This was a decent unit for what it was at the time, and still good for a basic multi-effects board

One of Digitech's first entries into the guitar amp modeling world, this multi-effects pedal was their top-of-the line floor unit at the time it was produced. It includes 10 amp models, three cabinet models, two acoustic guitar simulations, 4-band EQ (with two semi-parametric mid bands), a collection of "standard" effects (wah, compressor, phaser, flanger, chorus, reverb, delay, tremolo, vibrato, etc) along with less-common options like a rotary speaker simulator, envelope filter/auto-wah, and pitch shifter. It also has several Digitech-specific effects including "Auto-Yah" (exactly what it sounds like), "Talker" (a now-rare vocoder/vocal synth), all the functions of the legendary Whammy manual pitch-shifter/harmony pedal, and even a few extra tools including a (very basic) drum machine, "Learn-A-Lick" phrase sampler, and "Jam-A-Long" input for playing along to any music player with a headphone jack.

OK great, that's like everything anybody could possibly want - Yay! Except, how does it actually sound?

It's a mixed bag. Like just about any multi-effects processor, it will sound better if you're not using as many effects at once, and progressively worse as you add more effects that require more processing power. This is a limit of digital technology in general, and here the RP2000 can really show its age compared to newer units with more horsepower and updated processing algorithms. But even today, it IS useful if you're just running a few effects at a time.

The individual effects vary pretty widely in how "authentic" they sound; some are quite musical, and some were probably better left out even at the time it was built. I'll be the first to admit that I've always preferred a real amp, even a good solid-state amp, over digitally-modeled versions, so I'm comparing this to other amp/effects simulators rather than any analog amps and effects. With that said, I bought this almost 15 years ago when it was still a reasonably competitive amp-sim (by industry standards, not mine), and I just don't like the simulations. They're "good enough" for late-night practice, but I would never use them for recording or playing live. I would say that other offerings available in 1999 were at least a little better - the old Johnson combos and the original Line 6 POD were more popular, and for good reason.

However, many of the other effects are pretty good, even today (with the caveat that they DO sound digital, which may or may not be a problem for you). The reverb and delay options are all usable, and there are several types for each of these. Most of the other effects have plenty of parameters to tweak, generally more than would be available on a pedal version of the same thing. These "bread and butter" effects are where the Digitech can actually shine a bit, as long as you're sticking to one or two effects at a time. I suspect that, rather than "modeling" analog versions of these entries, Digitech probably recycled algorithms from their EXCELLENT line of rack-mounted tube preamps from earlier in the 90s. Now THOSE are some processors I'd like to get my hands on again!

I do think it's interesting - and a little frustrating - that Digitech didn't include ANY distortion algorithms, instead leaving all of that functionality to the amp/cab sim and EQ sections. This may be because they knew people would be disappointed with this floor-based unit not having preamp tubes like the rack units that came before it, or maybe they just wanted to push their new amp-modeling entries - either way, it seems like the wrong decision to me. Ah, the 90s, right?

Now, for Digitech's proprietary effects - the Talker, Auto-Yah, and the Whammy! I've never tried the Talker; I don't have a dynamic mic to make it work, and I'm honestly not that interested. But I DO remember when the standalone Talker pedal came out; Digitech put out a magazine ad with a phone number you could call to hear what it sounded like, and I called the number. It was a pretty advanced-sounding vocoder and vocal synth, not at all like an old talk-box. I'm not sure how to describe it; I've never heard anything like it on a record. But I don't like the kind of music that you would use this for, so I can't rate it much further than that.

Ditto for the Auto-Yah, although I have played with that one enough to know how it works. It's essentially like an auto-wah, except it sweeps different frequencies so instead of "wahwahwah" it goes "yahyahyah". Again, interesting, but not something I'd use a lot.

Finally, what everybody's been wanting to hear about: the Whammy emulation, packed into a multi-effects pedal by Digitech themselves! I'm sure I don't have to list all the legendary players who used the standalone Whammy pedals on some of their biggest and best records; we all know what this thing is supposed to do, so I'll just compare the version included here with the dedicated pedals. The verdict is: Not bad, actually. Digitech included a treadle controller so you can do the same crazy dives and screeches, and switch the harmony settings back and forth, just like the original. It is a LITTLE glitchier than the standalone pedal, but if you've played any of those, you already know that they're pretty temperamental, and EXTREMELY digital-sounding - that's part of their appeal. The Whammy was never a pristine or "pretty" effect, and it wasn't supposed to be, so I would say that the version included with this pedal is reasonably faithful to the original when you consider how much more is actually packed into the unit.

Overall: Not something I would take to a gig, even 20 years ago, but I do still use it in the effects loop on my ADA-MP1 preamp (which allows you to switch the loop out of the circuit, so no digital sound unless I want it). The reverbs and delays are especially handy, and I have several presets that use the Whammy harmonizer. Usually I'll just use one or two of these effects at a time, and it holds up well for that. The 3-star rating is largely due to its age; it's just not reasonable to give it more when there are so many newer units that sound better. But if it was 1999, that rating would be 4 stars. I'm going to keep playing it.

Awesome

Great Amps/FX. Cuts Live. Drum Machine. Superior Wah Sounds.