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Tascam G100 Guitar Amplifier | |
Article from Recording Musician, March 1993 |
Your eyes don't deceive you: we are indeed looking at a guitar amp that is only marginally bigger than the picture at the head of its review. Actually the G100 is more of a combo, or powered speaker if you like, although it is rather more sophisticated than the majority of powered speakers. It's small, with dimensions of 4.5 x 7 x 5.5 inches (114 x 181 x 136mm), but is very solidly built, and weighs a hefty, for its size, 5.5 pounds (2.5kg). The casing is made not of particle board or moulded plastic, but very thick cast aluminium. Inside the package is a well-designed little amp and a four-inch speaker capable of 10 watts of power, with claimed total harmonic distortion of less than 1%.
While 10W may not sound like much, power wise, volume can reach quite impressive levels in a reasonable-sized room — quite enough to get those neighbours banging on your wall. Controls are limited to a power switch (but unfortunately, no power LED), a volume knob and a bass boost knob. Connections are at the rear of the unit and consist of a line in, guitar in and line out — both inputs are summed, so you could plug a drum machine or cassette deck into the line inputs and play along, albeit in mono.
Now let's not fool ourselves: a 'combo' of such a small size is going to have certain compromises — for example, the bottom end is somewhat lacking, though the amp in normal use is not as bass-light as you'd expect, and Tascam have provided a low boost knob, a tone control offering up to 15dB boost at 170Hz. This results in a smoother, more realistic bottom end. The smallness of the speaker leaves the G100 out in the cold for bass guitars, but for ordinary electrics, I found it quite acceptable. Another drawback for some people is that it doesn't seem to want to feed back (I did try!), so any distortion or feedback will have to be provided through external treatment — footpedals or one of the many pre-amps we've reviewed in RM. I put electric guitar through a couple of units I had around — a Boss ME6, a Hollis Research GX7, Tascam's own GS30D amp simulator and Hughes and Kettner's Tubeman. Results were great all round, with the feeling of playing through something rather bigger being the over-riding impression. The Tubeman's valve-based circuitry especially made the G100 heave. Just one G100 and your choice of guitar pre-amp could probably beat many small-sized combos in sound and price.
It's a bit odd trying to mic up something this small, but the effect is subjectively pleasing; even a four-inch speaker helps give a convincing sound, and good results can be got at moderate listening levels, which is good news for those of us living mid-terrace.
There are other potential uses for this little unit; a pair of G100s, for example, would make great rehearsal, practice or live foldback monitoring for keyboard players. It really is hard not to like the G100, especially in view of its price and size. I think everyone should own one — including me!
Further Information
Tascam G100 £46.50 including VAT.
Tascam UK, (Contact Details).
Review by Derek Johnson
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