[Harp-L] New Richard Hunter RP250/350 patch set coming

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all, 

This is a quick message to advise that I have a new patch set for the RP250/350 under development, and I'm excited to report that this one will have a lot of great stuff in it for all players, including those who just want great effects at a low price to go with their current amped setups.

This patch set will include:
1)  Completely new patches with amp modeling, including revised EQ curves for all patches, with a more extensive range of amp models (for RP350 users especially), including both direct and clean models plus some new "high gain" amp patches.  I've studied the EQ curves in particular (on an oscilloscope, no less) to maximize the phat in every patch.
2)  For the RP350, full use of "A" and "B" amp models, so users can switch instantly between (for example) high and low-gain amp models with the same effects chain.  In effect, RP350 users will have close to 140 patches in the box ready to go--an enormous range of sounds.  
3)  A new organization scheme for the patches that puts patches with the same amp models and different effects chains side by side on the RP.  Users will be able to switch from a basic amped sound to an octave, double octave, vibrato, rotary, etc. patch with the same amped sound nearly instantly.  
4) A small set of new patches that use the RP's effects to produce some very "outside" sounds--weird stuff that will scare dogs and small children while delighting afficianados of electronic sounds.  Let's face it--you don't use that stuff on every song, let alone every gig.  But when you want to blow somebody's mind, or your own, you'll have the goods.
5)  A change in design for all patches, eliminating footpedal control for volume and using the footpedal instead to control something more useful, such as delay time or depth, reverb depth, or effects depth.  Since most players use mics with volume controls, and since anyone else can buy an on-mic volume control from people like Greg Heumann at blowsmeaway.com for a reasonable price, it seemed like a waste of a perfectly good pedal to use it for controlling volume.  Users can of course change any patch to set up the footpedal to control volume if they like, but once you've tried using the footpedal to control reverb depth I doubt you'll ever want to go back.   
6)  Finally, for people who love the sound of their current amp but want a big set of high quality effects at a low price, this set will include patches for basic effects chains such as delay, delay + reverb, vibrato/flange/chorus/rotary/etc. + delay + reverb, and so on, with EQ optimized for selected mics and NO amp modeling.  You'll be able to take your RP250 or 350, put it in front of your favorite amp or in the amp's effects loop, and have your favorite amped sound PLUS great effects--for a fraction of the cost of buying dedicated effects for reverb, delay, octave doubling, chorus, flanging, vibrato, rotary, etc.  The RPs have always had great delays (and plenty of them), and the 250/350 have Lexicon reverbs in them, which makes them a very good buy for the reverbs and delays alone.

Put it all together, and for the price of an RP250/350 ($150-$200 new) plus my patch set ($25), you'll have a solution that provides a huge range of great sounds for any situation you've got.  Love the sound of your current amp?  This setup will give you great effects to go with it for a fraction of the cost of a dedicated set of pedals--in fact, for less than the cost of a reverb or delay pedal.  Can't take the amp to the gig?  Take the RP with you in a shoulder bag, plug it into the PA, and you'll have all those effects PLUS a dozen great-sounding modeled amps ready to go.

The first release of this set will be for RP350 users only, within about a month.  The second release will be for RP250 users, and will take a bit longer, because I have to convert the RP350 patches to RP250 format by hand. Both these releases will be optimized for the Audix Fireball mic, and will be FREE to registered owners.  (If you bought the previous versions of the RP250/350 set, you're a registered owner.)  The next releases after that will be optimized for the Shure 545 SD and Astatic JT30VC mics, in that order, and those sets also will be free to registered owners.

I'll offer more information on this new set as the release date approaches.  In the meantime, thanks to everybody who's offered feedback on the sets I've produced to date.  Every bit of feedback, positive or otherwise, helps me produce better stuff for the next revision, and I'm grateful to everyone who's provided it.

Regards, Richard Hunter


author, "Jazz Harp"
latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
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