Line 6 Relay G50 (Guitar Wireless System) Reviews

4.3/5.0 based on 18 customer reviews

Write your own review for this product

Sweetwater Advice

Carson McClain

The Line 6 Relay G50 has tons of range, no loss in signal quality whatsoever, and its so easy to set up!

Zach Neels

I recently added a Line 6 Relay G50 to my rig, and I have never been happier! Whether I'm on the other side of the stage, or clear outside our practice space talking with the bandmates, I still have amazing fidelity and clear tone. The other guitarist in the band even commented that while I was outside, it still sounded like I was plugged in two feet away from him! The other great thing is that it only takes up one spot on your pedal board, keeping you from needing to sit it on your amp head, or find a rack to put it in. Anyway you look at this, it's a great piece, and it's truly "Worry-free Wireless".

Sort By Date Sort By Rating

Customer Reviews

Bob Haley
from St. Louis, Mo.
March 29, 2013Music Background:
Bass player for the band Flood.

Great Wireless Units

I bought my G50 from Sweetwater because I always get excellent customer service and a great deal from Sweetwater. The G50 comes highly recommended by bass players everywhere for good reason. There is no tone or signal loss, at any distance. The battery life of the unit is pretty impressive. It is easy to use and it is sturdy, with metal jacks and a metal housing. I will never go back to a cable. And Sweetwater's free 2 year warranty insures me that I won't have to.

Walt Aleshire
from San Marcos CA
November 17, 2012Music Background:
Since 1962

Line 6 G 50

This was easy to hook up, set up and use. Sounds great and no more cables. Put off buying one for a few years, glad I waited and got this one.
Great service from Sweetwater as always.
Thanks!

Colton
from Lubbock
October 12, 2012Music Background:
Gigging musician

AWESOME!

Very good signal. No tone loss. I recommend this to anyone wanting to clean up the stage and go wireless. We have had no interference problems or tone issues. Great Product for a good price.

Thaddaeus
from Tyler, TX
February 23, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician and Live Sound Engineer

Yep!

It's simple, no signal loss, no interference, and easy to use... It's the best guitar wireless system except for the Line 6 G90 there is!
It's a MUST have for any pedalboard!

Rick Jones
from San Francisco
July 31, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician

Easy to use, works great, long battery life with rechargeable batteries.

HAB
from Detroit, MI
July 22, 2011Music Background:
Musician/Sound Tech

They Finally Got It Right

This is the 3rd generation X2/Line 6 wireless that I have purchased. Can't say that the first 2 generations could stand up to gigging 3 to 4 nights a week.

The previous units required you to insert the 1/8" male jack then turn down the screw locking ring (Like Sennheiser). The problem was that there was hardly enough threads to catch the locking ring and if you did the whole assembly would turn or strip, not good. Also the cable molded 1/4" connector end would only last few months before going dead. The previous units required 9 volt batteries which don't last long and are more expensive then double AA's.

The new cable design is great and not subject to failure due to bad connector ends. Finally the unit feels and sounds like a quality unit.

Bill Cody
from Broomfield, CO
July 4, 2011Music Background:
Pro musician

True pro-quality, a real step up

I previously owned the XDS Plus (which technology was purchased by Line6), and the G50 blows it away in several aspects:

1) All metal build (the XDS transmitter was plastic)
2) Superior transmitter battery handing - a pair of AA's lasts me about 8 hours, there's a "time-left" indicator, and replacing the AA's is quick and easy with the spring-loaded, rugged battery cover. (The XDS Plus had a temperamental 9V battery compartment, and they only lasted about 5 hours at best).
3) Smaller form factor - easier to pack and carry
4) High quality Mini-XLR connector for short guitar cable (The XDS Plus used a fragile screw-on mini-plug)
5) Adjustable "cable length" emulation (The XDS was non-adjustable)

Bottom line, Line6 hit this one out of the park. They took a great technology from XDS, and massively improved it. Bravo!

Dave Marr
from Springfield, Illinois
April 2, 2012Music Background:
Semi-pro Musician

The Relay G50 works great, easy to use.

I really like products that work well and are easy to use. It is one of the best things I have bought, accessory wise, for guitar. It seems to be well made and I think it will be great for playing out at gigs.

Kris Nordstrom
from Tacoma, WA USA
July 23, 2011Music Background:
Guitar player whose hobby got a little out of control

G-50 Wireless Review

I was prepared to be disappointed. I was prepared for it to not work. I was prepared to ship it back.

I was nothing but awe-struck at how well it worked!

Thanks for getting the unit here a few days early so I could monkey with it before we played at Bite of Seattle.

Set-up? I read the manual but didn't need to. Stupid-easy: receiver's on the right channel, transmitter's on the right channel; play!

Best feature: the transmitter can be locked ON; if it slips, bumps into something, whatever, it will NOT turn off or change channels! Stroke of genius!

Best benefit: I didn't have to kick one cord out from under my feet!

I'm not sure if it'll really reach out 200-feet, but you can wander out far enough that the speed of sound effects your playing.

Tone? You'll never know you're not tethered to your amp.

Complaints? Yeah, ok 2 little ones: Outdoors you can't see the lights on the receiver to know its status (I suppose you could if you knelt over it & shaded the unit with your hands, but c'mon that's not very rock-star); the transmitter's attachment to my guitar strap is suspect at best & I ended up taping it on. It looks like there's a way to actually screw it permanently to the strap, which may be the hot ticket.

Over-all: I love the damn thing!

from Seoul, Korea
July 19, 2011Music Background:
My brother is a professional musician, Jazz & classic

Excellent

I purchased this for my brother, Junshu Song. He is a college professor and professional jazz musician. He says it thumb up for this product. :)

Airton Silva
from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
September 7, 2010Music Background:
Pro Musician

Great Range, well built

Just like the first review, I think this system is great. Our band bought two of them for guitar and bass and both sound amazing. The sound is crystal clear and we never had drop out issues. The signals are constant even with a great distance and some walls.
The 4.5 rating is because it consumes batteries like crazy! On the first gig the batteries were on the red. Totally recommended tough.

Jim
from New Jersey
May 24, 2010Music Background:
Pro Musician

Great, easy to use choice

This is a great device. I didn't even read the directions. I plugged it in, turned it on, and it just worked. The distance is outstanding and the clarity is perfectly responsive. The metal casing on both devices seems to be ready to handle the road. I've got this sitting in my pedal board case for one simple to transport solution. Taking my Peterson tuner out of the signal chain and hanging it off of this further simplifies my chain. I love it. The only thing to keep in mind is that this thing will EAT batteries (thus the half star rating reduction). Assume you'll need to keep a fresh stack of AA's in your bag, or move to rechargeables.

Michael Canute
from Hawaii
March 5, 2012Music Background:
Active Hobbyist

Works great with a few minor exceptions

This is a great wireless system for your guitar or bass, however:

1. the clip that is to hold the TBP12 (Beltpack Transmitter) is totally inadequate if you intend to clip it onto your strap. I does Ok if you clip it onto your pants waistband, etc...

2. The Wa302 Cable that goes between instrument and TBP12 unit is a definite weak point and would recommend you just replace it with the Shure Wireless Replacement for Wa302 Cable Custom Made with Chrome Mesh.

Havilah Justice
from Loudonville
November 16, 2011Music Background:
Touring Musician

Strong and Reliable!

We use two of these systems and they are fabulous. Easy to use, almost no set up time, and nearly indestructible. Only thing I'd have to say is the cable is a bit cheep. After using it for a few months it doesn't snap into the pack anymore so you have to be careful or it just pulls right out:o(

Ron Phillips
from Seattle WA
October 23, 2010Music Background:
Hobbyist

Very good product

I stopped using wireless years ago because they just lost something that a cable would not. Well, I decided to try out the new technology, and I really like it. I feel it sounds even better than my "big-name brand" cable. I don't understand the battery complaints, though. My first set are still strong after hours. Try using the unit's "low power" mode. (How big are the stages that you guys get to play on?!?! ) I have also heard about latency issues. Regardless of what a computer program can detect, my human ears cannot detect any latency. (Perhaps some people are moving so far away from their amp that they are not considering the speed of sound?) My only complaint is the instrument cable. I think that a better quality one could have been provided. (By the way; the instrument cable is actually a Shure wireless cable, should you decide to buy a spare.)

miguel
from los angeles, ca
July 18, 2011Music Background:
struggling musician

too bad about the mickey mouse cable

The first time I used the relay 50 it worked great. The second time i used it, it began crackling with any little movement i made. the other guitarist in my band experienced similar faliure with his g50 within the first few weeks of owning it. the problem is the micro xlr cable that connects the reciever to your axe. i've been religiously loyal to line 6 products for over a decade, but they dropped the ball with that mickey mouse cable.

KennyB
from Midwest, USA
April 3, 2013Music Background:
a 30-40 shows/yr player

GREAT . . . when it works!

This was my first foray into wireless and I was initially very happy with the tone, the range, and overall ease of use. However, during the first 18 months, I have had to replace the cable three times, the battery compartment does need to be duct-taped shut (since day 1), and the finish (transponder) is melting away due to sweat(?) . . . What else could it be (it's on the strap or in a padded case). If you play out with any regularity, BEWARE! While I have been happy with my other Line6 products (amps, pedal board, guitar) the wireless unit is not up those standards.

Steve
from Ca.
March 14, 2012Music Background:
Recording & Live sound balance engineer, Pro Musician

Good for Upright Bass-But............

Most people probably won’t take time to read this but I hope Line 6 does so they can improve their product.

I bought this G50 to replace my 8yr. old AKG UHF guitar bug that I love. The AKG still works but with only one channel so sometimes I get interference in populated areas so I thought I'd upgrade. I read good reviews about the G50 and the price was within my budget so I thought I’d try one out. I play in an acoustic folk trio with two guitars and upright bass. When I received the G50 I tested it on different guitars and acoustic basses.

The sound was clean and bright with robust lows that really shined on the bass instruments. I.e. upright & Kala Ubass. I was very pleased that it performed well on the upright as my AKG guitar bug could not handle the low frequencies and would distort horribly. Kudos to Line 6 on that one. Switching to my guitar bug for an A/B check gave a little warmer analog type sound but that doesn’t mean the G50 sounded bad, just different.

The latency of the A/D converters were unnoticeable near the speakers but was perceivable out front at about 50ft when combined with the sound wave delay from speaker to ear. Switching to the guitar bug revealed No delay using the same test. Again, not unacceptable, but could be improved.

Cable tone switch: Using this switch didn’t really seem too make that big a difference to me however maybe it warmed the tone a bit. It would be better if it was a tube amp and/or mic modeling switch instead.

Battery life: Using two new alkali AAs it said I had 7.5hrs. of life. I tested it on hi power for two hours and it reported 5hrs. batt. Life left. So yes, it loves batteries. I switched it to low power and it seemed to work fine with no drop-outs (50’ from the receiver) so we’ll see how long they last then. My guitar bug used one AAA and would last about 8hrs. More battery $$ I’m afraid.

The cord: I didn’t think the cord was as cheap as others said but agree it should have had a 90 degree at the ¼ phone end. I think they should have included both kinds that way you’d have a back-up too. It seemed to be built well as far as the casing goes but we’ll see what happens in the real world gigging musicians.

Transmitter: Ok, good and bad here.
Good: I liked the way you could plug in various instruments with different output levels and the transmitter would automatically adjust without distortion. No tiny screwdriver and attenuation pot to mess with.
Bad: It’s bulky and in your way. My guitar rubbed against it a lot. If you place it on the back of your belt or guitar strap you can’t easily see the battery indicator or access the mute switch. They should have designed a sophisticated 90 deg. guitar jack that had a remote mute switch and batt. Indicator light built right in it. Better yet, make the thing smaller and just incorporate the phone jack and transmitter together. This was the beauty of the guitar bug and I wished AKG would have kept it and improved it.

Conclusion: I only gave 3 stars because I thought the body pack transmitter was bulky and not user friendly. I really hope the Line 6 engineers read this and respond with an optional Guitar Bug style transmitter that will work with the same receiver. Line 6 would have really blown the competition away had they done that too earning five stars from me for sure.