Looking for a decent live effects pedal/expresion pedal. RP300

T

Telefunken

GUITARDAZE
Does anyone have an opinion on the Digitech RP300. I want more tones and effects, for live use, but I dont want to spend a forture, and I don't want to carry around a huge rack of stuff. I play a fender strat through a little Princeton Chorus amp. I use the clean and dirty tone in the amp, but am looking for more tones and effects. I love not haveing to carry a huge amp and a ton of effects. Just something small and simple I can use live.
If you have any other sugestions, please feel free to suggest them. I have heard that some people are useing the POD live, but I would like a foot switch with some chanel switching, and an expression pedal. I own a Johnson Millenium, but that thing is so Heavy, that I quit carrying it around to gigs.

Thanks to anyone who chimes in.

Rich

www.richbischoff.com
 
>

Why not go to the Boss (RolandUS), DigiTech, Line6, Behringer, etc., websites and register with their user forums. You'll get a ton of info/feedback about likes, dislikes, problems, patch availability, etc. And the feedback will usually come from actual users/owners.

Right off the bat, you may have problems using ANY modeling pedal if your amp doesn't have an effects loop (or insert, aux in, line in, etc.).

If your going to use it live, I would really suggest, at a minimum, something with an expression pedal and separate up/down footswitches to select patches.


Good luck,
Paj
8^)
 
I have a friend who has this pedal and it's okay.It's definitely not for heavy use as it's built completely out of plastic.At this price range you can't be too particular.
The question I have is....do you need or use a lot of effects?If you don't just get a few simple pedals like a delay and a distortion.With the amp you've got you don't need much more.The problem with a multi-effect is that if it breaks,everything goes.The advantage is being able to make your own presets.
I have a fender princeton chorus amp and thnk it's pretty good for the clean stuff,but I don't care for the distortion.Another option is a rack unit ran through your amps send/returns if you can get by without footswitching.
 
Right off the bat, you may have problems using ANY modeling pedal if your amp doesn't have an effects loop (or insert, aux in, line in, etc.).
Click to expand...
:confused:
ummm,most people just plug the pedal into the line in.:confused:
 
acidrock:

If you're referring to the input on the front panel of the guitar amp, I would suggest that you are not going to get consistent sound and that you are not going to get the same sound as you do from the headphone outputs on the pedal. It's not that it's not workable---it's just more work than you need to do. It also limits the portability of your sound, because now the front panel of your amp becomes necessary to reproduce your sound (i.e., the sound becomes a combination of your guitar preamp+ pedal). The reason is simple. Modeling pedals are preamps. Even the "DIRECT" setting in a Digitech pedal is a model of a staight wire, not an actual hardwrre bypass. Running a preamp into a preamp, well---imagine getting a Marshall sound by running your Marshall line out into your Fender guitar input. It's going to be more complicated that way than bypassing the Fender preamp and going directly into a power amp. If you want easily adjustable consistency between your live sound and your pedal's sound, I'd strongly suggest an insert/aux/line input rather than the guitar input on the front panel. Mixing boards and keyboard amps, generally, will not have this problem---their inputs match up better with the outputs of modeling pedals than do the instrument inputs of guitar amps.

There's no "one way to Rome", that's why good modeling pedals have a "What are you plugging into / Target System" feature (I don't know if the RP300 has this feature). Even when you select something like "guitar amp input", you still have to deal with the front panel EQ and interaction of channel volume and master volume to set your sound. This added work is cherished by some ("I can ttweak the sound") and disliked by others ("Too touchy---doesn't sound like the headphones/recording). If you log onto DigiTech GNX, Roland GT, Line6 POD, or Behringer V-Amp websites and register with their users' groups, you'll find that a common questions id "How do I set the XXX to get a good live sound?" If you search these forums with keywords like "live", "setup", "stage", "effects loop", "inputs", you may see how ubiquitous the problem is.

If you want to match your live sound to your recording/headphone sound, reduce noise, simplify EQing, and allow for painless volume leveling, I would humbly suggest that you bypass the "guitar" input on the front (or top) of your amp. I own/owned a POD, V-AMP, GT-6, RP2000, and GNX2 and have been using modeling pedals live for over two years now, with Peavey, Marshall and Behringer guitar amps (and Mackie, Yamaha, Soundcraft, Ashley and Behringer PA boards). The GNX2 is what I use most often on stage---primarily because of it's built in floor switches and expression pedal, and because of my long-standing familiarity with it. Every one of these pedals has something good to offer. Not everyone of them is best used as an "effects only" device. Complexity was the trade-off when modeling was added to multi-effects pedals.

Still, what a great time to be alive and playing.

Good luck,
Paj
8^)
 
Paj said:
acidrock:

If you're referring to the input on the front panel of the guitar amp, I would suggest that you are not going to get consistent sound and that you are not going to get the same sound as you do from the headphone outputs on the pedal. It's not that it's not workable---it's just more work than you need to do. It also limits the portability of your sound, because now the front panel of your amp becomes necessary to reproduce your sound (i.e., the sound becomes a combination of your guitar preamp+ pedal). The reason is simple. Modeling pedals are preamps. Even the "DIRECT" setting in a Digitech pedal is a model of a staight wire, not an actual hardwrre bypass. Running a preamp into a preamp, well---imagine getting a Marshall sound by running your Marshall line out into your Fender guitar input. It's going to be more complicated that way than bypassing the Fender preamp and going directly into a power amp. If you want easily adjustable consistency between your live sound and your pedal's sound, I'd strongly suggest an insert/aux/line input rather than the guitar input on the front panel. Mixing boards and keyboard amps, generally, will not have this problem---their inputs match up better with the outputs of modeling pedals than do the instrument inputs of guitar amps.

There's no "one way to Rome", that's why good modeling pedals have a "What are you plugging into / Target System" feature (I don't know if the RP300 has this feature). Even when you select something like "guitar amp input", you still have to deal with the front panel EQ and interaction of channel volume and master volume to set your sound. This added work is cherished by some ("I can ttweak the sound") and disliked by others ("Too touchy---doesn't sound like the headphones/recording). If you log onto DigiTech GNX, Roland GT, Line6 POD, or Behringer V-Amp websites and register with their users' groups, you'll find that a common questions id "How do I set the XXX to get a good live sound?" If you search these forums with keywords like "live", "setup", "stage", "effects loop", "inputs", you may see how ubiquitous the problem is.

If you want to match your live sound to your recording/headphone sound, reduce noise, simplify EQing, and allow for painless volume leveling, I would humbly suggest that you bypass the "guitar" input on the front (or top) of your amp. I own/owned a POD, V-AMP, GT-6, RP2000, and GNX2 and have been using modeling pedals live for over two years now, with Peavey, Marshall and Behringer guitar amps (and Mackie, Yamaha, Soundcraft, Ashley and Behringer PA boards). The GNX2 is what I use most often on stage---primarily because of it's built in floor switches and expression pedal, and because of my long-standing familiarity with it. Every one of these pedals has something good to offer. Not everyone of them is best used as an "effects only" device. Complexity was the trade-off when modeling was added to multi-effects pedals.

Still, what a great time to be alive and playing.

Good luck,
Paj
8^)
Click to expand...
Wow.....I guess I need to get out of the house more often.

Again I think for the price the Rp300 covers all your bases,but is'nt built real sturdy.
 
telefunken / ar:


The Boss ME50 does it's job well and with style! Your amp/sound, their effects---any way you want. Really nice stuff and good stage stuff. I'm probably going to end up with one.

acidrock's suggestion about separate stompboxes is to the point. Most of the time I end up using chorus, phase, flange, reverb and echo/delay, wah---but most of the gig is you and your axe+amp sound.

Saving/editing/downloading/sharing patches is definitely an advantage of a pedal with MIDI but adjustments to any one effect on stage is an advantage that presently goes to the stompbox. Nothing beats a devoted, well-equipped suondperson/engineer.

Later,
Paj
8^)

P.S.: As soon as the deputy removes the ankle thingies, I WILL get out more. . .
 
Wow thanks for all the great input everyone. :)

I called my buddy who manages the GC here in Utah, and he had a used Boss GT-6 that he was selling for 200 bucks, so I went and picked it up. The thing is sweet. I pluged directly into the insert jack on the front of my fender amp. At first I wasn't getting that great of tone, and then I started flipping through the manual(Imagine that, reading the manual). It said to turn my bass and treble all the way down and to turn my mid all the way up. I guess when they were programing sounds for this pedal, that is the way they had the amp calibrated. I kinda thought it was wierd, but I tried it anyway. Holy Cow, what a world of difference. Most the Amp Models sound really close. I still find some patches sounding a little weak or thin, and I hear some clipping or crackling on some of the patches. I don't know if this can be corrected by tuning down the out put on the Boss and turning up my amp or not.

I have yet to try the send return option. My amp does have a send return mono and stereo, but it sounds really good just pluged directly into the amp. I guess if I were to do the send return, I would try to bypass the preamp section in the boss, and just use my amps preamp.

Any, I feel like I got a pretty good deal even though I got it used.

Rich

www.richbischoff.com
 
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