Guitar Bug

jonorigin said:
I've got one and it's great. Just works, simple as that! It's great to not be stepping over wires all the time as well!


Sounds good. I take it there's no noticable drop in quality from wired? We have got a gig coming up at the London Astoria and I really want the space and freedom on stage. I'm bit paranoid that it will break though!
 
jonorigin said:
I haven't noticed a drop in quality at all, and the freedom it gives you on (and off!) stage is great!

Sorry to keep bugging (!) you! whats the range like as well and in your opinion, is it going to be inusive on an SG standard (jack goes out at 90 degrees to the body
 
Range seems good to me. I've wandered end to end in some pretty big venues and it's still kept going!! Should be fine I would have though on a sg, although I use those velcro sticky things on the guitar and bug to hold mine in place, cause they can swing around otherwise!
 
we've had 2, and they've both broken

if you're gonna be jumping up or down then the mechanism will flap about and bash itself to bits - we've got little velcro stickers on our guitars now.
 
They have been that price for about 3 weeks that I've seen sidewinder, they didn't have any in stock when I went to the Southampton branch though.

I do tend to jump around a bit though :(:D are they standard velcro bits that come with the bug, or are you just using normal velcro you've cut yourself?
 
Unless you're going to pay the kind of money that the big guys pay, then do not use cheap wireless transmitters.
I reckon the evidence for this is the 100's of bands in my area who all at one time had wireless systems and now none of them use them.
The first thing I did when I joined the band I'm with now is to ask them to play a song and then play it with all three wireless systems removed and the difference was immediate.
Earlier this year our old drummer bought his £400 bass wireless sytem for our bass player to use and within two songs we wired him back up again.
Even my £450 microphone is not what it should be but needs must.
Every now and then I plug its handheld counterpart in and you can tell the difference.
If you pay peanuts you get a monkey and in the world of wireless systems £450 is a monkey.
You need to spend at least £750 now although several years ago it was £3000.
 
I bought some of those sellotape velcro pads they seemed to do the trick fine. 3 of us in the band have wireless kits and we are all very happy with them indeed, horses for courses I guess!
 
jonorigin said:
I bought some of those sellotape velcro pads they seemed to do the trick fine. 3 of us in the band have wireless kits and we are all very happy with them indeed, horses for courses I guess!

Perhaps not now or even in a years time but I'll guarantee you'll end up ditching them.
Every now and then I'll go and see a new act and as soon as I walk in the pub I can tell if they have transmitters on.
Its quite sad really but being 'known' in the area these bands will ask what I think and I play the same record over and over again "Ditch the wireless unless you're willing to pay a £1000".

Last year one Dad asked me about his sons band and why the sound was muddy. Of course my answer was the same and he replied "We parents have paid nearly £500 for those 3 guitar systems" And thats why the sound is muddy.

The most recent person I've upset is a local young guitar hero and while they were soundchecking he asked me if his sound was OK. To cut a long story short I got up with the band and made a solo up and you could see the disgust on his face when he stood at the back of the pub. We then swopped to a lead and he he now always uses a lead. To be honest its a bit pointless putting another gizmo in your guitar signal chain when most artists are standing feet away from their amps in a small pub/club. However, as I've stated many times on here before, a typical audience won't have a clue what a good sound is.
 
haha, you'd probably hate my setup then! These days I just use a pod xt live straight into the PA (when it's beefy enough anyway)! Best sound i've ever had though! Nice and easy for the soundman, but some guitarists look at my setup like i've comitted blasphemy!!
 
We were in a battle of the bands on Sunday where the organisers provided the amps, drums, mics etc and I a crate amp - http://www.crateamps.com/html/series.cfm?sid=1 the one on that page I think, and it was the best sound I've ever had before. Out of my price range though :(. Interesting playing a pod straight into the PA. Our bass player has gone straight in before, but I've never considered it with guitar. I guess if its a small venue that doesn't mic up the amps, it could make sense.
 
jonorigin said:
haha, you'd probably hate my setup then! These days I just use a pod xt live straight into the PA (when it's beefy enough anyway)! Best sound i've ever had though! Nice and easy for the soundman, but some guitarists look at my setup like i've comitted blasphemy!!


This band do exactly the same - www.giantz.co.uk (our ex drummer)
Trev the guitarist does exactly the same - XT Live into a 5k rig but has two Marshall stacks behind him just for show :eek:
Nearly every person in their audience (because 9/10 are musos) look at each other because it doesn't sound 'real'.
We've all told him but he isn't bothered.

HOWEVER -
heres me criticising and between the years of 1992 and 2000 I went through pedals, into the PA and monitored in headphones on the stage.
About 3 years ago I went to see one of our local bands BREATHE and they did the same through 2x Guitar Pods and a bass Pod, into an Electrovoice PA system and monitored on their stage monitors. It is without doubt the best sound I've heard and every song sounded like the original. The band have gone back to amps because it didn't sound proper on stage.
 
Last edited:
Well, I plumped for one of these yesterday from sound control :)

Initial results: very good! A/Bd it with a cable at short and long range and no difference that I can hear - and I am very meticulous about my tone.

One review on the net said that in terms of signal degradation, you'll hear the delay due to the speed of sound (and your distance from the amp) before that even comes into play.

My only criticism is that there's a rather wide part at the top of the jack which stops the bug from lying flat with the guitar body - something thats not shown in their photos.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom