The Digitech RP12 offers the guitarist an 'everything in one box' alternative to the struggle with pedals, leads, and connectors. John Harris dons his winkle pickers and tries it on for size.

The philosophy of having virtually everything the guitarist needs in one box has been around for some time, but those guitarists still struggling with separate effects pedals, leads, MIDI connections, and rack effects interfacing may need convincing. They need look no further than the Digitech RP12.

The RP12 will allay some of the fears of the analogue pedal fraternity, because Digitech continue with their design philosophy of using combined analogue and digital effect configurations. The front end compression and distortion remain in analogue hands so in theory the warm, harmonically rich sounds the guitarist has come to know and love are not compromised by the harsh digital experience. Yet digital processing power is provided for classy effects like reverb, delay, modulation, sampling, noise gating, EQ, cabinet simulation, and pitch shifting. In addition, there are some extra goodies including arpeggiation, wah and whammy bar, noise gate, phase inversion, and a built-in guitar tuner. Naturally, you need a lot of programs to show off such a range of effects, and the RP12 is loaded with 128 factory and 128 user programs.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It seems that Digitech have crammed an awful lot into this fairly small, elegantly slim pedalboard. And on first inspection, it was the size of the 12 switching pedals that caused me a little bit of worry. My feet aren't that big, but I was cautious when toe tapping through the switches so winkle pickers rather than Doc Martens and Nike footwear may be advisable!

All the controls you need are on the pedalboard face, and as the buttons are so small, it's likely that you'll want to have the RP12 at chair or table height when getting into some serious effects editing. In contrast, the output level is not to be missed; it's a large rotary pot to the right of the unit (thankfully not on the rear panel — well done Digitech!), and the green backed main display window is easily visible from floor level. The display clearly shows the information you need for editing, the program number, input level, and a DSP (digital signal processor) peak LED. The last is in case you get carried away with the analogue front end of compression and distortion levels and overload the DSP section.

THE INS AND OUTS

On the rear panel are the mono input, left and right output, and headphone socket for quarter-inch jack connection. The left audio output is the one to use when running the RP12 in its internal stereo mode to an external mono rig and is clearly labelled. This strikes me as being really important, because to be honest, not many guitarists have got a stereo setup so the Digitech must be able to function well in mono too. To this end, they have also included an internal mono mode, which is idiot proof, because you can take a mono signal from either audio output.

There are two MIDI sockets on the rear panel, with a MIDI in and a switchable MIDI out and Thru. Located right alongside them and looking to all intents and purposes like a MIDI socket, were it not for the label, is the four pin power socket. This might look like a neat arrangement, but I can guarantee that there will be some confusion between power and MIDI in the heat of the moment, because there's no labelling on the top panel of the RP12, only on the rear.

"... exceptional sustain that allows you to fall easily into power chords and the screaming lead guitar hero pose of your choice"

PEDALLING MIDI

The pedals can be assigned various MIDI attributes to carry out their actions. For example, the switching pedals can be assigned to act in a variety of ways: as program changers, or as Continuous Controllers toggling between 0 and 127 (ie. acting as on/off switches). These cover the main functions, bank increment/decrement, calling up programs within a bank (which the bottom row come factory set to do), and turning on or off effects within a program (which the top row are set up to do). You are able to customise this assignment, but it seems a sensible option to start with. However, if you think banks of five programs may be limiting, bear in mind that guitarists who want to use programs from a wide variety of locations within the RP12 can make a custom list of up to 32 programs and assign one pedal to scroll up and another to scroll down the list. Neat! It may even be easier to think of the pedals as the master unit and the effects section as the slave receiving the commands. These commands can also be sent out to control external MIDI devices, but there's more.

Program changes can be sent out on any MIDI channel, and the RP12 can even program map the numbers for up to four external devices on separate MIDI channels! This makes it quite a powerful tool in a larger system, but it doesn't have to be the master force in the system. Its ability to program map incoming data and also act as a MIDI Merge unit enable it to fit effortlessly into a bigger system controlled by an external device like a computer sequencer or patchbay system. Ten links can be set up to form partnerships between a pedal and a parameter. For example, the unit comes with pedal 6 assigned to the distortion on/off parameter and pedal 7 to chorus/flange/phaser on/off switching. Basically, the RP12 arrives set up in the most realistically useful arrangement for playing live gigs, because you can switch on and off all the most commonly used effects within a program.

Should you feel the need to experiment, you'll be pleased to know that each program can store its own set of pedal assignments. Some masking tape and a pen may be useful to label up some of your links. Luckily, there's plenty of room underneath the existing legend for a strip of tape. If the worst comes to the worst, you can always recall the old patch from the factory presets and start again! If you're successful, you're safe in the knowledge that your custom programs can be safely dumped via MIDI system exclusive to an external MIDI recorder.

"I was impressed by the variety of sounds you could get using the RP12's effects."

IN REAL-TIME

The switch pedals may carry out the static assignments, but it's the real-time controller pedal that enables all the fun to happen. Many of the most impressive programs on the pedalboard have some form of real-time control, whether it's simply volume, wah, whammy bar style pitch drops or reverb decay time control. The pedal can be assigned to most parameters, but care must be taken to match the amount of available pedal movement to the effect parameter. For example, you may want to use it to increase the amount of reverb decay time, but within usable limits — say from 600ms to 5s, not 0 to 20s! To this end, there are minimum and maximum controls available within the programming procedure.

PROGRAMMING

The operational hierarchy of the Digitech RP12 runs like this: Banks (25) > Programs (256) > Algorithm sections (36) > Individual Algorithms (effects) > Parameters. The algorithm section is the configuration, or running order, of the effects in the chain and the way the signal path is routed through the chain. I can't pretend that it's the simplest thing in the world to program your own sounds, if you've never used this type of system before, but if you keep a picture in your head of a chain of pedal effects with the ability to mix and match the amount of effect at various stages in the chain, you've got the main thrust of it.

Creating a program involves choosing an algorithm, modifying the parameters to your liking, and then storing them. For those who are program shy, there are plenty of excellent and usable sounds already available in the RP12. Editing existing patches is also a fairly painless exercise. For example, if you just want to increase the amount of distortion, you simply call up the program you want to work on and take the fast track route to the distortion parameters using the effects library switches, instead of working through the other parameters. All the main effects are represented by switches, and it's a real time saver when editing.

A STAGE FURTHER

The more adventurous programmers will be impressed by the linear parameter, wrap around layout of the programs. There are no multiple level menus and sub-headings to wade through, just a simple left and right parameter switch to step forward or back through everything at high or low speed and an increment/decrement switch to choose your algorithm! On the downside, I lost count of the number of times I hit program instead of parameter up. The switch layouts, placed side by side, are labelled, but the button pattern is identical.

When you start to examine the programs, you find that each one contains both analogue and digital processing stages known as the Input/Output and the Algorithm section. The I/O contains analogue compression, distortion, clean/distortion level, digital noise gate, DSP master level, parametric EQ, and cabinet emulator. The algorithm section houses the reverb, delay/sampler, modulation, pitch shift, and mixer sections.

Digitech recognise that this seemingly innocuous mixer section can prove complicated for users and therefore keep it hidden on all the programs. Basically, a simple digital mixer appears in the chain between each effect in the Algorithm section of the program, allowing multiple module (effect) outputs to be connected to a single input of another effect. The mixers come in a variety of input and output configurations, depending upon the complexity of the algorithm; the largest is an eight into two.

Each mixer channel is equipped with an input level to give you maximum control over levels coming from and going to different effects in the chain. For example, you may want more of the dry rather than chorused signal going to a delay unit, or you may want to pan an effect more to one side than another. Gaining control of mixer levels and pan controls is easy enough — they can be revealed on the display — but it's well worth following the algorithm flow charts in the manual to keep track of what you're doing to the signal path.

"For me, the impressive thing about the sound was the variety of special effects you can get by taking the speed and depth parameters to the extreme..."

CONCLUSION

To make the most of the RP12, you really need to hear it in stereo. I tested it with an amp and speakers, and also directly into a desk and good quality monitors. In the first scenario, the quality of the sounds were superb from the start, especially the overdrive. Into a desk, you need to work a little to take the edge off the sound, and because the speaker emulator seems to just operate as a low-pass filter you need to equalise the sounds more. However, it still works very well through a small PA system for both small and large gigs. In an ideal world, I would probably go for a valve power amp and two 1 by 12 cabs to maximise the stereo effect — of course, you'd be very lucky to get stereo foldback at any gig!

I was impressed by the variety of sounds you could get using the RP12's effects. Not only do you have a large choice, but you are able to vary the parameters, especially of the modulation section, to much greater extremes than most other units seem to offer.

The sound of the unit is definitely orientated towards the American style of guitar playing, with exceptional sustain that allows you to fall easily into power chords and the screaming lead guitar hero pose of your choice. Britpop and Blues fans may well be left scratching their heads, but secretly admiring the digital effects section and the possibilities it offers. Dance producers will love it for the opportunities it offers to sample some off-the-wall effects combinations, and tech heads will enjoy playing with the MIDI section. Yet for MIDIphobes the accessibility of the RP12's goodies without obvious recourse to MIDI is a real plus point.

That's something for everyone I think!

Digitech RP12 £549.95 inc VAT.

Arbiter Music Technology, (Contact Details).