Best Wireless Guitar Units

[Country Boy Shane]

I know we are all vintage purists here and love to keep our setups relatively simple and straight to the point, but to really get wild at rock shows you've gotta go a little crazy on and off the stage. To my experience, doing this results in insane amounts of cable spaghetti and some pedals getting all finnagled when you try and run off stage and jump onto tables. I've come to this conclusion... i've gotta get me an awesome wireless unit for my rig.

So i've been doing my research and remembered my former difficulties with wireless like enormous amounts of noise and dropouts. It looks like no one is carrying NADY products around area i live in and my talks with people are letting me see why. Since my singer already has a Shure wireless mic that she uses religeously, i have to worry about possibly running the same frequency or channels. Just gotta sort out my requirements for wireless awesomeness. Another thing i'm a stickler about is durability and my buds over at Guitar Center gave me some expert advice.

I went into the store looking in the accessories department and was getting blown away by the outrageous prices on all the Shure, AudioTechnica, and AKG units... $500+ !!! Ripoff. Pat who works at the Southfield shop showed me their big strengths and weaknesses. My biggest complaint was the lack of multiple channels, frequency selection, and of course durability. All the brands except Sennheiser were made of flimsy plastic and really dissapointed me, especially Shure's top of the line unit priced at $599. SUK! Don't make me mention AKG's guitar bug. What a joke. This thing was spinning like crazy on my Les Paul's input jack and was also a little plastic piece of shiet.

The unit that got my attention with its amazing clarity, durability, and features was the Sennheiser EW172. An amazing array of frequencies, a diversity receiver, and ease of use. I've seen some reviews how these units work very well overseas too. User accounts note that other brands sometimes don't even work over there in the motherland of Europe! I really liked how durable everything was made. The whole receiving unit could be dropped off my amp many times and still run like brand new. The transmitter was also fit with its rugged metal housing. What was great about the transmitter was the sliding plastic door over the controls so if it got bumped the door would protect your settings. WAY COOL! What's even greater is that this unit has all the same features as the top of the line Shure but only $349! With a little Turkish bargaining power i'm sure i'll be able to knock off the sales tax.

If any of you have opinions on wireless that i didn't notice on this post, please update us all on your experiences.

[flemingmras]

Hey Shane. OK the model wireless I have used for years is the Nady XR-61. It is a 1U rack size and it even comes with mounting ears to allow you to rack mount it if necessary, but you don't have to put them on. It is a DigiTru Diversity system with detachable front mount extendable antennas and Musicians Friend carries it in multiple channels and they're selling it for a whole whopping...you ready?...$139.99! It normally listed for like $300.00 when it first came out and it's one of their top of the line wireless units.

Nady wireless products have never failed me, given me dropouts or caused interference on stage at all so I wouldn't worry about that. You get about 16-20 hours of battery life, which I don't know of a wireless unit that will give you that long. Plus they have a dynamic range of 120dB so there's absolutely no way in hell you'll ever overdrive the receiver. Like I said I have used this onboard an aircraft carrier and there was a part where I had to run behind a steel wall to run up some stairs that led to a platform suspended off the wall of the hanger bay to do the star spangled banner, and not once did it drop out. I have also used it up on the flight deck while we were having a "Steel Beach Picnic", and even with all the air traffic radars going it did not phase my wireless. I even had guys on the ship who used Shure and Audio Technica begging me to let them use my Nady because they knew that it wouldn't drop out on them. I don't know how Nady offers such a kick ass wireless for so cheap, but somehow they do it. And Nady is the ONLY brand that I trust over any of them! I mean hell, who better to get a wireless unit from than the people who invented it!?

BTW thanks for the post on my band's website. That was funny!

Jon

[rgalpin]

man that is funny! [see above]

anyone have a great wireless they are using that's in the 3 bill range? in some tests last night, i found that my wireless was killing my tone -
sucking the mids out - adding hypertelecaster snappies - turning would be "chugs" into impotent piss farts.

[Bad Kitty]

I've got a twelve year old Nady 201 VHF I've been using at least three shows a week since I got it second hand for $250 and the only problem was the power button quit working. A quick trip to rat shack for a miniture SPST momentary on switch and I was back in business. I've been through a few wall warts because the cords on those things are always flimsy.
I've never noticed any change in tone and the only dropouts I've had is when I first got it and didn't have the squelch set right.
The range is about 200 feet but realisticly you can only go about 50 feet with any wireless because of the delay of the sound getting to your ears. Nothing pisses off the band more then when your a split second off on everything.

[rgalpin]

i spent the day researching this and am surprised at how much good stuff i am reading about NADY VHF stuff. VHF kind of freaks me out - doesn't it need to be UHF to be great? i've been using a samson airline - but i've only recently been getting ultra critical about exactly what's coming out of my amp in a LIVE situation because our other guitarist split and now it's just me - so my stuff has be top-notch now that it's not getting blurred into another guitar's sonic wash (that's what they called it in topgun!).

anyway - the samson is UHF - it seems like VHF would be a step down but maybe i'm operating under a misconception the VHF is shemp.

[saborthw]

Check out the EV RE1 Alot of pros use this system, it is high dollar though around $ 1000.00 Below are the specs.

The new RE-1 Series Wireless Microphone System is a completely programmable frequency agile system with Advanced ClearScan™, a dual band compander, rugged and powerful transmitters and many other features that make it worthy of the legendary RE label.

Receiver Features:
Optimized channel groups allow up to 16 systems to operate simultaneously in one frequency band. For groups larger than 16, EV can help with the coordination and custom groups are easily programmed. li>Programmable in 25 kHz steps across 24 MHz operating bandwidth, there are over 950 possible channels so you can always find a clear channel. li>Advanced ClearScan™, automatic group and channel selections, allows quick, simple setup. li>Backlit LCD Display shows the Sound Engineer the Group/Channel, transmitter battery status, diversity operation, RF and Audio level meters, and space for a custom name (2 lines, 10 characters each). li>Specially designed “Sound Check” mode provides the ability for one person to walk test the microphone in the performance space with tangible results.
Patented DSP Posi-Phase™ Diversity System for maximum range and audio quality.
Balanced XLR microphone output and 1/4-inch unbalanced adjustable line-level output to match the application.
CDR-1000 Dual Receiver includes internal power supply, headphone monitoring jack, balanced line-level output, antenna pass through, DC power on antenna jacks for optional RF amplifier, and RE-OneLink™ PC software for remote monitoring and control.
Rackmount hardware included.
Three-Year Limited Warranty.

Transmitter Features:

Unique “smart” battery circuit in the transmitters means there is no way to put the battery in wrong.
LCD display and the same four control buttons as the receiver so programming a channel or frequency is quick and easy.
Low battery LED will light when the battery needs a replacement.
One on/off switch that also acts as a mute, great for pauses in presentations and worship services.
On/off button can be disabled to prevent accidental turnoffs during a performance.
Normal and High power transmit means you use just enough power for the application, which maximizes the number of simultaneous systems and limits RF spill over into adjacent buildings/theaters.

Bodypack Features:

Cast magnesium housing weighs only ounces but is durable enough to take the pounding on tour.
Detachable 1/4-wave antenna allows for easy replacement or the use of different antenna options.
Cell phone style beltclip included for quick and easy attachment. Optional pouches also available for wearing under costumes or for more vigorous applications.
EV has a wide selection of lapel and headworn microphones and microphone accessories to go with the RE-1 bodypack transmitter.
Unique Bodypack Features for Guitar Applications:

Dual band compander circuit provides the audio bandwidth required to cover the lows of a bass guitar to the highs of a solid body.
Mic/Instrument switch adds a 20 dB pad in the transmit path so the standard bodypack can be used for microphone and guitars.
Guitar patch cord featuring George L’s® cable with solderless, interchangeable right angle and straight plugs included to fit your guitar.

This Guitar System includes:

CSB-1000 Transmitter.
CSR-1000 Receiver.
Rack Mount Hardware.
George L instrument Cable.
Two 1/4" wave antennas.

Scott