Overall Rating: I play blues, boogie and Christian praise and worship music. The RP-300 is good for me. I have been playing guitar off and on for 33 years. I am just getting back into music and am under a strict budget. With that budget in mind I had...
Overall Rating: I play blues, boogie and Christian praise and worship music. The RP-300 is good for me. I have been playing guitar off and on for 33 years. I am just getting back into music and am under a strict budget. With that budget in mind I had to be careful choosing a guitar, amp and effects. I managed to get a good setup for under $1200. I have a Fender Jimmie Vaughan Strat, Ibanez TS-9DX, the RP-300 and a Fender Princeton 65. If it were stolen I would be really steamed. I am not sure if I would buy another one (I want tubes!!!!). I really like the amp models and some of the basic effects. I dislike some of the weirder presets. I compared the RP-300 with the POD. I liked the RP-300 better, especially the inclusion of the rhthym trainer. I chose this one for the tone and the price. You really can't beat it for under $200. The RP-300 gives me a lot of options for tone. At this point in life my hearing isn't as acute as it used to be, so not having tubes is not a great issue. But I still want a tube amp. I guess what I basically have created for myself is a modeling amp on a budget. I give the RP-300 because nothing is perfect.
Sound Quality: I use a Fender Jimmie Vaughan Signature Strat >> Ibanez TS-9DX >> Digitech RP-300 >> Fender Princeton 65 amp. The Princeton has a great clean uncluttered tone, so the RP-300 works great. Since I am using a guitar with rather hot single coils there can be some noise. But the noise gate seems to work well enough to solve the noise problem. Most of the amp models are outstanding. I bought the RP-300 because the Princeton 65 has a weak gain sound. I am using the Princeton more as a power amp with the RP-300 as a preamp. I really like the BOUTIQ (based on the Matchless DC30), RECTIF (based on the Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, HOTROD (based on the Mesa/Boogie MkIIc), and STACK (based on the Marshall JCM900). I don't use a lot of effects. I like the compressor, flanger, chorus, the phase shifter, and the reverb. The EQ is very good. It is nice to be able to balance the midrange EQ. I have been able to get a really good blues tone using the HOTROD setting with a touch of chorus. I also was able to get a good Billy Gibbons (close to his mid Seventies sound) tone using the STACK setting with compression. Some of the effects are pretty cheesy, but I am really old school about this kind of stuff. I would have no reason to use the AUTOYA, SYNTHTALK, DETUNE, PITCH, (a pitch shifter that never quite gets it in tune). Some of the presets are good - they make a good starting point for creating your own sound. Some of the presets are terrible.
Reliability/Durability: Have had no problems yet.
Ease of Use: The RP-300 is easy to use if you read the instructions. If you don't read instructions, this thing is going to be a nightmare.
Customer Support: Haven't had to use Customer Support yet
Price: $180.00 USD
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