[facingtomorrow]

i'm interested in buying an akai ewi 4000s and i'm wondering if its really worth it to buy everything off of patchman. they claim they do a bunch of stuff to set it up, but is it really that much or even necessary? i'm liking the vl70-m with the mod chip and the presets, but the wireless midi is a little excessive. i can find both the 4000s and vl70-m for about 500 each, and that would save quite a bit but is it worth it to get it all from patchman? or just the chip and presets?

 

[BarrySax6]

i'm interested in buying an akai ewi 4000s and i'm wondering if its really worth it to buy everything off of patchman. they claim they do a bunch of stuff to set it up, but is it really that much or even necessary? i'm liking the vl70-m with the mod chip and the presets, but the wireless midi is a little excessive. i can find both the 4000s and vl70-m for about 500 each, and that would save quite a bit but is it worth it to get it all from patchman? or just the chip and presets?

Matt is great to work with. I've gotten all of my EWI stuff from him (I have a 3020, a 3030, a 4000s, and a USB). I think the VL-70 with the chip is well worth the investment and he helped develop the chip. I think the wireless midi is a little over the top...I just use a cable. I'm not the kind of guy who needs to be walking the bar - not at my age.

 

[facingtomorrow]

is it worth it to buy the vl-70 with the chip preinstalled? or buy it significantly cheaper and put it in myself? it looks like its really easy to do. i'm also pretty good with technology and can figure stuff out really quickly, so i'm not exactly sure if it worth that much money for someone else to do something i could easily do myself.

 

[pneumasax]

As far as the Vl-70 goes, I would get it with the chip installed; warranty issues. :| I have the Vl-70 turbo and it is a great module.

I have the EWI 4000s with a wireless guitar bug for the audio and a Midijet for wireless midi . Although I don't need it for "walking the bar" :walk: it really helps to keep the cable jams down in cramped quarters.

If you can find the 4000s for basically $200 less the said seller new, then I would go for it and use the extra money to get the VL-70 turbo if the VL is really what you want.

 

[facingtomorrow]

would you suggest buying the 4000s and vl70-m from other, lower cost places, then send them to patchman to install the chip and callibrate/update the 4000s?

 

[raymb1]

Hi pneumasax. How long have you had the guitar bug and how would you rate it? I have a 4k also and have been looking at the guitar bug. Later, Ray

 

[pneumasax]

would you suggest buying the 4000s and vl70-m from other, lower cost places, then send them to patchman to install the chip and callibrate/update the 4000s?

No I would not suggest that. That would probably be more work and you would still have the warranty issue because the device would have been opened. Updating the EWI is as simple as "plug-n-play"; of course with a hiccup from some systems on occasion. Bt it is really easy. Calibration are to YOUR likings. Download the EWI manual from the AKAI site so you can see what's involved in calibrating the unit.

You could also just give Matt a call at Patchman music to get his input. Of course, he may try to convince you to get everything from him, which again would not be such a bad idea. At least get the VL-70 from him if that's what you want.

I would suggest you not rush into it though. Once I decided I wanted an EWI, it still took me about another month or so to actually buy one. Just wanted to no more about what I was getting into. My only regret is that I sold my 3020/3020m after I got my 4000s.

Best wishes.....

 

[pneumasax]

Hi pneumasax. How long have you had the guitar bug and how would you rate it? I have a 4k also and have been looking at the guitar bug. Later, Ray

I've had my bug since I had the 400s came out. That's been about 2-3 years I guess. It works well. I have the one from AKG. I A/B the Samson and the AKG and I did notice an audible difference in response in the lower range. Others who were listening noticed it too. My concern now is the frequency. The FCC has these new regulations coming into effect in the summer of 2010 that will prohibit the use of wireless devices in the 700mhz frequency range and I have to check and see if my guitar bug and mics fall in this range. If so, they would be useless to me. :twisted::x:?:shock::dazed::Rant::argue::disgust::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: