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Post subject: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:52 am
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I’ve been getting along okay with the GT100 when it comes to live play.. I had to get a small high gain amp “orange crush” and ABY the two amps, well
I didn’t have to but the distortion while loud an sounds solid. The high gain stuff on The Gt seemed to show its digital colors so to speak. But with that being said I stuck with the GT over a blues jr, and hot rod deluxe..you can generally get the same sound out of both amps, yes the tubed are better sounding no argument here. But with being one a budget an a Musician who is still early on dropping over 1000 on amp or amps seems pointless unless you are a national touring act “large or small” for regional bar bar stuff An beginners the Gt does great on cleans espaiclly the fender patches it’s so close to the real ones that when you save 3-400 on An amp for that backup guitar or whatever it matters big time. But getting all the effects we get on the GT is another reason it stayed with me plus it’s got xlr outs that go straight to PA which can make a world of diffence then using a mic in opinion. I will say speaker sucks so that another reason for adding the orange to the rig. On the Y setting with my radial tone bone An both amps on clean you would hard pressed to tell it Amps were tubed or not. Sound is huge. Im not saying the GT has unusable high gain, it seemed like it just didn’t have punch an low end compression you get with warm tubes. Plus the speakers in the orange amps are great... and the GT is sounding better with each update. One thing thaT may make me move on to another amp is the pedal board that we have to deal with and buying an iPad or whatever just to run the amp on stage doesn’t seem worth it An phone screen in much to small to trust. The only other amp that caught my eye for a possible replacement is the fender blues jr nos 15 watt tweed finish. Then Jensen speaker in That amp really makes it smooth...it may stil be a possibility to the GT in for that amp but when it’s under 1000 much less 500 you would think I can get that fender nos tone out of the GT... it’s a tough call whether to give in get a small tubed amp An have to buy pedals again or keep riding the GT I will say I don’t hear many people takin this amp much beyond their home or rehershal so it’s got me thinking how many of your seriously gig with digital amp or the GT particular and with being around more “established muscians and bands” is it making me look foolish? Happily to report tho a couple
Shows audience members that must have been players seen my amp An during set break asked what amp it was... I played a joke and at set break I said it’s a new tubed amp fender put out.. after the show the same guys loved my amp an seen me carrying it out An I let the pick it up to see how light it was and then explained it wasn’t a tubed amp And that it was jsut intersting to see reactions when they thouht it was tubed then find out it’s digital they were shocked one guy said he was ordering one immediately, this was before the major updates even and it didn’t even need micd it had plenty of power although one of the more knowledgeable attendees noticed when pushed hard it looses the warm sound quickly so it’s best to mic or run the gt straight into Pa any time you can cuz the lower the overall amp volume needed the better it sounds... im in love with using two amps I think it something I’ll always do.

So any other people relying on this amp for their live shows? Or should the fender nos amp come in An take over. The hot rods are cool but too loud an to many people saying either mods neeeded or ample bench time with that amp; blues jr just wasn’t as warm , but that 15 watt nos caught Be that’ day An what’s weird is I don’t even like the tweed color or look but I tried that amp anway An loved it.. just dk if it’s guna make me feel or hear a huge difference. I’m prob better off waiting And buying The fender twin reverb reissue. And an orange Rockverb if they aren’t to metal have boh Head units an An orange cab for both.. hopefully that wouldn’t hurt the fenders tone this
Would be my dream rig haha but what kind of succes or how are you getting by using the GTs live? An how has it been going or how did it got hopefully I’m not the only one lmfao...


Ps anyone know when an update is coming I’m
Read for a couple new features


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 8:26 pm
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I've been taking my GT100 to a weekly jam. I've been very happy with the 65 Twin model set pretty clean, with a Green box and compressor. I've had trouble getting my 59 Bassman preset to cut through. It's set dirtier, with gain at about 2:00 and the Green box. I figured out that the Sag will overcompress the sound, so I go the opposite direction with it. I fiddle with it tonight at home and have it sounding very nice. I can't wait to try it at the club. I haven't used the four button switch for anything but selecting between three presets. I should add that I did replace the speaker with a WGS ET90. Overall, I think the GT100 does a pretty good job once you can get it dialed it, which can be difficult in an apartment.


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 3:22 pm
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Jbthigpen wrote:
I've been taking my GT100 to a weekly jam. I've been very happy with the 65 Twin model set pretty clean, with a Green box and compressor. I've had trouble getting my 59 Bassman preset to cut through. It's set dirtier, with gain at about 2:00 and the Green box. I figured out that the Sag will overcompress the sound, so I go the opposite direction with it. I fiddle with it tonight at home and have it sounding very nice. I can't wait to try it at the club. I haven't used the four button switch for anything but selecting between three presets. I should add that I did replace the speaker with a WGS ET90. Overall, I think the GT100 does a pretty good job once you can get it dialed it, which can be difficult in an apartment.



How do you like the speaker swap? that was the speaker I was really looking into getting for it, the video research I did for a speaker led me to loving that WGS ET90. How is it so far compared to the original speaker? Did you notice that big of a change in overall quality of tone? Im still deciding on whether I want the GT100 or 12 watt blues jr nos. I love that Jensen speaker it made it smooth. As I mentioned I use an ABY live an take a little orange crush 35rt for my higher gain stuff then was a ts9 can get, unfortunately I am stuck in the country of Illinois so I cant find a place to try different speaker and I don't want to just keep buying them if I don't like them. then returning them an all that. If a speaker swap helps the amp that much I think it would be worth it if I want to trust the GT for awhile. That would mean me showing up to a club with a digital amp and all the funny looks ill get from other bands lugging around their tubed amps. But I think the GT can really do the cleans really well and like you said with the ts9 its not bad an then I use either the Y channel to help the Gt sound bigger with the orange added into the signal. I like keeping the mustang gt cause its so close to the real thing along with the fx you get its hard to pass up unless you are like national touring theatre act. If you are still regional I don't see why the GT wouldn't work sound wise. Functionality is a different discussion. But sound wise I think it holds up, no it is not better sounding then tubed amps. but its so close and the price is so much lower its like unless you dump $1000 into your amp, you aren't going to get that pro quality sound all the way every amp has its short comings, while the GT has many is more the perks I enjoy of it all. I can record directly into my DAW the headphone an Bluetooth is handy and good for backing tracks or playing to songs. I just don't know whether or not it can be an amp you take with you to the bigger stages. I mean I might just be naïve but ive yet to see any players really bring out digital amps, that being said ive played show where people couldn't believe it was digital. I think when the amp goes for high gain an is turned up to close to its max it sounds worse, if the GT is always running directly into the board you don't have to crank it and it sounds much better. I only use the Gt for Fx and clean channels like the fender patches I think they nail I don't use anything but the fender patches live. Im interested to hear your findings with the speaker swap when you did it? was it really that much better? Ive heard it can make a huge impact on the quality of tone overall especially the lower end. This was the one speaker I would consider swapping for. But I hear finding 4ohm version of it is a hard find. The speaker itself seems easy to put in.


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 1:19 am
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What's a stage got to do with reliability? It's the same amp at home,
in the store, or on the road. If a venue has dodgy power,
get your own power conditioner. If it's 110 degrees onstage,
get a fan, open the back, drill vent holes etc. If a roadie breaks it,
the roadie gets broken...well, fiscally speaking, of course. :wink:

If you're getting paid, you buy spares, and have backup alternatives.
Cheers


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 6:23 am
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guildorf wrote:
What's a stage got to do with reliability?

I can answer that.

On the way to the gig, you load the amp into a car/van/truck/whatever where it bounces around and shakes for the whole drive to the venue. Then you take it out and maybe carry it up or down stairs, etc. Bumpity bumpity bump!

I played a show where one of the singers from the other band (headlining act) accidentally knocked my Mustang III v1 off my amp stand.

I was packing up my stuff from playing a musical and the musical director slammed the bottom of a mic stand (the cast iron type) into my amp.

I could go on and on. Most of the abuse my amp has taken was on the way to a gig, on the way back, or at the gig. None of the above things ever happened to my amp while it was sitting in my house.


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 9:18 am
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ghost_of_strings wrote:
guildorf wrote:
What's a stage got to do with reliability?

I can answer that.

On the way to the gig, you load the amp into a car/van/truck/whatever where it bounces around and shakes for the whole drive to the venue. Then you take it out and maybe carry it up or down stairs, etc. Bumpity bumpity bump!



+1. This is a very under looked issue. When i used to gig, and i did so constantly for about 30 years so i did see this first hand several times, i found that pretty much every time i had amp issue was after transporting it. Get to the gig and set up only to find a issue, or get home and plug my amp in and a problem occurs. Always right after transport because 90% of amp issues are due to bad connections, solder joints going bad or internal connectors. Both are exacerbated greatly by vibration. And probably the worse vibration an amp is subjected too is transport. There is however a solution....put the amp on one of the car seats or put a thick foam mat under it or something along those lines. As long as the vibration is not sharp jolts it won't cause issues. So don't put it directly on the floor or trunk floor. Do that and it should hold up fine for many years and be as reliable as any amp. And by the way, i have worked on tons of fenders of every type in my last job so i know how they are built and having opened the GT i can tell you they used very solid construction techniques compared to SS fenders of years past. It should be about as reliable as cheap SS amps can be. So keep the vibration soft as i described when transporting and the GT should be plenty reliable for gigging. As for people knocking it over at a gig.....well, in about 30 years that never happened to me once, but if it did just remember ANY amp is vulnerable to that, and tube amps would be even more likely to be damaged due to tubes breaking or thier internals shaken loose.


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 9:37 am
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absolutely, the amp falling off the stand was an oddball occurrence. The guy had major knee issues and refused to use a walker or wheelchair (not very rock 'n' roll I guess). The mic stand was a dumb accident. In both cases, my v1 Mustang stood up to the abuse easily. I would say that was maybe 10% luck and 90% build quality.

I always carry my amps by hand because rolling them around on a cart or using casters seems like asking for trouble. Especially hard casters - way too much vibration for my liking.


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 10:41 am
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One of the worse amps for this issue is the peavey classic 30. I had a few of them and gigged with them for years, often using them as a second wet amp. And THREE times they went down on me at a gig right after setting up and turning them on. They use 3 circuit boards in a U formation who's circuits are connected to each other thru a good 100 solid core inch long wires. Utterly STUPID construction design ! Vibration would eventually fracture one of them and the amp would not work at all or be intermittent. The last one i had i painstakingly soldered a inch long stranded wire to every one of those so it the solid wire fractured there would still be a reliable connection. Whoever designed that thing had not thoughts whatsoever about reliability. Had i been transporting them right i wouldn't have had that issue, but that was before i realized it, and in fact that was the very thing that caused me to realize it !


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 3:55 pm
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There is no end to the size, shape, density and thickness of
products designed to cushion the effects of humans defeated by gravity,
humans with stripped-out vans, humans drunk/high/...or just pushing
their physical limits too far.

If a toolchain of lackies can get the amps from China to the GC display shelf,
having the chief roadie get one to a stage and back home in one piece
really isn't a big deal. :wink:


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:35 pm
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guildorf wrote:

If a toolchain of lackies can get the amps from China to the GC display shelf,
having the chief roadie get one to a stage and back home in one piece
really isn't a big deal. :wink:


Yes, but thats not the issue. The issue is how it affects them over time and hundreds of transports. My peaveys didn't go down when they were new or close to new, it was a after a few years of gigs. The worse construction amps will make it to the store no problem.


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:13 am
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Yes, if it's a live gig then always plan for problems. For every gig I bring backup for everything. Second amp, second guitar, mic, tablets, batteries, slides, tuners, strings, cords, and anything else amp that I've ended up using on stage. Most of it stays packed but when you need it you'll be really glad since the alternative of "No Guitar" can't happen. At this point after playing a zillion gigs everything you could imagine and plenty you can't has happened to me and the band. Plenty of smoking amps and broken instruments but my favorite disasters came from the audience. During a tune, a guy bodily pulls our female keyboard player off her chair, the band stops. Now we're wondering; what's going on; He says "I wanted to dance with her". Guy bodily Ejected by Security! Rescued female keyboard player later says, "He was pretty hot, why'd they kick him out". I could go on but everybody I play with has great stories. Be prepared!


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 1:06 pm
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Thats the #1 reason that I don't miss gigging all that much....drunken idiots. I got so sick of that kind of thing that while it alone wasn't enough to stop, it's the one thing that i think of when i start to miss it. Then I stop missing it much ! Enough time in bars and you can really develop a disdain for the human race.


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 1:44 pm
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Agree! I left the Bar-band scene long ago. Mostly because the Bar owners and booking agents drained the fun out of it. I'm lucky to now live in an area where there's a strong constant demand for Summer season bands covering material I've always been happy to play. Rarely do any gigs go past three sets or end later than 9/10pm. The crowds we get these days are so enthusiastic that I'm in awe. (Well behaved too)


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 6:42 pm
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Thanks for all the tips guys, it doesn't really matter the amp, all equipment gets beat up along the way, I am doing the bar scene right now only long enough hopefully to find a talent agency that can book us more proper venues, not the bars that let the drunks come on stage an touch your stuff, this is the first time I am making a dent as an original band but I have been in many cover bands, and know all to well how the real bar scene is. I hope to get lucky and get more attention and not have to stay in the dive bar scene much, that's where I began to hate playing live as much. But now, I am in a different genera "jam band" and here in the Midwest jam bands seem to be getting some great venues and shows lately, especially during the summer time.

What do you guys think of the overall sound of the GT with live use? as far as hanging with other guitarists amps. You guys think anyone would trust the GT sound and everything with some of the bigger shows? is it amp that a guitarist could rely on- on the road, get what I mean. Will the old tube amp purists not tear a digital amp to shreds if one were to bring a digital amp to the bigger stages? I mean it seems like with anything digital amp wise guitarists still seem to turn their nose up to them and automatically, unfortunately, and judge a whole person by the amp they choose. Im sure the old school sound guys also look at the guitar players who play digital amps as less of a player because they in fact have a digital amp I know buddies who play Nashville broadway, and love the GT amps but if one were to show up with one of those amps in a club automatically assumptions would be made. Some regard its fair, cuz no the GTs don't sound better then a tubed fender but they come pretty damn close if you know how to work the amp.


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Post subject: Re: How many use An trust their GT live on stage?
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:56 pm
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I’ve played with some known acts in larger venues. Mostly “oldies” groups from the Doo Wop era. Surprisingly, my Mustang III v1 turned a few heads. I got a few compliments on the tone and “what amp is that?”. The other players used a mix of gear. I remember seeing a few vintage Musicman amps. Probably more than any other amp, I remember seeing lots of Hot Rod Deluxe amps. A lot of the “house amps” were fender. Sometimes solid state like a Frontman 212. I guess for a house amp, they don’t want to be changing out tubes.

I think the Mustang series can easily hang with the big dogs when properly mic’d. I guess a lot depends on the style of music. All I really needed was a nice clean sound with my band, and the Mustang did a good job of that.


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