Alesis Quadraverb GT

You actually need the manual. I'm technically minded but the signal
paths inside the unit can only be understood through the manual.
The other parameters are a piece of cake, for each effekt.

The reverbs which are a bit unnatural. Especially when using longer reverbs. This character is also found in the Microverb 1,2,3 and Midiverb 2 where this unnaturalness is even higher.
The compressor is absolutely worthless. The attack time is fixed to
a long time so when a note is picked it is actually decompressed.
Because one of my ears has a damage, it is more sensitive to levels and distorts sounds that are to loud in some frequencies. I cannot
use the compressor. The attack transients become larger. This is a
poor choice of Alesis to use a fixed long setting here. Since the circuitry is analog it is possible to replace a resistor or a capacitor with another value.
The distortion doesn't sound good for me either but the overdrive is
quite good.
The leslie is quite good but the time from fast to slow is too long.
The other effects are ok.

Has been working ok.

I asked for a schematic diagram and I was promised that but did not
receive anything.

I play blues and melodic rock. The QV GT only works for me with the overdrive. I have been playing since 85-87 when I was 20-22. I own
too much gear to specify it hear. I would buy it again because I know
how to use this shit. I love the resonator and I hate the compressor.
My favourite feature is the speaker simulator and the leslie. I used this because it was cheap back then 1994. (About 300$ in todays value). And it did help me to play without an ordinary amp.

I've used the GT since 12/92 with a few different amps and guitars. Without boring all of you with the arduous story of my search for tone, I have recently been able to get TONE with effects that I am happy with (and other veteran guitarists like the sounds as well). Editing patches is tedious but simple; I found the manual to be gibberish (excluding the sections on reverb, chorus, delay, and distortion textures).

I used to use the unit with a peavey Special 112, then a Fender Super Chorus (amp alone would change guitar's tone as amp's volume was turned up - yuk!), then a pair of Peavey Special 130s, and finally a Trace Elliott Super Tramp 2x12 (w/Celestions). My guitars were - at first - a 1991 Jap Strat. I put Lace Sensors in the Jap Strat and that improved tone. By 1998, I had a US made custom Tele and a Lonestar Strat. Recently, I purchased the Trace and an outboard compressor (BOSS). The QVGT's compressor totally blows as it produces quite a bit of noise. The overdrive is quite good when used with the cab sim features. My current configuration involves the Trace, the Boss compressor, and a touch of the QVGT's chorus, delay, and reverb. I use the amp's distortion mostly, and only on occasion do I use the GTs distortion. As far as artists, well, I've dialed in a very close reproduction of Brent Mason's (studio hound) telecaster tone, and have a very sweet Vince Gill (artiste extrordinaire) strat tone. When I rock the house, I use the strat as it sings like a mother. I have found that patience is most effectively bred into a guitarist when funds are limited. Subsequently, I had to noodle with the GT over several years. Now that I have finally found a guitar/amp combination that really lets the unit do its job, I am quite satisfied with its tone. HOWEVER, when ever I have tried it out with pure tube amps, no matter what I did with the GT and/or amp, the NOISE was deafening! Tube amps and ANALOG effects make for a happier guitarist.

I depend on it - period. I have used for nearly 7 years without a backup. In late May of 1999, the light source for the display screen stopped working. I am still able to edit so long as there is light shining near the screen. I give it a 10 for reliability in spite of the display light problem; the GT has served me well for the last 7 years and not let me down once.

I've contacted ALESIS about the display light problem, but have not gotten a response. PISS POOR!

I am mainly a finger-style guitarist and gig regularly in the Country scene in my area. I do however get to stretch my wings when we get requests for classic rock (amp's distortion or if I feel like it, a more modern digital sound from the GT). HOWEVER, despite my feelings for the GT, I am assembling a set of stomp boxes as I write this. It is time to go "home" so to speak. My new rig will consist of the Trace, and the following BOSS pedals: CS-3, BD-2, CE-5, and a DD-5. 'Nuff said!

It was fairly simple for me to get the hang of, even without the instructions. It seemed to be pretty self explanitory, and I have great fun diddling around with the sounds and what not.

I play through a Fender Yale Reverb at home and have the Alesis plugged through either the power amp in or preamp in jack.. I forget which. This works better than my previous set up which was basically like how you would plug in an effect pedal - Guitar to in, output to to amp. This worked fine, but I had to fiddle around with the amp's EQ to get a decent sound. When I plugged it in the other way, the alesis drove everything. The sound, I though, was very good, concidering that previously I had been using DOD, Danelectro, and Ibanez effect boxes. No complaints about sound. I did have a hard time though trying to get heavier distortion sounds without the amp sounding 'fake' (for lack of better word). The overdrive, compression, resenator, chorus, delay, etc I thought were wonderous. For what it's worth, I usually play a Fender Strat. I still think that a Strat played through a fender reverb or blues amp sounds beautiful and every now and again I am inclined to unplug the alesis for that tone.

I can fully depend on it. It's never really let me down. I love it.

N/A

I write fairly light music.. Jazzy, I guess might be a better word. I mostly end up usig delay, overdrive, chorus, resenators.. things like that. For what I do, it works really well. The phasing on it sounds magnificent. I really enjoy using it. It works well with basses, too.

Not that easy to figure out without the book and even with the book it`s not very clear you have to toy around with it. I have the old rom version and I don`t have a need to get the upgrade.(I don't really know what it does except add me a speaker simulation)

Very quiet but very digital. For electric guitar I don't find that it does a great job even the reverb doesn`t really do a good job(doesn`t sound like a fender). Everything sound lock in and it sound to electronic for me. But for acoustic guitar it`s great and I was very impressed. That`s why I own one. It`s doesn't have the greatest effect but they are fairly good for acoustic and I got a lot of people impressed by the sound this thing will do. It`s a cheap solution and the result are really worth the money. Rated 6 because of the electric but 8 for acoustic.

So far so good

I try to get information on a rom upgrade and I wait 15 minutes on hold before I hang up.

Instead of spending a lot of money on acoustic guitar processor try this one it`s cheap and it does a very very very good job for the money. I use it with a Godin 12 string and a Takamine and it does a better job then a lot of processor that are build for acoustic.

sorry for my limited english. the unit is quite easy to use.

i play a carvin guitar and a fender strat into a Hughes and Kettner preamp (Access)(which is also a great looper),sometimes I use in addition the Rocktron sidewinder preamp. Power amplifier is also from Hughes/Kettner (VS 250). Boxes are two Hughes/Kettner with one 12" celestion speaker. My favorite music is fusion /Jazz rock. the alesis is a great effect unit for hall, delay and chorussing effects, but you have to use it in a correct and parallel stereo (in and out) effect loop. The sound is bad when you go direct in and out to an amp (ok, clean sounds with PA are possible). a great advantage is that you must not use the preamp section, which is poor. My tip for parallel loop use: Preamp or EQ section: 0, direct level 99, master effect how you wish. in a correct rack system the alesis is all you need.

i use it since 1992. three effects units are broken until now, but not the alesis.

no experiences

my favorite style is fusion and jazz rock. i'm a gear fanatic, because i want to build a rack system which can create a large range of sounds, in special real warm tube-amp combo sounds should also be possible as modern clean and lead sounds, also sounds for nylon string acoustic guitar. Alesis Quadraverb is a good deal to realise smart hall and chorus sounds. won't miss it. I also played digitech effects for a while, but can't use them because every effect unit has a shit preamp section which influence your (hopefully good)basic sound. in coorect use you can not hear a difference between warm analog chorus sound and the alesis! i'm interested in people playing jazz music and use rack systems. Because i had made so much mistakes (money!!)in the past i will give tips to the beginner of rack systems.

Quite easy to use. From Harmony-Central pages you can find a very good Quadraverb patc editor for PC. That is great !

I play my Stratocaster and Les Paul thru GT to my PA ( I use only GT preamp and PA). Good clean sounds. With my analog AGE 1 tape echo you can very easily get Ventures and Shadows surf sounds.I give 8 to Quadraverb from the clean sounds, Distortion is not good, very digital. Overdrive is better in mild settings . Very hard to get classic rock sound ! I give only 5 from the dirty sounds. Effect department is better than the pre amp section and only delay is a little bit limited.Reverb is very good. With my analog AGE 1 tape echo unit I can varm up nicely my Quadraverb sound.

After 3 years use the power switch broken.

I have been playing about 5 years . If it were stolen I will not purchase it again bacause of it's limitations.

It's quite easy to understand but you have to fiddle with buttons to "tweek" the sounds. I'll give it a seven compared to other rack-units, but in comparison with the ease of use of stomp boxes, it gets a 3.

Oh man, does this unit sound digital. If you're aiming at classic sounds, i.e. WARM analog fx and such, you're in for a big surprise. No way this gives you any authentic sounds....

I play fuzzpop, and if you have a classic setup (strat/lp/es-3xx etc and a tube amplifier) you'll ruin the sound. I use a strat+, a les paul special through a twin reverb, with amdek (old roland) chorus, a EH small stone, an old ibanez phaser, a mxr distortion+, and a roland re-201 space chorus. So if you're into playing music ranging from radiohead, dinosaur jr, soundgarden to old zep, buy analog fx and get that big grin on yer face, coz with digital it sounds crap. CRAPCRAPCRAP. Have I mentionned that digital sux...? Remember kids: analog rules , digital sux!

Ya know, I used to swear by this box, but the more I think about it, the more I think I'm gonna trade it in for some good old fashioned foot pedals. The unit has some very nice presets, but it's nearly impossible to edit/create your own sounds. The preamp is particularly difficult to use, and seems to have a pretty limited range of sounds available. My biggest beef is that I've tried to use the GT as an effects unit with several different amps, and it has turned out to be an unhappy marriage each time. The only way I got the thing to work the way it's supposed to was as a preamp unto itself -- i.e., I used the GT as a preamp, a Carvin power amp, and separate speaker cabinets. This worked nicely, but since the preamp in the GT is kinda lame, this setup leaves something to be desired.

The GT is very reliable. I wouldn't hesitate to use this without a backup. Excellent construction, and great electronics.

As I said above, I could only find a limited use for the GT. In this limited setting, the unit is great -- Alesis' reverb is legendary for good reason, and the GT's presets are (for the most part) beautiful. But as a pre-amp, the GT pretty much sucks, and it's hard to get around this. I'd recommend an effects unit without a preamp -- get your core sound out of your amp (not out of your effects unit), and then tweek it with effects.

Most of the effets are fairly easy to control. The only problem I have is with the Resonators. I cannot get a clear explanation of what they are or how to use them (There is five I think)

Charvel M1, the two outputs (left,right) go into a converter and into my headphones. I find that it can be very noisy if the distortion is high.

I have never giged it but it has been trouble free.

Not very helpfull. I thought I might get some feedback after registering but no.

It needs abetter user manual and a better pre-amp.

About the same as most effects devices. Submenus to deal with although I've taken to usng a patch editor (X-OR) for this task.

This box has a clean sound and quite good reverbs for its price range The distortion available is limited but sounds excellent if your Guitar has high output (active electronics). The tone and clear and sustains like Larry Carlton or Lee Ritenour. I find Strats and passive humbucking pickups (Les Pauls, etc) less than satisfactory.

I have used this box in live settings for several years with no problems.

This is a good value for any PA or keyboard application. It is outstanding on accoustic guitars and any bright electric sounds that have percussive qualities. I recommend it for lead guitar only if you go for a clear sustain and suggest avoiding it if your needs are more hard rock oriented. Country, Jazz, and Folk players can't miss!















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