[Harp-L] Close encounter with an RP 150 -- huge disappointment

[martin oldsberg <martinoldsberg@xxxxxxxxx>]

Like quite a few on the list I´ve felt inclined towards testing one of the Digitech RP gadgets. When I saw an add for a 150 with a really good price I bought it. (I know the 150 is the little brother in the family, but as I said, the price was convincing.)
  I tried it out in my kitchen first, low volume, using the factory settings and plugged in to on my small Roland Mobile, and thought everything looked promising: three or four interesting patches. (Been meaning to get in touch with Richard Hunter later on for more harmonica tweaked sounds but thought it good to ge a grip on the thing at first.)
 
With light steps I then proceeded to a rehearsal with one of the bands I play with, thinking that perhaps this is not the Holy Grail but maybe I finally could compete with those guitars in terms of volume and possibly have a decent sound as well.
  Erh ..., no.  I connected it to the PA, chose one of the settings that had sounded passable at home, and it was total crap -- as well as feeding back at very humble volume. Impossible, unusable.
  I kept on, going through the entire catalogue of programmed sounds and it was Feedback City all over and impossibly thin and harsh sounds. Spent an hour with this, then gave up, feeling slightly violent. Started to pack my things to go home when one of the guys said, "Hey, there´s a 50 W Roland amp standing in that cupboard, why don´t you try that?"
  Sure thing -- but more of the same. Realised I was defeated and went home and put the thing in a drawer, resisting the urge to throw it into one of the canals.
 
Of course, that PA is not top of the line, in fact not very impressive but functional -- but the Roland is really good stuff. Was using my regular Beyer dynamic, and that was it.
 
Is there anyone with the same experience who can give me hope for this thing? I own an equalizer, but otherwise I´m not big on gear.
  
Obviously Richard Hunter has managed to find some great sounds for various RP pedals (samples on his homepage) and as far as I understand it quite a few others are happy as well. Can´t see the problem here. (There was for instance absolutely no bass response, neither through PA nor the Roland combo.)
 
I´m a big boy now so I take responsibility for my actions, but I must say I had hoped for more with this thing.
 
Cheers,
Martin