome riffs ever (with tab)

Previous Post: Easy guitar songs for beginners: Learn them to get on the road to guitar mastery