Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Anyone tried one of these things out? They look might impressive. I am in need of a better amp for guitar and was considering one of these...

http://www.fender.com/products/gdec3

I tend to run away from any amp with a computer built in. I figure that's what pedals are for. Amps are for pure tube lovin'.

http://www.carvinguitars.com/guitaramps/

The fender G-dec amps are great tools for any new to mid experienced player and has some good programs for teaching a lot of basic and medium skills. I don't think it would satisfy you in a band situation. I have A fender bassman 210/250 that I use with my bass and guitar and it holds its own. The fender frontman 150 and rumble 30 amps I have are also simple and do a great job for the monies I spent . The rumble does a great job thru the PA and keeps up with the band at practice OK. The one I hate is the crate 210 GFX model that has too much BS too figure out and can be difficult getting what your looking for. I think some of the modeling amps just get too complicated , aren't very user friendly , and they get expensive quick. I think keeping it stupid simple works best for me.

I bought a rumble 75 bass amp and it kicks dam good for what it is. I was just looking at ne amps at my fav store's website, saw the g-dec and checked some of the promo vids and it sounded impressive...

I have a zoom G1u for sounds but the editing screen on the fender seemed better laid out. maybe it's just because I use the netbook and the screen is small?

as far as not working in a band, is that because it doesn't have enough balls being only 30 watt?

I've got a G-Dec and love it to death. Compared to other 'modeling' amps like Line 6 and G-Dec was for me, the best.

Little thing is extremely loud on some presets. I can make it sound like a Marshall or like a something the Beach Boys would use. Loud enough to play along with a drummer and bass.

Very nice nice sounding amp for practice. Probably have to push it too hard for any decent sized room however - as in live gigs.

Just my .02

Talbot

Update

I retract my statement that G-Dec is loud enough for drummer and bass. It just barely holds it's own and sounds a bit thin on ten. Found out the hard way - loud is different when that kick drum starts banging and the bass man does his thing. I believe the issue is the small speaker - just not enough depth.

Great little prac amp. Take the big stuff for a gig though.

Talbot

Or link through the PA.

No one in the band needs a thousand watt amp if you utilize a good board with plenty of monitor and main options and power to spare.
Take the good tone and make it loud for the crowd.

That's my plan ... for what it's worth.

Just for conversation sake, this is my next step up and away from the powered mixer we have been using for the last three years.

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/s ... 448&cid=13

San

Even miking the amp, G-Dec and it's Line 6 etc pals is probably not a good bet. The Fender Mustang series might do the job. (G-Dec might do for miking accoustic act)

I say this because while G-Dec has numerous lovely sounds the speaker it packs just can't deliver enough depth.

I have a Mustang V 200 watt head which is the only stand alone head in the Mustang family. (the other Mustangs vary from nearly as small as G-Dec to pretty serious)

I run it through a Marshall 4x. Do I need that much oomph?


Maybe. And since it sounds great at moderate volume it gives me a lot of reserve.

I don't have strong opinions other than with what I have available since I'm still playing catch up on electronics. The days when I would just run my guitar through an old Ampeg bass amp are over.

What's good about that rig is if I turn it to a moderate volume for practice (but loud enough where notes sustain and really sounds good) (setting is only 2.5-3.5) It will sound like I'm roaring through two stacks of Marshalls.

At the identical volume the G-Dec falls off quite a bit. Its a prac amp and a good one, but miking it would depend upon several factors other than volume - wouldn't want to boost a bad sound.

Ultimately it makes all kind of sense to control volume centrally but I haven't done that in years so I'm open to trying anything. When I was set up that way the guitar man still used a Marshall stack and I had big stuff for the bass. Always about tone. But now days tone is available in places it wasn't before such as solid state, and lower volumes.

cheers
Talbot

Well put Mike.

That's the thing I really like about my Nomad.
Not only can I get the sounds I want at a moderate volume thanks to the combination of volume and soak controls.
But it has a cab voiced output that I can feed into the PA.
To my ear that out is every bit as rich as what is being produced from the single 12" speaker in that combo.
And just as reactive to my song by song tweaking of my amps tone depending on the needed sound.

I've learned a lot over the last three years playing with that amp.
Though I still have a lot of learning to go, that is part of what makes it so fun.