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When I was first exposed to T.C. Electronics's G System
through ads and some of the shows, I
reacted the way many guitarists
would: “Great. All we need is another
multi-effect stompbox-type unit.” But I
must say I was totally wrong. We all
know that T.C. is responsible for some
of the best chorusing in the world, and
of course the famous 2290 delay unit,
which is found in practically all of the
world’s best studios. Still, what did
they know about distortion and guitar
players? I envisioned some technician
in a lab coat gazing at scopes, waveforms
and specs, and trying to get better
numbers than anyone else had.
Again I was wrong. Whoever designed
this unit was familiar with every detail
a guitarist could ever need. First of all,
they got around the issue of distortion
versus overdrive with one very smart
move: They didn’t include it in the unit.
This allows the player to use any pedaltype
distortion in his or her arsenal and
get the desired type of distortion.
Now, suppose you don’t want to use
pedals because you love that amp distortion?
It’s no problem, since there’s a
special insert loop that can be used to
either insert your favorite preamp or
use it in the loop of your amp to capture
the distortion from your amp.
(However, there are other ways of
doing that, such as load boxes and
your favorite Marshall cranked, thus
making it the world’s best--and most
expensive--distortion device. After the
distortion or clean sounds are produced,
they’re sent through any of an
incredible series of effects: chorus,
delay, reverb, phaser, flanger, pitch
shifter, octaver, compressor, auto wah
and more. The list is seemingly endless.
There are a good many variations
of each of these effects, and they’re all
extremely adjustable. Ah, but you say,
“I use that Tube Screamer or
Rangemaster or booster box before
my amp.” No problem there, either.
There are four loops that let you insert
up to four of your favorite pedals in the
unit before the preamp or distortions.
You can turn them on and off on the fly
via the buttons on the footswitch, just
as if you had them sitting there on the
floor. There’s no need to channelswitch
your amp or preamp, since the T.C. unit can do that for you too. Up to
four footswitches. If you need to turn
it up for solos, a programmable boost
button makes it easy. There’s also an
elaborate tap tempo, which has every
tempo offset you can imagine, and
each thing can be programmed to perform
any function in any of the presets.
For example, you could be on
preset 1 and have your distortion go on
with a bit of reverb and still have the
compressor, delay, pitch, tremolo, etc.,
waiting to be turned on and off by the
corresponding footswitches. Move to
preset 2 and you have, say, a clean
channel with an entirely different array
of effects available to turn on and off in
real time using the footswitches. The
unit can be used totally on the fly if you
decide you want a phaser or delay or
other effect. It’s right there waiting for
you, and you won’t need to change
patches or go up and down on a MIDI
pedal. The unit does have MIDI capabilities,
however, and even a USB port
and digital out. Two expression pedals
can be used to control just about any
function: volume, wah, whammy and
more. Of course, there’s also a very
easy-to-read tuner. What’s more, a display
indicates the names you’ve created for your presets, as well as the info
used while programming sounds.
The unit can be configured for mono,
stereo, and even three-way (one dry,
two wet) applications. As if that
weren’t enough, the unit actually splits
into two sections. A foot controller and
a 19” rack section are interconnected
by a CAT 5 cord
(in an XLR housing),
so the rack
unit can be placed
in a rack by the
amp heads, preamps
and other
favorite pedals to
minimize cable
lengths. T.C. was
even thoughtful
enough to put four threaded screw
holes on the bottom for mounting the
pedal unit to a pedalboard.
The way I see it, this unit completely
eliminates the need for expensive pedalboard
building, as well as rack-system
building (unfortunately, since I do
that). I’ve taken this unit to gigs and
into the studio, always with astounding
results. There is a bit of a learning
curve, but it’s nothing that can’t be
handled by anyone who’s experienced
with this type of product. All in all, I
have to say the G System is an exceptional
value and an amazing unit. My
rating is The Golden “M”
www.tcelectronic.com
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