Line 6 Relay G70 Digital Wireless Guitar Pedal System Reviews

I"ve been using the G70 + 3 transmitters for a couple of years. It"s been very reliable and quite versatile. I"m often switching between instruments as both church musician and playing in a Celtic band. I have K&Ks in my acoustic bass mandolins and bouzouki, and something inside my electric octave violin. I put adhesive Velcro on the transmitters so I can stick them on someplace (via Velcro loop on strap, tailpiece or backside) appropriate. The belt clips were adequate, but I find looping another piece of Velcro through my belt or belt loop (even a neck strap once) more convenient. I"m also sometimes going with mandolin or fiddle, and use dynamic Schertler transducers plus an adapter to go into the transmitter, also with excellent success. They reliably and versatile-ly do everything I could ask of a piece of equipment.

I work as a recording studio owner/mixer, engineer, producer/liver mixer/studio musician/and performer(in a show playing band). And was very skeptical about wireless in general taking away your tone. So I did research for about 2yrs on wireless systems...,I'm crazy like that, and finally decided to give Line 6 a try as my first foray into wireless. I'm also a gear junkie! Meaning I've got about $20,000 invested in my bass tone, no joke! And that's just my bass. I'm also a firm believer that 90% of the time you get what you pay for, therefor I wasn't expecting the world out of a... wireless system... as what my buddies on tour where using where systems in the $2000 range. But wow was I surprised. Actually blown away. Not only have I not had any drop out issues ever(besides dead batteries...:( ), it actually improved my bass tone by making it more HD and cleaning it up. It took a veil I didn't know was there off of my tone basically! And you can get another transmitter to expand your setup. The other cool thing is that you can(with just the 1 transmitter)set up a second channel and put the cable emulations on that channel so that the top end is rolled off. So when your on the 2nd channel it will sound more like a P-bass tone or something like that, because longer cable runs end up loosing some of the original signal that tends to come across as top end loss. Meaning you get a rounder tone with longer cable runs basically. So I've got an extra effect to play with as well! Found it to be a huge help on certain tunes like Sublime-What I got...or songs like that where the bass is super round and in your face. Thought I was gonna have to buy an expensive assortment of pedals/or new bass to get that tone. But with my Lakland on 3/4ths neck jazz pickup with it set to single coil, it sounds very similar! So boom, shot two birds with one stone!

It works ... without an issue. The three outs are great, letting me run to two different amplifiers (not that I presently do that, but I like that the option is there) as well as direct (in case I ever decide to add an acoustic guitar to the collection). The cable attenuation really lets you tweak your tone. Now that I've spent some time with the device and have been able to tweak it to my rig I can't even tell the difference between wireless and plugged in - the option to plug in with true bypass in case of an emergency is awesome ... seems like a guitar player designed this piece of equipment and hit all the buttons!

I have been an early adopter of wireless. Owned one of just about every brand and each generation. This one is the best ever! It has replaced a last generation wireless receiver, a direct box, a tuner, two A/B switch boxes, and the need for a floor peddle just to kill the signal when changing instruments. It has taken at least ten connections out of the signal path (ten less things to trouble shoot just before a show.)

I bought four transmitters, did not read the instructions and set it up on the run just before a show. Worked perfectly.

It may say Line 6, and I know they are strong with engineering, but I know that Yamaha and the Yamaha way of manufacturing the very best value for the money spent is a huge underlying strength for the brand.

I ordered two of these (one for my PRS the other for 12 string). Had a little glitch with one. Sweetwater took care of it as usual. This is a great system. I wanted the ability to use separate transmitters with out having to deal with separate receivers. These work great.

Delay is zero, believe me, 1.48 millisecond is nothing. The ABY system is very use full. Now My pedalboard has two vacancy because of built in tuner and DI.

Just love this thing. Sturdy, have not seen any of the dropout issues I have read about, love how you can program the scenes, Tuner, really not much to complain about with this.

After a few months and many gigs using this unit I can confidently say.....
THESE UNITS ROCK!
I will base this on my last 2 outdoor shows.
I ventured out into the audience from left to right approx 50'-60' from where my receiver was located on my pedalboard with hundreds of audience members between me and the stage.
NO DROPOUTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As far as professional performance i can not say enough about the G70.

(I do have some minor caveats which you can read about on my other reviews on the Line 6 Relay TB516G transmitter.)

This gtr wireless system is high quality and user friendly. I have had no drop outs and quality of sound is as good or better than it is with instrument cable. Service at sweet water is excellent.

Love this system! Very well made with metal housing and high quality features. Ive had no drop outs and the battery life is what it says it is. And the customer service at sweetwater is (as always) excellent!

This wireless has 2 controlled out puts, DI with Ground lift, 1/4 in input/pass threw for cable, and channels out the wazoo.. I can use this as a regular direct box and can control the outputs. I can hook up 2 amps and control with the foot pedal. The feature I like the most is the MUTE/Tuning feature. Wow!!! No issues thus far. Just suggest channel the default channel, since it is so common.

I've been using the G70 for 2 months now and couldn't be more happy with it. Was considering the G50 but I'm glad I made the step up. The features are great and I have yet to experience a single drop out. Setting up scenes is a breeze and switching works flawlessly. Not sure why there is so much hate for the clip design. It fits and holds great on my thick, leather guitar straps. Sometimes the clip will pop off if I'm trying to remove the transmitter from a weird angle, like when I still have the guitar on, but that's just due to laziness.

Only word of caution, the remaining battery timer works great, unless you're using rechargeables. Once it hits 3 hours, it'll drop to 45 minutes in an instant, then you might have about 10 minutes left. Happened at the very end of a gig and I was sweating bullets especially because I had the outro solo. This is not a fault of Line 6. Voltage decay on an alkaline battery is very steady and predictable, not so much on a NiMH. But overall, the transmitter will last a full 3 set night on a freshly charged set of batteries.

I went back and forth between this G70 and the Shure GLX-D. I read the reviews on Sweetwater.com as well as many other sites. Even though the Line-6 was a bit more expensive, I went for it. I have not been disappointed! This thing is amazing! I now have the freedom to move around stage and have also played from the back of my church's large sanctuary so I could hear the full FOH sound mix. I have even played from in front of the sound board in the balcony....NO dropouts, NO issues; just the crisp, clear sounds of my Taylor acoustic. This was very easy to set up and get playing wireless in under 10 minutes.

The ONLY negative thing I could say about it is actually about one of its FEATURES....the transmitter is extremely well-built, therefore its metal body is a bit heavy. I have seen others wear the transmitter on belts, pockets, etc. That did not work for me; as one other reviewer pointed out the clip is a bit flimsy and pops out when trying to clip to thick items (like a belt). However, it works like a champ clipped to my guitar strap. I just have to be careful when moving the guitar not to bang the heavy metal transmitter against the back of the guitar.

One final word of advice...spring the extra few dollars for the actual AC adapter. The unit comes with a wall plug and multiple world-wide power adapter faces to swap on the plug. However, the plug itself interfaces with the stompbox via a micro-USB cable. These micro-USB ports are notoriously weak and I am sure this one won't last through many cycles.

Yep, this is the real deal. 2 weeks and many gigs later, ZERO issues. Here's what made it a no brainer for me: Multiple transmitters using one receiver. Setting up "scenes" is a breeze. You can color code each scene on the LED on the pedal, and match it to the receiver with these nifty little color coded rings you affix to the transmitter. I got a good 3 shows out of one set of batteries. The fact that once i put my guitar down for 2 minutes and the transmitter goes to sleep, you'll save a ton on battery life. Just wiggle the guitar, and the transmitter wakes back up in about 2 seconds. Works great as a tuner too. Very easy to pull the TU3 off my pedalboard and plug this in instead. This thing is a TANK! very heavy duty. Two enthusiastic thumbs up over here! Lastly, they made it so you can use the screw in jack or just a regular 1/4". Very easy to solder some cables together to make them the perfect length. Shipped to my house in 2 days!

I reviewed and commented on this product shortly after purchasing it and was very impressed with the G70. It's now been 3 years and it has been an awesome system. I got annoyed reading other's claims of dropouts vs what I have experienced live and thought I might offer up a tip. When on gig location, perform the channel scan and remain there for 45-60 seconds. Observe the screen and pay attention to the frequency channels. As an example, the scan may choose channel 3 as best. Don't immediately choose it. Instead, keep watching the screen. You may see it change to a different channel then perhaps another channel. This is normal for many environments. The channel that appears the most as best channel is the one to choose. I do this every gig and have had very little issues. 60 seconds of observation can give you a night's peace of mind. I hope this helps in enjoying one of the best systems I've ever used.

After researching several brands of wireless guitar systems, I decided to go with the G70. As of late August, I've owned this for about a month.

1st off I want to say thanks to Mark Chapman at Sweetwater having the unit shipped overnight allowing me a few days to play around with the G70 before gigging that weekend. Thanks!

So far the G70 has performed great, no drop outs. I only have 1 transmitter but love the expansion options if/when I decide to get another transmitter. Read up on that option if you're considering this unit. It's one of the reason I went with the G70.

Never had a drop out issue... play 3 to 4 shows a week... the transmitter is very solid item and i like that you can use regular batteries with it (rechargeable batteries are what i use). The only think i would complain about is the battery length time indicator. Basically anything over 6hrs will last for a 4hr gig... anything below 5hrs will die less than 3hrs or even less.

Has a great tone, easy to use, with none of the line-of-sight dropout issues that plague earlier digital wirelesses. In addition, has extremely low latency, and feels tighter with the beat than any other wireless I've used. Would have given it 5 stars if the tuner was better, but I didn't buy it for a tuner anyway.

As a guitarist for 38 years, I've tried many wireless systems of older technology during these years. VHF and then UHF. Both technologies left me with the decision to stick with the trustworthy cable. Now that digital has made its way to mainstream, I did some reading on great wireless systems at an affordable price point. I was tossed between Shure and Line6. The Shure GLX-D had only one feature that stood out which is definitely an important factor for gigging. It was its ability for the receiver to consistently scan channels and automatically switch to the best channel. This would automatically switch the transmitter as well. However, I was given the chance to test drive the new Line6 Relay G70 for a couple of gigs. The system worked flawlessly and the digital technology almost renders the channel scan as irrelevant. I do an auto channel scan as a precaution regardless. I read about dropouts but never had one yet. Very clean, the cable emulation is killer and the battery life has actually been really good. This system has already allowed me to eliminate the need for three boxes on my pedalboard. The DI box, The tuner , the AB Switch are gone. I gave this system a 4.5 because I haven't used it for very long. But, as of right now, this system is awesome. My other guitarist with the Shure GLX is also very impressed with the G70.

I used a Line6 G30 for years without failure. When it finally broke I researched the new G70 and decided it was perfect for my needs. I bought a second transmitter because I always use more than one instrument during my shows as a guitar player and as a bass player.

I love the variable gain feature you can program for each scene. I can add gain for vintage pups and lower gain for my hotter pups... to me this is a great feature to equalize unity gain for my guitars without adjusting my amp volume. If you're like me and play electric guitars, metal body reso acoustic, and electric bass, you can set up a scene for each instrument and stick with one pedalboard.

Transmitters are well made and designed for easy channel or battery switching. There are two things Line6 could improve: 1. clips are poorly designed and are inadequate. I removed mine and taped the trans to my guitar strap. 2. They cut corners with supplying you with an el cheepo cord. I've replaced mine with higher quality cords and keep the factory cords for backup.

The other thing I'm not crazy about is the power connections for the receiver. There are two options: 9V/DC barrel adapter that requires a 500mA power source or use their wall wart set up with USB/micro USB cord that comes with the G70.

All my pedals are powered by an old Voodoo pedal power unit that only provides 9V/DC @ 200mA. This requires me to use the wall wart USB option. This option works fine, however the down side to this is my AC courtesy plug on my power source can not be accessed the wall wart because of the Pedaltrain rack design. The fix is an 3 prong AC adapter.

I also found it necessary to unplug the wall wart and micro USB cable while being stowed and transported because of the vulnerability to possible damage. Some folks might find that inconvenient or to be a deal breaker. If I was using a power block with a 500mA output, this wouldn't be an issue.

Overall, I'm pleased with the features that are available for my uses. Good stuff Line6...

I've seen many complaints about dropouts with this unit and unfortunately, I bought this unit before I read the reviews. As it turns out, I'm glad I didn't read the reviews first because I probably would have never bought it. I've used this at a dozen or so bar shows now and have had only a few instances of problematic dropouts. And it's always the same bar. Every other place...no problems at all as long as I follow the channel scan procedure. It works well enough and sounds great. Plus, the convenience of being able to switch between multiple guitars without getting tangled up in chords is fantastic. The dropouts aren't fun...at all. But its so infrequent and I know where it happens, I just bring a chord with me and plug a chord into the aux input. If it gets too bad, I can just switch the transmitter off and plug my guitar in. The convenience far outweighs that downside for me. One thing I don't like though is the power connection...a very cheap/flimsy micro USB. Not gig worthy in my opinion...works though and have to be careful plugging it in and try to make sure it's out of the way of people stomping on it.

Super easy to set up and use...overall I'm happy with it.

Lives on the pedalboard! What's not to like?

I have had the G-70 for 1 week and have used it in two live situations. The product works as promised. I am currently running the tuner line out to a TU-3 and using output A on the unit first in the chain into a Wah Wah. So far so good no major issues range is good and so is ease of use in programming very straight forward.

The battery indicator seems to not be as accurate as you would expect. For example, 7h 45min remaining on the display will change to 7h 30min in 5 - 10 minutes. this may be due to the type of batteries are being used. I have opted for the rechargeables and will give them a try. I have also noticed a high pitched hum when additional gain, compression, or boost is used. This is not the norm on my rig with a cable. I have contacted Line 6 sent them a video and waiting on a response. The tech who took the call was very helpful and willing to take care of the issue. Thanks Sweetwater Marshall for taking care of business!!

The G70 system with the latest firmware has drop outs. You have to do a sync to find the least busy channel. In our old band we had 3 G50s and the wireless Mic of the same era ... no problems, but I can't imagine running more than one G70 as it's hard enough to find a channel that doesn't drop out with 1 system. I am still using it because I have 2 xmitters and 1 receiver and the multiple outs are great, but the channel / drop out issue is something I wish I didn't have to deal with. Hopefully line 6 will fix this.

Well after experiencing the drop outs in a couple shows I was a little disappointed. After loading the new firmware it has been good but now the switch has given out... Considering the cost I'm quite disappointed. I had high hopes...

I love all the bells and whistles on this thing. I have 3 transmitter and have used this unit every weekend for almost 2 years. Last night is was bent over 1 foot away and the wireless kept cutting out. Horrible unit when it comes to being consistent and free from drop outs. I really don"t know why I have put up with this for so long. Every night it is a crap shoot when it comes to dropouts. I don"t know if it"s the 2.4 ghz range that is so congested. I scan and every frequency is full all the time. The g50 I had started cutting out also. So I don"t have any faith in the 2.4 stuff anymore. All I can say is if you want a flakey wireless then this is the unit for you. I"m so disappointed in this unit.

Incredibly disappointing since I have the Helix (which is astounding) and I can have this mounted to my pedal board keeping everything clean and easy.

I first set it up at home and I walked out of the room, 35 feet away and it dropped out 4 times. I have not ever experienced a guitar wireless drop out so easily. Actually, this is the first time I have ever had a guitar wireless drop out in at least 20 years and I was quite honestly taken aback at first.

I played the first show with it last night, walked away from the stage keeping line of sight...made it about 50 feet and immediate drop out. I stayed close to my pedal board for the remainder of the evening and did not have any further drop outs.

I won't be keeping this, the risk of drop outs during a show is flat out not ok.

Blown away how often it dropped off. I did the firmware updates on both pieces and I couldn't go more than 20 - 40 feet without dropping off.

Had a lot of nice features, but distance and signal should be the best one.

I didn't have luck and that is my opinion.

With the g70 I had drop outs at first . The dropouts seemed to be when I would get to close to the pedal ie (when I would kneel to adjust the level on my Fractal AX8 . ) After that I took it from studio to the stage and the mini usb Jack failed . (why not a real road worthy power supply ? ) So I called Sweetwater because I have had the unit for about 30 days I was transferred to tech support where I waited for 10 minutes before I had to hang up and take a call then I called back and waited more than 20 minutes on hold . Finally I was told it qualified for replacement but they had none in stock and had no idea when more would come in so my option was to send it in to have it repaired which Typically takes 2-3 weeks . I said I would like it replaced so they said we will end you a shipping label and it never showed up . I'm very disappointed with Sweetwater and Line 6 . I think ill be taking my business elsewhere .

After years of using a g50 with no problems, I finally broke down and bought a g70 after reading that firmware updates fixed the dropout issues.

DON'T BELIEVE IT!

I've used it at several gigs and it failed consistently... even after the firmware updates and channel scanning at the gig, like they recommend. I dropped out at 40 feet with nothing in the way. I replaced it with my old g50 and waked 250 feet away with no issues. AT ALL. No dropouts.

I returned the g70 and bought a new g50. It comes shipped in RF2 mode, which they state is their new technology. Probably very similar to, if not the same, as the one in the g70. It even tells you on the packaging that it might not play well with others. Guess what? It dropped out constantly.

I switched it to RF1 mode and it works like a beast. No dropouts at all.

DO NOT BUY THIS. All the bells and whistles are great, but the main function not working makes this useless. Do yourself a favor... save some money and either buy a g50 or the Shure GLXD-16. I tried it and it performed right in-between the g70 and g50 for distance, but no dropouts on stage like I got with the g70.

Both my guitar player and I bought these Line 6 Relay G70 systems and 3 transmitters each, and it failed us both miserably. From consistent drop out, to embarrassingly horrible clip design, to tuner issues and other bugs… even after updating the software these G70's clearly aren't ready for prime time or full time working musicians. Great concepts we were both excited to add to our rigs, but doing 150 shows a year, we need something that delivers on what it promises.
Also, if I would've known how terrible the ergonomics of the clip design on the body pack is, I would've never bought it in the first place. The clip can barely support the weight of the pack, and instead of the cable running vertical down the guitar strap, it sticks out horizontally poking me in the back… seriously??
The clips on the G50's were perfect, so I'm not sure why Line 6 tried to fix what wasn't broken…?