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Alesis Wedge Master Reverb

Summary
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Manufacturer URL http://www.alesis.com/
Ease of Use 8.9 (15 responses)
Sound Quality 8.0 (15 responses)
Reliability 8.9 (14 responses)
Customer Support 7.4 (5 responses)
Overall Rating 8.9 (15 responses)
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Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $69.00 used
Submitted 05/21/2006 at 12:10am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
Ease of use is one of the best features of this FX box. Editing is a snap. Press the edit/page button and the sliders control 4 parameters per page with up to 6 pages. Just slide the sliders where it sounds good and move on. Super easy. It's so easy you tend to underestimate the power of the thing. The manual is well written and clear. Also, in edit mode if you don't know the abbreviation for the parameter, just hold down the button under that parameter for a second and it will tell you the full name. No need to guess or refer back to the manual. This is by far the easiest piece of gear to program I have ever used.

Sound Quality : 9
I'm using this in the effects loop of my mixer for guitars and keyboards. The ONLY time I have heard ANY noise on this machine is when it is on a patch with modulation. I have found this to be the case with a lot of gear over the years. Modulation effects are just prone to noise I think. If you run a high gain signal into it you will hear some swishing. It can be minimized with careful level settings. I found that the unit can easily be overloaded and run into distortion (maybe this is the noise some people are complaining about?). I found running my signal through a good compressor/limiter before it hits the Wedge eliminates this problem completely.
The dedicated chorus on the Wedge is particularly nice I think. Very clean and defined.
The reverbs are super clean. It has three levels of accuracy in the different algorythms (28 in all). The highest accuracy ones are amazing. They only do one thing, but they do it really well. The quad pitch shifter for example is really fast and accurate. However, if you want any reverb with it you have to run it into another box because it will ONLY do pitch shifting on that algorythm. I have a Boss SX-700 that says it does pitch shifting, but it does it so badly it is useless in reality. The Wedge runs circles around it in that respect. Though, the SX-700 does a lot of other very nice things which compensate for the lousy pitch shifter. The multi effect algorythms in the Wedge are more low fi but they still can sound really good depending on what you are doing. So, the Wedge ranges in sound quality depending on what you do with it, but it was designed that way to give you more options. Overall, I was blown away with how nice it is for the money on the used market. And editing is child's play - major bonus.

Reliability : No Opinion
Looks solid. I wouldn't beat it up, but it is well made. The plastic over the very large LCD screen easily scratches, but you can buff that out with car wax - works great. I don't gig, so this question is NA...

Customer Support : No Opinion
I have no experience dealing with Alesis on problems.

Overall Rating : 10
I play mostly experimental synth music. I like real wet mixes with pads and weirdness. The Wedge works well for this. It also sounds good with guitar. I'm a serious hobbyist. I spend a lot of time with music gear and have had a fair bit of it. I currently have a Boss SX-700, a Roland SRV 3030 and a Lexicon Vortex. They are all different with particular strengths and weaknesses. The Roland does very airy and thin reverb especially well. It is harder to program for warmer sounds, but it can be done though it takes time. Very detailed. The Boss unit does great stereo reverbs that move and swirl because of the RSS programming. It's warmer than the SRV. The Vortex doesn't do reverb at all, but does a lot of unusual modulation stuff. The Wedge is a bit darker/warmer sounding than both the Roland and the Boss. The sound isn't as metalic as a rule, though you can make it metalic. But, I am not sure it is as detailed as the others. But, I frequently run them into each other for complicated multi effects. The Wedge definitely stands up to the other two in its own way. Different, but also very good. A lot of people have complained of the desktop design, but I think it works great. I have it sitting on my master keyboard so I can tweak it in seconds. For my others I have to reach up on the rack to get to the buttons etc. This is so much easier. For the price these are going today I have to give it a 10. Very nice and under-rated effect. You just have to use it the way it is meant to be used - like most everything in life.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $99
Submitted 11/24/2004 at 01:11pm by Jeff Foster
Email: jfoster79<at>hotmail dot com

Ease of Use : 8
This unit is pretty easy to use once you get used to it. It takes a while to start remembering what all the different parameters do for each effect. Editing the parameters and storing the edits is incredibly simple but it just takes a while to remember what some of the parameter abbreviations stand for.

Sound Quality : 9
The sound quality is great. There is almost no background noise to the unit itself and most of the reverb sounds very natural. However, there are some reverbs that sound very fake. Even with all the different parameters that can be changed, it's hard to get that "metallic" sound out of a few of the programs.

Reliability : 10
I have never had a problem with it and I have used it extensively at multiple live venues. My unit gets packed, unpacked, moved, shaken, rattled, etc., and has never given me a single problem.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never used them.

Overall Rating : 10
Overall, this is my favorite reverb unit out of all of the units that I own. I bought it on clearance back when Alesis had just discontinued production and I wish that I had bought 2 or 3 more. Why Alesis stopped manufacturing this unit is beyond me. I love it. If you can find one in good shape on ebay or a used music store, get it. You won't be sorry.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: 100 (UK/POUNDS)
Submitted 05/04/2004 at 07:43am by agbar

Ease of Use : 10
EVEN MY 13 YEAR SON CAN GET A GOOD SOUND OUT OF IT BUT PLEASE READ THE MANUAL AS I SEE IT FOOLS RUSH IN AND NEVER READ WHAT IS SAID AND ONLY EVER GET 10% OUT OF WHAT THEY BUY GOT ONE FINGER AND ONE EYE TRY READING THE MANUAL

Sound Quality : 10
LIKE I SAID YOU CAN GET A SOUND OF 100% PURE TONE AND THE VERB'S ARE AS GOOD AS ANYONES BUT YOU HAVE TO MOVE A FEW THING FIRST NOT THAT HARD !!!!!!!!!!

Reliability : 10
HAD IT FROM NEW NEVER DOES ANYTHING BAD BUT THE COMPANY HAS ON OTHER THING BEEN GOOD +++++WHEN I HAVE NEEDED THEM

Customer Support : 10
ONLY ONCE BUT LIKE I SAID GOOD ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Overall Rating : 10
I HAVE PLAYED FOR 40 YEARS I PLAY A HAND MADE PRS AND BEFORE THAT A 50s TELLY PLUS MATRIX 12 PLUS MANY STRANGE THINGS IT IS WHAT I NEED FOR A GOOD SOUND AND YES HAVE TRYED A LEX BUT NEVER GOT NEAR IT


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $150
Submitted 07/26/2002 at 05:04pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 9
very easy. buttons and sliders. nice backlit display. piece of cake.
the only real problem is figuring out what some of the parameters ARE and what they DO and why they are INCLUDED in a particular preset.

Sound Quality : 9
mixed bag here. not the QUIETEST box around. not bad,...but,..it ain't no Lexicon. HOWEVER,....there are SO many editable parameters that you can squeeze some very unique verbs and delays out of this box. i particularly like the SWIRL adjustment (which i use in conjunction with very long reverb decays) on some of my synth sounds. i play alot of ambient/space music. the Wedge works very well for this genre.

Reliability : 10
no problems,..even dropped it once.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Alesis customer support varies from UNREACHABLE to EXTREMELY HELPFUL. it is a coin flip.

Overall Rating : 10
don't buy it for flanging or chorusing. it's not as good as a Lexicon for vocal reverbs (even an MPX100 is better),..but it's not too bad,
either. HOWEVER,...you can crank a reverb decay tail into INFINTIY,..knock off some high frequency and add some tasty "swirl" to get some terrific "specialty" results. i won't part with it,..i just won't.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $100 used
Submitted 04/14/2001 at 10:55pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 7
I got my Wedge used at Guitar Center. Therefore, it didn't come with an instruction manual. Even so, I was able to figure the thing out pretty quickly. It should be noted, however, that some of the tweakable parameters on the unit require some explanation (which I might have gotten had I received a manual with the Wedge). Also, the power plug is sort of pathetic in that it doesn't insert very gracefully.

Sound Quality : 7
When I first plugged the unit in, I was a little upset at the fact that the reverbs weren't completely natural sounding (after all, this was originally a $500 machine). However, with a little bit of tweaking, you're sure to find something to fit your needs. Personally, I think the Wedge sounds best when used in moderation.

Reliability : 8
I've never had a problem with the Wedge, but the power plug does worry me a little. Also, what if something does go wrong? This is, after all, a discontinued product. As far as taking it on a gig goes, I guess you could so long as you're careful with it. I, however, use it for recording.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I've never had to deal with Alesis and this is not the only Alesis product I own, so I guess that that's a good thing.

Overall Rating : 8
I record really fast, loud punk and hardcore bands. As a result, I have little use for reverb (since it usually just muddies things up). There are situations, however, when a vocal or guitar will benefit from some ambience. That's why I bought the Wedge. It has served its purpose well and really enhanced some mixes that otherwise would have been failures. Keep in mind that this unit is not going to hold a candle to a $1,000 reverb, but if you only record to a semi-pro portastudio 8 track, anyways (like I do), it will serve its purpose nicely. Plus, if you like tweaking you'll love the Wedge.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $300
Submitted 02/22/2001 at 02:30pm by John D. Jack
Email: jdjack7 at yahoo<dot>com

Ease of Use : 10
especially if you know what you want and are willing to experiment, though it doesn't include a dedicated 'phaser' or mixing or amp simulations, a fewhours playing with it got me an extremely flexible phase program and some really awesome amp simulations. Also, i was able to fugure out a psuedo - 'Cathedral(EVH)' effect. the manual is well written and you should read through it once.

Sound Quality : 9
Imainly use it as a pre mix in to my 4 tracker, and for global mix when mixing down, not as noisy as my old digitech tsr-6, just check the parameters and tweak the eq if your hearing artifacts you dont want to hear..it is better sounding with a full range amp (keyboard amp or karaoke(!)). You should be able to get hendrix SSpB dead on and just about anything else, you just have to be willing to experiment and save. the only negative and gripe i have with the unit is the little clicks that are evident when trying to change parameters on the fly..apart from the leslie, which i wish had more control over switching speeds, i have found all of the programs useful, even the pitchshifts for brian may type harmonies and octave shifts....and even doppler effects...

Reliability : 10
yes it is very reliable, in the studio, and i wish i could take it on the road, but there is no way i ever would....

Customer Support : No Opinion
never had to call them, never had a problem, and i got mine when they were brand new.

Overall Rating : 10
from extreme death to hardcore to jazz to classical(modern) i play a lot of different stuff, and i have always found the right stuff in my wedge.I have been playing for 6+ years. The only other outboard effects i own is the aforementioned TSR - 6 and i just use that for gating and very slight Chorus and paraEQing my guit. I would buy 2 or 3 more if i could get them used in excellent shape. now if alesis could come out with a harmonizer only effect processor to go with this, i would truly be happyyyyy.....i guess ill have to spring for the helicon/tc voice prism or get really lucky and win the lottery so i can go Eventides way.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 02/12/2001 at 04:30pm by Martin Eliasson
Email: moriarty<at>spray dot se

Ease of Use : 10
This was the first serious reverb unit I bought, and as such, I wanted a reverb that not only sounds good, but is very tweakable. You see, I believe knowledge gained from using equipment can be more valuable than ultimate sound quality. The wedge has a user interface that is not only logical and easy to navigate - it is very fast to get around, thus, you will constantly tweak your effects gaining optimum sound from this unit. Nowdays I also own a Lexicon MPX-1. It is logical too, but the Wedge is so much faster to tweak and a much better teacher.

Sound Quality : 7
Sound quality is very much a question of taste. Things like hiss, hum, noise and distrotion are very much a thing of the past, but I have to admit the Wedge is a little too noisy for me sometimes. I guess they pu too cheap buffer-amplifiers in the unit because digital technology is usually dead silent.

One thing to be aware of is that the Wedge mostly operate in mono-mode. It sums the inputs, computes the rever and adds to oth the output channels. This is good for some PA-use and if you want no phase-problems whatsoever. On the other hand, my stereo Leicon MPX-1 can do reverbs that are so much more airy than the Wedge.

My filosophy when it comes to gear is that every gear has it's character - strength and weaknesess. The Wedges do not sound like a Lexicon, but the Lexicon cannot emulate the Wedge either. I've had great success with it on instrumental music and especially the whirl-parameter is unbeatable for adding mellowness to strings. Whirl is like adding a pitchshifter to the reverb tail, very unnaturall, very effective.

Reliability : 7
Well. For home studio use there is no problem, but I wouldn't tour or gig with it. It is 99% plastics, not made for rack-mounting and you will have problems with the cables going to and from the unit. Too bad, because otherwise, it would probably be a great tool for PA due to it's user interface.

Customer Support : No Opinion
No

Overall Rating : 8
I do music with synths and samplers and have had the Wedge as my master reverb since 1999. I like wet mixes and has learned to tweak it a lot. I've never ever felt like my music could be better with another reverb. In fact, I think the Wedge has given my first two albums a little bit of their sound. At the price-point when I bought it, ther wasn't much competition except the cheap Lexicons, but they are not as tweakable wich I find very important (ok I admitt, I study computer science, so I only by things I can re-program). If I lost It I might buy a new one. Or a more epensive one. It has character, but now that I have explored it on two albums, I don't need it on a third.

Conclusion: if you need a reverb for little money, you will only get disapointed if you don't learn how to adjust it.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $99
Submitted 01/07/2001 at 03:21pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
This thing is incredibly easy to tweek I dont understand every body elses problems.The manual is great also.As with all effects units the presets are over the top tweek them all its easy and fun.

Sound Quality : 10
This has worked great for me as a recording devise but I usually use it for guitar.I use it with a Semour Duncan convertable 60 head in the effects loop and it`s very quite.The delays are incredible you can change the paremiters on the fly while your playing.The choruses are sweet sounding and the flanges are wonerfully diverse. Guitar players are wimps when it comes to programing effects. Take the time to learn how effects work and all the different parimators will make sence to you.By the way this sounds incredible with two amps in stereo.Im usally too lazy to schelp around two amps though.

Reliability : 6
Since it has a plastic case I doubt if it can take much abuse.I leave it on my amp and hope it doesnt fall off.Also the power cord is somewhat problematic.Be carefull.

Customer Support : 7
Alesis doesnt want to talk about this unit.I think it was a disater for them .

Overall Rating : 10
I wanted this unit after reading about in Recording magazine. They thought it was the best sounding unit they had tried for under $1000 (thats right $1000)They thought it raised the level of under $1000 units. They did`nt like the fact that you had to drag so many cords over your recording consele to use it in the studio.I saw it for $299 in some catalog and was about to buy it when low and behold I walk into Guitar Center one day and there selling it for $99. I wish I had bought 10 of these because I could have sold them for $150 apeice in a week.Ive had every kind of stomp box in the world now I`m down to my semour Duncan amp the wedge and various compresers.Like I said If I`m feeling extra strong. I`ll bring my sovtek and run the two Amps in stereo. Ive been playing for thirty years and I love this set up.The little white noise generator button is great for hearing what the delays and reverbs are doing to your sounds.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $99
Submitted 12/19/2000 at 02:16pm by Joe
Email: NOSPAMjpmurray<at>voicenet dot com

Ease of Use : 6
Pretty straightforward to get to the many preprogrammed reverbs, but the sliders are not the most natural interface for dialing in anything thats custom.

Sound Quality : 4
This is the standard cheap Alesis reverb. It works well on some things in moderation, but can really squeeze the life out of natural sounding instruments like drums. Pretty much everything from plate to hall has that lousy digital 'thinness' that Alesis can't seem to get around with any of their units. I guess this is why they're A) really cheap B) made by Alesis. It won't destroy a track if used very sparingly, but it doesnt approach the warmth, clarity, and natural sound of other units costing as little as $100 more.

Reliability : 10
Hasn't failed once. Only used in studio though.

Customer Support : 5
Alesis isn't great about returning emails.

Overall Rating : 4
With studio effects, sound quality = overall rating, so I'm giving it a cheap, tinny 4.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $110
Submitted 06/22/2000 at 11:51pm by Michael Romano
Email: none

Ease of Use : 8
Plug it in and go! Unlike most rack units I've monkeyed with, the Wedge is very easy to use-- very intuitive. There are so many great sounding presets, you just dial one up and play. The only reason I'd give the unit an 8 rather than a full 10 is that if you want to edit the parameters, you need to whip out the comprehensive instruction manual. It's almost like you need a degree in electrical engineering to even understand the parameters, let alone to understand how the adjustments will effect your sound on a practical level. Still, if you want the ability to really edit/tweak the sound, you certainly can.

Sound Quality : 9
I'm using the Wedge as my "one unit does all" for home recording. I mainly use it as an effects send from my digital 8-track and it's fabulous in that role. It is very quiet, and it can simulate any room you want. It's almost scary how natural some of the effects are. One preset I've used a lot is called "Kitchen" and if you put your mix through it, you guessed it, it sounds like you recorded your whole damn song in the kitchen! Very nice if you're looking for a "folk" sound. There are also several great sounding reverbs that duplicate a warm studio, tiled bathroom (nice for guitar), concert hall, etc.

A couple of complaints: There is no tremolo, and I think it would have been easy to include. The flanger effect is so complicated you'll never want to tweak it-- stick with the flanger presets. Lastly, there is some noise when swtiching between certain effects. The only reason to mention it is that you'll want to watch your monitor volume so you don't blow your eardrums when switching between the processor-intensive multi settings! CRACK POP POP POP BOOM! It doesn't happen often, but boy will it surprise you when it does.

Reliability : 10
I've found the unit to be very realiable. Which is a good thing considering that they don't make these units any more. I especially like the sliders-- more durable to me than buttons where the labels/paint will come off.

Customer Support : 10
The people at Alesis are terrible difficult to get a hold of, but when you do they are great. I've never had a problem with the Wedge, but my QS6.1 keyboard got banged up by UPS, and Alesis really came to the rescue.

Overall Rating : 10
I love this unit and consider myself lucky to own one. Basically, the Wedge was a marketing faux pas for Alesis. Everybody likes rack units but me, and I like the desktop aspect. The Wedge has the electronic guts of the higher-end effects units, but at a bargain price because they've been discontinued. I wouldn't pay more than $200 for one, but at even $200, this unit is a steal. You won't find a better reverb for the money, and you certainly won't find such an easy unit to use.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $100
Submitted 04/12/2000 at 10:06pm by Paul
Email: XJ32<at>AOL dot com

Ease of Use : 10
I am an editing freak. I hate presets and almost never use them.
The Wedge is a "Dream" for on the fly editing and tweaking. I am a synth player and studio engineer and I can tweak and mold reverbs at lightning speed with this unit. No hidden or hard to get menues. Push the edit button to get to one of 5 pages and grab a slider. Hit store and you are done !

Sound Quality : 8
Alesis has always had a signature reverb sound ,"Warm and cloudy".
This is not the reverb for you if you want pure natural clarity.
Actually the Wedge is Alesis' best sounding Reverb so far. I have had a Midiverb, Quadraverb and a Q2. This reverb adds a better response and brightness to it's top end than the previous units.
I run it on an effects bus on my mixing board and have used it for Acoustic guitar (Great) ,Vocals (Depends on the singer, but usually adds a good fat sound to vocals), Synths (Awsome - especially for ambient padded sound worlds) & drums (So So - usually not fast or crisp enough for drums and percusion)

I give it an eight as it has a sound I love personally.
Like any effect it should add colors that you like. Me I love it
I took off 2 points as it does have a bit of a noise problem it is kind of hissy on very wet mixes, but I tend to mix very wet . I find Lexicon gear to be too noisy at times.

Reliability : 10
Used it on tons of sessions , have taken it to gigs. Never had a problem yet. Hell, I have forgotten to shut it off for 3 days at a time and never had a problem.

Customer Support : No Opinion
never needed it.

Overall Rating : 10
I gave it a ten because even though there are better sounding verbs from Lexy or TC for the price and editing features it is a great value.
I do ambient, space,synth music and I know 5 pros in the field with multiple Cds out and they all have one. It adds great color and warmth to any mix.
I actually bought one at the original price point after checking it out at the NAMM show. I thought it was a great price at $500 especially compred to $1000 offerings from every one else. No other under $800 unit can touch its flexability or sound capabilities.
For $100 it was an absolute steal. I have friends who bought 2 or three at one time. In one night me and 3 friends clear out the Chicago Guitar Center's stock.
PS I got to return mine that I bought at full price as it was from a mail order company with a liberal return policy so I was a very happy boy.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $100
Submitted 03/08/2000 at 07:43pm by Merpet
Email: merpet at attglobal<dot>net

Ease of Use : 9
It's pretty, didn't take me long to find my way around. The 4 sliders really speed up the editing process too (each time you change a page the sliders control something different so you get to use them for almost every perameter. If that's not enough, there's online help, just hold down one of the A,B,C,D buttons and it shows a description of the perameter that slider adjusts. I took away
one point because I don't agree with some of the names of the
perameters.

Sound Quality : 3
I used it mostly for live PA (mostly delay and reverb on vocals). I tried using it in my guitar rig but hated the reverbs.
The main weakness of the Wedge is it's reverbs. How ironic, since it's called a "master reverb".
The reverbs are so artificial sounding that I couldn't believe my ears at first and thought I had a bad connection somewhere. After using it at many gigs and hearing my friend's Wedge I knew it was just cheezy reverb algorhythms. Many of the older reverbs beat it hands down! A perfect example is the Rocktron Intellifex, almost 10 years older than the Wedge.
Sound quality is ok otherwise, but maybe a little 'digitally' noisy, generally only audible when the music gets real quiet. It's best used on an effects loop or whatever but don't run your whole signal through it.

Reliability : 8
I never had a problem but I expect one. It's built cheap, runs hot,
has a proprietary power supply with a connector that doesn't lock in nice and tight. I'm giving this the benefit of the doubt, hence the 8

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never used it, hope I don't need to.

Overall Rating : 5
Pretty cool for delays especially because of the tap tempo and long delay times. Don't buy it for reverbs!
The sliders are great for editing but they don't do anything unless you're in edit mode. It was overpriced before it was discontinued, it should never have been more than $200. I'm keeping it because I'm used to using it for delays, but if it died or was stolen I wouln't buy another one. Not even at the $100 closout price I paid.
I just gotta say it again: The reverbs suck.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $99
Submitted 09/24/1999 at 03:44am by Axeman
Email: danzprod at aol<dot>com

Ease of Use : 9
Fairly easy, if you use the effects as they came from the factory, but it can start to get complicated if you decide to edit your own settings. I like it for both reasons - easy if your lazy, but you always have the option to change stuff if you need to.

It does have a funky power supply though, which makes it kind of inconvenient, so I docked a point for this.

Sound Quality : 9
Very good fidelity overall. Not all the effects thrill me, but there are just so many that you have no choice but to find something you like. I'm especially happy with the number of reverb choices it has (the main reason I got it). Some are digital sounding, others are nice and warm. Plus there are various chorus, flange, and delay effects, a couple tremolos and an auto-wah, which I dig.

One thing I did notice was a drop in signal strength when going through this unit, even thru the effects loop on my guitar amp. Nothing alarming, just be aware of it. One point off for that.

Reliability : 10
Still works. It's plastic, so you can't be too hard on it and expect it to do well. Best for studio use.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
OK, so I'm a part of the "Guitar Center Club" when they had their $99 special - otherwise I would have never bought it at the original price ($500!). Alesis probably stopped making it due to poor sales, but if they just reduced the price it would have sold like hot cakes. I wish I would have gotten two of them! Anyway, I have one now and the only way I'll ever let it go is when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers! If you find one of these for a good price, you'd better get it, because you'll probably never find one again!


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $99
Submitted 05/13/1999 at 02:44pm by Greg Noeninckx
Email: fgn002 at email<dot>mot<dot>com

Ease of Use : 9
Follow the manual and you have no problem getting it to work. The sliders and display make it pretty easy to understand editing existing patches. I'm controlling it with a MIDI foot controller (real-time expression pedals, too), that aspect of it was my first MIDI experience and it took a while with both User's Manuals to make it work right.
Editing the patches to get your own great sounds is pretty easy, the real time control really lets you tailor the sound perfectly.

Sound Quality : 8
I'm running this on stage as a MultiEff for my electric and acoustic guitars to an amp that's split direct and mic'd. I've got a LS-2 on order so I can play with it in an effects loop, but right now it's in-line.
Running in-line adds enough noise to make the sound man mention it, but as this is my only effect besides distortion, the total noise is probably lower than if you had separate boxes for each effect (delay, reverb, pitch shift, chorus/flange).
I noticed that using the Wedge's Bypass button makes your volume jump up - I don't know if this will fix itself when I loop it. It appears that using the intense effects tends to decrease your overall level, the more effect you mix in.
The actual effects are very nice (Alesis-quality others have told me). I use most of the ability of the box: long delay, tons of different reverbs, adjustable flanges and choruses, stereo panning, etc. Having the real-time expression pedals are great for cutting and boosting reverb or adjusting the delay feedback. You can't use them while you play the chorus effects, the manual warns you about this.
The one issue that I have with this unit is the pitch shift. All of the increments are dead-on accurate except the octaves (up and down). When using the octaves, the pitch is off by about -15cent, but the fine increment adjustment stops working correctly, making it impossible to recover the correct octaved pitch. My software version is V1.02. I have contacted Alesis on this and they said there was no way they were going to fix that, since it's a discontinued product. (So much for warranty support! See below.)

Reliability : 7
Fairly reliable. It's made for studios, but it's OK to use on gigs. I have not had a memory loss situation yet, after about a year of use. The main problem I've had for reliability was the power supply jack. This unit re-uses an existing Alesis power supply, it has a DIN connector that requires a LOT of insertion force to seat properly. After using it for a few weeks I wanted to modify it for a second (normal) power supply. I opened the case and discovered that the receptacle mounting flanges had busted solder connections resulting from trying to seat the plug. I fixed those and added my own barrel plug receptacle and have had no problems. Be warned, repeated insertions of the power plug (and probably the MIDI plugs) will cause damage to those internal parts (others have mentioned elsewhere that their unit had damaged plugs right out of the box).
Because of this I leave it set-up when I can, and have made a small extension adapter that I can leave plugged into the Wedge, allowing me to apply power through the original adapter with out straining the mounts.

Customer Support : 5
Do not email Alesis. I have never received a response from them, after sending messages to a couple of different addresses numerous times.
I called regarding the Pitch Shift problem. The person I talked to had never heard about this problem, and didn't have the equipment to duplicate it. He is the one that told me that they were not likely to fix this problem. I tried calling another time, hoping to get an engineer that might have pity on me and send me out a EEPROM that fixes this problem. This time, the tech I talked to said they had a bulletin at Alesis mentioning that the octave pitch shift is off freq, to fix it you have to use the fine increment parameter. I explained that this didn't fix the problem, but the tech once again couldn't find anyone that knew anything about the details.
I have since given up on getting support for this problem. I don't know if Alesis has better support for the stuff they make money on, but it would have be nice if my first contact with the company went a little better.

Overall Rating : 8
I don't know of anyone that bought this without getting Guitar Center's $99 deal. For that price I can live without the Pitch Shift. I paid more for the foot controller gear than for the Wedge! Overall it performs very well as my "everything but distortion" effects. I would definitely replace it at the same price. Don't know how it a/b compares to other products, but I can do everything I need with this unit. This would be a 10 if Customer Support and Reliability hadn't brought it down.


Product: Alesis Wedge Master Reverb
Price Paid: US $99
Submitted 10/27/1998 at 01:56pm by Scotty Wimpress
Email: wimpress_s at tsb1<dot>tsbvi<dot>edu

Ease of Use : 8
Pretty easy to use. Lots of parameters for reverbs. Sometimes there are so many parameters that it will get tricky to find the one you want, though. Up to 5+ second delay, too! You can change values with the wheel, or the very cool sliders, which engage when you move one. Great for production sound effects -- foley, etc. You can get very specific with the type of room ambiance. The LCD screen is easy to read. I run my guitar or Chapman Stick through it, which is cool because the Stick has a stereo output, the Wedge, stereo input, and you can split the channels and have different effects on each. Lots of power in this little box. MIDI control, too, with several parameters. There is a slight delay when changing patches, which is apparent if you are holding a note, you hear a small glitch. Lots of presets, and room to save your own. It's a little weird in the way you build an effect from scratch, but not too bad once you get the hang of it.

Sound Quality : 9
There is some hiss in the output. It is greatly enhanced by distortion from an amp, so I highly recommend using this unit in your effects loop, and it sounds great that way! This thing was built to be a desktop production unit, so the fact that I can get it to work for guitar is great. Effects are pretty amazing in general, though the presets are almost invariably mixed too high in the output, and have to be toned down.

Reliability : 9
No problem so far. I am very careful in transporting it, however, since it is completely made of plastic, and not built for travel.

Overall Rating : 10
I got the great price from Guitar Center. They apparently bought the remaining stock from Alesis after it was discontinued. What a deal. Alesis retail was $499, and Musician's Friend had it for $399! I didn't even know it would do delay, and everything else. I thought it was a reverb unit only. So it was a great value. Don't know if I'd pay full retail for it, though. Works well with a MIDI controller pedal. You can assign any effect to any channel, so it actually does pretty well in a live situation.

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