Tascam CD GT1 Trainer. Two thumbs up!!

[TT100]

My wife bought me one for Christmas and these little gizmos are wonderful! The loop feature has allowed me to figure out passages I would have taken weeks to come close to before.

I've been pulling info off the web about modes, scales etc and this box is helping me put it all together by reinforcing the academic stuff with on-the-fretboard exercises. New doors are opening as I have a much better idea of where I am on the board and where I can go in the context of the tune.

They do eat batteries though so I'm picking up an adapter today.

TT

[Kap'n]

Be careful about the jacks. They're directly mounted to the PC board.

[cooltone]

I bought mine after I left my band! (not good timing). This thing could have saved me a bunch of time over the years, but now that I don't have any new material to learn, it's kinda just sitting around.

I got the adapter, and it's a must have.

That was a cool Christmas gift, glad you are enjoying it! :)

[Ranman]

Hey TT that sounds cool.

I think it may be what I'm looking for. My old ears aren't what they used to be (too many Nugent concerts I guess ) and it's hard for me to hear "how" a lick is played when I try to listen to it on a CD. Do you think this unit would help? I read the description at MF and think the audition and loop features seem like the ticket. Price ain't bad either.

Thanks

Ranman

[TT100]

Ranman, I caught Nugent once. El Paso Texas, 1976. I forget who opened for who, Rush or Ted but it was a LOUD concert.

Regarding the trainer, I'd say try one. Maybe Cooltone will sell you his? I think the most you can slow something is 30% but it could be as high as 50%. At that speed it does get a little choppy but it maintains the pitch. Also, they don't have a Pan control so if you need to iso the left or right channel in your headphones ( I haven't had the need yet ) a small mixer would come in handy.

Btw, after calling Guitar Center and confirming they had adapters in stock I did the 30 mile drive to find they didn't. Bastids.

TT

Cheers,
TT

[Ranman]

Thanks TT, I'm going to give it a go. I checked my local GC (about an hour drive) and they have 2 in stock but no adapters (BTW that sucks going all the way and them not having it for ya). They better have one of the trainers when I get there. I'll check Radio Shack for an adapter. Probably be cheaper anyway.

I caught Nugent 3 times. They were all among the loudest shows I've ever been to. I have that permanent ringing now (I think they call it tintivitis) and the Doc says it's probably from all the concerts and drag races I've been to and that I should have worn ear protection... but where's the fun in that. I mean go to a concert and wear ear plugs... I don't think so.

L8R

Ranman

[juniorspecial]

(Long Post)

The Loudest Band I Ever Saw


Up until the night in question, I had seen many, many, really, really loud rock 'n' roll acts: The Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, The New York Dolls, The Dead Boys, The Rolling Stones, etc. So, I knew loud, and I loved loud. Or thought I knew and loved loud, until I saw...The Plasmatics, with Wendy O. Williams.

They were playing at a small club I used to hang out at in Detroit, and they had been all over the newspapers. A few days before, Wendy had gotten arrested for some kind of obscene behavior onstage, with a microphone. The Plasmatics were the most notorious act in the land at that time, and I was eager to check 'em out. So, I went down the club with my girlfriend at the time, Maria. Maria was a total rock 'n' roll babe. She loved a good show, so she was pretty stoked to see them too.

When we got there, the place was so packed; I could hardly believe it. They had removed all the seats from the club so they could squeeze in more people, and everybody was just squished in together on top of each other. So, I was squished up against the front of Maria, which was very nice, and we kind of squeezed our way past a few people while the warm-ups were playing, so by the time it got to the headline show we were in about the middle of the club. By this time, a lot of babes were riding on their boyfriend's shoulders, so they could see a little over the crowd. The place was really crowded, the stage was really low, and it was really hard to see.

In the middle of the club, there was a partition. This is what remained in the club after they took out the banquet seats and tables, in their desperation to shove in more paying customers, and this partition had been a part of the banquet seats. It was covered in ugly red vinyl. Maria and I got over next to it, and I had just climbed up and sat on top of it, to try to get a view, when the band came on stage. I hadn't had a chance to boost Maria up on to the partition yet, so she was still standing holding onto my sleeve, ready to be pulled up, when the band came out.

Now this band was just the craziest outfit. I have seen lots of out-there, over-the-top acts over the years. Wayne County, the first transexual to make a name in rock music was pretty wild, and Skafish, an extremely effete singer from Chicago was pretty out-there too. But Plasmatics were just the total cheese in wild-looking, crazed rocker thugs. They were utterly nasty, pissed-off, surly fucks, with shitty, angry, humorless attitudes.

Which was totally undone by the stupid way they dressed.

For one thing, the bass player was just this enormous mountain of a black guy. Huge front-linesman type material: like 6' 5" and about 280-300 pounds. I kid you not; he was a very substantial, mean-lookin', scowlin', angry-lookin' BIG DUDE. Think Mister T, but without the underlying benevolence and humor. Menacing, scowling, enormous black guy, in a very crowded, hot, sticky, cheap, mainly white bar...in a bad part of Detroit. This is the man...the threatening figure of American Urban Drama...plunked down and pissed off in the middle of a huge crowd of hairdressers, artists, fairies, junkies, and other white derelicts...whose threat is completely mediated by his stupid clothes.

He was completely outfitted in a pristine, old-fashioned, ironed and pressed, white nurse's uniform! With the ugly white shoes and the little goofy cap, and the white nylons and the whole deal. A white nurse's uniform! This huge guy was in this dainty little Miss Priss outfit. And he also had a perfectly lovely little green Mohawk hairdo sticking out the back of his cap! And one big, sparkling earring!

And the guitar player was just the skinniest, scrawniest, pastiest-faced, sallow, pale, white guy I'd ever seen. He just looked sick and starving. He made Ron Wood (who gets skinnier and skinnier every tour! The Stones don't have to worry about getting old; they have to worry about Woody just disappearing.) look like the picture of robust manly health. This guy was just utterly pathetic and anemic in appearance.

And he's wearing a nurse's uniform! And his legs were just these pale, slender sticks that hung out beneath the skirt and went into the top of his shoes. And the nylons he was wearing just sort of bunched and hung there, because he was so skinny the stockings wouldn't fit right. He was just this utterly grotesque sickly looking guy; it didn't seem like he'd be able to lift his guitar, let alone play anything.

So, these guys are walking onto the stage, and I saw them over the crowd and started cracking up. I just thought they were hilarious. Now, Maria is right next to me, but she's still down in the crowd; she hasn't gotten up onto the partition yet, and she can't see anything over the people in front of her. So, she tugged on my sleeve, and I turned to look at her...and just then the band started to play and oooooooommmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggoooooooddddd weretheyloud!!

I'm looking Maria square in the face, and she starts to say something...and just at that exact moment the band starts!

Did you ever get hit a cheap shot playing football or something? You don't even see it coming, and you just get smashed onto your ass, and the half of your body that gets hit hurts like hell, and the other half of your body that gets smashed into the ground hurts like hell, and you're so surprised, you don't know what to do? And you kind of stagger a bit trying to figure out what happened, and if you need to do anything about what happened? A moment ago everything seemed normal and right, but now everything is horribly wrong? At that exact portion of a moment, when that band started to play, everyone in the place suddenly got that horrible, confused, blind-sided feeling! I was looking Maria square in the face at that exact portion of a moment, and her face went from this wonderful, beautiful, smiling bit of loveliness into this confused look of repulsion, confusion, and nausea!

You know how when a show starts in a crowded place, there's a sudden surge toward the stage? Everyone stops talking and looking at each other, and turns toward the stage, and everybody scoots up a little to get a better look? Everyone takes a half step forward? Well, when The Plasmatics started to play everyone took a half step back. And then they backed up some more. Everyone instinctively backed up slightly to get away from the menace of that enormous, powerful sound.

Maria, at that moment, was about to say something to me. But, that was pointless now, of course. She cupped her hands around her mouth, and was yelling--with great exertion and effort!--toward me. But, that was equally pointless too. She was instantly reduced to trying to mime to me the universal expression for "Jesus Christ! Are these guys ever loud! Do you think we'll be OK?" That suddenly, obviously became a huge concern: "Will we be OK?" People in the crowd were all suddenly looking at each other, visibly concerned, and somewhat confused. "Will we be OK?" "This is such a powerful, overwhelming sensation. Will we be OK?" It was so loud; all these punks and hipsters were actually concerned for their safety!

Well, I quickly got down off of the partition, and deliberately got back into the crowd, just so I would have something...anything in front of me to absorb the force of the attack. I immediately realized I wouldn't be able to take it without some kind of cushion, some kind of shield.

I got down, and stood next to Maria. She now cupped her hands around her mouth, AND around my ear, and tried to scream to me. But I could hear nothing! It was like she was playing some kind of mime gag. But she was trying to scream in my ear. And I would just look at her and shrug? Because I couldn't tell what she was trying to scream. After she tried this, with no success, several times, we both looked at each other and pretended to laugh. It was so strange. Here we were, two normal, healthy people. Standing right next to each other. And we couldn't communicate verbally at all!

And as the band continued "playing," (who could tell? the sound was just so overwhelming and undistinguished and blended together? You could see that Wendy O. was standing on stage, apparently screaming into the microphone, but no one could distinguish what, if anything, she was adding to the sound.), people continued to back away from the stage, and shot worried looks at each other. And a few people started to leave, then more people were leaving, then a lot of people were gone. They left because the band was so loud.

Now, this wasn't like Guns n Roses playing at a PTA meeting, or something. This was a very hardcore punk club in a nasty neighborhood in Detroit. And even the flintiest heart of the hard core was leaving--because the Plasmatics were so loud. It was incredible.

Pretty soon, there were no people in front of Maria and me. What had been a mass of dozens of people between us and the stage quickly thinned out to a mere handful of people, who were looking around, wondering if they should back off, too.

(continued in next post)

[juniorspecial]

But, the band had quite a presence. Wendy O. was really animated, dancing around, trying so hard to sell each and every song with everything she had. The two nurses were such freaks. They were interesting to just look at. Like zoo creatures, they were so outside the ordinary daily experience of human existence, the only appropriate reaction was to stare. And they had an act, and they were going ahead with it, and just act like this was a normal part of the show...that a lot of people would leave, after having paid, and waited, and waited. A lot would leave because they were so loud.

And now I had a good view, and I knew I'd never see anything like this again, so I struggled on watching the band. Maria went to the bar, but there was no way to order a drink. She came back, and we sort of decided, with hand gestures, and shrugs, to watch a little more, because it looked like it was going to get outrageous.

There was a stack of TVs on the stage. They were all on, tuned to the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. And Wendy kept making threatening kicks at them. At one point, I turned and looked at Maria, and we shrugged about something or another, and when I turned and looked back at the stage one of the TVs was gone. The big one at the top of the stack was gone. For a moment, I wondered what happened...and then I saw that there were pieces of it lying around, and a guy up in front of the stage was picking up part of the thing. And there was a bunch of smoky dust. Wendy had kicked in a TV set! The thing had blown up! Parts were all over the place! But I hadn't heard anything like an explosion...I soon realized that although the TV blew up, I couldn't hear that over the band.

Soon, the skinny guy came out with a chainsaw. It was big. He seemed to have trouble starting it. Wendy went offstage for a few moments and brought out several armfuls of cheap guitars. She stacked them in the middle of the stage. The chainsaw seemed funny, because it didn't seem like the little shrimp could start it. It looked like a toy, and he kept waving it around, and it just seemed silly. Then Wendy kind of stepped back and held out her arms like Vanna White, like "Ta Dah!" at the stack of guitars. And the shrimp in the nurse uniform has this toy chainsaw, and he waves it at the stack of cheap guitars, which suddenly start falling apart.

It was so puzzling. "What's with the guitars? Why are they falling apart like that? The shrimp looks like such an idiot with that toy chainsaw..."

And then it hit me: it was a totally real chainsaw, really sawing at this stack of guitars, but I couldn't hear it over the band! The band was so loud, that a chainsaw (!!) cutting through guitars could not be heard over the band! It was like watching a silent movie. I kept seeing things that didn't seem real, because the "sound" part of the picture was completely drowned out by that ferocious noise coming from the stage!

That was what it was like to see The Plasmatics.

[Plankspanker]

I've had one for quite awhile and it's a handy little gadget. I'd like to see them add more guitar presets as there are only a few usable ones unless you want to go thru the headache of customizing a particular preset. Overall the control settings are a bit tedious; it takes some skill to adjust the balance between the CD player and guitar outputs, despite reading the instructions multiple times. I think they have a great device, I'd like to see it combined with the versatility of a Pandora PX3.
Regarding the adaptors, I haven't come across the proprietary one made by Tascam yet. GC has not had them in stock since the item was released over a year ago. I've found the SONY AC96N 9V adapter is a perfect subsitute.

[cooltone]

I ordered my adapter directly through Musician's friend. (or maybe it was Zzounds...)

[TT100]

I'll give Radio Shack a try for the adapter. I bought a Universal model at Wal Mart that was voltage selectable and came with 8 different jacks. None of them fit.

TT

[ghodaddyyo]

That was the best loud concert story I've ever read! You have a way with words, it was totally visual!

I started out using slow down programs on the PC like Transcribe! or The Amazing Slowdowner, but couldn't get into playing in front of a computer. I bought the CD Trainer so I could learn in the living room while the family watched TV. Yeah the effects are a pain in the butt and it does get warbly when you slow it down to much but what slowdowner doesn't? And it's totally simple to loop sections so you can get down to business instead of fidget with buttons. (Wish I could say the same for the effects). All in all it's great unit that has helped me immensely and makes me wonder how good of a guitar player I could have been if I had this when I was 14.

What's funny is how these thongs are lost on today's 14 year olds. I suppose they could use it to slow down all the nu-metal one finger riffs. Instead of figuring out solos, they can slow down the song enough to figure out what tuning the band uses! ;p

[Ranman]

OK. So I decided to get one. I called the closest GC to me 2 days ago and they said they had 2 in stock but no power adapters. We are expecting bad weather here in PA this weekend so I took time off fom work and went at lunch time to get it. A little over an hour dive later (due to traffic and crappy directions) I got to the store and they tell me they don't have any. I saw they had a bass and a vocal trainer so I guess the nimrod that I talked to on the phone mistook them for the one I was after. They also could not tell me if/when they might have more. Needless to say I was not happy. I guess I'll order one on line or from fleabay.
I happened to check out the Tascam web site and they had a story about the new MKII trainers coming out. From what I gather they are making some improvements to the effects and adding features. They just introduced it at the recent NAMM show but I couldn't find any in stock anywhere or what the price is.

Here are links to the info.
http://www.tascam.com/Press/Releases/cdtrainers.html
http://www.tascam.com/Products/cdgt1mkii.html

junior
That is a great story. I grew up around the Detroit area. Saw a lot of great concerts. (Cobo Arena, Pontiac Silverdome).

[juniorspecial]

I have a CD Trainer, and I love it. I've used it to learn songs, licks, etc., etc. I think it's really great. The great thing about it is how you can change tuning a little bit, so a song recorded a little flat (a lot of blues stuff, Stones stuff...) or sharp can be played along to without too much hassle.

It's OK to use with headphones on. But your gutair won't sound too good with the onboard effects, and balancing the live/CD mix can be a hassle. But I find the thing really works best when I use an adaptor cable, and run it through my stereo, and then play my guitar through the amp. (I take the headphones off when I do this. :ahem)

I think they're great, but get the AC adaptor!

[doc540]

MrsDoc (dubya) bought me the Bass Trainer over a year ago. Works fine for what I need it for and has proven to be a really valuable tool when learning new material. Got the adapter too.

But, as usual, they've improved it with a MKII model now.

[Ranman]

When it comes to electronic gear you can't look back. You just got to get it, enjoy it and move on to the next thing I guess. It gets upgraded so fast anymore that if you wait for the next series of stuff you would never get anything.

I want to get one of the trainers but now I want the mkII and can't find it anywhere yet. Anyone know if/when they are available, how much or where to get one?

I've checked Tascam's site (among others) but they don't say anything.

[guitargeezer]

This is my first post as a newcomer to this Forum, but I got a CD-GT1 for Christmas, along with the AC adapter and foot pedal. Tascam ran a "free case" promo that ended with products purchased before December 31st--presumably an attempt to reduce stock on the "old" GT1 before the new Mark II is released. I had seen an ad on the Mark II in the February issue of one of the Guitar mags, but Tascam played possum with info on them until NAMM (I called Tascam's customer service and e-mailed them back in late December, but they've never responded to either attempt).

Anyway, I'm still navigating my way through this device (I think their instructions are woefully inadequate but, then again, most instruction manuals are), but I think that it's going to be a great learning tool. I, like juniorspecial, have run mine through another device (thus far, it's been my Roland MicroCube) as well as with the headphones.

BTW, I learned about this site from Forum member "jim in texas" whom I met online when he responded to a question I had asked about an ebay item he has listed. Wow, this guy is incredibly nice and incredibly helpful--went way beyond my question about his item. He's got a listing in the Business Classifieds here and I will definitely do business with him in the future. If he's typical of the folks around this Forum, you've got a great group here.

[TT100]

Hey Guitargeezer, welcome to TFF. You're right about Jim, he's been a great help with answers to my amp questions.

I got the carrycase a couple of weeks ago after mailing in the paperwork. Pretty nifty but wouldn't you know it, it runs on batteries too! Overall I don't find the speakers in the case very usefull but the case is a lot better than I expected.

See you around,

TT

[marek]

the cd-gt1 MKII is now at MF's. $ 149 ..BUT NOT IN STOCK YET!!!

i have never used this and had been looking something like this!!

Oh, I saw Nugent in the mid 70's too, can still picture him in his spandex and big Byrdland box. Kinda loud. the cops busted some of his roadies, as they were apparently tripping out and were getting to much into the music and were exposing themselves to some girls down front i heard. .....

[OutlawSteph]

I've got a Tascam GTCD1 which comes in handy late at night because I can plug in headphones and not disturb the neighbors. For going into the amp, my Boss Loop Station XT works better. You can load anything from a cd right into the Loop Station and slow it down as you like, and overdub your playing.