At $299 the Digitech RP500 Guitar Effects Pedal is definately a step above other Digitech effects boards that I have reviewed lately.  I have to give Digitech some credit though, they have nailed the multi effect market and have figured out that people want pro features at an affordable price.

The RP500 comes complete with an expression pedal made of actual metal!  (I have been making fun of the quality of plastic that Digitech typically uses in there famous RP series).  The display is made up of LED's and is generally pretty useful.  (review continued below...)

Live eBay results:

...If you look at the list below of included effects, emulators, reverbs, cabs, etc. you will soon realize that Digitech's RP500 does provide a huge range of effects.

In my opinion the overall sound is quite good, again, except for certain digital distortion tones, which are so noisy and thin that I would personally be embarrased to play live or (even worse) record with.  Overall, for the price you do get a full range of effects that sound 7/10.  My tip- go to any music store, plug into the device and see what you like.  Great for a newer guitarist who wants to explore some cool sounds.

 

[sniplet recording]

Stompboxes based on:

Compressor / Sustainers:
Boss® CS-2Compressor / Sustainer
DigiTech® Main Squeeze Compressor
MXR® Dynacomp™
Wah / Volume: Dunlop® Cry Baby Wah™
DigiTech® Full Range Wah
Vox® Clyde McCoy Wah™
Volume Pedal

Distortions & Overdrives:
SCREAMER (Based on an Ibanez® TS-9)
TS 808 (Based on an Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer)
SPARKDRIVE (Based on a Voodoo® Lab Sparkle Drive®)
OD OVERDRIVE (Based on a Guyatone® Overdrive OD-2)
DOD 250 (Based on a DOD® 250 Overdrive/Preamp)
RODENT (Based on a Pro Co RAT™)
MX DISTORTION (Based on an MXR® Distortion +)
DS (Based on a Boss® DS-1™ Distortion)
GRUNGE (DigiTech® Grunge®)
ZONE (Based on a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone®)
DEATH METAL (DigiTech Death Metal™)
GONKULATOR (Based on a DOD® Gonkulator Ring Modulator)
8TAVIA (Based on a Roger Mayer Octavia™)
FUZZLATOR (Based on a Demeter Fuzzulator)
CLASSIC FUZZ (Based on a DOD Classic Fuzz)
FUZZY FACE (Based on an Arbiter® Fuzz Face™)
BIG PI (Based on an Electro-Harmonix® Big Muff Pi®)
DigiTech Redline Overdrive

Amplifiers & Acoustics:
57 CHAMP Based on a '57 Fender® Tweed Champ®
57 DELUXE Based on a '57 Fender® Tweed Deluxe™
59 BASSMAN Based on a '59 Fender® Tweed Bassman®
62 BROWN BASSMAN Based on a '62 Fender® Brownface Bassman®
65 TWIN REVERB Based on a '65 Fender® Blackface Twin Reverb®
65 REVERB(Based on a '65 Fender Blackface Deluxe Reverb®
65 JTM-45(Based on a '65 Marshall® JTM-45
68 SUPER LEAD PLEXI Based on a '68 Marshall 100 Watt Super Lead (plexi)
68 JUMP PANEL Based on a '68 Marshall Jump Panel
77 MASTER VOLUME Based on a '77 Marshall Master Volume
83 JCM800 Based on an '83 Marshall JCM800
93 JCM900 Based on a '93 Marshall JCM900
01 JCM2000 Based on an '01 Marshall JCM2000 (Solo Channel)
62 AC15 Based on a '62 Vox® AC15
63 AC30 TOP BOOST Based on a '63 Vox AC30 Top Boost
69 HIGH WATTAGE Based on a '69 Hiwatt® Custom 100 DR103
81 MARK IIC Based on an '81 Mesa Boogie® Mark II C
01 DUAL RECTIFIED Based on an '01 Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier
99 LEGACY VL-100 Based on a Carvin® Legacy VL-100
96 MATCH HC-30 Based on a '96 MatchlessTM HC30
88 SLO-100 Based on an '88 Soldano SLO-100
Gibson® GA-40
Peavey® 5150® II
Roland JC-120
Sunn® 100S
Randall® HT-100
DIGITECH SOLO DigiTech® Solo
DIGITECH METAL DigiTech Metal
DIGITECH BRIGHT CLEAN DigiTech Bright Clean
DIGITECH CHUNK DigiTech Chunk
DIGITECH CLEAN TUBE DigiTech 2101 Clean Tube
DIGITECH CRUNCH DigiTech Crunch
DIGITECH BLUES DigiTech Blues
DIGITECH FUZZ DigiTech Fuzz
DIGITECH SPANK DigiTech Spank
DIGITECH HIGH GAIN DigiTech High Gain
DIGITECH MONSTER - Maxed out gain
DIGITECH TWEEDFACE Tweed preamp w/Blackface poweramp
DIGITECH 65 Blackface Bassman 65 Blackface preamp w/ Bassman poweramp
DIGITECH STONERROCK Thick, sludgy distorted amp tone
DIGITECH DARKMETAL Responsive, tight metal tone
DIGITECH TRANSISTOR Solid state transistor amp sound
DIGITECH BROWNSOUND Hot rodded 80 s stack tone
DIGITECH MOSH Chunky metal tone with just the right amount of sizzle
2101 CLEAN TUBE DigiTech GSP2101TM Artist Clean Tube
2101 SATURATED TUBE DigiTech GSP2101 Artist Saturated Tube
DIRECT No amp model
DREADAUGHT ACOUSTIC
JUMBO ACOUSTIC

Cabinets:
CHAMP 1X8 Based on a 1x8 '57 Fender® Tweed Champ®
DELUXE 1X12 Based on a 1x12 '57 Fender Tweed Deluxe®
DELUXE REVERB 1X12 Based on a 1x12 '65 Fender Blackface Deluxe Reverb
BRITISH 1X12 Based on a 1x12 '62 Vox® AC15 w/20W Vox Speaker
BLONDE 2X12 Based on a 2x12 '57 Fender Blonde Bassman®
TWIN 2X12 Based on a 2x12 '65 Fender Blackface Twin Reverb®
BRITISH 2X12 Based on a 2x12 '63 Vox® AC0 Top Boost w/ Jensen® Blue Backs
BASSMAN 4X10 Based on a 4x10 '59 Fender Tweed Bassman®
BRITISH 4X12 Based on a 4x12 Marshall® 1969 Straight w/ Celestion® G12-T70
GREENBACK 4X12 Based on a 4x12 Marshall 1969 Slant w/ Celestion 25W Green backs
FANE 4X12 Based on a 4x12 Hiwatt® Custom w/ Fane Speakers
BOUTIQUE 4X12 Based on a 4x12 '96 VHT® Slant w/ Celestion Vintage 30 s
VINTAGE 4X12 Based on a 4x12 Johnson® Straight w/ Celestion Vintage 30 s
DIGITECH SOLO 4X12 4x12 DigiTech® Solo
DIGITECH BRIGHT 2X12 2x12 DigiTech Bright
DIGITECH METAL 4X12 4x12 DigiTech Metal
DIGITECH ROCK 4X12 4x12 DigiTech Rock
DIGITECH ALT 4X12 4x12 DigiTech Alt Rock
DIGITECH VINTAGE 4X12 4x12 DigiTech Vintage
DIGITECH CHUNK 4X12 4x12 DigiTech Chunk
DIGITECH SPANK 4X12 4x12 DigiTech Spank
DIGITECH SPEAKER COMP 4x12 DigiTech Speaker Compensation
DIRECT No cabinet model

FX Models:

Chorus Stompbox Models based on:
Boss® CE-2 Chorus
DigiTech Dual Chorus
DigiTech Multi-Chorus
TC Electronics® Chorus
DIGITECH GLISTENING Chorus

Flanger Models based on:
MXR® Flanger
DigiTech® Triggered Flanger
Electro Harmonix® Electric Mistress™
ADA® Flanger

Phaser Models based on:
MXR® Phase 100
DigiTech® Phaser
Electro Harmonix® Small Stone™

Pitch Models based on:
DigiTech® Whammy™
DigiTech® Pitch Shift
DigiTech® Detune
DigiTech® IPS
Boss® OC-2 Octaver™
Vibrato / Rotary Models based on:
DigiTech® Vibrato
DigiTech® Rotary
DigiTech® Vibro / Pan
Unicord UniVibe™

Tremolo Models based on:
DigiTech® Tremolo
DigiTech® Panner
Fender® Opto Tremolo™
Vox® Bias Tremolo
DIGITECH SCATTERTREM Dual tremolo effect
Envelope / Special Models based on:
DOD® FX25 Envelope Filter
DigiTech® Auto Yah™
DigiTech® YaYa™
DigiTech® Synth Talk™
DigiTech® Step Filter
DigiTech® Sample & Hold

Delays:
Digital Delay
Analog Delay
Pong Delay
Modulated Delay
Tape Delay
Reverse Delay
DM Analog Delay - based on Boss® DM2 Analog Delay
Echo Plex - based on Maestro EP-1 Tube Echoplex

Reverbs based on:
Lexicon® Ambience
Lexicon® Hall
Lexicon® Room
Lexicon® Studio
EMT Plate - based on EMT® 240 Plate Reverb
Spring - based on Fender® Twin Reverb™

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 25th, 2008 at 11:01 am and is filed under Digitech Reviews, Ronz Gear Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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