Re: TC Electronics G Major / 2
Figured I would update this thread for those that care:
The Gmajor2 is very good, I won't say excellent, but it is very good. Here is my experience with it over the course of the past 3 months:
LIKES:
All in one effect box... I use a racksetup anyway, so it doesn't bother me much to carry it around. Many of the sounds are DEAD ON (vintage phaser = phase 90, univibe), and many of the original features are AWESOME (trichorus so lush, delays with 2 different repeat times, reverse delays). LOTS of componding of effects to create really spacial, trippy, incubus-esque guitar tones. AND it controls my preamp, depending on the switching algorithm used in your amp/preamp, it can switch up to 4 channels. My demeter only has 3 channels and it switches them like most 3 channel amps pre-2005 that I've seen (clean/dirty, dirty1/dirty2 off of two switches). The reverbs on it are fine for my ears, and really add some of that missing dimension I didnt have with my current setup (Demeter TGP-3 / VHT 2/50/2). Awesome features like variable hi-cut and low-cut on modulation and delay effects allow you to psuedo-analog your sound. I've side-by-sided my EP-3 Echoplex and the Gmaj2 patch I created by running the EP-3 in a true bypass loop and comparing the sound to the Gmaj 2 patch I created. I think TC did a fine job in adding these very small features... not sure if those are "standard" on all rack processors, but I'm glad they are there.
DISLIKES:
- First of all, the whammy effect drives me a little nuts, because I've owned XP-100, Reissue, and original whammys. Maybe its my controller, or maybe its the algorithm, but doing a slow whammy sweep, halfway down the footpedal there's a drop in signal while the pitch is in mid-change. I hear this even when I'm whammying hard and fast. I'm GLAD the whammy effect is in there, and even digitech will never be able to make it true to the originals, but the sweep is off and bugs me.
- 2 Flanger modes (Advanced and classic) and 1 hour of tweaking and I couldn't get the basic "killing in the name of" sound out of it. Maybe I'm an r-tard, but I cant get a uniform flanger sound out of it, it all sounds asymmetrical or what have you. You'd have to hear it to know what I'm talking about. And I couldn't get that "throat-y" sound either. I'll have to look through the factory presets to see if I can find a model flanger that sounds close and go from there.
- harmonies: they're there. Better than the whammy harmonies, but no eventide of course. Haven't messed with 'em much, probably should get on that. The little time I did spend, I remember being frustrated.
- There was supposed to be a PC editor shipped with the Gmaj2. Its june and I havent heard crapshaith about that other than people complaining on the tc boards "whens it coming out?" That would come in handy because using that one scroll/click wheel to cycle through a 75+ character alpha-numeric display to type in patch names is tedious. Not to mention, I'd be able to find other users who took the time to program their settings in.
Overall, the likes definitely outweight the dislikes and I'm a very happy customer. I'm just hoping they will someday do a firmware upgrade and upgrade the whammy patch, as well as release that pc/mac editor soon so I can find some really awesome patches. I'd rate it an 8.9 out of 10, and if you already use a rack setup, but also value simplicity, here's a 1space unit that'll handle your amp channel switching as well as turn on/off 6 blocks of FX plus noise gate simultaneously. Switchign time doesnt lagg too much like on others either. Its very quick.
And a note on the controller.
www.liquid-foot.com just released the Junior, which is exactly what I was looking for. Check it out if you're looking for a very compact controller with the functions of a larger one, just with less realestate for less tap dancing.
