I am looking for someone to chime in and give me a heads up on whats the best out there atm, e.g. does anyone use the shure slx14 wireless gtr system... any good?

thanks...

I would recommend the new PGX-Digital instead of the SLX. PGX-Digital sounds significantly cleaner and more transparent on acoustic or electric guitar, with much more linear sustain as notes decay. If you play bass, the PGX-Digital gives you much better low frequency response; it even sounds good on a 5-string bass.

Shure Americas | PGX Digital Wireless

Chris

As much as I was surprised to see it the new Line 6 G50 is supposedly the best thing on the market these days for guitar players. People are raving about it in various guitar forums. I personally haven't tried it but for $399 and a 200ft. radius, with all these great reviews and discussions I can't see how you'd go wrong. I'm thinking of picking one up soon myself.

great, thanks for the heads up guys.....

will def look into it

cheers

btw chris, for vocals, do you also suggest the digital range? or is the SLX beta series on par?

I have the Line 6 X2 system as shown here.

Wireless Guitar System | X2 XDR959 | Line 6

I bought it back around 2007. And I must say that I can't tell the difference between that and a direct cord. I've never tested the distance factor, but it should work for any normal studio or stage. I think their product uses technology that the others haven't caught onto. Plus their prices are reasonable compared to the Shure or Sennheiser. I did run into issues when I first got it and like everything else I get, hook it up and try it... read manual only when there are problems... lol. Come to find out that the little transmitter MUST have certain types of 9 volt battery. I think it is or is not the Alkline. Anything else will either not work or not work properly. If you get it, be sure to read the manual about the battery type. Lastly, I personally stopped using it on the studio because the battery life is not very long. It is a pain to unplug the battery and I sometimes spend hours working on one song or guitar part. So I reverted back to a good chord. Only because of the battry life and the way I work... for sonics, sound and realiability... it is great! I don't play out, but if I did, I would certainly use it... but stock up on batteries...

I really like the Sennheiser G3 guitar wireless. Before that I used the G2, until the frequency band I had was antiquated by the feds. The G3 has a nice metal belt pack and dual antenna receiver box (plastic battery door though on transmitter) and uses two double A batteries. Battery life is great (double As are also cheap in bulk packs) and you even have some settings to emulate the slight mellowing effect of cables. Typically a wireless can make a guitar rig sound a bit brighter, but with the G3 you can tweak it to sound very close to a corded setup if desired. The transmitter and receiver have extensive gain setting adjustments so you can dail it in to your guitars and amp well. Also, it has no audible companding effects, unlike some of the Shure units. Noise wise it's also quite workable, even into high gain amps. I can even still work an amp that responds to guitar volume settings to go from clean to dirty, point is the dynamics are still quite good along with the impedance loading the receiver puts on the guitar. Highly recommended!

Sennheiser G3 all the way (or the Sennheiser 2000 series if it's in your budget)

the line 6 system is crap. The only good Shure systems these days are the UR series and that will cost about 1k+ and they have pretty bad companding noise.

Not that I'm debating you on that statement but I'd love to hear why you think that about the Line 6. From all the guitar forums I've been reading, everyone seems to rave about the new G50 system over both the Shure and Sennheiser solutions (even the top end ones).

Do you have direct experience with the G50?

price is no object, as stated previously, I am seeking the best wireless for guitar

Have you actually used one of them?

What did you find crappy about them?

I have to agree that the line 6 system is pretty freaking amazing. I am guitar snob... and I was really, really impressed with it.

I'm curious to know the main differences (in a real world situation) between the line 6 G50 and G90 models. I can get both for a good price here and not sure if the top model is warranted...I don't do stage diving or run across stages 30 metres wide if anyone is curious

I think the differences are range, number of locked channels, and form factor.

L6 site has a comparison chart, if I remember.

I've used a Line6 X2 system for the past few years and it is quite impressive for the money. It does eat batteries (I actually found some rechargeables that work really well, however don't show you an accurate level on the charge remaining meter on the unit), but the sound is great and I've never had a dropout.

For the older X2's, my only real gripes beyond the battery thing is the construction feels a bit flimsy (particularly the belt transmitter... never had any breakage though), and the cable that came with it crapped out on me quick (just a few uses... replaced with a high-quality 3rd party cable).

The newer models seem to address and correct all of these issues, as well as improve other things (more channels, extended coverage area). I've considered replacing my X2 version with a newer one, however it still works great... maybe if/when it breaks down.
---
c

200 vs. 300ft range... # of channels is the same (12... the 30 has 6). If you've seen pictures of them, the other obvious difference is that the 90 is rack mount, whereas the 50 is a floor pedal.
---
c

Thanks to all for chiming in,

If there was a difference in the sound between the G50 and G90, I would not hesitate to go for the better unit, but I think both units are identical in sound apart from the extra range etc. The stomp box style G50 is smaller and would be more practical sitting on my combo amp than the rack unit G90. The cheaper price tag is just a bonus for me. I'll order the G50 and after I get to play with the unit I'll chime in with my thoughts.

I found this website www.wirelessguitarsystems.co.uk which has some pretty good reviews and information on it.

I agree. Cheaper Shure are rubbish. Very poor RF. UR series is great though. Sennheiser G3 sounds great. I can hear an improvement in bandwidth over the old G2...and the G2 was great.

Another on the G50. I personally use it, and found it sounds absolutely amazing. I've even used it in recording and found no difference between my cable tone and wireless tone.

think about all those times you will wish you had the 300ft range when you play at 250ft

Just consider, if you are playing venues that have other RF gear, some of the cheaper guitar units might not be operating at frequencies that would suit the venue RF engineer. This is probably only really an issue if you are playing larger arena type venues. At least with stuff like the Sennheiser stuff you have a bit more control over what actual frequencies its operating at.

I haven't had experience with the Line 6 stuff, so not dissing, just mentioning a point that gets some guys in trouble with cheaper RF gear.

Great thread.

What did you end up with?

lectrosonics
these are the best guitar wireless sytems available imo. i have done shootouts w many various other systems and this is it. their wireless mic systems are used on the overall majority of all movies and morning television/news shows. their guitar system is just as impressive. their is400 is the cats meow of wireless guitar systems. they have top notch customer service and a killer support team. this is a level above the consumer shure, line 6, akg systems. you pay for it though....

My Relay G50's audio output just quit on me, like magic. It was working fine for a year and half and worked two days ago. There is transmission connectivity, green leds on transmitter and receiver are solid and strong. But there is no audio whatsoever. I did not touch it at all. And now it's out of warranty. I've contacted Line 6 via a support ticket and let's see what they say. I've already read some similar cases to mine in their forum.

I've never used wireless. I've been tempted to get one myself lately. I've put one on order several times and then canceled it. If I get one, I want the best one, and it's hard for me to justify the money when I can just use a cord.

I'm real tempted though. Everyone rave's about the line 6 unit. The rack model and the one below that. I'm not sure I'd trust it.

Seems like a company like shure would be better at building something like this than line 6.

You'd think, but L6 has a lot of expertise. Before they were L6, they designed a lot of gear for other companies.

But as far as wireless goes, that was an acquisition. They bought X2 Digital Wireless, so it's not like they are just an upstart in the sector. This is how they came out with a mature product line right out of the gate.

The L6 wireless has been around long enough to prove itself. The top end units are pretty great.

Shure makes as much economy-priced stuff as any other company. I don't think there is conclusive evidence that Shure is any better than Sennheiser, AT, Line6, or any others.

You want it to work when you want it to work, and not break. That's about it.

Got to use a Line 6 G50 a couple weeks ago. I started very skeptical and was completely impressed how similar it sounded to 15' of instrument cable. I would highly recommend it!

I bought one of the first generation Line 6 wireless guitar systems and used it at a lot of open mic nights on my acoustic guitar. One day I tried it in the studio with a Les Paul and Dual Rectifier amp, I was really impressed by the sound quality and the way the guitar felt running wireless.

Then I put the Line6 wireless away for a year, I got it out and it did not work. I replaced the batteries but no good, it was dead.

I called Line 6, they are near me, thought I might take it there to have it repaired. The lady on the phone said "nope" we can't fix it, we don't have any parts. We bought the company that made that and they are now gone, we don't have parts and can't help you, byeee.

I was a little shocked by their lame support. I at least hoped for a little credit towards a new one or something.

So I went on a quest for a new guitar wireless and after trying some Sennheiser and Shure systems I bought another Line 6. The sound is really transparent on this system, every other system colored my guitar tone in some less flattering way.

Personally when I record I like a short straight cord into one of my nine Mesa amps or maybe the Marshall depending on the tune. But if you need a wireless system I'd sure give Line 6 a try, I don't think you can beat the sound quality. If I back my guitar down the sound on my Dual Rect cleans up just like I'm on wire and I love that.

They did improve the battery life on the new transmitters too and they now use two AA batteries instead of a 9 volt.

Good luck and good music to you!

I have the Line 6 G30. It's been all over the world with me, got beer thrown on it, been through xray machines, airport security, all that nonsense.... and it has never once dropped a signal. In fact, I played an outdoor show a few months ago and at the end of the show walked into the audience soloing and walked away into the woods. Still transmitting over 100 yards away.

The sound is pretty much identical to a normal length of cable. Never could tell the difference. This is the only Line 6 product I'd recommend.

Had the Line 6 X2 series before that and it was nowhere even close to reliable. The G30/G50 is a whole different design. I might add that the transmission is (I think) 2.4Ghz so there won't be issues with interference from other wireless systems.