Behind the Scenes: Why We Went Wireless

July 19, 2021

Going wireless with the Jamstack 2 guitar amp was a difficult decision. Not because we weren’t convinced of the amazing potential it would bring to the product. The decision was difficult because we had already jammed so much technology into the design that even one more addition was incredibly ambitious - even for us.

While we were considering this momentous leap, here are some notes that landed in our “pros” column:

One of our most important goals with the Jamstack 2 was to facilitate quick and easy Jamming. The wireless technology enabled us to add a second input for another musician, which made hassle free jam sessions a reality.

Musicians were asking about plugging in so many different instruments: electric violins, acoustic guitars, etc. A wireless connection eliminated the need for a traditional long patch cable, and really maximized the hyper portability of the Jamstack, opening the door for any instrument to connect and play!

Every now and then it’s good to get away...from your amp! It makes a big difference to have your guitar amp pointing right at your head, and without the patch cable, you can roam freely, enjoying the unique sound of the room you’re in.

All of this and more made us incredibly dedicated to making the Jamstack 2 a wireless amplifier, but we knew it was a tall order. Wireless technology is a very tricky business, and there are a number of things to consider:

Stability
Latency
Noise
Interference
Among others!

We knew that if we were going to pull it off, we had to knock it out of the park. Once we (finally) found our wireless technology partner, our confidence in this process truly started to blossom. We were connected to our fellow Canadian engineering firm Eleven Engineering, based out of Vancouver. They had been developing hi-fidelity wireless technology, with extremely low latency, specifically for musicians, and were looking for projects just like ours!

It was a match made in heaven.

Their tech was small, power efficient, and offered some innovative features never before built into an electric guitar amp. After testing out their equipment with our prototypes, we knew we couldn't walk away from this opportunity: it was just too fun, and it worked too well.

As we tested out the core use cases, it became apparent that our vision for a portable audio companion for instruments, a home theatre system, karaoke, Bluetooth music streaming, and more, was evolving quickly. In a world full of WIFI and Bluetooth (neither of which are perfect), there was a clear need for low level, hi-fidelity wireless speakers that were also battery powered and mountable.

WIFI and Bluetooth both struggle with latency and sound quality. These technologies have fundamental issues that prevent them from achieving what direct radio communication is capable of doing. Today, with Eleven Engineering’s technology fully implemented into the Jamstack 2, we couldn’t be happier with our decision.

Fun fact: the grill itself is part of the antenna!

Now Jamstack 2 owners can watch their favorite movies with truly wireless audio (meaning no signal wires and no power wires), and enviable sound quality! Without even the push of a button, they can turn off their TV, and start playing their guitar through one (or more!) of their Jamstack 2 amps. That’s the dream!

*To do this you will need the Wireless TV Transmitter and the Guitar Transmitter*

If all of the functionality already discussed wasn’t enough, the Jamstack 2 is also the first guitar amp to have a built in low latency transmitter. What does this mean? Well, you can boot up your home theatre system and immediately start mirroring the incredible guitar effects of your Jamstack 2 on your home system! And all you’ll need is our receiver to plug into your setup.

The guitar transmitter itself is much smaller than anything else on the market, and significantly more stable than anything in its class. You’ll get an excellent signal to noise ratio, you can travel up to 150 feet away from your speaker, and you can pair to two speakers at the same time (or one Jamstack 2 and one SKAA enabled subwoofer or general purpose receiver).

Jamstack 2 users will likely continue to discover all of the possibilities we’ve added over the first few months of owning this portable guitar amp. Here’s hoping this article gets you started on what should be an exciting journey.

Enjoy!

Chris

Want to level-up your playing? Pre-order the Jamstack 2 amp today!

Fantastic

Super solid. Beautiful packaging and design. It's like sonos for musicians.

Worth the wait!!!

I ordered mine during the pandemic on indiegogo.com and honestly I’d forgotten about it until I got several notices of shipping confirmation needed from JamStack!

As a guitar teacher of over 25 years, it has made teaching and going between acoustic and electric guitars way way easier. I travel to my students. So lugging an amp to a lesson was hard work. Now with this awesome amp, and it really is a freakishly good amp in its own right, the entire game has changed. It’s exciting. Thanks for bringing this brilliant product to the market! You’ve really provided us with an awesome tool for making and teaching music! The tone on this amp is outstanding and it defies logic how good and how loud it sounds. Bravo to your whole team!!!

Everything about this package from the awesome amp itself, which sounds amazing (I hope this doesn’t come off as snobbish, but I’m a 45 year player and Berklee College of Music grad, I feel like my standards for assessing music gear is better than average, for perspective) to the cool carrying case, to the perfect length cable that goes from your guitar to the device, to the intuitive app that comes free from you guys, to the super easy to follow instructions, to the very stylish(with an almost art deco vibe) amp to guitar mount, you guys thought of everything. You guys have really knocked this ball clean out of the ballpark.

In fact, it’s so good that I was inspired to write a review, which I NEVER do. If you’ve made it this far in my review, then you’re trying to figure out whether the JamStack 2 is right for you, I respect the effort. There are so many blah products for guitar out there, and you have to do your due diligence in researching the product’s pros and cons as they pertain to your specific situation, otherwise you’ll have wasted your money. Or you’ll have a product you just don’t need. I can honestly tell you that this amp has no ‘cons’, it’s exactly as advertised. And it sounds way better than you can imagine. The video clips are great and all, but they don’t do justice to how great this thing feels to play and how great it sounds.

As a guy who plays for a living, I really believe that anything that inspires me is worth whatever it costs (as long as I can afford it). Maybe that’s true for everything, but for me, I know it’s definitely 100% true for music gear in my experience.

A couple things:

One idea i had for a product accessory for the JamStack 2 is a gigbag that fits most electrics and where you could leave the amp attached in the gigbag itself. Like maybe it could have more support around the base of the guitar where the amp attaches. I don’t know, but if you make that case and it’s up to the standards of excellence of your JamStack, I’ll be first in line to throw my money at y’all! Actually, maybe if I’m the first one to bring up this product idea, and you end up making it, I should definitely get a free one! Lol!!!

And the only thing that I’d wish for would be a way to rid the noise gate from every patch on the app. I totally get why you have them on the patches, I just hate noise gates.

Also, I’d like the app to show only the effects that are currently being used on that patch and if you wanted to add an effect, you could go to a different, nearby place to get that pedal and once you add a pedal it will show up in the patch.

I’m getting used to y’all’s workflow, but I’m still getting a little confused seeing all those effects and available (currently unused) effects basically in the same place. So it’s sometimes hard to tell which ones are on and which aren’t. I hope that makes sense.

My overall opinion of the JamStack 2 is that I don’t think I could be any happier with it. I’m an everyday user these days and your company has gained a fan for life!

Eric W

My son is obsessed

We just got an early unit and gave it to my son ahead of the holidays. He was THRILLED. He's been recording into his phone and making all kinds of new music. Super happy with my purchase.

Really impressed

I was worried at first because the claims on this thing were pretty intense but decided to take the chance and really glad I did. Everything from the box it came in, to the hard case, and all the included accessories was super premium. I haven't attached it to my guitar yet but I have really been enjoying playing guitar with the wireless transmitter.

Breaks the lawys of phsyics

I don't understand how they get this much sound out of a box this size. I guess speaker technology is getting better but wow. It's bass is good but what I really appreciate is the clarity of both my guitar effects (Mexican Strat) and also my music.

Behind the Scenes: Why We Went Wireless

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