AKG WMS40 GB

Could not be easier - plug the bug into your instrument and the receiver output to amp, console, whatever and play.

HUGE LETDOWN. There is, as other reviewers have pointed out, a bit of a hissing sound, but that is the least of my worries. The compander effect is so pronounced, brightening my guitar sound to a glassy tone, that it basically renders the unit useless. When compared to the sound straight from the guitar, anything upward of 300Hz has to be brought down. And I'm not talking about a couple of db here - from 10 - 14 db to more or less match the wired sound.
I've used it at several gigs anyway, trying to adjust it with the board EQ, but have now stopped using it altogether.

The bug does not seem well-made and despite claims by the company that it is springloaded to keep it from moving around it does in fact bounce all over the place. Were I to continue using it I believe it would soon break. The receiver is also not the toughest-looking piece of gear I've ever owned but if kept in a rackmount unit would probably be OK.

Haven't used it and since I'm not using the unit anymore I guess I won't have to.

Perhaps if this were used for voice the compander effect would be less noticeable, maybe even useful, but for guitar it is simply not acceptable. To add insult to injury the range is quite limited and is somewhat prone to interference.

Very easy to use. Just plug it in, set your levels, and play.

Terrible! I am running it through a Eden WP100 Pre into a Crown CE1000 amp into a Carvin RL410 cab and a Mesa Boogie 2x15 cab. Tone seems to be ok but there is a terrible hiss whenever you play a note. It always goes away when you stop playing, but rears its ugly head when you start again. If I was playing a distorted guitar, I could see how I wouldn't hear it. I play bass, and basses don't hiss. Judging by the other reviews here, it seems to be a common problem. Maybe AKG should read these reviews and fix the thing!

Nope, I used it twice. Once for practice, it did ok. Tonight I was just playing along with my favorite CD with my stack across the room, when I got up and walked around a little, it started making a crackling sound. I changed the battery with no improvement.

Didn't even try.

I am a little dissapointed in the overall quality of the "bug". The receiver seems to be built to last. I wish the bug was as well. I packed it back up in the box and am taking it back in the morning. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone else.

Very easy. Turn it on, plug it in and play. Make sure you turn off the bug between sets to save the batteries.

I've seen a lot of comments about it affecting sound but have to say whilst I can hear a small difference (just a little more toppier), it's not significant enough to put me off. Pretty happy generally, especially with my strats. I did find feedback with my 335 was a bit more of a problem.

My big issue is this. At a number of different venues I have found that my signal is picked up by the venue's in-house music system. My guitar has been heard downstairs, in the pokie room, the restaurant etc. A bit annoying really as I then have to go back to the 'old fashioned' cables!

Pretty interested to hear if anyone else had had this problem and what (if any) fixes there are for it.

No problems for me, although the other guitarist in my band uses one as well and it's getting pretty loose and scratchy. I always have leads for a back up.

Haven't taken it to them yet but probably will have to.

I think this is a great unit. It works well, battery life is OK, it's noiseless and I'm pretty happy with my guitar sound. I've been playing for a long time and gig about twice a week. The only issue is this frequency thing which needs to be sorted out. Being on a single fixed UHF frequency is an inflexible arrangement so if I was to change anything it would be to offer multi frequencies - even 2 or 3 would offer more versatility.

Very simple to use.

Great sound. If you're not careful with setting the output level you're sending to your amp - you could hit your pre-amp pretty hard and break up the front end - mild distortion.

Oh, but don't forget the cracking and popping issues.

Nope. I'm on my sixth (6) one. I had 4 of them break off on the transmitter. Now, I understand I can be rough on things but one of them we had on film - I was dancing with my guitar on stage and the shaking from side to side made this thing snap off.

Yes, I use velcro to hold it in place. Yes, I've used other wirelesses before. Yes, one of the transmitters pissed me off so much that I smashed it to bits on stage.

Yes, audience members complained about the popping and hissing noises it was making through my amp.

Yes, I went to the AKG booth at NAMM to discuss this with them. I was told in a very cold european snobbish type of way that 1) they've never heard of these things breaking. 2) they've never heard of them making the popping and hissing noises.

I've had fewer problems with my Samson beltpack that cost $50 used. I just really loved the idea of having the transmitter thing right on the guitar and no beltpack.

I'd give this a rating of -5 if I could.

I went to their booth at NAMM to discuss this with them - I got 2 guys that were colder to me than a Kraftwerk song and had the personality of a refrigerator.

On the flip side the folks at Guitar Center (well, the two guys I deal with) were extremely helpful. And I mean that - I'm used to dealing with the usual idiots there but two guys at GC I will deal with and them only. If they ever leave GC, I'm screwed.

This unit has let me down many, many times. I kept trying to get a new one or whatever (I tried 6 times!) I'm done with AKG.

I play rock and roll through 3 custom telecasters that I made (one is a 12 string) and acoustic guitar. I also play accordion, lap steel and mandolin. I used the wireless on all of them. I can split the signal from my board to send it where it needs to go.

This system was perfect for my needs. If only it would work.

Ok this thing is very easy to use just plug and play but it looses points because you have to weld a jack to the receiver in order to plug in as it comes only with bare wires on the receiver end output cable.

Great sound in general you will notice a very slight tone couloring but only very slight. I still think a good cable beats this thing especialy if you are recording dont use this. I have noticed the hiss whenever a note is played and then goes away when silent as mentioned before. This is very annoying to me so I had to bring the gain on the reciever to the minimum possible and use my fatboost pedal to compensate for the loss this did minimize the problem and is use the unit for practice around the house so I can jsut crash anywhere with the guitar and practice all the time without worying about cables. This has increasd my sticking to the guitar litteraly carrying it around the house all the time and is a positive for my playing. At a distance also I dont notice the hiss at all as well as in a mix or band or live situation you cant notice it. good to use if you plug directly into an amp.

OK so its not built like a tank we know and expect this dont abuse it! It will fail if you do. Batteries have good life and it always works when I use it.

Dont know

Great tool at a good price and good for live or practice tool dont use for recording and you will have to tweek in order to get rid of that hiss. Overall a good little divice and has its place in the toolbox. Get one even if all it does is increase your playing around the house because you can just wander around with it all day then it will make you a better player. I think that is its real nitch for trio or quartet live with individual amps its OK too but if you can use a good cable then do. Just wrap that cable around your strap and load it on the amp side then thrash around all you want if your into that but dont try to do that with this thing.

I play bass in a professional cover band.
The transmitter is decently easy to use, since it has very few features.
It is non-diversity, so it is stuck to one frequency and one only.
Then, the features are very basical :
Sensitivity level control
2 LED's (one for power, one for UHF reception)
One antenna
Line out
D.I. out
Power button

This 9.5" unit can be rackmounted in a 19" rack, but it does not come with the adapter (23 EUR extra).

The sender bug is an all-in-one system (sender + jack). It has a switch for "on", "standby" and "off", with a control LED. Its shape causes that, despite of what AKG states, there are some basses it does not fit (mainly basses with recessed cavity, such as Dingwall). The on/off/standby switch is tiny and thus not ergonomic.

My system scheme is : bass > AKG WMS40 > Akai tuner > Ashdown MAG 300 amp.

I play a 5-string bass (Music Man) and this system covers the whole range, including the lowest note, without cutting the signal. I'm talking here about the frequency range, since you will read a few lines later that it actually cuts the signal.
I can hear no difference between the direct signal with a cord, and the signal with the UHF.
Good point here.

The compliments stop there.
After only 4 months of use (a dozen rehearsals and 5 gigs), the bug began doing bad contacts, so the signal was cut on stage.
My dealer told me several customers had the same problem with the same model recently.
He swapped the GB40 bug for a PT40 more traditional sender (sender on belt, linked to the bass by a cord).
The GB40 sender is very disappointing on the reliability department.

My dealer is fine, but he let me know another customer was billed the repair, though the GB40 was under warranty !
Not acceptable at all.

This system made of cheap plastic is pretty disappointing.
I've been playing bass for 30 years, and guitar for almost 35 years.
I'm going to check now how it works with the PT40 sender and will take a decision after my series of summer gigs.
No, I would not get another one if this one was stolen or lost.

about as simple as a wireless gets. I just plugged it in, put a battery in, turned it on and walla instant wireless. I have mine set with the squealch and gain off and it works fine. Not having to deal with a body pack is a godsend. At first I was having a problem with it flopping around but using the supplied velcro cured the issue and keeps it from making any noise from bumping around.

I'm not sure if they had some issues with earlier versions or what but mine doesn't have any of the issues a lot of the reviews are talking about as far as noise or sound quality. I a\b'd this thing extensively with a chord and it's the same which is what you want. I tried this out with an acoustic at the shop and have spent a few hours with it and my rig and it's been great. I have it set up in my basement and was able to go outside and had no signal loss at about 100 feet so it should hold up well for live playing.

seems sturdy but only time will tell.

I have used four different wireless systems in my lifetime and up until I got this I was using an old Telex G-10 prostar which was good but the body pack was an annoyance and it seemed to affect my sound a little. The guitarbug seems 100% transparent and is so much easier to deal with. The AAA batteries are nice as well since it lasts longer and the batteries are a lot cheaper than the 9v's I am used to. I would buy one again in a heartbeat but shouldn't need to.

Very easy to use, most of the features have already been listed. I got mine off ebay "open box"

I'm using it with my Flextone II -> Line6 Delay setup playing a Gibson SG. A little bit noisy when the battery life is low but I bought (and deff recommend) rechargable AAAs. At first, it would make my gain lose some punch. My clean was hardly affected; of course there was some signal loss but I fixed that with my amp settings. One thing I recommend with this wireless though (and this improved the sound drastically!!!) is to get some sort of signal booster to run it through. I myself use an ART Tube preamp to boost the signal to eliminate the signal loss (I actually get an awesome sound out of it, better than I did plugging straight in). I'm not for sure, but I think the Boss SD-1 could get about the same result (no tube though).

Very awesome unit!!! I have been gigging with it for a while now (6+ mos.), but I always bring a cable just in case!

Haven't had to deal with em

I play a harder blend of rock. I'm always using settings for the Soldano SLO on my Flex II, and Fender clean tones. If it were lost or stolen, I would deff buy it again!!!

This unit is so easy to use it is almost rediculous, just plug and play. Mine required no tweaking at all. The manual is quite sufficient (if you're in to reading manuals). Very thorough.

The sound quality is excellent. My set-up demands a strong signal : Various American Strats or a '52 Reissue Tele - Ernie Ball Volume pedal - Boss TU-2 Tuner - Original Digitech Whammy - Boss Overdrive - EH Big Muff - MXR Dyna Comp - Vox Wah - Boss Blues Driver - Ibanez Sonic Distortion - Boss Temolo - Boss RV3 Delay - Line 6 DL4 Delay - Dunlop Crybaby Wah - Fender DeVille 410. I also add various other pedals to the chain when I need them. There is absolutely no noise or hiss when using the unit, no tone changes (which is a miracle considering the number of pedals I use.

I've only used it a couple of times but it seems very dependable, it's an AKG!! I would gig without a backup.....but I would bring cables just in case I was in an area with lots of RF interference. Hey it's wireless, there will be some instances when it will not work.

Never had to deal with them.

Overall, this is an excellent product. I play mainly rock and blues. It suits the styles very well. I have been playing the guitar for about 18 years and have owned several wireless systems, this is the best one by far. If it were lost or stolen I would definitely purchase another one. I compared it to the Shure and Sennheiser models and found that this sounded better with my setup. I do wish the power switches were larger on both units, but I guess anything larger on units that small would look out of place or just get in the way. Oh, one more thing.....contrary to all of the other posts, the transmitter has never "flopped" around, not even with my Tele.

Very easy to use. It's got a preset frequency so you will not need to program. You can buy different color code sets, each with it's own frequency. You only have to make sure to buy different color sets for each musician. Load battery on the transmiter, turn on reciever first an then turn on transmiter and that's all. The manual is good. Battery life is about nine hours.

The sound quality is good on both my acoustic nylon string and solidbody. My sound technician says there's a slight increase in mids on the acoustic but that's easy to solve. Otherwise the sound is pretty much the same as before. The downside is that there's a hiss whenever a note is played and disappears when you're not playing. Very much like a noise surpresor and it's a little annoying. This is only audible when playing alone and in a band situation you won't notice it.

Seems fragile but if you treat it with care it will last.

D'ont know yet.

It's great not to be attached to a cable. And for that reason it's worth it. The format is very atractive too so for the moment I'm going to keep it. In the near future I'll buy another one to have both guitars wireless. Perhaps the superior model reciever is quieter so I'll check it out.