Practice Tool Choice?

[merckxcoppi]

I am looking for a tool to help with my guitar playing - but there so many options out there I thought I'd ask here first.

I want a tool that I can play along with that has different keys, different rythms, and I want to record it for my own playback to hear what I sound like. Of course that tube sound would be awesome, but isn't required.

I did search the forums and the options seem so of over whelming at this point. Anyway - here's what I'm trying to accomplish.

1. Have the ability to play along with "play along" CD's and/or jamtracks and record what I'm playing so I can go back and listen and hear my progress.

2. Replace my old cruddy amp with something better. I'm of course leaning towards a tube amp, but maybe that's not what I need right now.

I like the idea of G-DEC, it has built-in backing tracks and the ability to play in different keys.

A little VibroChamp XD look like a sweet sounding tube amp with a line out. However, I have nothing to send the line out to at this point, so perhaps I need a 4 track recorder?

Or maybe I need a Blues Jr, a mic, and 4 track recroder and better speakers off my PC so I can play backing tracks from Truefire and send that and the mic'd amp to the 4 track?

Arg! Too many choices!

If anyone would like to offer advice I'd sure like to hear it. Thank you!!!

Alex

[Goerman]

Alex,

Good question. The Fender GDEC is pretty cool but I will venture that you will likely tire of the audio quality of the loops pretty quickly.

If you are set on combining a new, decent amp with your looping/recording requirements my own opinion is to reconsider this if budget permits. I am not aware of anyone that combines a really sweet sounding amp with the other goodies you are looking for.

My best advice for practice/recording is to go the computer/DAW route. Now I am a Mac guy and I am not familiar with PC based programs but I do know the a MAc with Garage Band would be the answer to your dreams! The learning curve is very manageable, the tutorials and backup are great (you will be using it after a few minutes), there are a ton of great drum loops, you can import any tune you want to play along with and you can record your own playing very simply.

I know there are some PC based recordists about so hopefully they can advise on this front.

[mikespe]

If you go the computer route then Band-In-A-Box is your answer. You can make or use the preset backing tracks, add or subtract various instruments, change keys on the fly, write your own music, change genre, record, convert to various formats, etc...it has everything...and I believe it's around $99

[Hutch82]

Have a look at Band in a Box too especially with the Realband addition now,you can record easily into that,

http://www.pgmusic.com/bbdemovideos.htm

I often line out into speakers or my Korg Pandora for headphone practice,

Blues Junior's are great too had mine for a few years now great value for money,let us know what you get and enjoy researchin'

H

[Rgalvez]

You can't go wrong with Band in the Box.

[mschonbrun]

But GarageBand has the amp simulators and effects. Band-in-a-box is a great tool, so, the combination of BIAB and GarageBand sounds best.

[mikespe]

But GarageBand has the amp simulators and effects. Band-in-a-box is a great tool, so, the combination of BIAB and GarageBand sounds best.

Garage Band is only for the Mac though I thought? I believe the OP is on a PC right?

[Goerman]

Mike is right re: PC, HOWEVER if Alex is ever considering a new computer rig, let's talk Apple!

[rjbasque]

For about $200 there is the Boss Micro BR LINK
It does offer 4 track recording. (only 2 tracks at a time though). With multiple 'virtual' tracks for alternate takes. It has a COSM effects processor, and a built in drum machine. Built in stereo mic. It can also directly play MP3 files.

You can convert an MP3 file to a stereo track, and then record along with it to another stereo pair. As far as keys/rhythms you can access the Jam tracks from TF JamBox or courses, which are actually MP3 files.

The drum machine is programable in that you can splice together 2 or 4 bar drum phrases from the library to create a 'song' track. You are limited to 4/4 time though. But there are dozens of rhythms to choose from.

There is a loop feature and a time shift feature as well.

The down side is there is a limited 2 line display, and limited buttons for control, so it isn't the easiest device to use. A computer based system would be a bit easier to learn and navigate.

I personally have an old PC to run TF courses and play MP3s, which I run into a Behringer VAmp2, then headphones. Keeps the family happy, and I can rock out as loud as I want.

Ahh the gear quest begins

[mikespe]

I personally have an old PC to run TF courses and play MP3s, which I run into a Behringer VAmp2, then headphones. Keeps the family happy, and I can rock out as loud as I want.

Ahh the gear quest begins

I have the Vamp2 as well but I don't use it anymore. I should reconnect it and play with it though. I remember getting pretty good tones out of it!

[Hutch82]

If I didn't have too many gadgets, I read a review of one of these last night in Guitarist magazine, and I'd try one the Boss eBand JS-8

http://www.roland.com/products/en/JS-8/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkN_-Wt0IIY

H

[jauen]

I have a Boss Micro BR for sale (with a leather case!) $150 plus shipping. It's hardly been used (maybe 5 times). Not a scratch. Probably still have the box too.

I'm using 4-track, Amazing Slowdowner and PRS Jamamp on my iPhone for remote jamming and recording. I'm using Band In A Box and Logic Pro for computer jamming. I'm using 6 good friends for carbon-based lifeform jamming.

-

[jauen]

BTW I also have a JamVox for sale:

http://www.voxamps.com/jamvox/

$150 + shipping (paid $250 new. Now they go for $200)

Again, hardly used (maybe 10 times).

[Hutch82]

I'm using 6 good friends for carbon-based lifeform jamming.

That's hysterical. and even funnier is that, " I wish I had,"


Jam long....

H

[robzebr]

Jauen,

How did you like the JAMVOX?

I was just up at Guitar Center and almost bought it ... but thought I'd look around a little more...

Is there anything that you didn't like about it?

... anything that it didn't do that it was supposed to..?


merckxcoppi,

The LIne 6 Spider Jam also has built in tracks...

http://line6.com/spiderjam/

[Wolfboy1]

Lots of great answers here...how much money do you have

There are so many ways to turn.
I have
Tracktion
Sonar 8
Reaper
Audacity
Amplitude
BetaMonkey Drum loops
Tascam MPGT1
Boss MicroBR
Zoom H2
PodXT
Boss RC-2
A Great amp! (Mesa Boogie Express)
(gad...I hope my wife doesn't read this)

Now, nothing sounds as good as a good amp, none of these things will duplicate what you can coax out of tubes while pushing air IMHO. The only one that is really handy for recording my amp is the Zoom H2. The four software options can record my amp as well but the amp needs to be miked and some type of interface is needed to get the mike to record into the computer. I use a presonus firebox for that purpose and record onto an old laptop with Sonar 7.
Any Zoom H2 tracks you record can easily be imported into all the software solutions by a USB cable, no interface needed but it is only post recording.

The Tascam MPGT has no purpose but practice. It is also my most used device. I have my bands setlist, songs I want to learn and a variety of tracks from various MelBay playalong discs on it. I import the tracks from the play along CD onto my computer, hook up the Tascam via a USB cable then copy whatever music I want onto it. Your computer sees the Tascam MP guitar trainer as an external hard drive and you can manipulate files back and forth as needed.

The Boss MicroBR is new to me but I think I am really going to like it. Hutch posted some Youtube links that I found amazingly useful to get me up and running. It is an entire recording studio with mixing and mastering capabilites. It can do play along tracks as well . You are limited to 1GB storage on a memory card. Rumor has it you can use a 2GB card as well if you format the card first on your computer but that is still just a rumor. It's great you can trade stuff with your computer over USB as well. Good guitar sounds and numerous decent sounding drum tracks. Plus it is so portable!

Boss RC-2 is a looper footpedal. It has built in drum tracks, storage for rhythm clips you can down load from your computer and is a looper as well. So you can dial up a drum track, record a rhythm guitar part over top the drums then play lead over the rhythm. You need an amp but it is a great practice pedal when you just want to play with your gear and no headphones. 16min of recording is it's limit across all storage tracks. I have copied Truefire backing tracks from various courses onto my computer. Then I will import the track into Audacity and shorten it to maybe 20-30 secs. Download it to the Boss looper, store it to one of the preset locations then click it on to jam with. I think there are 10 selectable storage tracks for prerecorded loops or loops you make up on the fly but you are limited to 16 total minutes. Fun but a bit complicated to use, especially live.

Podxt...great recording interface (serves as a soundcard for your guitar), lots of decent tones, can be used to jam with headphones or record to your computer via USB. You need software to record, can be used live but need an amp with a great clean channel.

The 4 software titles I mentioned all do similar things but some do a lot more.
Tracktion
Sonar 8
Reaper
Audacity
All are used to record multiple tracks, all can be used to play backing tracks while recording your guitar at the same time. You can use drum loops such as BetaMonkey loops (for drums and bass) which can be stretched and time signatures changed etc. to make your own songs. Or you can use a variety of "plug-ins" to make rhythm tracks. I think Band in a box runs as a plug in all of these. Amplitude can also be run as a stand-alone program or as a plug-in for your DAW software. (DAW= Desktop Audio Workstation) Amplitude is like a software version of the Podxt with all kinds of amp simulations and effects simulations to choose from.
Audacity is FREE
Reaper used to be FREE but now if you keep using it they request you send in a nominal payment.
Tracktion is less than $100.00
Sonar is over $200.00

If you want to use your computer you can do it all for free. Everything you mentioned and so much more is available with a little searching. Great rhythm plugins, guitar simulation plugins, DAWs such as Audacity and Reaper etc. You can make it happen and I think I expanded on this a bit more in the recording thread on the forum.
http://truefire.com/forum/showthread.php?t=961

If you go computer you can do everything with a decent set of headphones but, if you're like me and you hate headphones after about an hour, you are going to need some nice monitors ($300.00 and up a pair) to make better recordings. Your PC speakers and or cheap headphones can work fine if your'e on a budget.

My advice, if you are just getting into this for practice, is get a good amp, download audacity/reaper and learn to use them. If you are not in position to get a nice amp then try one of the other alternatives BIAB and Reaper, Tracktion etc. the hardware gadgets are fun but for your purposes the best would likely be the Boss MicroBR. It's also a great choice if you have a slower/older computer.

Please ask more questions if you wish and good luck

(that jamvox is also interesting and worth checking into a bit but I know nothing about it personally)

[merckxcoppi]

This is one of the reasons I'm so impressed with Truefire and the folks on this forum- ask and you shall receive!

Wolfboy - thank you for the detailed answer. The more I read and more I research I think I'm leaning towards the good amp, the external sound card, and software solution. The shareware idea is very interesting - I will check out audacity, reaper, and tracktion.

The Tascam and Boss tools look very cool, but perhaps too much for me right now.

Jeff - thanks for the offer on the Boss and Jamvox. I think I need to keep looking right now.

Hutch - that JS-8 looks really cool - oh the choices!

Marc - yes, the more I look at Band In a Box the more I'm leaning that direction.

And let also say I am starting on your TEG course. Awesome!! I have jumped ahead in the videos to see where the learning will take me and I am impressed. Your teachings are clear and easy to understand I am excited to work my way through the material.

Goerman - thanks for the input on the gdec. I was wondering if I would get bored with it quickly. BiAB seems to be the way to go.

If I mised anybody - thanks!

Now for an amp.... I see that BillM has mods for the Blues Jr for a line out and audio-taper master volume control.... these might fit into some of the features I've been looking for in an amp ( no need for a mic, ability to turn down the volume low).

Ah the gear quest.......

[Wolfboy1]

Ah the gear quest.......

For me that has always been a fun part of the hobby.

[robzebr]

Here is a link to the Guide to the Home and Project Studio... way more than I'll ever need but it answers a lot of questions.... a great resource...

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

[jauen]

I do like the JamVox. My only complaint is that it has no power switch. It's USB powered so if you leave it plugged in, it's on.

The software works great. It does accurately remove the guitar parts from songs so you can play along. It takes a little tweaking but nothing major (1 minute and you've got it).

The little amp is perfect for desktop right next to your computer. It does what they say in the ads very well.

I bought a powerful new Mac, BIAB and Logic Studio so I I don't use the Jamvox any more.

Jauen,

How did you like the JAMVOX?

I was just up at Guitar Center and almost bought it ... but thought I'd look around a little more...

Is there anything that you didn't like about it?

... anything that it didn't do that it was supposed to..?


merckxcoppi,

The LIne 6 Spider Jam also has built in tracks...

http://line6.com/spiderjam/

[robzebr]

I looked at the overview for Band in a Box ...

It looks like it is more for people that already know what they are doing and want to write an arrangement...and then you can play over it...

whereas the JAMVOX is more for people like me that don't know what they are doing... just getting stated (restarted) ... and want to be able to get to the point where they can play one part of the song with backing tracks...

So .. JAMVOX is more suited to a lesser experienced player than Band in a Box...?

Is that a fair assessment...?

[jauen]

There are lots of online sources for BIAB files with songs already done for you. You can also read in midi files and play them. There are entire fake book collections available for purchase.

Your general point is correct. Jamvox is much easier to use especially if you want to play along with your favorite bands.

BIAB is infinitely flexible though. If I'm working on a 2,5,1 progression I can create one with any groove in any key very quickly. Then I can change the groove with one click. Can't do that with Jamvox.

[robzebr]

Does Band in a Box allow you to cut out the guitar like the JAMVOX extraction....?

The JAMVOX is 200... The various flavors of BiaB are 99, 199 and 349... depending on what paks you get with it....

This is a cool feature...

The Audio Chord Wizard has the amazing ability to analyze, extract, and show the chords from audio recordings onscreen and then write them to the Band-in-a-Box chord sheet.

So it can read a song and then tell you what chords they are...

I guess the question is.... Does Band in a Box do everything that JAMVOX does only a lot more....?

I don't mind having features that I'm not ready for... I'd rather have that than to get a JAMVOX and then in a few months (or a year) be ready for something else....

I didn't see anything about BiaB having amp and tone effects..

Is Band in a Box in the same league as Amplitube 3? Looks like 2 different things for different purposes... Amplitube for playing around with tone ... and Biab for laying down tracks and arranging....

Sorry for all the questions... just trying to not screw up this upcoming purchase...

[Wolfboy1]

Rob I just watched a rather lengthy demo on BIAB and also read the entire list of capabilities for the JamVox.

There is really no correlation between their purpose and capabilities.

First the Jamvox is a speaker and computer interface for your guitar and/or microphone. You actually plug the speaker into a USB port then plug your guitar into the speaker. The software then gives you the capability to play along with music files and if you want to strip the guitars off the music files. I don't know how good this is as they are not erasing anything probably just dropping the guitar frequencies from the mix. This will vary in degrees of success I bet.....some one who has used this feature chime in. Plus it also gives you quite a few amp and effect simulations. It seems very similar in some ways to amplitude but I don't think the effects have the capabilities to serve as plug ins for any DAW you choose. Apparently there is some recording capability but it is proprietary to the included software. This seems like a fun practice tool, really fun but likely something you will outgrow sooner than later. Like a Fender G-dec, fun as heck but you are going to want to expand and there is no where to go but a new amp.

The amplitude software has more amps, more effects, more sound capabilities (I don't know how they compare in quality to the vox because I've never heard the Vox).. Plus you can play them on their own or use them in your favorite DAW. If you find a great sound you like you can easily record that sound, incorporating the Amplitude settings within your recording software. This is a huge benefit over the JamVox as you will discover if you get into recording. Then your DAW can do almost everything JamVox software does except extract the guitar from the Audio. There is probably freeware out there that does this if you hunt. Again Audacity and Reaper are basically freeware themselves so having these Amplitude plug-ins is a great benefit. With Amplitude you will still need Speakers or headphones, sometype of guitar interface.

Now Band In the Box......Wow! Something more than I invisioned. I take back what I said....I don't think it functions as a plug-in for DAWs (I could be wrong....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-5d5IfdYK4). BIAB does so much but mostly in the realm of song creation. It can analize a song for chords, it can generate chords, drums & bass in any musical style for your melody, it can generate a melody for your chords etc. It can use real instruments of any variety (depending on what package you buy) to be your backup band, doubling your melody or creating interesting back-up lines. It seems to be the end all/be all of song accompanyment. Now how does this work for you....
Pick a song you want to learn say...."Sultan's of Swing."
1) Important Sultans as an .mp3 or .wav into BIAB to be analized.
2) BIAB will spit out a chord sheet with a map of the entire song with chords by measure.
3) Print the lead sheet or use it as a foundation for your own version of Sultans
4) Assign drums and backing instruments as accompanyment in any style available and jam over top. Shift keys, time signatures, instruments at will. You can have it pickout the chords then play back the chords in say a BossaNova pattern at 2/3s speed in a different key with piano, trumpets, bass and a latin rhythm section for instance.
5) Once you get the backing track where you want it save it or any part of it as an .mp3 or .wav. then import it as 1 track in your DAW.
6) Now jam and add as many layers of guitars as different tracks in Audacity or Reaper.
7) Go even further by downloading and using one of the hundreds of free plug in synths available on the internet to add additional layers to your recordings.

BIAB does so much I think I could get lost and wonder where my guitar skills went learning it's many functions, especially while learning the whole desktop recording mess.
What BIAB does not give you are any software guitar emulations I don't think. there are many freebies on the net that you can use as plugins. Companies like Voxengo and Beetlebugs have some cool ones (see the recording thread)
Look at BIAB and see if this is where you want to go, if it is you are going to need a guitar/voice interface as well as some type of software guitar package and a DAW program.

Something like the PODxt can serve as your guitar-computer interface while at the same time providing a substantial number of simulations/effects for your playing and recording purposes. There are many other interfaces to look at but something along this line licks 2 problems for the cost of 1.

In all honesty, knowing what I know now I think the ideal optimum solution would be
1) BIAB
2) Amplitude
3) Reaper/Audacity
4) Presonus Firebox
5) Shure SM57
6) Monitors/Headphones


A) Strat
B) Tube Amp
C) Buddy Guy Wah
D) Over Drive
E) Analog Delay
F) Tuner
G) Decent patch Chords
H) V-pick
I) Hot groupie


Have I covered it all?

[robzebr]

In all honesty, knowing what I know now I think the ideal optimum solution would be
1) BIAB
2) Amplitude
3) Reaper/Audacity
4) Presonus Firebox
5) Shure SM57
6) Monitors/Headphones


A) Strat
B) Tube Amp
C) Buddy Guy Wah
D) Over Drive
E) Analog Delay
F) Tuner
G) Decent patch Chords
H) V-pick
I) Hot groupie

Wouldn't the Guy WAH, Overdrive, and Analog delay be part of Amplitube...? or those specific effects just aren't in Amplitube... (?)

So if I'm getting this... Band in a Box to lay down the tracks... and the run it through Amplitube to get the final desired tone...(?)

Reaper and Audacity? I did a quick lookup on these... these are recording editing packages ...

Wouldn't Band In a Box take care of all this...?

So the bottom line (to me) is that it looks like JAMVOX... leaves off.... and then Band in a Box comes in a few steps ahead of where JAMVOX leaves off....

So it comes down to get JAMVOX and get tired of it ... and then upgrade to all the features of Band in a Box...

or

just get Band in a BOX knowing its probably over my head and there will be a learning curve with it.... still going to need the guitar interface...

... so if Amplitube is in the future ... no need to get a full featured POD XT (X3) as Amplitube will take care of all the tone so any USB interface should be ok...

on the other hand ... if I ever unplug my guitar from the PC it would be nice to have the POD functionality to carry with me...

so just based on that... I'd be looking at about 1,000 bucks... POD XT (X3) 300-400,... Band in a BOX.. $349,
and Amplitube 3.0 with pedal interface $349...

but... with the pedal interface for amplitube... then I wouldn't need a POD to connect to the PC... only if I wanted to travel with tone.....

For an extra 50 bucks their saying that Band in a Box comes with an 80 GB hard drive.....

So based on all that... looks like Amplitube with the interface pedal should be the first purchase....

[robzebr]

Disregard my last post... seek an ye shall find...

Ok.... I just spent the last 3 hours on the Band in a Box website..

actually its ... http://www.pgmusic.com/omnipak.htm

Like Charlsey Cantey said to jockey Calvin Borel after Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks by 20 lengths....

"Calvin,... all I can say is Wow!

The full blown shooting match is $769.00 ... sounds high but the amount of stuff you get is ridiculous....

It comes on a 1 terrabyte usb flash drive ... the system files get loaded on your internal hard drive and the programs run off the flash drive... all together its about 50 gigabytes of data....

What you get is Band in a Box, all the add ons, backing tracks, bass, piano horns, Real Drums (studio drummers) backing tracks ...

... also 101 Riffs and Phrases, tutorials for guitar and piano... midi fakebooks, tutorials on Jazz phrasing by Miles Black,...

... a Sequencer Program... Power Tracks Pro Audio...which has midi and audio editing ....

... you can load any mp3, wav, or CD audio....

3 sets of Video lessons,, blues, jazz and Rock...
each includes 101 riffs and 20 tunes... notation for each riff and visual of the fretboard... along with the breakdown and explanation...

Guitar Star Series ... control an audio guitar solo over the backing tracks... Rock and Riffs, Rock and Riffs for Beginner,,, Rock Country Riffs...

Guitar Master Class... beginner, advanced beginner and intermediate level ...

For Jazz.... 2 volume beginner to advanced... 60 lessons 5 hours theory and playing... view notation and view fretboard...

For Piano, 50 topics by Miles Black... designed for beginning player...

2 more piano master calsses... Jazz and Blues... Jazz 2 volumes basic and more advanced... 5 hours 100 excercises practice songs... Blues class for beginner blues piano player...

Master solo series... Jazz, 6 courses 220 songs in the series ..

Flatpick guitar,.. 51 flat pick arrangements

and Blues piano...35 songs.. by Miles Black... view notation and play along...

2 Vocal Performance Programs.. Quartet and Bach Chorals... mute and solo each track.. all lyrics and notation...

Musical Arcade... 4 games to play on pitch identification, music replay... for musical memory, note match.... and note zapper... more note identification...

Guitar and Piano Chord dictionary...

Digital metronome Pro...

Roland sound canvas MIDI drivers,.. SE Pro editor...

CopyScat editor... removes vocals form a song... like karaoke...

Here is the .wav file explaining the above in more detail...

She didn't mention it in the wav but it also is able to identify chords in a song... so like WolfBoy said earlier you can pop a song from a CD in and it will identify the chords and also pull up the notation for the song....

I didn't see if it can pull out the guitar from a song like JAM VOX ... I have to go back and see...

Here is the .wav file explaining the above in more detail...

http://64.40.109.185/pgmusi/wmv/OmniPAK_ovu_hi.wmv

[Wolfboy1]

First off 1-5 was my home computer/recording rig of choice.
A-I is my live rig of choice with real pedals. Not really related to the whole thread just thrown in as I was thinking about the basics for the two scenarios. The Buddy Guy Wah etc. are not part of amplitude.

So if I'm getting this... Band in a Box to lay down the tracks... and the run it through Amplitube to get the final desired tone...(?)

When you say lay down tracks I think of recording. BIAB is for creating and arranging songs, creating and arranging backing tracks, providing full rhythm and instrument arrangements, and in small part, analyzing an imported song for chord structure.(very simplified list)

Reaper and Audacity? I did a quick lookup on these... these are recording editing packages ...
Yes!

Wouldn't Band In a Box take care of all this...?
No!

So the bottom line (to me) is that it looks like JAMVOX... leaves off.... and then Band in a Box comes in a few steps ahead of where JAMVOX leaves off....
Now think back to my prior post.....
"Rob I just watched a rather lengthy demo on BIAB and also read the entire list of capabilities for the JamVox.
There is really no correlation between their purpose and capabilities."

Watch this:
http://64.40.109.185/pgmusic/wmv/Welcome_to_BB_128K.wmv
Then watch the demo here:
http://www.voxamps.com/jamvox/
Completely different scope and purpose.

Also check out the amplitude demo here:
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/amplitub...ex.php?movie=1


If you are semi serious you will outgrow the usefulness of the JamVox IMHO.

So based on all that... looks like Amplitube with the interface pedal should be the first purchase....
Probably the single best way to start I agree. I thought my explanation must have been to garbled but you came to a logical conclusion arriving at a solution I hadn't even mentioned. The Amplitude pedal is a USB input pedal and you can plug speakers or I believe headphones into the pedal as well as your guitar but no mike. Thus you don't need to buy a seperate guitar/computer interface.

Then you download Reaper or Audacity to create your backing tracks in or play/loop your .mp3s. (No added costs)
Actually if you go with the pedal you get a copy of Riffworks T4. A recording program for guitar with drum tracks etc.

Create, Collab, Cast: RiffWorks T4
"RiffWorks T4 is a free edition of RiffWorks guitar recording software that includes looped recording, automatic track creation, InstantDrummer, effects, song posting, online collaboration*, and a “Quick Start” tutorial in 14 languages."

Actually I think anyone can download this cool freebie right here:
http://www.sonomawireworks.com/T4/#

Then you evaluate BIAB. I think there is a limited time freebie demo to try. When I looked at BIAB it seemed like either go big or small but don't waste time in the middle. IF you are just not sure try the cheapest version. If you like it upgrade to the version on the 80GB hard drive. It's already installed and ready to go. On their forums the HD option is very popular.

Hope I'm gradually clear up the murk I created

[Wolfboy1]

egads

We were both typing at the same time!

[Wolfboy1]

Here is the compare and contrast page for the many different BIAB options:

http://www.pgmusic.com/bandbox.htm

I really have no idea which option I would choose. Might be best to score a used copy on fleabay and then upgrade to a 2010 version thereby saving some cash.....just a thought. I am not heading into this territory until I understand what I have already....or get a raise.

[robzebr]

No murkiness.... Thank you for the links.....

I'm looking at it from a pure educational perspective...

So after thinking about it and spending time on the PG Music site... Amplitube isn't what I need....

I don't need 160 amps and effects.... I'd play with it a few times and move some pedals around but I wouldn't be any further along knowledge wise.... relatively speaking...

the OmniPak while including stuff I won't be using (initially) it does include a lot of educational material which is what I am looking for... the more I look at theory and notation and fretboards I think I'll be better off in the long run....

I'm glad I didn't buy anything yet.... I almost bought the JAMVOX 2 days ago in a local Guitar Center...

[mastercaster]

Hey, have you checked out the specs on the new G-Dec 3.
It has real recordings for backing tracks now. Still has a midi sound module too. Has ability to slow down and pitch shift real audio. Has a looper. Comes with loads of software, Ableton, Amplitude and some new software from Fender. Has USB and can be used as a audio interface for computer. A memory card slot. Apparently you can customize it to have just the sounds and backing tacks you want on it.

http://www.gearwire.com/fender-gdec3-wnamm2010.html

[Wolfboy1]

holy freakin cow!

stop the presses!!

Watch the video in the above link!!! This package is amazing.
Amp + Software(lots) + computer interface = WIN!

Truly I think I just found the holy grail of practice gear. If you have a computer and are debating the best option....my initial read is this is it. I might have to get a pair of these for my boys next Christmas


EXCELLENT POST Mastercaster!

[mastercaster]

It seems as though Fender really listened to their customers looking at the upgrades to this series of G-Dec. I hope the build quality has improved over the first series.

[Goerman]

Here is a link to the Guide to the Home and Project Studio... way more than I'll ever need but it answers a lot of questions.... a great resource...

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

FYI, this is very approachable and useful site for the aspiring home recordist. Also check out the forum. Some good, in depth technical advice.