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G50 Lifespan Only 18 Months?


LarryLion
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Folks

 

My band bought two G-50s (Guitar, Bass) when they came on the market - late 2012, maybe?  They ran just fine for 18 months or so, and within a week of each other, the transmitters (belt packs) died.  We've had our techs look at them, ruled out connector, power and cable issues, opened them up, checked for any stress breaks, cold solder joints, etc., but the bottom line is the transmitters are dead.  Replacement cost of the transmitters is prohibitive (2/3 of the entire system!), and out of warranty (of course).

 

Has anyone else had a similar experience?  It's a great pity that this innovative product is not more durable, but with two dying like this, after 18 months, I have to believe it is a design issue.

 

Anyway, we're switching to Shure's system, but I really would have liked to stay with Line6.

 

Cheers. Larry

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I've had my G50 for over two years now (maybe even three; i'd have to look), and it's still going strong;  I use it for an electric violin, guitar, and bass interchangeably.  My only issue is that the latch on the battery cover is wearing down so it pops open a bit too easy if it's in my pocket, but usually I have it velcro'd to the instrument i'm playing so I don't have that issue most of the time.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Larry, 

 

You know, it's funny.  I had just written up a response on how mine has lasted years and years so you must just be the victim of QA randomness or some other factor. But then I went to look for my receipt and when I couldn't find it, decided to see if I could google up some pictures of me using it at gigs.  The first one I can find was in the fall of 2012, which would be about 21 months ago. 

 

So while mine isn't that much older than yours, let me say this ... mine is still chugging along fine despite suffering many, many drops to the stage, drops to concrete, getting tossed around and generally beaten up.   I've had one problem with that being the plastic barrel connector stripped out ages ago.  For the longest time, it had absolutely no impact.  Then a few gigs ago I started suffering what I initially thought were radio interference problems or dropouts, but recently realized it was that the cable was no longer holding itself firmly in. 

 

Mind you, I pack my gear quickly. We stop playing, give some thank you's, spend a few moments with any audience members than I'm doing my best to get out of there as quickly as possible, so I literally just toss it into my guitar bag (with the cable connected).  I was quite pleasantly surprised that I was able to get away with that all this time, and even played a few more gigs with it that way, just reminding myself to push it up firmly between sets. And frankly, I could probably shove a match stick in it, or a piece of folded paper, and keep on using it as-is.  

 

Other than that one issue - which was the result of my dropping it (or more accurate, it leaping to its imminent doom)- it's quite honestly been a workhorse for me, I've been firmly evangelizing Line 6 wireless to anyone seeking wireless.  A bandmate bought a wireless rig without consulting first - I won't name the brand, but he started having *serious* issues with it on gig 2. 

 

As Boomer suggested, I would get yours checked out.  Even if they charge a small diagnostics fee it's considerably cheaper than buying new ones. 

 

Best of luck whichever you do !

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Further update, having replaced the input jack on the transmitter, I went to a gig, set everything up ... and promptly removed the G50.  In my case, the cable was bad in addition to the jack, and in hindsight, I'm guessing it was the cable much more so than the jack (because I never had a problem with the cable falling out, despite the jack being cracked).   Upon further investigation online and by tearing mine apart, it's evident that these cables just aren't as durable as other cables guitarists are used to. Mine had maybe 3 strands of grounding shielding left, and even the cloth internal sheathing was completely worn in one spot.  I would suggest effectively troubleshooting it yourself before taking it in.  Plug it into a transmitter, and generate a signal until the audio light comes on (all I had to do to get a signal was to touch the tip of the 1/4').  Then careful wiggle various pieces of the cable - near the 1/4, near the TA, the TA assembly itself (to test the connection to the input jack).  That will help narrow down if it's the cable, and where in the cable.   Mine was broken near the TA connector, but after tearing it down and inspecting I realized building a new connection to that connector just wasn't happening, so I bought a new cable on Amazon for 15 dollars, free shipping on prime :)  At some point I may take all my photos together and build a tutorial, but for now I would say that the cables are absolutely the weakest link, and check yours out carefully. I'm willing to bet all those "drops" and "interference" I've had over the months was actually my cable dying. Once my new one comes and I confirm it works, I'll buy a second, keep it in its original packaging and throw it in the gig bag. I guess the trick is to approach the cables as a consumable, and to not buy anything with a TA4 connection again. 

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