Good affordable wireless for guitars

Andrew Paul

The cat's meow
Joined
May 25, 2017
Messages
3,064
Location
New York
Hello all, everyone that responded to my best guitar cable thread were so helpful. Now, I’m inquiring about what would be a great affordable wireless for a guitar. I know in my cable thread someone mentions Line 6 G 10. I’m looking for something mainly for home use it sounds good and has a decent battery life, one type I would never recommend that I had trouble with was X VIVE.

Thanks in advance!
 
I have been using the Line 6 G50 for several years. I used it live and now I use it at home. It has been very reliable. I did replace the cable with a Shure right-angle plug.
 
I started with a Samson AP1 many years ago.
When it broke I got a Line 6 G30. When I got my P22 I got a second G30 along with a set of rechargeable AA batteries and charger.
Sold one of them to a bass player buddy. Great system but a bit of a PITA with two transmitters on your strap. I still have one lying around here somewhere.
Next I went with Line 6 G10. They have been flawless for 3 years or so. No regrets. Only caveat is that the power connector is micro USB which to me is silly. Should be a standard 9v connector IMHO.
The newer Line 6 G10 has fixed that and is pedalboard friendly.
Also on the P22 the G10 needs an adaptor.
 
I started with a Samson AP1 many years ago.
When it broke I got a Line 6 G30. When I got my P22 I got a second G30 along with a set of rechargeable AA batteries and charger.
Sold one of them to a bass player buddy. Great system but a bit of a PITA with two transmitters on your strap. I still have one lying around here somewhere.
Next I went with Line 6 G10. They have been flawless for 3 years or so. No regrets. Only caveat is that the power connector is micro USB which to me is silly. Should be a standard 9v connector IMHO.
The newer Line 6 G10 has fixed that and is pedalboard friendly.
Also on the P22 the G10 needs an adaptor.
Thanks for info, I find it strange that it needs an adapter to work with Piezo.
 
The Boss WL-50 works nicely for me. For me, cables are a backup.

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Was initially concerned about dropouts, sound quality, and battery life. Rarely any dropouts until I stray more than 20-25 feet, and it sounds as good as any cable with much less noise. It is essentially a buffer at the beginning of your single chain which works fine for me. Battery life is more than you need and nothing you have to pay much attention. It's around 10-12 hours with green/yellow/red led indicator that you know you play for hours unless red. Probably would have lost the transmitter by now without the the spot on my pedalboard to dock/recharge though.

The 1/4 jack input on the dock is a nice feature if you want to plug-in with a cable and not reroute your pedalboard. Pretty convenient to jut plug in (I thought it was silly until I needed it, and now I'm sold). Only nit is if you push the transmitter all the way into the dock and the dock is not powered, the transmitter drains its battery until it goes to standby. I now just push it partway until the second "detent" which still holds it well even when in transit.
 
Been using the G10 for several years now. Having struck out twice with wireless before, I was quite surprised that it would, a.) sound so good, and, b.) be so reliable. The range is limiting but for the purpose, originally, of being able to walk out into the bar and do sound checks, it nailed it!

Yes, like Dave mentioned, I had to extend the barrel of the jack on one of my guitars so it could make better contact with the transmitter, but that was no big deal. Highly recommended. And yes, I use it at home almost 100%.
 
I started with a Samson AP1 many years ago.
When it broke I got a Line 6 G30. When I got my P22 I got a second G30 along with a set of rechargeable AA batteries and charger.
Sold one of them to a bass player buddy. Great system but a bit of a PITA with two transmitters on your strap. I still have one lying around here somewhere.
Next I went with Line 6 G10. They have been flawless for 3 years or so. No regrets. Only caveat is that the power connector is micro USB which to me is silly. Should be a standard 9v connector IMHO.
The newer Line 6 G10 has fixed that and is pedalboard friendly.
Also on the P22 the G10 needs an adaptor.

I also use two Line 6 G30 systems for my two Piezo PRS'. My answer to the hassle of two transmitters is to swap the strap with transmitters attached (still a PITA). Sometimes I keep the transmitter for the mag pickups clipped to my belt rather than the strap so I can easily switch to a non-piezo guitar. The G30s are great though.
 
I use cables now, but for a long time I used an Audio-Technica analog wireless system in the studio. It made going back and forth from workstation to recording booth to adjust mics easier.

The reason I liked it (even after digital systems came out) was that it did the opposite of what seemed desirable at the time - it screwed with the signal a little. The compander circuit and variable output that had to be used in these things resulted in a bit of compression, EQ and boost that sounded good in front of my amps.

My guess is that an old analog system is going to be dirt cheap, but might actually be worth investigating. Obviously, it would have to sound good to you with your gear to be at all useful. But you just never know with this stuff.
 
I was using the Line 6 G10. A couple of months ago I switched to the X-Vive U2. No problems with it, yet.
 
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