TC Electronic users ?

[Nagash]

Well, I'm very interested by some TC Electronic gear. I've been to my two guitar shops, and :

The first one tells me they are awesome effects, can't go wrong, worth their price, cleverly done, etc.

The second one tells me they need to be repaired all the time, that they swallow so much sound that you need a hell of a power amp to get your volume back.

So I wanted to ask long-time TC users how they feel about their gear. What I'd be looking into would be some G-System/Force/Major, and maybe an extra Nova Delay pedal.


Thanks for any feedback.

 

[crguti]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

I use the G-major 2. It's a great piece of equipment, reliable and sounds good. No tone sucking AFAIK. Guitar purist and bedroom wankers can tell you the oposite.

 

[Nagash]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

How long have you been (ab?)using it ?

 

[CTN]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

My TC Electronic Nova Repeater sounds great, no problems with volume or tone sucking.

Can't really comment about reliability cuz I only got mine a few weeks ago.

I paid $175 Canadian for mine, and it's totally worth the money. the sounds are rich, detailed, and absolutely divine sounding. the features are really well thought out, and executed perfectly. Lots of usability, and tweaking opportunities galore.

Add to that, the fantastic reputation that TC has...I really dunno what the guy from Guitar shop #2 was talking about.

 

[Nagash]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

Funny thing is this : Guitar shop guy #1 has 30 years of experience in the job, knows a lot, talks a lot, but needs to sell a lot because he's broke like nobody else on this planet. Guitar shop guy #2 has been there for 5 years now, has extremely biased opinions on everything, and NEVER agrees with me on ANYTHING

That's why I'm asking the forum guys !

 

[CTN]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

sounds like #2 guy is just talking out of his ass.

if I were you, I'd go try some TC stuff out and decide for yourself.

 

[Nagash]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

Thing is, this stuff is hard to find around here. But I definitely want a TC multi-effects, I lean towards the G-System cause it's all on the floor, no rack.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

I have a G Major and I like the versatility. It is fast, does the job well and has a lot of cool effects. But I hate it in the loop. It somehow "changes" my blanc tone in a way that disturbs me. I have to dial out some of those frequencies with the EQ. It also has problems with 7 and 8 string guitars, especially the tuner.
The delay is not sweet, the chorus is great, the pitch shifter is as weak as Eventide or Digitech. (only EHX get this right IMHO)
Cool reverbs. Nice adjustable. And I love the relay function.

All in all, it is worth the money. It does what it should. The signal can be better, but for that price, it is impossible.
If you don't need too many effects, I suggest you checking single or dual pedals and combine the. Of course, it's not like having 200 presets and a midi board to switch with one click every setting, but the tone shines more IMHO.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

I've had a TC Nova System and currently have the TC G-System and TC Poly Tune. Love 'em all!

I think that for multi-FX you simply CANNOT do better than TC stuff. And even for some of their individual pedals, it'd be hard to do better.

But they're not perfect. You have to tweak them to get them the way you want them in the loop. But that's normal of most multi-FX. Got to set the levels correctly to avoid noise, distortion, etc.

I got a TC bumper sticker than came in my Poly Tune box that I'm thinking of putting on one of my vehicles. We don't normally do bumper stickers, but I'd be proud to fly the TC name on my rig.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

the pitch shifter is as weak as Eventide or Digitech. (only EHX get this right IMHO)

Eventide pitch-shifting is "weak"?

As far as I know they are pretty much the industry gold standard.

The intelligent pitch shifting, whammy FX, etc on my Nova System and G-System have been top notch stuff. Very quality. All of the other pitch shifters that I've ever owned always sounded cheesy.

 

[ken361]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

+1 for the Nova system

 

[Nagash]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

Thanks guys.

I want a multi-effects because I dont want to have 60 pedals and the whole backyard full of guitar cables ^^. I have the effects that I use all the time, but I want to have "all" of them so I can fumble around... Like recording one riff and play it in a loop, and then use effects to see how it sounds better.

What I need for my usual lead sound is DELAY, delay is so important to me that I'll probably get an extra pedal anyway. But for the whole rest, I want a reliable FX unit with at least "good" effects. No über-awesomeness needed.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

Eventide pitch-shifting is "weak"?

As far as I know they are pretty much the industry gold standard.

The intelligent pitch shifting, whammy FX, etc on my Nova System and G-System have been top notch stuff. Very quality. All of the other pitch shifters that I've ever owned always sounded cheesy.

you can check youtube for H.O.G /eventide comparisons. I had a whammy myself, and that unit had tracking problems too. Eventide's Eclipse and pedals can't reach EHX in pitch shifting/tracking speed and precision.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

Thanks guys.

I want a multi-effects because I dont want to have 60 pedals and the whole backyard full of guitar cables ^^. I have the effects that I use all the time, but I want to have "all" of them so I can fumble around... Like recording one riff and play it in a loop, and then use effects to see how it sounds better.

What I need for my usual lead sound is DELAY, delay is so important to me that I'll probably get an extra pedal anyway. But for the whole rest, I want a reliable FX unit with at least "good" effects. No über-awesomeness needed.

You go get a G Major II and be done with it. It does everything well, it is reliable, tweakable. MIDI and Relays give you a lot of flexibility.

 

[Warheart]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

Personally, I was thinking about the G-major system. The G-major I, not the II, but I read so many reviews on harmony central talking about how one of the knobs would crap out and have to be repaired to often.

I opted for the GSP1101, although I would say that The G-Major II is definitely a stiff competitor, they seem to have gotten rid of the reliability issue.

 

[pzaxtl]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

I have the Nova Delay and the Nova Reverb. Love them both! Sound great and definitely durable. I've had both for 2 years without a glitch, and I bought them used.

 

[Realmrocks]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

I have the G System and love all the routing possibilities along with excellent sounds. As one said, you have to be patient to dial in sounds. How much wet vs. dry, EQ, etc..to maintain tonal integrity of amp.

I use an ENGL Sovereign 120 combo so I want that beast to come through with just a taste of effects. That's fine line for everyone but bottom line, very happy with G Sytem-had over 2 years no problems. Support is very good as I had many questions on set-up.

My 2 cents...

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

I have owned a Nova Delay pedal for a couple of years. I sold my Roland Space Echo and was looking for something that could do a good tape simulation. It does that well, along with every other type of delay sound. The quality is impressive. I don't think it would be possible to find anything of better quality.

I have some suspicions that even in bypassed mode, the user is hearing a sampled version of their sound, but i can't confirm that. However, the Nova sounds great at home under critical listening conditions and out and about in rehearsal/gig conditions. I was drawn to the TC brand because they made some fantastic pedals in the 80's that are still going strong today and their owners won't part with them. Back then they seemed to have nailed both quality and reliability, and so far i'd have to say that nothing has changed with their current products.

 

[Richard]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

I also use the gsys. And I love it. I plug my 4 favorite dirt pedals in the loops and I have everything I need. All the fx I like to use sound great. Delay, reverb, compression and phaser. I'm sure the rest sound good. I just don't use them. I love the fact that I can go from my metal pedal dry to clean with delay and reverb with just one button. No cheesy on-board digital distortions. It also controls my heads channel and reverb via trs-trs cable.

Now for the cons... There is a nasty delay when switching from loops to loops or channels on amp. For instance, if I switch from my metal pedal loop to my overdrive loop. For about a half a second I can hear both pedals on. This is not so bad live but makes recording hard. There is also a weird eq thing going on if you use the patch eq. For instance, if I have my mids scooped on one patch for rhythm but want more mids to solo. When I go from one patch to the other you can here the eq changing slowly. Sounds like a filter effect. Also it's not plug and play friendly. Takes time to learn how to properly set it up and get to sound ok. You have to set it up for fx loop or not. You have to tell it if you have a series or parallel fx loop. Input levels, output levels, head room levels,,, loop levels!!!! Ground loop issues!!! It gets mind boggling sometimes. But when you get it right, it's right and you can leave it alone. My amp sounds the same now with my whole system pluged in or just guitar to amp. It was worth it. If you do decide on the gsys, I would highly recommend Larids white paper. You can download it free. There is a link on the tc forums. Read it and it will teach you loads and save you a lot of headache.

 

[Nagash]

Re: TC Electronic users ?

Thanks Richard ! I'll keep that in mind