Buy Richard Hunter’s Huntersounds Patch Set for Digitech RP!
If you’re ready to order, click here right now!
Digitech RP series multi-effects pedals with Huntersounds patches are a must-have for harmonica players
There’s no more economical way for a harp player to add a huge assortment of high-quality sounds to a stage or studio setup than a Digitech RP with Huntersounds patches in it! Start with a half dozen each of great reverbs and great delays—as good or better than dedicated reverb or delay units costing as much or more than an RP device. Add amplifier and cabinet modeling based on dozens of well-known amplifiers, pitch and modulation effects, distortions, and more. You get the picture: this thing rocks. But out of the box, it’s set up for guitar, not harmonica, and it’s not easy to figure out how to make it work for harp. That’s where we come in.
The Huntersounds patch sets unleash the power of the Digitech RP for harp
Richard Hunter’s Huntersounds patch sets for the Digitech RP series devices turn your Digitech RP 150, 155, 200/200A, 250, 255, 350, or 355 into an incredibly powerful harmonica setup. You get full sets of “patches” (pre-configured sound setups) for your Digitech RP 150, 155, 250, 255, 350, or 355, in both single patch and bulk load format, ready for loading into your RP via a USB connection to your computer. (Note: the RP200/200A patches have to be entered by hand; we supply a spreadsheet that contains all the settings.) These are EXACTLY the same sounds used by Richard Hunter on his recordings and performances, and they cover everything from simple reverbs and delays only to massive amped blues and rock sounds. The emphasis throughout every set is on sounds that harmonica players can use immediately in a wide range of styles, and we’ve tweaked every patch over and over to yield the maximum volume and tone without feedback. The results are terrific; check out this rave review by world class stage and studio pro Rob Paparozzi, this total thumbs-up by Australian harp guru Tony Eyers, and these raves by some of the musicians using our RP patch sets on stage and in studio!
Here’s a short clip of us playing a Bottle o’ Blues mic into our RP355 running a blackface deluxe amp model with slapback delay and reverb, recorded live with no editing, overdubs, or post-recording processing. Sure sounds like the real deal to us…
Bottle o’ Blues mic with RP355 Blackface Deluxe
We’re putting clips of all 50 patches in our RP150/155 patch setup up on this site, too. This is the low end of our patch set line, and we think the thing sounds amazing. Click here for the clips!
If you’re ready to order, click here right now!
What’s your gig? We’ve got you covered
Some players just use the reverb and delay only patches in front of their favorite blues harp amp; others take their RP device and a microphone to the gig and plug it straight into the PA for a terrific amped sound on blues, rock, and jazz, or sweet, subtle effects on country and acoustic styles. Hunter’s own stage setup for the last few years has consisted entirely of a Digtech RP device and a Fireball V microphone. That’s the setup he’s used on stage and in studio with some of the most demanding artists and producers in the world. (By the way, you will need SOME kind of external amplifier to go with your RP—it’s an effects device, not an amp, and it won’t make a sound until you plug it into an amplifier. We recommend the cleanest amp you can get your hands on if you’re planning to use the amp modeling features of your RP. A guitar amp set to the cleanest available setting will work fine for most situations, though we prefer a keyboard amp or PA system ourselves.)
Each patch set is optimized for use with the Audix Fireball V microphone, but we know from testing and customer feedback that most of the patches work very well also with “bullet” style mics and vocal mics. (Some of the effects, like chorus and flanging, that require a wide frequency range to be heard in their fullest glory won’t sound quite as beautiful with a bullet mic—bullets just don’t have the frequency response. But the pitch-based effects, like the low octave doublers, work GREAT with a bullet.)
We make it easy
Each patch set ships with a full set of documentation that describes every patch in the bulk load set, with single patches organized by sound category (such as FX, Blues, Clean, Pitch, and so on). All sets ship with a full set of instructions that tell you how to load the patches into your RP and set the RP up for performance. The entire collection of patch files weighs in at less than a megabyte, so it will download easily even on a dial-up Internet connection. All buyers also get a year of FREE updates to the patch set, meaning that every time we add a new patch to the set during your first year as a licensee, we send it to you. Finally, we provide email support for our users. Our goal is to get you up and running with your RP, making great music, as quickly and easily as possible.
Finally, we need to add a little bit of legal stuff related to the patchset. You will need to agree to the terms before your online purchase can be completed.
If you’re ready to order, click here right now!
FAQ
Q: Which Digitech device should I buy?
A: First, let’s note that whatever device you buy, you can certainly buy one used to save money. All of these devices are readily available on the second-hand market; kids (or their parents) buy them, try them, can’t figure them out, and get rid of them, so there are plenty out there for sale in good-to-great condition (and I’m here to help you figure them out). We own one of every device we make patches for, almost all of them were bought as factory seconds or used, and they’ve all been working fine for years. (We got the RP150 from Guitar Center for $25 shipped, as opposed to the original price of $100.) So when you’ve figured out your budget, by all means check eBay and Guitar Center to see what’s on offer there.
That said, we recommend the RP355 first, for a number of reasons:
Digitech RP355
Our second choice would be a used RP350, which has almost all the features of the RP355. RP350s have been discontinued by Digitech, but can still be serviced by Digitech dealers. Sound-wise, they’re identical to the RP355, except for the few additional amp and cabinet models in the 355.
If money (or space onstage) is tight, an RP255 or 250 will work fine. They don’t have every last one of the cool amp models and FX from the RP350/355, but they’ve got all the ones we use for our patches most often, AND an expression pedal, which is the most important hardware feature of the RP350/355. We’ve used our RP255 on gigs and in the studio with fine results.
Digitech RP255
If money or space onstage is REALLY tight, we recommend an RP150 or 155. Those devices don’t have an expression pedal, but the sound engine is the same as the one in the RP255 and RP355, and it’s got all the amp models and cabinets we use for the vast majority of our patches, PLUS all the reverbs and delays we use most often. We really love the sound of the 150/155! It works every bit as well as the bigger devices as a computer audio interface too.
Digitech RP155
Finally, if you’ve got an RP200 lying around and you want to make use of it, go for it. It has no USB connection, so you have to enter the patch data by hand (which takes an hour or so), but it certainly sounds good (except for the reverbs, which are just barely good enough for live work). Just keep in mind that if the thing breaks (which happens sometimes with a chip-based device that went out of production ten years or so ago), you’re going to have to re-enter your patch data by hand into another RP200 if you want to keep using those sounds. Trust us when we say that the USB connection with the newer RPs pays for itself fast if you’re in that kind of situation.
If you’re ready to order, click here right now!
Q: What else do I need besides the patch set?
A: You’ll need:
Peavey KB2 Amplifier
If you can’t find a KB-2, there are plenty of other options. We’ve played through powered PA speakers from Mackie, Peavey, and others that sound great. Peavey offers a powered PA speaker with a 12″ woofer, 100 watts of power, and three inputs with individual volume controls for about $340. Mackie offers a very nice speaker with similar specs for about $300. Again, look for something with at least a 10″ speaker and 100 watts of power. A powered PA speaker (or two for a stereo setup) and an RP is a powerful, versatile, and lightweight setup for most gigs.
You do NOT need an external preamp for input to the RP. The RP will work fine with a mic at the input. You do NOT need a direct box (DI) to connect the RP to your amp or PA unless the cable run from the RP is longer than 50 feet (20 meters).
Q: Can the patches be converted to work with other Digitech devices, like the RP80, RP200, RP500, RP1000, or Vocal 300?
A: Unfortunately, no. Digitech’s devices are pretty feature-specific, and there’s no automated way to convert from the RP150/155/250/255/350/355 to other devices they offer. It is possible to convert patches from one of these devices to another, by hand or by using Digitech’s utility program, but there are three good reasons not to:
1) It’s a violation of your license to use the patches, which is specific to the device you ordered the patches for.
2) You won’t get your year of free updates for the other device, so you’ll have to do conversions every time we send out a patch update.
3) There is no way to do an automated bulk load conversion from one device to another, so you’ve got to do the conversion patch by patch, which takes lots of time. If you’d like to do a crossgrade from one device to another, contact us.
Q: What styles of music will this patch set work for?
A: You name it. We supply patches in this set for just about every purpose, and we have played rock, folk, acoustic, blues, jazz, and wedding gigs with these patches. For most gigs, all you’ll need to do is bring the RP, your mic, and a couple of cables, and plug straight into the PA. It’s great for musicians who travel on planes–you can throw your entire rig into a shoulder bag and know EXACTLY what you’re going to sound like when you get to the gig.
Q: How do I record using the RP?
A: See this: Three ways to record with your RP. We’ve used all of these techniques at one time or another with good results. Recording with the RP in general is easy, whether you’re recording into a dedicated recording device or a computer, and tracks recorded with the RP sound great.
Q: What do I do if I need help?
A: Contact us via email, and we’ll give you whatever help we can.