Yamaha AG Stomp - Page 3

John712 · #31 03-03-2002, 08:42 AM

I ordered the AG Stomp from riksmusic.com for $329 on Tuesday and it came UPS on Thursday--and they paid shipping! That's quicker than I can get to GC in the middle of the week. I spent an hour poring over the manual trying to figure it out, then decided to plug it up and see what happened. The pre-programmed patches are varied and give you a lot of different tones. While you're in the preprogrammed patch you can change any of the parameters simply by fiddling with the proper knob. When its modified to your liking you can store it as your own patch under user settings. So far I've listened through headphones and ran it through the Fender Hotrod Deluxe tube amp. Sounds great through the amp and heavenly through the headphones. I think this widget will be best heard played through a stereo amp so im off to Radio shack this afternoon to get some 1/4 in to RCA patch cords to hook it through the stereo. If you've also bought one of these gizmos, let us know what you've figured out. I'm at my limit when the box controls go beyond on, off and loud.

cPaul · #32 03-09-2002, 12:42 PM

Happy to see a thread here on the AG Stomp.

Is this unit useful as a pre-amp? Have you noticed any noise?

John712 · #33 03-09-2002, 05:07 PM

It IS a pre-amp with some incredibly versatile effects built in. It also synthesizes different "microphones" so you can get the effect of playing into a dynamic vs a condensor vs a tube microphone at close proximity and at two feet. It has a heavenly chorus effect, three different types of reverb, a built in limiter and a tuner! It can be operated with the foot switches or directly from buttons on the panel. It has mono, stereo and digital optical outputs. I'm just figuring out what it will do. So far as noise in the signal path, it is extremely quiet listening through high-quality headphones and through my home A/V sound system. Both of my amps are noisy (hey one's a Fender Hot Rod deluxe--tubes are supposed to sound nasty) so I don't see the AG Stomp introducing any noise compared to what is already there. First impression--this is a quality device. I just hope I can figure it out.

GordonHLau · #34 03-09-2002, 06:19 PM

The AG Stomp WILL introduce white noise or hiss if you use a low level signal into it (passive pickups or low signal active pickups). The preamp section is not really designed to boost low signals (straight from the horse's, err, Yamaha's mouth). You can boost the output to compensate for a low signal but this also amplifies the hiss.

The Fishman Matrix barndoor systems have a very hot output so it mates well with the Stomp. In contrast, I have a Baby Taylor with a B-Band system that has about 6dB less output and has considerably more hiss than my 714CE while using the Stomp. Take the Stomp out of the chain, and there's hardly any difference between the two in terms of noise. If you want to use a passive or low signal active pickup with the Stomp, another preamp must be used inline such as a Baggs PADI or Fishman Platinum Pro to boost the signal enough so that the Stomp won't get hissy.

GL