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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 3:37 pm
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Authentic is an interesting word. There are many bands using solid state equipment these days. Buddy Guy played a Cyber Twin for a few years.

It all has to do with the sound and feel that you want. The Gdec is a great practice amp. Have I used is on stage? Yes. Would I do it again; not as my first choice. It's very difficult to get the sound you need from that cabinet and speaker combination. If it were a rack mounted preamp I could use to feet a monitor and go direct to the mixing board; perhaps. But it was designed as a practice amp. Of the other practice amps, it has many features its competition doesn't have.

Does it sound as good as a blues junior or the new recording version of the Champ; No. But they don't make as good of a practice/learning tool as the Gdec.

Figure out what you need for your growth and to make the sound you desire. There are thousands of amps out there. Each has advantages and disadvantages. You just need to find what works for you.

If you want great sound in a practice amp, the Cube sounds great and probably cost less than your crate. Phrase sampler, backing tracks, tuner......oh, it doesn't have those. That doesn't mean its a bad amp. It sounds tremendous and has limited but great sounding models to choose from.

It means the Gdec contains all the tools I use to practice and learn in one package. For the money, it is the better deal. Does it sound good enough to gig with, not really, but that isn't what it was made for. Could you gig with it, Yes, but there may be better choices for that purpose.


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Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:29 pm
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When I say authentic I dont mean difference between solid state and tube. I mean the difference between something as digital as the line 6 or gdec, and much less digital like the dsp's which are still solid state. Personally, I think all someone really "needs" to practice with effectively is a metronome and an amp. So to be realistic the gdec IMO has MUCH MORE than what you need to practice with. You always pay more if there is amp modeling and digital effects and drum loops involved. So when I said "authentic" I was just talking about how "digital" both gdec and spiderjam sounded.


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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:18 am
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I've used my G-DEC 30 frequently in small jam sessions with other experienced players using tube and solid state amps. Not once has anyone said a word about it sounding "digital". I do think some of the effects sound like crap, so I don't use them. The feedback I get about the G-DEC is positive on all counts.


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Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:58 pm
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Oh for sure I would never call it a common complaint. I think me and the one gentleman I work with are the only two I have ever heard use the word digital to describe a sound out of an amp. That's just the sound i heard in my opinion, and that's the best word I can think of to describe it. And comparing the amp modeling of the gdec30 to that of the super/vibro champ and FM dsp. It's just when I play the gdec the sounds to me just sound "digital" Though I am aware it is not a very descriptive term. I did try that vox that was mentioned earlier in this thread and agree that it as well sounds phenominal.


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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:05 am
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I got both! The Bedroom Players Delights!!


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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 10:48 am
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I have both amps. I also have had the original G-Dec and then upped to the 30. I think that since the original poster said that he is not in a band then he is not gigging with the amp. So I would guess his interest is in something that can be used at home as a practice amp and since both share the common addition of backing tracks, I'll assume he wants to know which one is better based on that criteria.

I'll start by saying I like them both, and that because I have a slant towards Fender amps for certain playing. Between these two amps I like the Spider for sheer flexibility, as I believe you can get heavier with the Spider. I like its sound. I also only play at home and use these amps primarily to practice. The backing tracks just make it a lot more fun to jam than to just be noodling the same riffs each day. If you are studying scales for instance as part of your practice, then either one of these amps will make learning soloing a lot more fun. The cool part is that you know what key the backing tracks are playing in so you can practice your pentatonics for instance on the blues jams. For me having something that inspires me to play is more important. I'm having fun and I don't have a bunch of friends that will come over and jam for 30 minutes every night.

The most important thing for me since I don't have a developed ear or am that accomplished on the fiddle, is to know what key and the ability to change the key so you can then practice somewhere else on the neck other than they key of A. The sound of the backing tracks is live on the Spider and the G-Dec is kinda hokey midi. Someone mentioned that you eventually will get bored with the same tracks and that is true. I believe both offer the ability to upload and I know G-Dec has other patches you can upload. the G-Dec is easy to change keys while the Spider doesn't as far as I know. I thing you can change the pitch one or two semitones but because the Spider uses live recordings changing the keys would make the tracks sound funky. That's not an issue with midi tracks and you can change the keys from A-G.

The Spider is larger and loud is relative. Both offer headphone jacks and you can play them both at bedroom levels. The Spider will probably work better for a small gig if you at some point wanted to. Spider is 75 watts and the G-Dec is 30. The Spider has the ability to connect to any of their floor boards for added flexibilty which helps when you want to record your own riffs (looping) Both do that so if your board with the on board sounds you can record your own. Spider has more memory for recording and storing your riffs and has an SD card slot on the back so you can download tracks and install them into the Spyder.

As far as sounding digital, I would say that midi back tracks sound digital to me. the modeling sounds are pretty good as are most Line 6, in my opinion and as most will say nothing replaces a true tube amp, but that's not what is in play here. Plus for this pupose I don't think a tube amp is necessary. If you want that, buy your favorite tube amp and then get the Line 6 JM4 looper, which is all the guts of the Spider in a stomp box plus longer looping. That's a pretty cool pedal IMHO, and I now use that through my tube amp because its now all in one place and it offers more flexibility plus it has the amp models or the ability to bypass them. (which I do)

In conclusion, if this amp is for what I think you are asking which is too detemine which between the two you;s prefer for at home practicing, you may want to consider the Spider because to my ears, it sounds better and has a lot of musical flexibility. If practicing in multiple different keys is important, get the G-Dec because if you are learning for example the Pentatonic scale but want to learn all the positions in all keys, the G-Dec will allow you to play the backing tracks properly in all those keys quickly and easily. Either one will make practicing fun and should help you improve your playing as anyone will tell you, playing with another person will help you more than playing alone.


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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 11:11 am
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The Spider sounds best with Humbuckers.
The Fender G-Dec sounds best with Single-coils.IMHO


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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:06 pm
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What a great discussion.

I wouldn't call the Gdec sound as digital. I will agree, the sound from the stock Gdec is not optimum. If you use the -30's external speaker out and drive a good quality book shelf speaker, the sound is fantastic. The combination of the stock speaker and cabinet is a little muddy or undefined. It looses the sparkle of liveness. When the stock single speaker is replaced with a full range cabinet, the real personality of the amp comes out.

I have an old tube driven power amp I picked up from a swap meet. When I feed the headphones out to the power amp then drive 2 speakers; the sound is even better.

Now, at the end of the day, we are all right. Each person has different preferences. Each of us has different reasons why we bought different equipment. So, for each of us, we made the correct choice. You need to play with both amps some. Then pick the one you think is best.

My recommendation is knowing in advance what you really need and using that criteria to come down to 2 or three choices that will work. It sounds like you are at that point with 2 amps to pick from. Play each one for long enough to figure out how they work. Both the Spyder and the Gdec have a learning curve to endure before finding the real sole of the amps.

Good luck


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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:39 am
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Here's an update to my original post:
I finally purchased the G-Dec 30 and got it for $288 at Sam Ash after a 20% discount coupon. I thought this was a pretty good deal as the Line 6 was now about $499. After a couple weeks playing it I'm pleased I got the G-Dec 30. It's lots of fun to mess around with and gives many options as well. I only play at home alone so it's good to have a drum beat and all that it offers. I'm still messing with the presets and haven't even downloaded any extras. BTW the mygdec.com site is a great addition to look at and get good info and downloads. I hooked my iPod to it and it can really jam as well.

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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 5:44 am
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I upgraded to the GDec 30. I was a bit disappointed because I thought it would have a bigger variety of backing tracks but it's just more of the same stuff. Too many effects trash the guitars tone, so I have to modify them to my taste and save them which is a good thing because over processed guitar drives me nuts. I don't think it sounds cool. It does sound way too digital to me especially the reverb and distortion. The amp models are just okay. They really don't sound or respond like the original Tweeds or Blackfaces.

Most of the Midi patterns are hokey as one poster said. I usually run live jam tracks from my laptop into it. Sometimes I wish I got the Line 6 instead, but again the a previous poster said, you can change keys and tempo on the fly with the Midi tracks. The loop is pretty short but workable. The overdub function is decent too as long as you don't get too carried away with it.

The Line 6 from what I understand, allows you to "record" for a much longer period of time. It's really a toss up. It just depends on what you need and how much money you want to spend on a practice tool. They are what they are, no more, no less.


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Post subject: Re: G Dec 30 or Line 6 Spider Jam?
Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:54 pm
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firesmokestrats wrote:
I've been toying with this decision for awhile now and can't decide which of the two to purchase. I don't play out, don't have a band, so it's just for me. I currnetly have an old Crate 30 DSP-C.

What do you guys suggest and why? Thanks for the help.


spider jam hands down.
i have the 15 watt gdec, and the spider jam.
ive played with the 30 watt version. its really cool, but i love the diferent tones i can get with te spider jam. plus has bactrackings, and selectable only drums section. and you can record a overdubb layers. i use my spider jam for portability.


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