Conference napalm::guitar

	I had an Ibanez RP100. It got annoying very quickly. The distortion
	was far too dry and silicon-sounding. The tape deck was finicky,
	too. It would have phasing problems if I didn't lie it flat.

	Save your money. I can hear the distant call of an RG550.

    I've had one for about a year and I love it. The only bad part is that
    the 'human interface' (buttons) are a little hokey but the sound is
    really quite nice the chorus must be the same ibeneze chorus circuit
    that use(d) in the pedal unit which i also own. It's not a bad chorus
    and the distorition is also rich and doesnt have the scrathy fake
    sound; it does sound pretty chunky. The 1/2 speed is why i bought it
    and i have been very happy with it. YOu can get the tape right to the
    poiint you want the tape to slow down (most of the time the lead guit
    solo and switch into slo-mo very easily without having the tape jump or
    miss notes. It's also an excellenty travel companion for prcticing with
    all of you effects on the road. AND it even has a mixing funciton that
    is surpisingly profesional sounding. There are 2 knobs for tape volume
    and intrument volume and you can get the mix exactly the way tou like
    it. You cant record your stuff using this box but you can take the line
    out into your streo and record that way. It's a lot of funtionality for
    the money and the sound is good. Audition one, you'll like it. Until i
    had heard about it I was looking for an old turntable with 16 rpms to
    try and learn solos. Also i almost forgot one excellent feature is
    pitch control and this really works fine as well so you dont have to
    retune down to play with Stevie Ray or Jimi. I highly recommend this
    little ditty; now I have seen in the trade mags a somewhat more
    professional looking model but i dont know the brand or the cost. It
    looked kind of like a rack uniot as I recall but for value I doubt if
    you could beeat the Ibenez. (Again my uniot is a year or so old; I hope
    they havent cheapend up the electronics because as I say if you can get
    past the chincy knobs etc the sound is quite good.

    Don't know where this goes and I don't have time to check into it. JC,
    if ya know where to move it, please do.
    
    I'm thinking about one of these Ibanez tape practice devices that I've 
    seen at Daddy's for $106. Anybody have one? Have you found it useful,
    helpful, curteous, kind, clean, brave, and reverent? (extract from Boy
    Scout motto). Is it any more than a novelty, that is can you really use
    it to learn tunes with the 1/2 speed thing?
    
    "sakman" 

    My teacher has the Rock'n'Play.  I'd say its a must for figuring out
    Satch solos ;-)  The new sampler that works with it would be cool too.
    It samples up to 15 seconds off the tape and loops on it at whatever
    speed you set.  Great for learning solos!
    
    Mike

    Tell us more about this sampler thing.  Who makes it?  Ibanez?  How
    much does it cost?  Is it included in the "rock & play" thing? (why
    does that name sound like a kid's toy to me?  Speak n' Spell...)
    
    Greg

    Yeah, does it do pitch shifting to maintain the key when you vary the
    speed?

	
	I had an RP100 for a while. The tape unit was very cheezy and
	would have phase problems if not used laying flat. The tone
	was also very inflexible and got on my nerves in a hurry. I've
	since moved into a Tascam 424 which has a decent 1/2 speed mode.

	The RP100's 1/2 speed mode takes the pitch down an octave and
	there is a pitch adjust +/- 15% so that you don't have to
	mess around too much with tuning.

	The RP50 is a digital phrase sampler that can catch something
	like 15 seconds of sound and play it back at half speed. I don't
	know much about its features.

	I haven't had any experience with the RP200. I would hope that
	the playback unit is more robust.

    If you wanna really go nuts, try the bass version of the Rock'n'Play,
    since it has *double speed*.  The idea is that by raising the bass
    licks an octave you can hear them better.  They are also twice as fast,
    just what you need to drive you crazy deciphering Jaco licks.
    
    						Barfbaghead

    Well, Friday nite the wife bitched me out like you read about in PMS
    magazine. On my way home from work, I stopped into Daddy's and got the
    HP200. The dude tightened me up by selling it to me for $99.95, a sale 
    price they had on it last month. Otherwise, they're asking/getting
    $119.95.
    
    I'm sure it'll prove to be a useful device. 1/2 speed really
    works in following the notes of a solo. In fact it sorta evaporates the
    magic. I tried it out with SRV' Empty Arms, and Little Wing. I don't
    have the tunes "down cold" yet, but listening to passages in 1/2 speed 
    doesn't seem like so much of a stretch to learn 'em. Like
    everything else, it's a matter of puttin' in the time. Also the pitch
    control is *very* helpful. You can always be in tune with it from
    artist to artist/tape to tape. This is somthing that a traditional
    tape player lacks.
    
    The downside of the unit is that, in comparison to the Rockman, the 
    sound is marginal. The distortion IMHO sucks. Its way too much. It
    doesn't have echo but it does have a cheesy chorus. Now, having said
    that, balanced against the fact that it is not designed to be a
    practice tool a la the Rockman, rather a learning tool, it works fine. 
    The tone is good enough for playing along with tunes and learning stuff. 
    And, given the 1/2 speed capability and the pitch control, the unit is a 
    good tool. For that purpose, its worth the money. If in future
    itereations, they improve the tone to sound as good or even better than
    the Rockman, this will be one great device, depending upon the price.
    
    "sakman"   

    Can you record with it too?
    
    Greg

    No, it's just a playback unit. But I'll bet in coupla years someone if
    not Ibanez will offer such a guitar players "scratchpad".
    
    "sakman"

>>    Well, Friday nite the wife bitched me out like you read about in PMS
>>    magazine. On my way home from work, I stopped into Daddy's and got the
    
    
    I'm falling off my chair laughing! How to I subscribe? My wife is
    unexpectedly pregnant and I could use a prescription!

Not to wander from the subject, but if you think pregnancy is tough on
you - just wait until a week or two after the tyke is born.  Can you say 
post-partum.  Yeowch!
jc

    Post- and pre-partum can be tough, but a little understanding goes a
    long way.
    
    Mike

    Really.  If men had to give birth, there wouldn't be no freakin'
    population explosion.
    
    Dave

    re: -1`
    
    Coop understands, it's just that his mouth is alot faster than his
    brain..."Gee, honey, you're not *near* as fat as you used to be...er, I
    mean, uh, well..."   |^)
    
    Dawg (jes kiddin' of course!)
    

    
    a little bit of vitamin b6 does wonders in toning down the fallout from
    PMS - supposedly it boosts the estrogen levels.  In a house with 5
    females (counting the dog, its just me and the cat against them) such
    information becomes very useful (especially when its too hot, cold or
    wet outside to hide!).
    
    bob(not kiddin')