G10 thoughts

[njglover]

Sort of on a whim, I picked up a G10 on the way to a gig. Probably a terrible idea to buy something to use live immediately after, but I had a cable as backup anyway. Read up in the manual on the way there and when we got to the gig, tried it out. Not a whole lot goes into setup, you pretty much just plug it in and go. Started walking toward the bar to test the range and it cut out about halfway there, which was probably about 20-30 feet from the receiver. That was... not great. On the other hand, I completely missed the part in the manual about needing to plug the transmitter into the receiver to search for the best channel, so that might have had something to do with it. I also basically don't move at all when I perform, so mostly I just wanted something so that I don't trip over a cable. For that purpose, 20 feet is way more than enough. It's just enough for me to go out and check our levels (since we were running our own sound). In actual use during the gig, performance was flawless. The only time the sound cut out was when I bumped the transmitter and it pulled slightly out of the jack - a failing of the jack being loose more than a problem with the transmitter. The jack has since been fixed.

 

Having had a good experience live (which, really, is what wireless is for), I wanted to see how it really holds up vs a cable. I use a Helix for... well, my entire rig (got sick of carrying my Roadster and giant pedal board around), which I only mention by way of saying your mileage may vary. I plug in using a Mogami Platinum instrument cable, which is a $100 12-foot cable I chose after comparing it to Livewire, Monster, and Mogami Gold cables. The point is I have a lot of experience with the tone of different cables and I wanted to see how the G10 compares. I have now tried it with both my bass (a Music Man Stingray, so it's active) and my guitar (a PRS Custom 24, so passive) and I can honestly say that there is at most very little difference between the G10 and the Mogami Platinum cable. This is where I have to say "your mileage may vary." If you are used to using a 20-foot cheap cable and a ton of pedals, the G10 is almost certainly going to sound different. Further, it is designed (I believe) with a 1M input impedence in mind, which is fairly standard, but some amps or pedals may differ, so that will also change your guitar's tone. But, again, using it with the Helix, the G10 is practically identical in tone to my absurdly expensive 12-foot guitar cable.

 

So the bottom line: it sounds great, it works great (both live and at practice where there are other wireless systems active), and it's stupidly easy to use. Plus I can power the receiver off a portable USB battery pack, meaning it can be truly wireless. Is it for everyone? Probably not. If you are a fuzz aficionado, no wireless system is going to work for you. If you need the receiver to be 30+ feet away, this particular system is probably not your best bet. But for the average guitarist who plays on small stages and just hates tripping over wires, this system is great. Hell, you could buy two of these, one to get to the pedal board and one to get from the pedal board to the amp, for the same price as the G70. And, having used a G50 previously, I can say that this is no worse in terms of quality.

[xolite]

I researched the G10 indepth before picking one up, for myself it is right, it works flawlessly, it is small and simple. Quick, easy wireless for 250.00 ( canadian ), it fits all my guitars without an issue and if the issue arised with a new guitar not being wired in order to work, I wouild happily rewire the jack to keep using this system. 

 

What I really like about this unit is it's size, no belt clips, wires, straps need and can be left plugged in the guitar while in the stand.