Table of Contents
Advertisement
GT3/5 Audio Connections
First before I say anything else, let me say BUY THE BEST
CABLES YOU CAN AFFORD. Do not skimp here. Don't
buy the $5-10 cheap cable. I recommend Planet Waves
from D'Addario – Suzanne Archibald has recently bought
some and I'm sure she'd be willing to give you an opinion
on them too. You can find these cables at a local retailer –
on the web Planet Waves may be found at
http://www.planet-waves.com
You may consider Monster Cables, however, I personally
feel they are overpriced, do not match the Planet Waves
quality and I am DEEPLY suspicious of any company who
categorises their cables BY GENRE!
Right that's that out of the way. So we have taken a dip into
cables and the various wiring schemes. Now lets look at
what our GT-3/5s have to offer and how we may best
connect them.
In every case presented below I ALWAYS recommend
using the MAIN OUPUTS on the GT-3/5 as your
PRIMARY high quality audio connection. The GT-3/5
headphone amps are not going to be the best in the world
and the main outputs are almost without question of higher
quality. Use the headphone output for what it was intended
and do not abuse it because 'you didn't happen to have the
right cable'.
The main outputs, and the send and return connectors are
unbalanced mono 0.25". There are two main output
connectors (left & right) and one send and one return. The
send-return is in fact an effects loop for your GT-3/5. Now
lets examine how we can connect up the GT-3/5 and what
cables to use in each specific case – remembering that I am
ALWAYS going to connect the main outputs, or the
send/return using unbalanced mono 0.25" jacks. I will
NEVER be connecting the HEADPHONE output to
anything other than a pair of headphones for monitoring.
In almost every case the cables you require will be a simple
unbalanced mono 0.25" TS jacks. Exactly the same as
pretty much every guitar instrument cable in existence.
Right then. Lets look at the various ways to connect the GT-
3 to our amps followed by a quick look at connection the
GT-3 direct to a PA or Mixing Desk (for recording/sound
reinforcement) or direct to our soundcard (for recording).
There are two sorts of amplifiers (pre & power), which
come in three configurations (separate power amp, separate
pre-amp or pre & power combined into a single cab):
Power Amplifiers – which typically are either one channel
(mono) or two channel (stereo). The amps tend to be found
on large systems, or guitar rack based systems, or studio
© Copyright 2000-2002 Barry S. Pearce et al.
Section 4
systems. PA's also use power amplifiers. The power
amplifier actually powers the speakers and will ALWAYS
colour the sound to some degree; tube power amps will
colour the most and solid-state studio flat response
reference power amps the least.
Pre-amplifiers – The whole purpose of this type of
amplifier is to colour the sound, often providing distortion.
Some preamps might be stereo, others mono. When
preamps are discussed, especially regarding guitar preamps,
the term channels usually refers to 'clean' and 'dirty'
channels. Preamp channels are typically switched via MIDI
or a hardwire footswitch.
Amp Head– Generally these are guitar amps. It is a
combination of pre-amplifier and power amplifier in a
single case. Sometimes the amp head is in the same cab as
the speakers – this is known as a COMBO.
To avoid confusion in the rest of this section, when I refer
to an Amp Head (incl. combo), I shall refer to it as a
GUITAR AMP.
Can I also ask anyone who uses an external amp to read the
bit in section 14 on preamps called 'External preamp + GT-
x preamp: Breaking the Myth'. There seems to be some
misinformation around, claiming that this is not possible, or
cannot give good results...this is just not true. Please read
section 14 for more information.
Amplifier Connections
Different amplifiers have different connections. Whilst
preamps and power amps are fairly obvious, many combos
or amp heads have a variety of connections. So before
diving in and telling you what the various methods of
connecting the GT-3/5 are, lets take a quick look at the
guitar amp's connection labelling. Remember - what we are
trying to do with the guitar amp is separate out the preamp
from the power amp. Here's a quick guide:
Preamp Input
GUITAR IN
INPUT
Preamp Output
SEND
Power Amp input
RETURN
MAIN IN
Power Amp output
SPEAKERS(!)
It has become apparent from the list that there is another
form of send/return on some guitar amps marked as
INSERT. I would assume that this is a normal insert
connection as found on mixing desks. Wiring is fairly easy
TIP = SEND, and RING = RETURN. The connector is
likely to be in between the preamp amp and the power amp.
Connections
25
Advertisement
Table of Contents
