Product: George Dennis GD-130
Price Paid: USD 290
Submitted
01/14/2008
at
11:20am
by
Roger
Email: ram16821<at>yahoo dot com
Ease of Use
:
7
This effects pedal bills itself as a stereo delay/reverb unit. Four knobs make it simple and straight forward. It has a volume pedal on top - for what reason I honestly do not know. I bought this under the impression (or desperate hope) that the footpedal would actually serve as an expression pedal for the delay. Nope, doesn't - although that would have been logical, and would have almost justified the ridiculous $290 price. No, it seems that George Dennis puts volume pedals on all their effect - I guess in an effort to charge more for them. However, that then makes it absurd to own mulitple GD effects, because you'd have this long bank of oversized effects pedals with volume controls on each one (???) Whatever...
Sound Quality
:
9
The pedal sounds great. That's where the kudos for this review end, because during the 10 minutes I was playing it, it had unusual surges in power/volume that I know for sure are the fault of the box (I was using my own rig, at home). This is where the real heartbreak set in, because I had rationalized that I could live with the other faults of this box (covered below, read on...)
Reliability
:
1
Would I gig without a backup? No.
Would I even gig with it. No.
Did I keep it? No, sent it back.
See "sound quality" for volume/power surge problem. After about 2 minutes (literally) of use, the mode dial striped and came off in my hand. I looked at the knob's underside, and was amazed how cheaply the plastic had been configured for the knob, and was expected to turn the rather stiff potentiometer post of the mode dial. This cheapness in the plastic knob made me wonder how cheaply the components I couldn't see were made...
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never used them. Because of the problems right off the bat, it went back to the gracious music store I bought it from. Steve was very nice and professional about it, and paid for the return shipping.
Overall Rating
:
No Opinion
What style of music do you play?
Rock.
Is this a good match?
Don't know.
How long have you been playing?
31 years.
What other gear do you own?
Custom Strat, Boss DD-6 and TU-2, Marshall MG250 (which is an awesome amp, tubes or no tubes - see my review for this bad boy).
If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
I would keep using my DD-6. I was silly to try something else, quite frankly.
What do you love about it? What do you hate? What is your favorite feature?
It didn't work long enough for me to have feelings either way.
Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
You bet - lots of them. Shopped around for a delay with an expression pedal. The only other device I found was the Line 6 for $250 plus $50 expression pedal.
Anything you wish it had?
An expression pedal that allows the player to control the delay depth WITH THE PEDAL. MAKE THIS PRODUCT IN A DEPENDABLE PEDAL, NOT A FRILLY AND CAPRICIOUS GUITAR PROCESSOR!!
Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way? NA.
Anything else you'd like to share?
I've tried pedals with tubes, boutique pedals, blah blah blah, and the Boss DD-6 wins hands down. I don't earn my living as a musician, so I can afford what I want, and the DD-6 is just the best tool for delay I've found. Better than the Boss DD-20, in fact.
