Tascam MPGT1 Portable MP3 Guitar Trainer

by Tascam

Product Features

• 240-song memory capacity (based on average 4-minute MP3 encoded at 128kbps)^Variable Speed Audition changes the speed of the MP3 playback without changing the pitch ^Pitch control in 1% steps so you don't have to re-tune^Seamless looping for practicing tricky passages^High-impedance 1/4 inch bass input
• 240-song memory capacity; Variable Speed Audition changes the speed of the MP3 playback without changing the pitch
• Variable Speed Audition changes the speed of the MP3 playback without changing the pitch
• Pitch control in 1% steps so you don't have to re-tune;Seamless looping for practicing tricky passages
• High-impedance 1/4 inch bass input

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.8 x 3 inches ; 7.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000NW8JIU
• Item model number: TAS MPGT1
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,990 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #25 in Musical Instruments > Recording Equipment > Multitrack Recorders
  • #83 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > External Components > Optical Drives > Disc Duplicators

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Designed specifically for musicians, the Tascam MPGT1 MP3 player/guitar trainer enables you to slow down, loop and even eliminate guitar parts to help you learn new riffs. This MP3 player can store up to 240 songs and includes a Variable Speed Audition playback feature, which slows down the speed without changing the pitch, and sections can be seamlessly looped while practicing tricky passages. Songs can even be pitched up or down to match the tuning of your guitar, so you don't have to re-tune for every song.

The guitar input lets you rock along with thick overdrive and multi-effects, including a guitar canceller so you can play along with your favorite bands. A tuner, metronome, and built-in rechargeable battery are also built-in. Zip through your MP3 collection using a data wheel, dedicated buttons and a graphical LCD display. A rechargeable 9-hour lithium ion battery is built into the unit, and an optional power supply is also available. Key Features 240-song memory capacity (based on average 4-minute MP3 encoded at 128kbps) Variable Speed Audition changes the speed of the MP3 playback without changing the pitch Pitch control in 1 percent steps so you don't have to re-tune Seamless looping for practicing tricky passages High-impedance 1/4-inch guitar input Guitar multi-effects include overdrive, distortion, delay, flange, reverb and more Guitar Cancel effect eliminates the guitar part from the recorded song so you can play along Built-in tuner, oscillator and metronome 1/8-inch Headphone output Built-in rechargeable battery with 9-hour reserve 128 x 64 graphic LCD display USB jack Auto Power Off and Hold function Dimensions: 3.1 x 4.3 x 1 inches (WxHxD) excluding protrusions Weight: 7.8 ounces including lithium-ion battery Specifications Memory: 1 GB File system: FAT16 (recognizes a maximum combined total of 550 files and folders) Bit rate support: 32 - 320 kbps Sampling frequency: 44.1 kHz Guitar input: Standard phone jack (mono, unbalanced) Headphone/line-out jack: 3.5mm Signal to noise ratio: >90 dB Minimum PC requirements: Windows XP; Mac OS 10.2

The Tascam MPGT1 MP3 player/guitar trainer (see larger schematic image of front controls). The left (above) and right (below) controls on the MPGT1.

Product Description

The Tascam MPGT1 is designed with musicians in mind. It combines a guitar trainer based on the award winning Tascam CD-GT1mkII. With enough memory to store up to 240 tunes, this is even more portable than the original. Play back MP3s using Variable Speed Audition, which slows down the speed without changing the pitch, and sections can be seamlessly looped while practicing tricky passages. The guitar input lets you play with the built in Multi-effects. Also includes a guitar canceller to play along with your favorite bands. A tuner, metronome, and rechargeable battery are also built-in. All these features in a package small enough to fit in your pocket. A 9-hour lithium-ion battery or an optional power supply will power the unit.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable Guitar Tool, February 15, 2010

By 

Vestige (PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tascam MPGT1 Portable MP3 Guitar Trainer (Electronics)

Ok, I will do my best to answer everyone's questions that aren't asked here yet, in which I also had before I purchased this item. This trainer is just amazing. It helps you out in so many ways. First off, this CAN be used simply as a portable amp, exactly as the "Dean Stack in the Box". I know I'm not reviewing that item, but I would like to give some information about it. The Dean stack in the box is a great portable headphone amp. It has great volume, great distortion, and most of all (in which no one else covers) it carries through great pinch harmonics great. Unlike the portable pignose amp, where it does not carry through pinch harmonics one bit. The Dean in a box though can be a pain changing the 9v battery, which can lead to the wires breaking, wich is what happened to me. It was still an amazing product though, with amazing sound, and amazing pinch harmonic carry through.

Now, with that said, it leads me to this. THIS guitar trainer, has GREAT sustain also, and carrys through pinch harmonics just like a normal amp, and jsut like dean in the box. They will not die out like the pignose amp. Also, it has a rechargeable battery in it, so there are no wires to rip off, like dean in the box while changing a battery. This is also built like a tank. Super tough and durable. Makes you want to take good care of it right away. The rechargable battery on it also lasts a long time. I would say well over many many hours.

I want to clarify what exactly the guitar cancelling feature does. It does not cancel the guitar out, so you can substitute your own. It instead pushes all other sound (vocals, drums, etc) into the background (which is dim but still heard) while the guitar in the track shines through so you can hear it clearly and study it more, note for note. Let me tell you, it works very very well. Like one reviewer said, you do hear wayyy more than you have heard before. And this is coming from me, a guitarist of many years, whom has an ear for music, and picks up on every single note and plays by ear. I was even very amazed.

I will now do the best I can to break everything down into all the positive parts of owning this trainer, as there are no disadvantages that I have found:

* This trainer CAN be used as a portable headphone amp, without any song playing in the background, and it does have many amp effects, from clean, to overdrive and distortion for metal (which I play). It has great affects like reverb, chorus, flanger, overdrive, etc.

* Is not cheap, like other portable devices, so no wires will break off changing batteries, since you simply dont have any batteries to change.

* Built very strong and durable.

* It DOES let you create sub-folders, so you can put entire folders into it and sort by artist or albums, instead of having one long list ot a thousand tracks.

* Guitar cancelling feature (as described above) works fantastic.

* While playing a track, you can adjust the volume of the track playback, and your guitar volume, so if the track volume, or guitar volume is higher than the other, you can equalize them at the same volume, or make your guitar volume louder, or the track volume louder.

* You can slow the track speed down 50%, which is amazing. You can also keep the pitch the same, so whether you speed the track up or slow it down, it wont sound like a chipmunk, or someone from a horror movie. It keeps the original tone. You can, however, turn this function off.

* You can turn the pitch up or down, so if it is in standard e tuning, you can chance the tuning of the song. Although it WILL NOT drop all the way down to drop d tuning or anything like that, it still works great.

* You can quickly pick a start and stop point for it to start looping, so if there is a solo, or any part like that, that you want to keep going over and over until you learn it, you can loop it.

* You can create a playlist, just like on an mp3 player.

* This can be used as an mp3 player (although I never would, since it's expensive, and I never want to break it.

* Has a ton of storage. About 900 MB worth (actually a hair more.

So all in all, this trainer is simply amazing! It does exactly what it says it does, and a whole lot more. Even if I didn't need it for a trainer, but was simply looking for a portable headphone amp for travelling, I would easily choose this over dean stack in the box or anything else. I was not disappointed one single bit. I love this thing.

Hope this helps! Enjoy!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rosetta Stone, January 8, 2009

By 

Kavity Killer (denver, colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tascam MPGT1 Portable MP3 Guitar Trainer (Electronics)

I'm completely rewriting my review on the MPGT1. I've had it for six months, and use it daily. I've progressed more in the last six months than in 20+ years of playing...why? Because guitar, especially blues guitar, is all about phrasing. In order to really learn phrasing you need to first, slow it down to the point where you can understand exactly which notes are being played. Secondly, you need to get not just the notes, but the timing, volume etc. down cold. Third, you need to repeat the phrase for muscle memory, without- and this is key- without a mistake- over and over again. Finally, increase tempo gradually until you can play it at speed.

This unit does all of these things beautifully. Functions exactly as it should. Has a metronome, tuner, some nice effects- all the standards- and is built like an airliner black box. In other words rugged. I've probably achieved in six months what would take two to three years of weekly lessons. Ya, its that good.

A few minor gripes just so you know I'm balanced. I've had a little confusion trying to create different song folders on the unit. Sometimes the name of the song doesn't show up on the unit (rarely). And with really epic songs- like over 15 minutes- you may need to edit the song into smaller chunks before putting it on the unit (it acted weird a few times with really long songs).

Forget about books, videos, lessons etc. Well, maybe don't forget about them completely- can still be helpful- BUT this thing is THE way to learn. Imagine having BB King, or Dimebag Darrel, or whoever you're into in your living room, repeating phrases over and over, at whatever speed you want, AT WILL. How much would you pay to be able to do this?

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Guitar Trainer MP-GT1, January 13, 2008

By 

Maury Morrison "Texan4UT" (Round Rock, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tascam MPGT1 Portable MP3 Guitar Trainer (Electronics)

The item was well packaged. It was easy to use from the start, although the instructions were somewhat vague when it came to loading and playing songs. So far the unit has worked well. It does what it says, however I have not tried all of the features. I did try the guitar cancel feature and found it to be so so. Being able to slow down songs so you can learn to play them at a slower speed is a great feature and it works well. I have slowed songs to -32% and -50% which is the maximum and the song still played clear. I like the loop feature that allows me to play a portion of a song over and over so I can practice that part, then move on to the next part. The LCD is clear and easy to read, and the controls are easy to navigate. Overall I am pleased and I think it is a great tool to use in learning the guitar.