Guitar Gig Bag

My old cheap gig bag had its time last Dec 2011 and I needed to replace it urgently as we have an upcoming gig.  Good thing there's Guitar Central in Southampton near Bargate just beside Maplin.  You can google map it if you're not familiar of the place.  Again as I've said before friendly atmosphere and all willing to help.

I tried and look around for a gig bag just a quick replacement and Guitar Central got a lot to choose from.  Mind you, just be careful coz there are bass gig bag, guitar gig bag and electric guitar gig bag so it is better to ask assistance.  I was also tempted to buy a hardcase one but apart from short of budget I just needed a replacement for my softcase gigbag.

The one I bought was a good one.  It has two pockets, one at the top where you can put your strap and/or guitar lead then a bigger one where you can put a multi-effects processor i.e. Digitech RP55.  Also you can put in some songbook or any music magazines, chord charts, DVD lessons, etc. in this big pocket.  Also apart from the back straps there is also a sort of handle at the side so you can easily carry your guitar when it becomes a little heavy on your back.  It is also worth mentioning that the padding for this gigbag is far better than the one I got where there's hardly no padding at all to protect or cushion the guitar.  Lastly, I got an extra Behringer sticker from my K450FX and put it on this new gigbag and it made a difference. I am now looking for more stickers to add some colour or art to this gigbag.

Thanks again Guitar Central...... BIG HELP.  Cheers guys!

ION center stage review

I bought this item online from Maplin. It was smooth
transaction quick deliver, although the box was like it was already opened and
returned to them but still I go for it because I was intrigued of this item.  Unboxing, checked if it was complete and looks
like it was.  Tried to assemble the
stands, speakers, etc and then now comes the leads what I got in my hand was
the microphone lead and the lead for extension speaker wasn’t there.  I checked the microphone box and found that
it was in there so I concluded the item was really opened and perhaps returned
to Maplin.

Still continued and assembled/connect everything. There are three inputs; microphone, guitar
and RCA input for iPod/Laptop.  First, I
started testing the microphone and I was disappointed because it was rather a
cheap microphone as well as the lead that comes with it. Microphone sound
quality is rubbish.  There’s no echo or
reverb or any effects like delay forthe microphone so it’s another minus
factor.

Now the iPod input with the lead and holder that comes with
this ION center stage, I tried testing it with iPhone and I was impressed. It
was loud and crystal clear sound.  I
tried it with my netbook and I was really impressed even with just one speaker
minus the extension speaker, it can really punch a good sound not to mention
that this is a 50 watt mini amp.

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel for me with this
item because I will be using this just for home parties, karaoke and doing some
activities in a nursing home where I work, so a mini portable PA system I think
this will work.

Lastly, as I am a guitarist, I tried connecting my electric
guitar directly onto the guitar input. It was brilliant. The sound of the
guitar got bass even though the speakers itself is so small like a shelf
speaker but it can produce a loud, clear and bassy guitar sound.  Not too bad really.  I was even tempted to connect the microphone
on the guitar input and yes it’s rather sounding good coz the unit doesn’t have
equalizer, the guitar input got a bassy sound, it works with my voice.

Overall conclusion and suggestions, the unit is fairly
decent depending on what you’re going to use it for. Easy to assemble and it’s
like all in one for a performer like me. Got a guitar, backing track input via
mp3, iPod or laptop and mic input.  The
downside of ION center stage is that there’s no effects for microphone like
delay, echo or reverb plus no tone or equalizer but most importantly the
effects.  I would suggest to ION to do
away with the microphone because it was so useless and cheap and instead put on
some effects to the unit.



VRB