Digitech Discontinues the RP500 and RP1000. We’re Still Making Sounds For Them.
Digitech has discontinued the RP500 and RP1000 guitar multiFX devices, meaning there will be no further development for these products. The facts are that:
1) There is a large supply of RP500s and RP1000s out there on the used market in good-to-great condition at prices well under $200 for the RP500 and $300 for the RP1000;
2) These devices are built tough as nails, and they generally don’t break unless and until you throw them off a cliff;
3) These devices sound very good, and they’re going to sound good until they stop working, which will take a while. Instruments don’t stop sounding good just because someone stopped making them.
4) The RP500 and RP1000 are as close as you can get to a stompbox experience in a single device, with dedicated footswitches for compression, distortion, modulation FX, delay, and reverb, not to mention tap tempo for the delay. One of my patch sets will put 50 great blues, rock, country, and other setups into it in a matter of a few minutes.
I will continue to support development of new sounds for these devices for the foreseeable future, not least because it’s my main rig and will remain so. I will continue to sell and support patch sets for these devices for the foreseeable future. I will of course continue to introduce new patch sets for other devices, starting soon with the Line 6 Spider V series amps and the Zoom G3N, in that order.
In case you haven’t heard it, here’s what an RP500 sounds like in action. I should also note that every harmonica track on my record “The Lucky One” went through an RP500 before it hit the recording console.
If you liked that, you’ll like these:
the 21st century blues harmonica manifesto in sound
Get it on Amazon
Get it on iTunes
the rock harmonica masterpiece
Get it on Amazon
Get it on iTunes
3 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
My comments previously posted in the Digitech.com Forum, given to Digitech’s management in its decision to discontinue the RP1000 (these comments apply to the RP500 too).
Great stuff Richard you provide on these units here at your web site.
“Digitech management – why dropped the ball on the best multi-FX products?â€:
Digitech management seems to have been transformed in recent years, with respect to multi-effects units, to one that “grabbed defeat from the jaws of victoryâ€. Digitech had designed and sold the best multi-FX pedal – the masterpiece RP1000 – and inexplicably discontinued the entire product and aborted it, with nary a thought it seems to capitalizing on the genius of the design of the unit by upgrading it and keeping that pride & profit product line. The discontinued RP1000 still today is in a class by itself with its ingenious design, including its amp loop and pedalboard loop “integrated switching†capabilities.
How could a company and its management drop the ball so badly by dropping such a design coup like the RP1000 integrated effects switching system and discontinue it with no modernizing upgrade or replacement, and abandon leadership in the multi-FX field to its competitors? It boggles the mind.
Anyone in Digitech’s current management care, or dare, to answer this question?
Phillip (a proud owner of the Digitech RP1000)
Pathetic excuse for management. I can’t believe that they actually dropped both units. What a shame on them!!!
I’m with you guys 100%. I love my RP1000 and can’t imagine what I’ll do if and when it finally stops working. Digitech’s decision to discontinue this incredible device is inexplicably foolish, IMO.