Whats a good wireless system for guitar/AFX?

komrad20

Inspired
Just wondering what a good wireless system would be recommended for both the guitar, and my AFX?
I'd like something that could be rack mounted, and budget friendly ($200.00)?

Thanks!
 
Line6 stuff is pretty much the standard for the weekend warrior players. But, the cheapest I know of that's rackable is like $450.
Looking at what is available on Sweetwater for $200 or less... and I wouldn't touch any of it. :-/ I'm sure others will chime in though with good suggestions... I'm just not familiar with that price point.
 
i doubt your gonna find anything rack mountable in that price bracket worth having, but i would recommend the line 6 G30. you can pick em up used for about 200 and they fit very snug on your pedalboard! (thats where ive had mine in the past anyway)
EDIT: seems that they go for 200 new now...i paid 300 :(
 
I can't help you with a particular brand but I can give you some advice when choosing. Firstly, sound travels VERY SLOWLY and as soon as you get about 20 feet from the amp, you can distinctly hear the delay. This has nothing to do with the wireless system and is the same for all wireless systems. If you do a search of the forum you will find some misguided advice from folks who have never been more than 10 feet from their amps and then tried a wireless for the first time and proclaimed that it had a delay! I have used all kinds of systems for many years. I would love to tell you what I use but they are no longer manufactured and I try to buy every one that, very occasionally, pops up on ebay :)
 
Another vote for the Line 6 G30, if that's your price range. Mine has worked flawlessly for the past couple of years while gigging 2 to 6 times per month. The transmitter is in a plastic case (as opposed to the metal cases of more expensive models), but I've taken reasonable care of mine and had no problems whatsoever. I leave my receiver on the floor near my rack just to cut down on cord clutter on stage.
 
Looking at what is available on Sweetwater for $200 or less... and I wouldn't touch any of it. :-/ I'm sure others will chime in though with good suggestions... I'm just not familiar with that price point.


I'm with you. I've played wireless units all the way up through the $1,000+ range (Lectrosonics). If your playing has a wide range of dynamics, all wireless units suck.

And as SimonD pointed out, once you get twenty feet from the speakers the speed-of-sound delay is going to mess with your timing. (Buy a 30' instrument cable and try it for yourself.)

There are only two good reasons to play through a wireless, IMO. Either you're on a huge stage with a good monitor tech (so you're never more than ten or fifteen feet from the nearest monitor), or you're afraid of getting zapped by a hardwired guitar connection in a venue with poor grounding.
 
The Line6 stuff is great. I had an X2 a long time back which I loved. The new stuff from Line6 is even better. I have a G55 that I got for $350 with a 20% off special from Musician's Friend. You can get a half rack kit for it. Don't cheap out on wireless when, for another $150, you can have something that is bonehead simple to use and sound fantastic.
 
Hm, I wouldn't go that far with it, TieDyedDevil. I play some pretty large stages (90'+ x 30'+ in some instances) and have never had latency be an actual issue. 5ms of latency is probably not even noticable.
 
Actually, I need to re-do my math (on the latency above), I think I'm off by an order of magnitude an embarrassing amount... but it's late, I'm tired and don't have the headspace to re-do it :p
 
Last edited:
I have the Shure glxd16. It isn't the rack mount one, but I think there is a similar model thats rack mount without the "pedal" features. Its double your price point around 400. But I really like it a lot. And the battery life has been great for me. I also run in-ears a good amount of the time I play. I have the Shure PSM 300 for my wireless in ears. I love that too. I was holding out for some wireless systems for at least 10 years...looking for something affordable. Anyway, I really love that setup right now. I haven't really had any negative impact at all.

Also, the Line6 stuff others mentioned seems to work just fine too. One of my friends has it and it works great for him.

Also, I don't have the problems with dynamics in a live setting. I usually play on Plexi or Vox models with a good amount of break up with guitar volume at max. I get my cleans by turning down the guitar volume pot and by picking light to hard to get the tones I want....just like my Plexi clone amp and homemade guitar cable with geeky parts. That part works well enough to me, and the audience for sure can't hear some problem with it(at least my gear)..in a club etc.
 
...There are only two good reasons to play through a wireless, IMO. Either you're on a huge stage with a good monitor tech (so you're never more than ten or fifteen feet from the nearest monitor), or you're afraid of getting zapped by a hardwired guitar connection in a venue with poor grounding.

I play small pubs and sports bars, where we mix the sound from onstage (simple setup). The primary reasons for me to run my guitars wirelessly are 1) no cable tangling around my feet, and 2) I can step out front to listen to the mix and make adjustments if necessary.
 
I've got the Senheiser EW100, digital unit. AMAZE. I actually had the Line G90 and I can safely say the Sennheiser destroyed it - to the point where I sold the G90 the same day I bought it. I bought it because it IS the best looking wireless unit, however sound/tone/performance-wise, the Sennheiser wins all the way.

There was a noticeable difference in sound when A/B'ing the two. You could clearly hear the G90 lost some tone and sustain; and that's whether it was via the front input of the Axe or the rear. I cannot hear any difference in sound/tone etc whether I'm in the front input of the Axe or the rear.

I'm not having a dig at the Line 6 stuff, thing is, if I compare it to my EW100, the EW100 is a more superior unit, however, not cheap. I trust my ears more than I trust options.. your ears might like Line 6, mine like Sennheiser..

 
I use the Line6 relay G50 for years now - already with a AXE FX Ultra and now the AXE FXII and it works fine for me. The latency is imo not noticable and in the area of two feet more distance to the the speaker...
 
Wireless guitar is a great idea when combined with wireless in-ear monitoring.

Otherwise? I'm not sure I'd bother with it. It's cool if you're heavy into stage performance and need the freedom, but in reality you are kind of "tied" to your pedalboard or stage monitor anyway. Of course, the monitoring is a non-issue as soon as you add in-ear monitoring to the equation.

And there are some other cons you might want to consider:
- guitar wireless systems are mono. Always. I haven't found a single unit yet that transmits stereo signals. So piezo-equipped instruments with seperate outputs? Have fun wearing two body packs!
- batteries. Depending on the length of the gig, a battery might not even last through the entirety of the gig. And rechargable batteries are even worse. You will end up buying batteries in a bulk. Fun for the entire family (and the environment).
- frequencies... might not be a problem if you are the only one using a wireless system. But good luck finding multiple open frequencies without audio bleeding all over the place.

Note that the last point depends on the local regulations of free amateur radio frequencies. It's different in every country. But here in germany, it's a nightmare.
 
Wireless guitar is a great idea when combined with wireless in-ear monitoring.

So piezo-equipped instruments with seperate outputs? Have fun wearing two body packs!
- batteries. Depending on the length of the gig, a battery might not even last through the entirety of the gig. And rechargable batteries are even worse. You will end up buying batteries in a bulk. Fun for the entire family (and the environment).
- frequencies... might not be a problem if you are the only one using a wireless system. But good luck finding multiple open frequencies without audio bleeding all over the place.

- Piezo equipped you say?? Not true mate. Well, if you have an EBMM JP with the dual inputs, then yes. I have an ESP Eclipse with a piezo bridge installed on it (after market, Graph Tech Ghost I think?) and I can flick the second toggle switch on the guitar and not have to worry about dual inputs etc. Depends on the guitar/your rig setup I guess. THIS DEFINITELY doesn't affect me/my sound/my tone at all.

Batteries.. not an issue. My rehearsals go for anywhere between 4 - 6 hours, and I'll get two rehearsals out of two AA batteries no problem. I don't smoke, I don't drink, (I do have G.A.S. though :D) so buying a big bulk pack of 20+ batteries for $10 is nothing in the broad scheme of things every few months isn't so bad.

Lastly, frequencies, also not an issue. It took me aaaaages to find a good, frequency-worthy wireless unit that was durable and reliable. Hence, nothing could beat Sennheiser for me. Ultimately, your rig will only be as strong as your weakest link.. The band-width of my EW100 is.. errm, massive? If that's the right word?! I did a lot of homework before handing over serious $ for the EW100. Here in Australia, it's ok for now.

Rest assured mate, I'm not re-butting to your comment, I'm just chipping in my 2c worth. What works for you might not work for others and vice versa. ;)
 
Back
Top Bottom