Oberheim GM400

Easy to use, manual is kind of difficult to understand. If you have been working with effects in the past you won't have any problems with this unit.

Only problem i am facing is that i cannot connect the GM 400 with the optional FC-3000 foot controller. Assistance is required guys...please help!!!

I play mostly with my fender stratocaster and parker p30. They both sound great, especially with presets having to do with that Red Hot Chilli Pepers sounds....

I find this unit a very quality unit, since i was able to edit several presets that do sound great. For example i love the "Puppets"preset..makes me wanna play Metallica all the time...

No idea yet

I tried to contact the company because i cannot find a way to connect the unit with the optional foot controller (FC-3000). There is no way i can control the patches from the foot controller...

No one has replied to my emails...still

I believe i have made all the necessary connections. VGA and line inputs.

PLEASE, If you use the FC-3000 with the GM 400, Kindly send me an email and advice me on how to make them both work! (vavel80@yahoo.com)

If only i could connect the FC-3000, i would give it a straight 9 out of 10...

Totally like the unit, looking forward to playing live next week (hopefully). I recommend the GM 400 to guitarists who like to edit their patches before the go live on stage...Presets help a lot, but in my opinion you have to edit before you get the sound you want...

Waiting for your feedback concerning the FC-3000 Optional foot controller

I bought this about 1 and a half years ago at Musicyo.com.....
I paid 400$ for the unit and the pedal. Great quality for the money! This Unit has no problems punching the effects clearly. I run a stereo 100 watt tube amp and don't hear a hiss at all. I love the presets and I use the pedal to edit out effects channels on the fly, but you can split the hairs if you want to fine tune it.

The manual is kinda basic. I think the steepness of the learning curve is pretty much up to the user's knowledge of processors in general and the patience to reread sections in the manual. But alas, you will figure it out even without reading the manual. Just may take you a month or so. :)

I use a 100 watt tube (custom GK) stereo setup. Guitars range from a Parker Fly Classic, Les Paul studio to a Tacoma A/E and a Martin 00c-16rgte.

It is VERY VERY clean... leaves my DigiTech stuff in the dust when it comes to quietness. It actually makes me angry at Digi!!!

The effects sound good and are very editable, so if it sounds a bit weak on a given patch, you can edit it and the AMP sims to get any sound you want.

Built very solid..... I use a rack setup with the pedal... This aint no crappy plastic stuff..... REAL METAL.

I never had to call em...

Classic rock to alternative acoustic stuff. Been playing for 15 years.
I own tons of gear. Tooooo much to write about today.
I would replace it if it were stolen... not sure if I can though.
Fave Feature is the pedal.

I wish it had an easier manual... I had a tough time figuring out how to use the pedal to change thru set patch numbers on the fly.

Out of the box I just love it. I must say that the need for a programable midi footswitch w/ expression pedal(s) is my next purchase, a real need. I've been a bit lazy w/ the manual and haven't learned how to run the midi through my computer. With that said I've many horizons yet to pass and so far, utilizing presets and then moving to programing , Ive' found new joy in each step. My playing had reached some what of an impasse after 30yrs. but with this I've attacked my guitar with a new vigor

runs the whole gamit of what anyone could ask for and that's before you start programing the world to which your wants to live at that moment in your creative designs.

This is the part that scares me. Though the unit I have is , so far, reacting w/o exception, this replaces the orinal unit I received due to the fact that the original failed right out of the box. yikes.... With that said though I still just love this thing.

The failed unit was replaced with one that I could just hug. One issue, The one I got was w/o the cords and manual but for the power cord. I got the manual online though but I've got to send for the other cords

I bang my head preety hard for 39yr. old (Sabbath 'maiden etc.) but I like real nice acoustic sound as well and this thing delivers. I'm abit of flash guuitar player when I just jam and the variety of quitlity organized noise that this thing provides really keeps my chops up ....It's just plane fun.

Pretty standard lcd feature accessability. If you have had a didgital processor before you will have no problem. If you've never had a processor before, then the manual DOES provide enough instruction to get going.

I used this for recording and live performance. Not terribly noisey. The chorus is pretty standard fair, the delays are the best thing on here, the phaser SUCKS! It sounds more like a cheap envelope follower. I bought this thing on the basis of the Oberheim name. They are renouned for their filters, I expected the modulations to be at least industry standard, they are for 1988. This unit is supposed to be state of the art, instead you have the classic assortment of features (there are tons of stuff on this thing)with no good tone. It sounds utterly brittle didgital processor. There is no attempt here at the warmth and fidelity of the analog effects equivilents found on this processor. From the reviews above, I expected a runner-up to the POD...not even close. This is the typical didgital rack-mount processor crap that started with the Didgitech GSP21 Ledgend, no more, no less.

3 months and counting, it still works.

No experience here

I thought this would be a basic all-around job that had good sound. It is just not up to modern standards.

I found this pretty easy to use, but I guess if you're technically challenged it could be a bit daunting. Don't expect too much help from the manual, but if you want to stick with the presets then it's a breeze. Some of the presets are pretty good too! The FC 3000 foot pedal is a bit tricky to get used to, mainly as it comes with absolutely no guidance on how to use it, so that's trial and error. Editing seems straightforward, although I haven't done much yet, so can't really give a "expert" opinion.

For the price, this is excellent. As with most digital processors, the distortions are better at crunch and above than the subtle stuff - it's certainly on a par with my Tech 21 Trademark amp. As a guidance here, if you listen to the recent Larry Carlton/Steve Lukather album (and you should!) you could get close to the Steve L sounds, but you'll not get that great, creamy tight compressed sound that Larry C has (face it - you'll have to spend #10,000+ on a Dumble!).
The clean sounds can be excellent, and the delays & modulations are impressive. Not had time to play with the reverb settings yet, but the array of parameters that can be set are as much as anyone could reasonably want (eg sound absorbancy on individual "walls" in the room). Again, we're not talking Eventide quality, but for the money...
Generally, when used with headphones or for direct recording to PC you can tell it's digital, but again it compares well in that respect to my Tech 21.
Plugged straight into the power amp section of my Trace Elliot combo (via the effects return)it sounds great - really great rock & clean sounds. Operation is very quiet too. I use a Steinberger with passive EMGs, so that probably helps there.
One of the things I like is that even with heavy distortions pick up changes etc still have an impact and the character of the guitar sound is not swamped by the effects, so credit to Oberheim there.
V. impressed by the pitch shift & harmoniser too - in this respect, (and all others) some of the presets can be regarded as a good demonstration of what's possible rather than everyday usable sounds.

Not had it long enough to really comment on reliability. Build quality seems good - the unit is certainly strong, and surprisingly heavy for it's size. The foot controller also seems pretty robust, although I'm not sure how the footswitch buttons would stand up to rough use over a long period.
I will happily gig this without backup, knowing that I could revert to dual channel on amp & stomp boxes if necessary.

No experience, but I wouldn't be too expectant given that it's Gibson really, and I'm not in the US and so on.

For that price, I got the unit and the controller pedal and this has to be 11/10 in the value for money stakes. I wish I had got one of these years ago. More to the point, the first time I got it out of the box & starting playing, I found myself producing more interesting (to me anyway!)stuff than I have done for ages, so it definitely is an aid/stimulus to my creativity. I don't gig much, so my main use of for home recording and I think it's an excellent tool for such. I'm sure I couldn't do better without spending much more money. It can produce some really good sounds in most categories - and of course some really horrible stuff if you don't engage your own "taste" filter before you use it. If I lost it I'd get another.

Just turn the dial. If your a tweak freak, which I'm not, than there's lots to tweak on this unit. If your like me, just turm the knob and use the presets. The Manual wasn't even looked at so no comment. Seems like there's tons of stuff to tweak but I'll never know...I just like using the factory patches

Like I mentioned before, tweeking is not my thing. The factory settings are superb. I only use this unit to record with. I've had some fantastic results thus far. There's plenty of sounds to choose from. I just pick the one that fits. Although I read somewhere that there are cab sims that can be set. Oh, darn... does that mean that I have to read the damn manual to find out how? well, perhaps in time I'll do that. The effects that come loaded with this unit are great. I especially liked the delays and distorsion channels. Sometimes the GM400 is placed in the effects loop of my Mesa Boogie Rect O Verb. The delay patches work amazingly well with My Mesa not to mention other modulation effects (Phaser, chourus etc...). I play blues and rock mainly. Once in while I'll crank the MESA in the red channel just for fun. The Mesa can produce some Grusome distortion tones that sound out of this world! Beleive it or not I've been able to recreate the mesa tones with the GM400. When it hits tape, you can't even tell which is what? Comes in handy at 4am when the wife is sleeping. Great sound and versitility.

I've only had it for a few weeks can't tell yet...built quality seems to be excellant.

na

it's a lot of fun! sounds great and deosn't break the bank. Recording with it has been great. I've been playing for 20+ years and have owned tons of things but more recenly I dicided to sell off all my stuff and keep it simple. The GM400 fills a huge gap for me when it comes to home recordings. If it were lost or stolen, I would definately buy another one immidiately! well, that's my 2 cents...

This sucker is easy to use. Patches are strait forward. 128 patches x 3 banks. Ther's lots of room for your your own custome patch creations. The manual bites! don't depend on it. One thing that doesn't seem to be covered is: What do you do when the backup battery runs out? They don't show you haw to replace it in the manual. Also, what happens if you lose all the data? How do you reset the GM400 back to the factory settings? If anyone knows the answer please e-mail me with a response, I would really appriciate it.

Enormous distortion patches! The Sound quality is great. The effects variety is plentyfull. Some Good reverb patches are preset. There isn't much more to say...I bought it because it costs less than other units that provide the same sound quality of effects and conectivity options. I would recomend this unit to anyone on a budget who demands excellant quality.

Built like a fuc#ing frait train!

Who do you call anyway??

If I had to choose one guitar processor ,for recording guitar/live use, under $1000 dollars. The GM400 would definately be my first choice!

The GM400 comes with factory presets that are good. However, I agree with the previous reviewer in that awsome sounds/patches are achievable with a little tweeking. The manual is average, at best. I never use manuals anyway, that's what makes things interesting!

Fantastic sound quality. I use this processor with a Fender Deluxe Strat with premium ash body. When I record with it , the results are phenominal! I would put this up against the POD anyday. The amp sims are great and the effects are top notch. I sold my POD!

Only time will tell...built like a Penzer Tank though!

n/a

I play Blues and Rock mostly. Some jazz. I find that the GM400 covers these types of music nicely. I am convinced that this processor is one of the greats! and for the money, I can't ask for much more. I was eyeballing the GM1000 but the extra features (more adjustable peramiters etc..) seemed to be overkill and I would never use them. The GM400 posesses the same qu

I am not a gear head! and even I could get around this puppy. Anyway the preset patches are ok. Some are great others are laim but can be adjusted ,fairly easily, to sound good with your setup. I play in a Christian band and this unit fits my needs perfectly. It has everything in the book, as far as effects are concerned.

The variety of effects are great and they all sound perfect. The chourus sounds warm. I really like the delays. There are a variety of artist patches that come preset in the units memory. I really like the Bob Geldoff and Hendric (clean) ones. When I first plugged into this processor, it didn't seem magical like all the reviews seem to be raving about. I run the GM400 through two amps in a swichable amp setup. A VOX AC30 and Fender Twin Amp. Though the twin there was a nice openess from allot of the patches. They sounded crisp. The AC sounded a little dimmer but warmer too. although the presets sounded pretty good off the bat, I wasn't convinced. After twiddeling with peramiters and getting them just right, I was in total shock! The GM400 came to life! more than ever it's wonerful tone was present. I think lots of guitarists who use rack gear expect them to be perfect outta the box. That's not always the case. Just have some patients and you will be suprised with the sound that can be achieved. Keep in mind that the Manufacturers of these rack units, or any processing unit for that matter, do not engineer the patches with Your particular setup in mind. That part has't to come from you. Anyway the sound quality of this unit is superb. It doen't make any unwanted noise. The compressor/noise supressor works very good. The effects are Fantastic.

I've only had this unit for 3 weeks now and I can't say. In time I will know. It seems to be built with some pride though.

Haven't had to deal with them.

It works out very well with what I'm using it for. I haven't recorded with it yet as I don't have a home studio but I've heard good things! There are lots of prossessors in the market, literally tons of them. I chose this one because it sounded as good or better than all of the ones I tried (Digitech 2120, Roland GX700, POD Pro, Rocktron Professy and the Peavey tube fex) and to top it off it was a lot less expensive. Best bang for your Buck IMHO.

There are lots of adjustable peramiters that can be played with. The unit seems to be easily manipulated. The manual is not fantastic. The Italian version comes before the English so English starts at pg. 67 or something. Seems they didn't bother expensing a North American version with English first. That's tottally Ghetto! Although, I must say, the unit itself seems to be built like a tank (no skimping here). Who needs the manual anyway? I found my way around it in literally minutes. The patches are easily configurable. If you've used rack gear before than you should feel comfortable using GM400. Don't know which firmware version it is. It would be nice if there was a download depot on the net where users could exchange patches for the GM series processors, too bad there doesn't seem to be one. There's plenty of room in this unit. A total of 3 banks (A,B,C) and 128 patches per bank, comes with the GM400. Thats a grand total of 384 sound patches, WOW!

The unit is very quiet. Sounds are pro quality. You really have to hear it for yourself. The pitch shifter sucks. Delays and reverbs are great. Other modulation effects are fantastic too. I could olmost call this unit a one trick pony! It's got everything that any guitar play should ever need and/or want in an effects processor.

Built like a brick outhouse! I gig with it all the time (4 nights a week). No ploblems

No experience.

Friggin Awsome! try one out, you won't regret it! I've had lots of Guitar processors and nothing really compares to the sound quality, adjustability and ease of use.