Post by pitts on Sept 24, 2012 7:46:35 GMT
Well I might as well have put the S word in the thread title on this one.
To explain..
A few years back when I first became aware of Charlie's great works on EFTP patches I starting looking for a Q20 after all they are the best !!.
Could not initially find one but I did find this old Alesis GT which I bought quite cheap.
Shortly after I found not one but two Q20's so the GT was almost immediately relegated to dust collector. In fact I was thinking maybe stick it on a trade me forum for a few bucks..
Advance by a few years and I decided to purchase the Blackstar HT1 a really great little practise amp. But I didn't like the no EFTP. Then it came into my head to look at the GT as it was only for practise and the thing was collecting dust.
I ran it up it sounded thin and pretty useless to be honest but having had Charlies patches for the Q20 I decided to give it a go.
Well after a few emails with *** the patches arrived.. I think *** was wondering why someone would want yet more patches. !!
I went to load them ... well first hitch the STEC dump tool which works very well with the Q20 seemed to get hung up repeatedly at about patch 25 and would either freeze or corrupt after that.
I started to look around couldn't find anything then I came across this old midi dumper (2004) called sysexbox and voila it loaded all patches in like three seconds.
I also seized the moment and changed the electrolytic caps at the front end has been suggested herein. This reduces the noise a lot... well worth doing for about two bucks of parts.
Came the moment of truth... plugged up and tried it... well talk about blown away, this old GT sounds absolutely fantastic. ;D
In fact the Apache patch seems to me to be richer and reverberant than the Q20 patch.
I have seen lots of comments on here about people wanting the Q20 etc etc and there is no doubt at a technical level the Q20 wins hands down so, is the GT rubbish ?? answer no way.
Is it a good cheap way to get an excellent EFTP setup
... you bet it is. 
You would have to be a nit picker from hell to find fault with this setup and it works out way way cheaper than the Q20 setup . The machine is way cheaper, the patches are way cheaper
it really is a great entry level way into EFTP.
At least until the new Hall and Collins unit turns up !!
Also its very easy to access things like mixer levels so making minor changes is dead easy.
I am playing solo (sweat, shake etc !!) for a thousand people this weekend, I am so impressed with the GT Apache patch I am thinking of using the GT over the Q20 for the show.
Thought I would share.
Cheers
Ray
NZ
To explain..
A few years back when I first became aware of Charlie's great works on EFTP patches I starting looking for a Q20 after all they are the best !!.
Could not initially find one but I did find this old Alesis GT which I bought quite cheap.
Shortly after I found not one but two Q20's so the GT was almost immediately relegated to dust collector. In fact I was thinking maybe stick it on a trade me forum for a few bucks..
Advance by a few years and I decided to purchase the Blackstar HT1 a really great little practise amp. But I didn't like the no EFTP. Then it came into my head to look at the GT as it was only for practise and the thing was collecting dust.
I ran it up it sounded thin and pretty useless to be honest but having had Charlies patches for the Q20 I decided to give it a go.
Well after a few emails with *** the patches arrived.. I think *** was wondering why someone would want yet more patches. !!
I went to load them ... well first hitch the STEC dump tool which works very well with the Q20 seemed to get hung up repeatedly at about patch 25 and would either freeze or corrupt after that.
I started to look around couldn't find anything then I came across this old midi dumper (2004) called sysexbox and voila it loaded all patches in like three seconds.
I also seized the moment and changed the electrolytic caps at the front end has been suggested herein. This reduces the noise a lot... well worth doing for about two bucks of parts.
Came the moment of truth... plugged up and tried it... well talk about blown away, this old GT sounds absolutely fantastic. ;D
In fact the Apache patch seems to me to be richer and reverberant than the Q20 patch.
I have seen lots of comments on here about people wanting the Q20 etc etc and there is no doubt at a technical level the Q20 wins hands down so, is the GT rubbish ?? answer no way.
Is it a good cheap way to get an excellent EFTP setup
... you bet it is. 
You would have to be a nit picker from hell to find fault with this setup and it works out way way cheaper than the Q20 setup . The machine is way cheaper, the patches are way cheaper
it really is a great entry level way into EFTP.
At least until the new Hall and Collins unit turns up !!
Also its very easy to access things like mixer levels so making minor changes is dead easy.
I am playing solo (sweat, shake etc !!) for a thousand people this weekend, I am so impressed with the GT Apache patch I am thinking of using the GT over the Q20 for the show.
Thought I would share.
Cheers
Ray
NZ
