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Post subject: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 30
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:58 pm
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I know both are 30 amps, I tried the GDEC - 3 today but still have some questions/concerns:

1. I love the new SD card slot & Fuse PC interface but I read a comment that the new GDEC 3 does not allow you to change the key loops are played in like the older 30, is that true? Does the new GDEC 3 give you the key it is played in for each loop?

2. Maybe some of you have owned both & can from experience tell me pros/cons. I really do not want to make a $300-400 mistake in buying the wrong amp.

3. I want to have the most capability to play loops, download new ones, have controls such as key played in, variety of guitar settings.

4. Can you use the footswitch on both amps?

Suggestions? Thanks ahead of time....


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:10 pm
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Hi, as written in the manual that you can dowload:

http://www.fender.com/fr-FR/support/art ... ers-manual

"Speed (Tempo)—Use the Speed menu to adjust the playback
speed of the band track. You can use this feature to learn
fast licks by reducing the Band Speed so that you can hear
each note more slowly."
"Pitch (Transpose)—Use the Pitch menu to adjust the playback
pitch of the band track. You can use this feature to
change the key signature of a song."

...As written, you can do those things with the G-Dec3 but it degrades the sound a lot compared to the old 30 working with midi files that are a lot more managable in this way.

You can use the footswitch on both amps.

I prefer the G-Dec3 sounds (guitar presets adapted to the band tracks) compared to the G-Dec 30...I find them a little less digital. The SD card slot is very useful as is the Fuse software.
The internal looper device is a lot more usable compared to the G-Dec30.
There is no speaker out jack on the new one so you have to use the strereo line outputs with an other amp to drive a cabinet...unless you modify it and loose your warranty.
Hope it helps making a decision.:-)


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:21 pm
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^^^^RunDuke:

Since it is late here I will download the manual tomorrow. You stated "Pitch (Transpose)—Use the Pitch menu to adjust the playback pitch of the band track. You can use this feature to change the key signature of a song."

Does this mean by changing pitch you can dial in lets say changing a song from lets say Key of A to G accurately?

It sounds like you are partial to the GDEC 3. Is their any real advantage of the older 30 besides price?

Thanks!!!!


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 7:54 am
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Hi, as I mentionned, pitch tranpose will degrade the sound of the band tracks so I don't use it. If you really want to use it as a learning tool go for a midi device like the old 30.
One thing I didn't point out about the 3 is about the chain of effects that are a lot more managable on the 3.
IMHO the best thing would be to try the 3 and if you can the 30 and compare and read both manuals.
There are many videos on Youtube about these two amps.
Keep rocking. :)


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:14 am
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hi zland - I own both of the amps in question. In fact, I own four of the older G-DEC 30 amps (I used to own six, but sold two off) and two of the new G-DEC 3 Thirty amps. I have used both of the amps extensively in live performance, but currently I only take out the two 3 Thirty amps for live shows. Pic below shows my six older G-DECs, just for truth purposes.

Image

Both of these amps have good things going for them and bad things, but in the end I think, for your purposes, the older G-DEC wins out. The old G-DEC lets you use MIDI backing tracks to play along with, giving you the option to change Key, Tempo, Drum Beat on the fly. You can also load backing tracks into the old G-DEC with a MIDI cable and a decent MIDI interface, another piece of equipment required to utilize several pieces of Fender software which you can read up on in the original manual.

Other plus factors for the old G-DEC, besides the fact that you can buy them for half their original cost or less slightly used, are rear speaker out (a HUGE advantage over the new G-DEC), 1/4" phone jack (lots of trouble with the puny 1/8" jack in the new G-DEC) and double (left & right) RCA aux inputs vs a little stereo pin plug on the newer amp.

I am not sure why you are so interested in changing the pitch on backing tracks, it's something I do only rarely and since you're jamming along it's good to be able to do it in any key for practice purposes. As Duke said, changing pitch or tempo on the new G-DEC amp is a losing proposition, the lost quality of sound results are not worth the effort. Both of these amps offer plenty of amp modeling effects, but again, you can spend a ton of time tweaking all those presets when in the end, 10 or 12 will likely serve you admirably.

The MIDI capabilities of the older G-DEC give it a big leg up in my opinion, in that there are thousands of MIDI backing tracks available FREE over the Internet. You can load up to 62 of these backing tracks into the old G-DEC, though it can be a time consuming process. That said, BOTH of these amps are challenging to work with when you first get them - software learning curves, weak manuals and plenty of trial and error effort required. All you have to do is check either board on this web site to see what I mean - lots of complaining going on.

One other thing - amp presets. The old G-DEC gives you 100 presets, but only 50 of those are USER editable, meaning you can change 50 of them to your heart's delight and save them easily on the amp. The new G-DEC offers 100 presets and ALL of them are user editable, though it will take you a long time to edit and save all of them. And I guarantee you'll be cursing now and then in the process!

The presets in the old G-DEC do sound a little more digital, but that's what makes them so easily adaptable - MIDI. The new G-DEC presets are real recordings, but I found well over half of them to be totally worthless for jamming - way too much metal, funk and jive. If you are thinking of buying a new G-DEC 3 Thirty, buy one of the specialized units - Blues, Country or Metal, but try them out first. These will have more of what you are probably looking for, but I'll warn you here - still a LOT of junk on ALL three of these amps. You'll want to swap out a whole bunch of these Band Tracks and add you own... and that's a LOT of work, Fender Fuse or not!

If you just want to jam out and be able to switch keys and tempos very easily, add your own backing tracks from thousands readily available, save your money and pick up one of the older G-DECs - for the price you can NOT go wrong.

HTH

Image

P.S. Why did I own SIX of the original G-DECs? Backing tracks. I play out in a wide variety of performance settings and I needed to have a huge variety of songs to work with. With room for only 55 backing songs (on average) on the old G-DECs, I had to have extra loaded G-DECs on hand to cover requests, etc. The new G-DEC betters that situation immensely thanks to the SD card slots which allows me to carry hundreds of different songs on multiple SD cards. But for me and live performance, the SD card slot if the ONLY reason I haul the new G-DECs - the ONLY reason. If you are not performing live and using backing tracks, nothing to gain for you except a slightly advanced, though considerably more challenging, electronics and software. Good luck.

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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:15 am
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Actually, you can use the old midi files that are available on Fender's website for the original G-DECs with the G-DEC 3s and not lose any quality while changing tempo or pitch. :wink:


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:36 am
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Well, I messed around with MIDI files on the new G-DEC when I first got them, trying to use favorite old backing tracks and found any use of MIDI to be very prone to glitches, frequently freezing the amp and requiring constant reboot, so I just stick to wave and mp3 on the new amps.

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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:21 pm
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Dennis:

1.You mentioned there is thousands of MIDI backing tracks available FREE over the Internet. I looked at the guitar center & it appears a decent MIDI interface might cost $50 - $100, is the same kind of device? Can you suggest a specific product to buy because I am clueless in what is needed to do this process & its cost? In addition, if the cost is this high, it appears to wipe out the cost savings of the older G-DEC???

2.Am I correct that if I got the new G-DEC 3 changing tempo & key sounds to be impossible or hard to do (hard to do meaning importing MIDI files which do not work well)? You are right, maybe the idea of changing key is not so important because in the long run I will weaken my skills my always playing in a same few keys. So to clarify the advantage of the older 30 is tempo, key, & drum beat change pertaining to sound loops?

3.It appears to me that I could easily hook up a ipod/mp3 player to either a GDEC 30 or newer GDEC 3 & play song tracks thru the amp correct? If so, hasn't the sound quality & tracks availible on the GDEC 30 now matched the newer GDEC 3 if I can download the new tracks for the GDEC 3 onto a mp3 player? Am I missing something?

4.Since you stated I could not use the newer Tracks on mps/wav format on the older GDEC 30, could they be loaded on an mp3 player & played thru the amp that way? If so, what is the disadvantage to it for me (besides messing with it in a performance)? These new tracks are the ones that are real recordings of bands minus the lead or rhythm/lead guitar right?


5.I was thinking of buying the GDEC blues model. Actually I called a Fender tech about it because I like the standard GDEC black cabinet vs. the blonde cabinet on the blues amp but wanted the blues tracks. His suggestion was to get the regular amp, load the blues tracks onto the SD card or wipe out the tracks on the amp I do not like as you mentioned & load the blues trucks in their place. Am I correct that you feel loading those tracks is a hard & time consuming task thus better to buy the Blues Amp & live with the color I do not like?

6.Can both the GDEC 30 & GDEC 3 allow you to take a drum loop (which I assume is on the amp already &) & add my own bass line, rhythm & lead tracks? Basically I would like to expand beyond other peoples tracks & get creative on my own.

7. As you can see, I am still a bit on the fence on which I plan to buy. I am attracted to the blues tracks, like the SD card, & sound quality of the GDEC 3. On the other hand the GDEC 30 seems to be more helpful as a learning aide. Heck, I might end up buying a used GDEC 30 & learn on it & then buy a GDEC 3 later, not sure yet but was hoping one amp could fit my needs well enough not to have to buy 2 considering I am just playing for my own learning & entertainment at this point.

Thank you Dennis, your information is really helpful,

Jeff


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 5:04 pm
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Re:
5.I was thinking of buying the GDEC blues model. Actually I called a Fender tech about it because I like the standard GDEC black cabinet vs. the blonde cabinet on the blues amp but wanted the blues tracks. His suggestion was to get the regular amp, load the blues tracks onto the SD card or wipe out the tracks on the amp I do not like as you mentioned & load the blues trucks in their place. Am I correct that you feel loading those tracks is a hard & time consuming task thus better to buy the Blues Amp & live with the color I do not like?

Once you download the file and do the install it only takes the amp about 10 min to convert to the Blues ver. At least that was my experience.

I prefer the line out from the Gdec 3 30 because I can send the signal to either a powered speaker or the pa for all the wattage you could ever want.


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:04 pm
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Well guys, I decided to go to the guitar center & play/listen to the Blues G-DEC 3 as suggested by Dennis. My bet is those blues tracks will suit me best & my concer4n about the Blonde cabinet might be wrong-I keep thinking it will get dirty/marked up fast. Unfortunately they did not have it in stock. Instead of returning to the store to play it if they ordered it the manager suggested I order it & get it delivered to my house instead of driving back knowing I could play it for 30 days & exchange it if I like. He is right in that I will have more time to see if it is the exact one I want. Knowing I am getting either a GDEC 3 or 30 it seemed like the thing to do. I should get it in about a week.

To me there is only so much I can do by reading up on amps & asking questions so the plan is to test drive it & see if I like it. I am sure I will be asking a lot more questions after I get it.

If I really like it, I am not opposed to the idea of getting a 2nd GDEC 30 used & use both. Ha, maybe the pictured Dennis posted of all those amps & guitars made me think why not enjoy both?

It is too bad Fender did not keep the best aspects of the GDEC 30 when ungrading the GDEC 3. It seems backwards to me that a buyer would be torn between the newer & older model simply because the newer model has some limitations. From what I have learned it appears the new GDEC 3 is two steps forward & one step backwards.


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 5:53 pm
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[quote="zland"]Dennis:

6.Can both the GDEC 30 & GDEC 3 allow you to take a drum loop (which I assume is on the amp already &) & add my own bass line, rhythm & lead tracks? Basically I would like to expand beyond other peoples tracks & get creative on my own.

I've been trying to find out if there are any drum loops onboard on the G-DEC 3. If not, is there a straightforward way to load them?


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Mon May 02, 2011 1:40 pm
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Presets 96 through 99 on the original G-DEC 3s are midi drum files, and are accessible from the Quick Access menu for other presets. Just set the presets you want to use with them to your QA1, QA2 & QA3 buttons or copy those midi backing tracks to the presets you want to use them with. :wink:


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 10:58 am
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I just got the "new" G-Dec 3, and I sure am glad I kept the "old" one! All the so-called improvements are confusing, complicated, and counterintuitive! What were they thinking? The G-Dec was the greatest teaching tool ever and the ability to change keys and BPM's was just one of the great things that they have "improved" right out of it. And as for this Fender Fuse stuff, all I can say is....Huh? I could go on and on. I'm not interested in "downloading" anything, but I will be "unloading" my new G-Dec 3 as soon as I can find a buyer.


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 12:08 pm
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CRGuitarMan wrote:
Well, I messed around with MIDI files on the new G-DEC when I first got them, trying to use favorite old backing tracks and found any use of MIDI to be very prone to glitches, frequently freezing the amp and requiring constant reboot, so I just stick to wave and mp3 on the new amps.
\




You can still change keys (and tempo) like you could on the original. Just download all the midi files (that are on the original G-Dec) from the Fender website and load them onto your SD card and plug 'em in to the G-Dec 3. Instead of showing you what key it is, there's numbers. (0, +1, +2, etc) 0 is E on all the midi files and each number is a 1/2 step interval, so +3 is G, +5 is A and so on.

I use them all the time on my new G-Dec 3 Country Version and haven't noticed it to be prone to glitches.

The pitch change and tempo functions don't work so well for the .wav & .mp3 file backing tracks, but nothing's changed as far as using midi backing tracks. They work just as well and the same way as they do on the old G-Dec.

I had the old version as well, and I think the new ones are an improvement. :D

Greg


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Post subject: Re: Help me out, should I buy the new GDEC 3 or older GDEC 3
Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 4:07 pm
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Hey Guys,

If you're still debating whether to get the G-DEC 3 or the older 30, let me state that the G-DEC 3 can do what the G-DEC 30 can and more. Also, do you really want to be fooling around with MIDI sys ex? The only thing the G-DEC 3 lacks that the G-DEC 30 has is the speaker out, which I think the line out makes up for. Do you want to drive a 30 watt external cab or do you want to plug into a powered PA for with much more power?

At first, the amp/software combo may seem complicated but this forum is filled with users that were in your shoes but quickly learned the ropes and now they wouldn't trade their G-DEC 3 for anything.

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