Moving an amp offstage into an isolation booth can help reducing stage noise, increasing room on the stage, and improving the sound of the amp through the house speakers. Leave it to Radial to help electric guitarists work with isolation booths.
I’ll leave it to Radial to describe their SGI system…
“The Radial SGI Studio Guitar Interface provides a simple and affordable solution that lets the guitarist plug into the SGI and drive the guitar signal over standard XLR mic cables to a far-away isolated room and listen to the sound over the studio reference monitors.”
“On live stages, noise typically encountered when using long, high-impedance cables is now eliminated. Add the Radial JD7 Injector to your system and you can now run multiple amps and effects at the same time. Combine the SGI with a Radial J48 direct box on bass guitar and now you can mix the sound of the bass amp and the direct feed to create thicker, fatter tones. Because you are no longer limited to being in the same room as the amplifier, all kinds of new possibilities open up… and just maybe, this will add a little creative spark to the performance.”
“The SGI-TX Transmitter Module: When using the SGI, the guitar connects to the SGI TX transmitter. This is a 100% discreet class-A active driver that employs the same front end and circuit topology found inside the popular Radial JD7 Injector. Class-A circuits are the preferred choice o audiophiles as they retain the natural characteristics of the instrument by eliminating zero-cross distortion which in turn reduces harmonic distortion, inter-modulation distortion and phase shift. To counter any effect of the circuitry, the SGI is equipped with Drag Control, our innovative load correction circuit that reintroduces the natural relationship between the guitar and amplifier that would otherwise be lost. Power is supplied by a 15VDC external supply for added headroom over 9V systems. Both transmit and receive modules are equipped with isolation transformers to eliminate buzz and hum caused by ground loops.”
“The Radial SGI-RX Receiver Module: When in use, the amplifier is connected at the receive end using the SGI RX. This module is completely passive thereby not requiring local power. The transformer receives the signal and is wired ‘in reverse’ to counteract any ringing that may be induced at the input side. Smart. This also eliminates ground loops, a common problem when connecting equipment using different electrical circuit.”
You can read about it here: http://www.radialeng.com
QUESTIONS: Does Your Church Use Instrument Amp’s Offstage? If So, Do You Like the Resulting Sound?
Dave Chitty says
April 16, 2014 at 1:23 amAs a budget conscious tinkerer, I am always looking for ways to cut corners on stage and still get good results.
Recently I had been reading about the Radial SGI-LINK and thought “That’ll work, but it’s expensive!” After some experimenting I found a couple of ways to achieve similar results with stuff I already had laying around the studio.
Disclaimer #1: Unlike my DIY solution, The Radial unit uses Active Circuitry, and also includes:
Quote:
” Drag Control™ load correction that lets you replicates the tone and feel as if connecting a guitar directly to a tube amplifier.”
Disclaimer #2: My DIY solution I am listing here is completely passive and doesn’t have the same kinds of circuitry or controls that the Radial unit offers. OTOH, you probably already have everything you need in a drawer at home or in the Tech Booth at church. Does it sound as good? Probably not. Can I tell the difference? Not really. The only difference my ears hear may be that, depending on the DI used, your signal may be a bit hotter than plugging in directly. If you run a pedal board directly into a clean single channel amp, this can be compensated at the gain knob. There are probably other measureable side effects to my method, but without an A/B test I can’t say what they would be.
FWIW: If you are using an FX loop on your amp, or switching between multiple channels with a footswitch, this may not be for you.
Here’s what you need, if you want to try this:
One of these beauties from Radio Shack.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062443
You may have one laying around. I had three.
A direct Box like This One: http://www.rapcohorizon.com/p-14-db-1.aspx
You can try others if you want, this is the one I have used with great results (no level drop). If you try a phantom powered Direct Box, just realize that you won’t be connected to a mixer, so you’ll have to supply Phantom Power with a battery, or separate Phantom Power Supply.
Two standard microphone cables of whatever length you wish (up to 300′ or so I presume, though I have not tested beyond 50′ ) One for the guitar signal, one for the mic on the amplifier.
Procedure
Plug guitar or pedalboard output into Input of DI. Turn off any Pad on the DI.
Plug Mic cable into DI
Plug Radio Shack Plug Adapter/Transformer onto XLR-M at the other end of the cable (where the Amp is)
Plug 1/4″ Radio Shack Transformer into amplifier
Adjust gain level to taste
Mic the amp
I’d love to hear about it if someone else tries this and has success. It sure has worked for me both at the home Studio, and at the church where I run sound.
Enjoy.