TC Electronic G-System

[B2D]

Hey peoples. I stumbled upon the TC Electronic G-System the other day while browsing gear review on Guitar Player's website. Here's the website for it: http://www.tcelectronic.com/G-System

This thing looks like exactly what I've been needing and wishing existed for some time now. :laugh2: I remember these coming out not too long ago but never looked into them for some reason because I assumed this was an ordinary pedalboard, which upon further examination it is clearly not.

The thing that really sealed the deal was being able to separate the brains of the unit and rackmount them while keeping the footcontroller on the board (connected to the brain w/ a CAT 5 cable) and being able to still use some other pedals in loops.

This thing is pretty friggen expensive. I'd have to sell a few major peices of gear and one of my guns to afford it, but the more I look at this thing the more it seems like the peice I've been really wishing i had. If I had this instead of my current rig I could sell 4 pedals out of my current 6 and reduce my cable length uses by 30 feet, and gain 25 more effects in the process.

Anyone use one/tried one? There's a few dealers in LA that might have one to try out, though TC's website is real informative with a demo video and if i find a good deal on one on eBay I might just snatch it up right then and not eat for the next month or so. :laugh2:

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

I've tried one out controlling a Road King - easily the most versatile rig I've ever played on.

The verb/chorus/general 'wet' effects are standard TC Electronic - lush as all hell! I personally thought some of the effects sounded better than the G-Force, but they're all at least on par with it.

Ronny North used one to control his Laney head, and it was awesome to watch how easy he had it. He rolled out a big rack that housed his head and effects, two 4x12's, took the controller for the G-System out of a rack drawer (cable already attached), stuck it up near the front of the stage, flipped his amp off standby, and was able to switch from this beautiful, chimey, acoustic-like clean tone, wet with chorus and verb, right into a soaring high gain tone, with a different verb and a bit of delay, all with perfect spillover.

 

[B2D]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

That sounds exactly like what I'm looking for... sweet. Anyone else?

 

[Red_Label]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

I remember when they first came out a few years ago I was drooling all over it, at least from what I'd seen in the adds. Then I did some research and found-out they'd had glitches with them. But I'd imagine they have those all worked-out by this point. TC Electronics it always good stuff for sure.

I was in Barnes and Noble looking through a guitar mag yesterday and saw a new Carl Martin pedal that has me very interested. It's called the Quatro and my just be the multieffects ticket that I've been looking for. No idea how much it costs at this point though.

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

I imagine it would be killer, I am using the G-Major and an Amp Gizmo with my Road Kind and can't be happier with the switching - seamless, noiseless, and instantaneous. The effects are great, I only notice that you can hear just a taste of "digital" on really extreme "Modern" settings while using bright bridge pups (I don't notice it much on neck pups) - otherwise the TC is very colorless.

 

[B2D]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

It got a great review in Guitar Player magazine - Matt Blackett wrote the review, as a matter of fact.

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

B, going off topic here, but did you get a new amp yet, or are you still playing the legacy?

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

Very cool toy. If I had a tube amp with an effects loop, I'd be all over one of these.

 

[B2D]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

B, going off topic here, but did you get a new amp yet, or are you still playing the legacy?

I've still got the Legacy. I know the amp's got a band-aid on it from that problem I had a while back, and the way Carvin handled the repair wasn't very diplomatic, but the facts are that a) With other expenses coming up, I can't afford a new amp right now and this one will work as long as I don't let the tubes blow up again b) I like the tone and it's really grown on me.

If/when I get that much money, I'm probably going to upgrade to a CAA/Suhr OD-50, or something in the Bogner catalog. That seems to be what fits my tastes best.

 

[JahRock]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

I was looking at getting a G-System a few months back. I had never tried one out, (couldn't find anyone around here that had any in stock) but I ended up deciding that it was overkill for me, and I don't use effects enough to put $1500 towards a multi-effects board. Instead I got a few pedals that I get a lot of use out of, for about half the price, and I put the rest toward a Bogner that I'm picking up soon. I don't know how much use you would actually get out of G-System, if you'd make good use of it then I'd say get it, but if not, save your money, get a few pedals that you know you'll actually use, and look into a new amp, as it seems you're already doing.

 

[B2D]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

I was looking at getting a G-System a few months back. I had never tried one out, (couldn't find anyone around here that had any in stock) but I ended up deciding that it was overkill for me, and I don't use effects enough to put $1500 towards a multi-effects board. Instead I got a few pedals that I get a lot of use out of, for about half the price, and I put the rest toward a Bogner that I'm picking up soon. I don't know how much use you would actually get out of G-System, if you'd make good use of it then I'd say get it, but if not, save your money, get a few pedals that you know you'll actually use, and look into a new amp, as it seems you're already doing.

Well here's why i want one...

This currently my signal path:

- 15ft planet waves cable
- BOSS TU-2
- Crybaby 535Q wah
- Fulltone OCD
- 15ft cable to amp input
*carvin legacy preamp*
- 15ft cable out of effects send
- Marshall Regenerator
- Bos DD20 gigadelay
- 15ft cable to amp effect return
*carvin legacy power amp*
- speaker cab

My problem is basically needing effects in the loop and having to run a lot of cable to be able to have that at my feet. Plus those pedals need power and patch cables as well. Means more potential for connection problems and the long cable lengths mean signal degradation

With the G-system I can ditch everything except the wah and the OCD (actually the TC has Wah in it but you need an extra expression pedal and I like the 535 better) and get all my effects in a rackmount package and control it remotely without MIDI. I can eliminate 30 feet of cable and the pedal connections too, as all I need are small patch cables to connect the TC to the amp. I can rackmount the OCD and set it to be in the TC's serial loops for when i need it, plus I can set it to change the amp's channels when I change presets. So all I'd need on the floor after programming would be the crybaby and the G-systems floorboard. Plus I gain a bunch of cool effects in the process.

More goodies, less cable hassles, basically. I use effects a lot, but not a lot of 'em at the same time. Maybe 3 at the most in one song. But my effects settings and combinations vary a lot so this would really help keep things more organized.

 

[tone4days]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

hey b

looked into a pedal snake yet? .. i know they are temporarily offline, but their gear has a good reputation and seems to be a lot of what you are after ...

might simplify your cabling substantially ...

good luck
t4d

 

[B2D]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

hey b

looked into a pedal snake yet? .. i know they are temporarily offline, but their gear has a good reputation and seems to be a lot of what you are after ...

might simplify your cabling substantially ...

good luck
t4d

Pedal snakes are cool, but it wouldn't fundamentally change anything about how my signal path runs, which is that I'm trying to change. I have all those cables running back and forth between the amp bundled up in zip ties, so all I have to do when i take out the pedalboard is plug it into the correct spots on the amp... just like a pedal snake.

 

[SOLO GUITAR STEWIE]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

I say go for it brenno, the video presentation is awesome, I recently tried the g-major and loved it and supposedly the G-system is better, and hey if the G-system made its way into vai's rig, its good enough for me. (although it will be a year or two before I can buy any new guitar stuff, except for pups, cables, strings ...the little stuff)

Chris

 

[ksmith63]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

that G-system looks crazy. eventually i'll have to get one but the carl martin pedal is also looking really good.

 

[rainsong86]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

make sure you buy your G System from a place with a good return policy (like guitar center).. talk them down on the price also.. and don't scoff at them when they offer the expensive-as-hell extended warranty.. because this thing WILL BREAK DOWN ON YOU.. I've never had issues with reliability before I bought one of those G System things.. and I used to hate it when customers would disparage a great product just because they got the bad apple.. but I looked at a lot of reviews and saw that the majority of people had to return (or were stuck with a huge paper weight) their G Systems due to bugs or total breakdowns

basically I bought the G System as an upgrade to my Boss GT-8.. the G System is the "4 cable method"s best friend.. in this method the pre-amp of the head is actually used as a loop in the effects unit so that you can put it before/after whichever effects you choose.. this is really the only way to go compared to the alternatives... a lot of effects (like wah) don't sound good in the effects loop of an amp and other effects like delay (time-based effects) only sound good in the effects loop.. well the G System has a loop especially buffered for pre-amps as well as the other 3 (or 4?) loops for your fav pedals (or other pre-amps if you wanna get complex).. I don't know about the relay switching though.. it doesn't really have 4 separate relays.. it has 2 stereo TRS jacks which can function as 4 relays with Y cables and CERTAIN switching systems.. I was told not to use this setup to switch my roadster since Y cables share a ground.. I'd do some research on your amp's switching network if you're trying to switch between more than 2 channels (which makes the 2 relay jacks really pointless because you only need 1 relay to switch between 2 channels in the first place)

before my G System died the effects did sound very lush and beautiful.. and TC Electronics is making constant updates to this unit (which I believe they released prematurely).. so when you buy one make sure they're not giving YOU the one that's been sitting in the back for 2 years.. get the newest one.. and do the online firmware updates BEFORE the store's return policy expires because that can be a crucial/scary moment for the unit

right now I'm playing with my tried and true (but lower quality) Boss GT-8 until TC Electronic gets their s**t in line

 

[B2D]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

I've read reviews online here and there and there seems to be a real polarity in the reviews of the sound quality... some love it, some preferred the effects pedals they were trying to replace. One reviewer did say that when used the insert loop to get his preamp into the sound processing of the G-System, the sound wasn't very good. However, he said when he used the thing solely in the effects loop it sounded great.

As far the software reliability/electronic issues, most of the bad reviews I read were on software version 1.2, and according to the website they're on 2.0 now. Even still, the reviews on reliability are polarized as well... very good or very bad.

There's a few of them in stock at the Guitar Center in Hollywood. Hopefully they'll give me a test drive on the thing with my Legacy head through a good cab so I can see for myself what the deal is. I used to work AT GC so I know how things work there, so hell yeah I'm gonna talk them down. I could actually have my local El Toro store transfer one from Hollywood into the E Toro location so I wouldn't have to drive as far, too.

Looks like the proof will be in the pudding I guess.

To tell you the truth I did used to have a G-Major and a Behringer MIDI footcontroller and while the G-Major sounded great, I could NOT for the life of me get it to play ncie with the Behringer. The Behringer had a very poorly translated manual and I couldn't figure out how to work the thing. The proprietary G-Minor footswitch was a joke, too so that option was out.

Looks like I'll just need to take it for a ride and test drive it before I make a decision.

 

[34029324079]

Re: TC Electronic G-System

looks kewel in theory. ur right - spending over a $1000 for a shiny piece of metal is a bit daunting. For me I wouldnt do it cause of the stigma of the rack-tone loosing gizmo thingy that classic rockers frown on. but then again I listen to classic rock and play desert rock / sabbath so go figure.

here is one of the cheapo solutions again - it switches the 2 channels on your amp while simultaneously switching pedal loops with one press of the button:

http://www.axetopia.com/news/06_08/Gizmo_Looper.html

its mindblowing ifyou ask me -I for one am not a pedal dancer. Whatever you do , good luck!