TC Electronic G-Force

I had it for 11 years now. I first reviewed it in 2001 so consider this an updated review. I have forgotten how to use a lot of things since then. Things I rarely use but wanted to learn when I first got it. But what I do use it doesn't seem that hard to manage. For me ease of use is a 10. Effects are simple to setup in the order you want. It's easy to adjust values. You can think of the effects as individual 'stomp boxes' and can put them in any order you want or series/parallel. You can put all of the effects in parallel with each other if you wish. It does so much that I'm still learning new things after having it for 11 years.

Carvin Bolt, MM Axis, and Ibanez RG 770 into a Carvin Legacy combo amp with the G-force in the effects loop, controlling the amp and G-force with a Behringer FCB 1010.
As far as effects processors go this is excellent. I've heard other effects processors and the more I hear others the more I'm impressed with the G-force. Modulated delays sound awesome and are easy to setup thanks to it's flexible effects routing. Anoterh trick I learned was to put the delay in parallel with the reverb. It makes the delay much clearer. The wah using the G-force's overdrive is excellent sounding. Quite a bit recently I have been using an autowah I set up and forgetting about a wah pedal. The chorus's are lush if you setup them up good. The can go from sterile to very warm sounding. I can setup up leslie sounding effects that are very watery and three dimensional sounding. The reverbs are lush and full.
Recently when I record I plug straight into the amp, mic it and run the mic into a mic pre, the mic pre into the G-force, then the spdif out into my computer. I use this for clean and distorted sounds. Very clean recording with stereo effects this way. I have the amp in another room so I can't hear it dry but I can hear the final sound with the G-forces effects through monitors. Sometimes I record direct using a preamp and an ADA Ampulator. The G-force still sounds excellent this way. For an example of both direct and mic'd recording listen to this www.soundclick.com/ularis . Play the hifi setting. All effects were done with the G-force. The rhythm was a mic'd amp with effects added to the mic pre's singal, the lead was done recorded direct with power amp and speaker emulation. Both sound great. I'm not the greatest at setting up effects. I'm sure others can do much better.

Not long after I got the value wheel quit working and it was replaced under warranty and I received it back fast. No problems since then. In 2007 I was in a car accident on my way to a gig in which the car that hit me was totaled. I had my rack in the trunk of my car. Several things in the rack were damaged. The G-force wasn't. It's been 2 years and so far so good. Giving it a 9 here because of the value wheel problem.

When I had the value wheel repaired they were very helpful and got it back to me in no time.

I play mostly blues and southern rock these days. I have used it for 80's metal, country, and 80's rock also. I've been playing since 91'. If it were lost or stolen I'd be heart broken and I'd definitely try and get another I think. I might try out a g-system but I'd for sure miss the modulated delays and internal effects routing capabilities. I'd be lost without this thing if something were to happen to it.

all things considered it is easy to use. unlike many multi-effects units the editing is logical and makes sense. I'm still trying to figure out my tsr24 and i've had that thing 14 years...the g force was easy. READ THE MANUAL!

Here is where your $ goes...the sound. In 1 word, AWESOME! Particularly for guitar players, this thing is a dream. I've always been into subtly effected tone for guitar and this thing delivers but in a pleasing, transparent way. THE BEST delays and reverbs I have ever heard out of a box. They sound clear and full and luscious like the sound david gilmour gets from his live rig. Great control over the sound as well with LOTS of parameters to tweak. get the preset card with patches from vai, vernon reid, etc...there are some very usable patches that you can alter with your own taste to get some top notch effects going. In a sereo set up, this thing is unbelievable. I run this and twin boss GEQ units in my my Marshall JMP preamp effects loops and out to a tubeworks power amp into (2) 2X12 cabs. This gives incredibly detailed and inspiring tone. The midi out controls my marshall as well, so i can get completely different sounds at the stomp of 1 button on my midi pedal board. stereo separation is sublime and everyone raves over my tone. Playing for 27 years, I was always trying different boxes and setups trying to get my dream tone...no more. I have not changed 1 thing in my rig for the last 4 years. It works just as well for recording...I run it in a patchbay and just plug it into a pod xt through my pro tools rig and viola...top notch processing for my recordings.

never a problem in 4 years.

never used. their site never has any action on the user posts for this unit...can't figure out why as it seemd lots of people use this thing.

i would replace it ASAP if it was lost or stolen. bottom line...BEST UNIT I HAVE EVER HEARD. PERFECT for guitar players. make this part of a stereo guitar rig and thank me later.

playing 27 years, rock, metal, blues. I prefer a heavier tone.

it will INSPIRE you to make music!

I was pleased to find the G-Force very easy to use, this was my first effects processor, I was very worried that it would be too much for me. Not at All! Editing patches only took a few minutes step by step with the manual to work through a practice patch and that was all I needed to get under way. Within a few minutes I already had a beautiful sounding delay and chorus.

The manual is good, a few area's could use a little more explaining but so far I've got everything I needed to know out of it. Currently using the latest firmware revision.

Currently using the G-Force with a Mesa Boogie Mark IV and 2x12 vertical recto cab, EB Music Man JP models, Keeley TS-9, DMC Ground Control Pro and Axess Electronics CFX4/GRX4.

The G-Force is very quiet, no noise or hum issues at all. Although I am using high end cable's from lavacable, which is always a good thing. The effects are amazing, very clear, transparent, no tone colouring, really top notch. I'm very impressed with T.C. Delay's Chorus, reverb's all sound terrific. The intelligent pitch shifting is unlike anything I have ever tried/heard.

All in all, really great sounding effects. With the effect routing capabilities there's are tons of options available for creating some of your favorite players tone's or something new and exciting of your own.

So far so Good! It's well built, sturdy, the parameter and value wheels respond well and don't feel cheap, push buttons are strong and seem to be seated well.

No need for a backup,
Quality!

T.C. support is fantastic, I haven't needed them for the G-Force but I have used them in the past with the Nova Delay. Very helpful, fast responses,(within 24 hours) and dedicated to resolving your issue which they promptly did. They put other companies to shame in this respect.

I play mostly play Rock and Metal but the G-Force can handle any style, no question about it. I've been playing for about 12 years and have never been so pleased with a purchase, the G-Force is worth every penny.

If it were stolen it would be on order the next day (although I would be seriously ticked!)

The quality of effects, ease of use and functionality really makes the G-Force stand out, I can't say there is a single thing I dislike about it. Except maybe the constant flashing of a small temp light light.....but that's minor.

I had my heart set on the T.C. G-System but with all of the bugs and user/sofware issues, lack of midi, it turned me off. The G-Force has a great reputation of being a quality, reliable, fantastic sounding processor....and it's well deserved.

Anyone having problems with it colouring your tone, keep in mind that almost all effects processor's were designed with a serial effects loop in mind. They really do work best with serial loops. That's not to say they will not work with parallel loops but more careful consideration must be taken when setting input/output levels, loop mix, effect mix and ensuring the "kill dry" feature is engaged.

If your looking for a great effects processor, the G-Force is definitely the way to go!

I am rating this device with a 10 for the ease of use because we have to take in count this machine was designed for a PROFESSIONAL, if you are expecting it to be like a Boss GT-8 or a PODxt Live or eevn the G-Major, forget about it, for being able to get the most of this processor you should be familiar with LFO??s Modifers etc etc. I am not saying that if you are not a Pro you should not use it but be aware that you will have to spend some time tweaking and make sure you READ THE MANUAL.

the sound of all effects in this unit is outstanding, you can compare it with a lexicon or Eventide, but that would be a matter of "taste" this machine sounds GREAT and works smoothly. you would be VERY happy with your sound once you program this thing properly, it also comes with so many useful presets so you can start having fun as soon as you turn it on.

I cannot say anything because i have noz had it for long enough to tell accurately but it looks really well carfted and strong as a tank, you just make sure u put it into a rack.

This is where these guys REALLY shine, I have owned any kind of gear and i always ask lots of questions, we all like to get the most of our investment, so i write mails , make calls, etc. The TC Elevctronic team is made of EXTREMELY relieable people who really know abouit their products and they are really commited to serve the customers in the highest standards, They always replied my mails inmediately with accurate and "straight to the point answers" (not like people from Boss and line6). i also had my unit bought in Germany and i wrote a mail asking for an English manual and they sent it to me straight away, these guys are the best

I am a professional Guitarrist and Music Producer, currently signed with Peer Music, i tour with artist and i record actively. I have been playing for 20+ years and my style is basicaly POP/Rock stuff. my guitar rig contains: Line6 POD xt Pro, TC Electronic G-Force, BBE Sonic maximizer 482i, dbx 166XL compressor/gate. Hughes & Kettner Trilogy Head with 4X12" Celestion Vintage Cabinets, Atomic Reactor 212 Amp, Senheiser e906 Mics. If it were stolen i would get another one inmediately, it is a device that has been proven and updated for some years already, if you have the money DO NOT hesitate, Get it NOW.

Basically the pre progaming patches on the internal ROM and on the external PCMCIA card can be play without any modifications.
Edit and change presets is another story, as one that comes from a stomp box effects, you really need to be ready with your patches before any performance - edit on the fly during a show, is a disaster.
I wish they made some instant programmable knobs that I can change some effects parameters on the fly (like BOSS are doing on the GT-6/8).
My firmware is 2.04 and it is the last one.

I'm usuing an american strat with Kinman pickups.
My setup is very complicated, but I decide to write my review because after 3 years with the G-Force I discover a new (and its high capabilities).

Up to now My setup was Guitar->GR-33->11 BOSS efects ->PODxt Pro->G-Force->Electrix repeater->BBE482-> Hafler power amps and a modified Fender Blues Devile.

To play via a full range amp or to direct record the podXT is OK, so the G-Force was on Bypass most of the time.
But to play via a tube amp this setup killed the start sound.

I decided to connect the G-Force direct to the Fender (Via the Electrix Repeater), and ... what a sound... a clean sparkle strat sound rounded with the warmth of a tube sound.

And the effects ... Yes I pluge it just as mono, bus the warmth of the sound worth it.
I have more the 40 BOSS effects and few more other brands, that now are sit aside, This is my setup.

No problem for more then 3 years

Return with an answer from their web site very fast

I am playing for a 25 years now, and this is the only unit tht ais not colorin and destroying your guitar sound what so ever, even in a bypass mode is is transparent.

Again, I wish they made at least 6-8 general purpose programming knobs on the front to change an effect critical parameter on the fly.

Easy to use. I say this because I've owned rack-mount effects for some time and am used to learning how to program. I can find my way around the G-Force with ease, now that I know what I'm doing. The manual is sufficient. I just bought my G-Force and have the latest firmware version.

The pitch shift is pretty cool (Santana - Open Invitation for example), although I haven't figured out how to make the most of the Intelligent pitch part yet. I'm not a music theorist. I just play music.

My setup is simple. In addition to in-line stomp boxes, the signal goes from my Triaxis effects send through the G-Force to my VHT stereo power amp.

The G-Force is quiet without having to use the noise gate (which I use and works great). The chorus sounds great, especially when using the advanced chorus. You have full control of the modulation and wet/dry mix. Play around with the phasing settings. You can get a great stereo chorus without that annoying 'swooshing' sound that you get from crap units. Delay, reverb, pitch shift are also excellent. Compression works suprisingly well for being in the effects loop.

I could tell no difference with my original tone when going through the G-Force. It seems unaffected. Just make sure you configure the Killdry feature for your effects loop type (series or parallel).

Take TC Electronic's advice and don't use the distortion on this unit. If you want a great overdrive/distortion tone, get a good preamp and stomp box (Ibanez TS9-808 from Analog Man).

I really like the routing capability with the effect blocks with the G-Force. The manual seems to lack in this area, but I've figured out that the strength of the effect depends on not only where in the routing it is, but how it is routed. Some effects sound good when routed in serial, while others sound good when routed parallel. A little experimentation is needed.

Just bought it. I plan on buying a PCMCIA card for backup just in case.

N/A

I've been playing for 28 years and have tried a LOT of effects. The G-Force is a good effects unit - kind of pricey though. If you can afford it, get one. All effect units have pros and cons. The G-Force, in my opinion, has the most pros and the least cons of all the units I've tried (Alesis, Rocktron, Roland, ART, Line 6, etc.)

I've read reviews below about how the G-Force doesn't work, or makes noises or something. No unit is immune to manufacturing/design flaws. Just stay away from manufacturers who are notorious for putting out crappy products. Shit happens during shipping too.

If it were lost or stolen, I would get another.

I have had it for 5 years. Fairly easy to use, except trying to get the Matrix Grid, LFO's, ADSR, etc. thing to what I want. You can spend a large amount of time programming a patch and tweeking all the settings.

Not Noisy. Does not change your sound. The Reverb, Flanger, Filter and Delay are the best features. The rest I do not use much. Then using the Matrix Grid with an Expression Pedal to make your sound do some more synth type stuff is what I think this thing is made for. I have about 10 patches that really do stuff I have not heard from any other devices. And, I like all the different wacking effects I can get, who wants to use it for the vintage guitar straight away type of sound anyway?

Good. I did have it wig out once and was actually do some really neat things. TC fixed it no problem but it did not do those crazy things it was doing like a video game.

Good, fixed my one issue quickly

overall a six. I play mostly original instrumental music with jazz-rock and classical overtones. I have been playing for 30 years and recording for about 20. I use it for recording direct to my Aardvark 10 and then to my PC mostly, not for live. I like the Reverb, Flanger and the Matrix Grid Feature w/expression pedal for some more unusual and spacial synth type sounds. This matrix expression pedal tuning and tweeking is very time consuming though and I still have not been able to get enough sounds that I know it can and should be able to. The TC is very clean and at times does not change the sound enough on some effects. I also have used it after anolog distortion pedals and has worked well.

I've had the G-Force for about 4 years now and have the latest software version. It has been a piece of cake to get good sounds out of it since day one and it is very easy to edit and save presets. There are some really good presets that you can add right away into your frequently used list. The interesting thing is that the G-Force is still pretty deep processor even though it is user friendly. There are a fair number of presets that are worth studying so you can understand how they are achieved so you can take it a step further. After 4 years, I am still sometimes amazed at some of the interesting and unique sounds you can get out of this. I've played with alot of rack effects and I really like how everything is layed out on the G-Force.

I currently have a Diezel VH4 head with 2 Mesa cabinets, TC D Two delay, Sherman Filterbank2, BBE Sonic Maximizer, Infinitphase MK2 pedal, and Xotic Robotalk pedal. I've owned several Digitech processors, and have played with Lexicons as well as various other processors. I strongly prefer the G-Force to anything I've tried. The G-Force DOES NOT alter your sound if you have it set up properly---trust me. I sat there and turned the bypass on and off trying to hear the slightest change in tone and there was no change. I also put it in a separate loop that totally bypasses it and there is still no difference in tone. The effects that I really like on this are the chorus, flanger, reverb, phaser, intelligent pitchshifter, and delay. These are all very nice sounding and versatile effects and the pitchshifter in particular is very cool because you can customize your own scales. Now there are analog pedals out there that sound better, but they do not have the flexibility of the G-Force. If I were to get rid of the G-Force, I would need alot of pedals to make up for it and I don't think it would be very practical. Who really wants to switch between different chorus pedals, etc.?? The programming would also be a pain if you have a relay system. I've thought about going the analog route, but I keep sticking to the G-Force as the center of my rig. Some of the filter effects and distortion effects are stale and generic sounding but that's only a small part of what it can do. The only thing that I would consider replacing it with is one of the newer Eventide DSP processors. They are more expensive and much more difficult to use though. I give the G-Force an 8 for sound quality understanding that there are analog pedals out there that sound better than the individual effects in the processor. Comparing it to other digial processors, I would say 9.5.

I have used this on many gigs and have never had any problem. I would expect some issues with the dials, but no problem so far.

I've contacted them a few times about MIDI functionality. They are very helpful, have a knowledge of how it interfaces with other hardware, and respond quickly. Great customer service. I never had to get a repair, so I can't comment on that.

I play all kinds of music and the G-Force can cover anything. I've been playing 15 years and I've had this processor longer than any effect I have owned----and there have been many. The G-Force is the central part of my rig and I have no plans on changing that. The Eventide DSP 7000 seems very nice, but it seems to be overkill since it covers 5.1 surround and broadcast applications. This would be the only replacement I would consider. After all this time, I still can learn from the G-Force's presets to give me insight on constructing my own sounds. It's also cool that you can change the order of effects because that can drastically change the overall sound. I wouldn't depend on the G-force or any processor for distortion or filter effects however.

I must say I am a G-Force user from when they first came out and I loved working with it: compact, low noise, dependable, well thought out a real pro piece of gear from top to bottom - even the buildt-in tuner is great! Nethertheless I just got rid of my G-Force because of one single thing: the promised tonal integrity of the guitar signal is just not happening. I effect matrix of the G-Force is great, but it will not allow the original signal to pass through the unit without undergoing analog-to-digital-and-back-to-analog conversion at all times, even if you are using simple add-on effects like delay and reverb. This does not make a huge audible difference in tone. It's just a harder, more aggressive and unpleasant treble end and amp-to-instrument response, notably at stage volumes. I thought this single disadvantage in an otherwies great unit wasn't such a big deal until I ended playing a couple of gigs without any effects and never put this thing back into the signal chain again period. Big difference in feel and tone.

I almost feel sorry for the person I sold the unit to, well, maybe it works for him. I needed the money to get my hands on a couple of old analog pedals again, namely the discontinued t.c. pedals, which are really worth going for.

If you know a thing or two about effects, and take the time to understand the internal structure of the G-Force, it's easy to use. Actually, the programming possibilities are very deep, thanks to the extensive Modifier section - hey, several synth makers could take a hint or two from this how to implement a great modulation matrix. But it IS a sophisticated unit, not a 3-knob thing which a lot of guitarists seem to prefer. Whatever.

The manual looks slim, but it is thorough, and it is WORTH reading the thing.

For guitar rack effects, this is very very good. Great choruses, extremely nice subtle phasers (just as I like them), great delays (hey, this is TC, after all), flangers etc. The compressor is a little basic and could use more adjustable parameters. The drive section is not made to be a guitar preamp, it's made to "dirty up" the effect signal. Pitch shifting works, but it's not an Eventide. Very good though anyway. The reverb is another strong point of the G-Force, fully adjustable, and with a very good sound.

One point, why it is important to READ THE MANUAL, folks!
The previous reviewer gave this thing a "1" for sound quality, complaining that it'd change his amp's tone. He mentions using a H&K Duotone amp. That one has a parallel FX loop. So, you got to activate the "KillDry" parameter in the G-Force (it's all in the manual, with setup examples!), so that the frequency cancellation due to phase differences in the dry signal doesn't occur. Basically, with a parallel FX loop, you want only the WET FX signal fed to your amp, since all digital FX units without hardware bypass cause a slight delay in their dry portion of the signal due to the fact that the AD and DA converters introduce a slight delay. The sound quality of the converters and the overall unit is very transparent overall, so in my opinion the "drastic change of tone" reported by some is mostly due to user error, i.e. NOT having read the manual ;-)

The factory presets of the G-Force are mostly made for serial FX loop use though, so some re-programming or the creation of new presets is in order to use this unit with a parallel FX loop. The results are well worth it, though.

Haven been using this for some years in my live rack. Since I do mostly recording now, it has moved to the studio rack, where it doesn't get pushed around anymore. Never had a problem with the unit. Never treated it very roughly though.

never dealt with them.

These days I'm making mostly some sort of electronic-laden prog rock and prog metal and whatever crosses my mind. Currently I'm using this in series with a pair of Mesa Boogie preamps (Studio and Quad), running into an ADA Ampulator, into the G-Force, for recording.

This unit is a few years old now, but the routing and modulation possibilities make it still very special, and you can do amazing things with it. I wish it could work at different sample rates than the 44.1 kHz.

It's a complex unit; and probably overkill if you just want a few basic effects. For the experimentalists, the FX jugglers, the sound explorers, it's great.

The system is very user friendly when it comes to the interface. I didn't take me too much time to figure out how to recall the presets or how to edit them. The manual is well written even though it's pretty short. It's not very detailed however, but is a good start.

I had the latest sofware version - 2.3 I believe.

A lot of people commented in their reviews that the processor doesn't change the original tone of the amp. It changed mine a lot to the point that I didn't like the sound. It made it very cold digital, kinda really bad chorus sounding even when I only had reverb on the preset. I ran the processor through a very simple setup: Guitar- Ernie Ball Musicaman Luke --> Amp - Hughes and Kettner Diotone --> Marshall 1960 Vintage 4x12 cabinet. I plugged in G-Force into the FX loop in H&K. Right away I could hear the degradation of the tone. I went through almost every single preset (there 224 of them there) and also created some of my own. some very simple, like just reverb to see how much of the original tone is changed. And I don't mind when the tone is colored, but G-Force really made the tone bad. I tried plugging my guitar into G-Force and then going straight into the amp, but that was even worse.

It does have a nice reverb and not that bad delays. Some other stuff there is pretty cool. But it didn't really impress me. I found out that it was just not worth the money. I had Roland GP 100 which was twice as cheap, and I still like the quality of some effects more.

And maybe it works better with some amps and setups because I can't imagine people who commented before that he sound doesn't change couldn't notice such a huge difference.

After playing with it for a week I had to sent it back to zzounds. (Thanks to their 30 day satisfaction guaranteed policy)

Don't know. Had it only for a week.

Great customer support. I had a question about a different unit - FireWorx and send an e-mail with a question. Got a personal response five minutes after.

I play modern rock/, some pop/rock/jazzy kinda songs with my band. I want to have my own sound, not trying to immulate someone else's tone. I like effects, but I like it when they add and color the sound, not take it away. When buying G-Force I really liked the idea that I will be able to preserve my sound (which I like) and will simply add only effects to it. But I was wrong as I found out.

This is the first time I write a review because I really have a strong opinion about the quality of this unit and wouldn't recommend it.

i think any unit of tc is easy to use read a lil and reap the rewards.

first off,no noise,where are you guys getting this noise from,i run it through the ffects loop of the vht pitbull ultralead head,no problems,this thing is far more superior to the g-major,if you have a gmaj,try this youll be blown away.all the effects are great clean and warm

tc makes great stuff

nicholas was always great with answers,evenprior to buying this,thanks tc

the most powerful unit ,with ease of use on the market,truly a professional piece,i Love it.dump your gmajor a buy this if you want more of everything,stronger effects,warmer than lexicon units simplier to use and edit,i was ripping through it without looking at the manual,but ive used processors before which helps,Good Luck

The G-Force is very easy to use! The trick is learning about what it can do for you. It is a guitartist's cool and to that end it is quite capable. Spend a few minutes browsing the manual while your sitting on the Throne making your daily deposit and Viola! - you're good to go!

My setup couldn't be any easier:

Guitar > Wah > Marshall Jubilee 2550 head > Palmer PGA-04 > G-Force > Carvin DCM600 power amp > two 2x12 Carvin Legacy cabs (stereo. I control the Marshall and the G-Force with a Behringer FCB1010 (it's powerful, cheap and built like a Boss pedal).

I use the G serially so i can sap all that it offers. Parallel routes can be used internally. I love TONE! If you have some too, don't be afraid about piping 100% of it thru the G-Force. If it sucks your tone then maybe you're not getting the best from it. I you think of signal paths on occassion as i know all us guitarists do - you'll get it right. Think of your objective and go do it. Don't whine about delays and transparencies or thin chorus sounds. Close your eyes, forget parameter values and listen! If it sounds great on "99" then don't round off to "100". If your filter peak makes your hair stand at 5.15k, leave it there! Don't get trapped by commonplace opinions.

Lastly, don't buy this this for it's sound quality although it deserves high marks for that alone. Buy it for the possibilities it has for controlling it's own behaviour. For my budget, i couldn't have imagined getting anything like it from a noisy collection of pedals. The best i've ever owned.

Rock solid. Again, if it fails you, how did you treat it? Did you take care of it like it was a child? Buy a pcmcia card and do a backup every Tuesday in November. What does that mean???

Jim B really is the man! The others are right! THANK YOU!

I play for my own peace of mind, not for a piece of ass. I dig it when i hit a chord hard and my amp gets a little meaner and if i lighten up my amp gets sweet and chimey. You know what i mean. To me it's therapy. I've been noodling with the guitar for almost 25 years now and have used, bought and sold countless pieces of gear and i constantly keep returning to the gear that pleases my ear and my senses above all. Sometimes, rack gear is harder to deal with than a pedal (the knob vs. the menu debate) but sometimes it ain't. The G-Force is one of the easiest out there. No matter what you have to go thru, always remember that it's the senses that you are out to reward. Go do that today!

I think the G-force is very complex, but fairly easy to start using. It is many options edit fungtions, but find it difficult to have the same wolumlevel in different presets.This is iritating!!

I play it with a Koch multitone 2x12Jensen speakers combo.

I am not an effect guy. Ilike my 3 channels on my amp more or less without effects, but i like a little delay. just a snatch at the end.I also use a bit chorus.The stereo chorus is verry nice.

I play various music from folk music to modern and rock. Plays in a band with a bit selfmade and a bit cover.I also do some jobs with various choirs and theatre groups. I also play in a Norwegian folk music band, but with a Taylor often straight into the PA.

Personal i like Mark Knopfler and early dire straits, with verry little effects, but for me the G-force is ok.

I don`t had much troubble with it, exept at one consert it simply wouldn`t work!!!!It even was a serious church consert! the reason was that somone had spoild beer or somthing long ago.It`s a problem when the fans get to wild near the stage!!Combined with condence it had found the way to the main knobwheel. i had it cleaned up, and is ok.

If you know anything about putting together sounds and tweaking parameters, you'll have absolutely no problem with this unit. The manual is very straightforward and its a cinch to get up and running with the G-Force

Ok, this unit may be easy to program, but I am not all that impressed with the G-Force. I run my G-Force through my effects loop in my Triple Rectifier and a lot of the presets kill my tone. The fat and warm tone that I love seems to dissapear with a lot of the G-Force sounds and that drives me crazy. Along these lines, the choruses are VERY thin. I have tried every combo of effect chains and this unit just doesn't do it for me. I read another review on the G-Force claiming that it has the best delays ever... Well, not even close. I am a delay fanatic and the delays on the G-Force also really degrade my tone. I use a Roland SDE-3000 for all of my delay parts and it smokes the G-Force delays. This being said, there are some things that I like about the G-Force. The pitch shifting stuff is great... hands down the most real sounding pitch shift out there. I also love the reverbs. I think the compressor is useless, along with the EQ in it too. If it wasn't for the great reverbs and pitchshift functions, my G-Force would probably be on E-bay right now instead of in my rig. I use mostly strats through the G-Force, and every now and then my Ernie Ball Steve Morse.

My G-Force is a well built piece of gear. I would use it without a backup if I had too, but I already have so much stuff I can get by without one.

The guys at TC rule. I called for the upgrade and they got it to me for free instead of the $80 bucks or whatever it usually costs. Nice guys to deal with.

I wish I could give it higher marks, but I can't. I bought the G-Force in an effort to get rid of some pedals and other racks in my rig, and in the end, I had to keep almost everything (and, of course, I had to add the G-Force to my rig). Overall, I don't think this is a great multi-effect processor. For pitchshifting and reverbs, its perfect for me.

as far as rack units go, this one is very intuitive. i worked in a large music store in the department that sold effects, so i got to use most of the effects on the market. it also hs a great function that lets it learn the settings of midi controllers, and has the info of the most popular midi boards already loaded inside. its easy to get very good soundsout of, but gets a little tricky to get the great sounds out of it. they're in there, you just have to work a little. the art x-15 is a wonderull match up for it.

no tone degredation at all!!! absolutly wonderfull!!!!!
distortion could be a little better, but has a very cool controll called "smasher" which controlls the amount of harmonic frequincy in the signal

it hasen't died yet.

web site is set up very well. great FAQ.

i'd be here a long time if i was going to say all the nice things i think. its one of the best racks i've ever heard, and the g-major t.c. makes is also great sounding, but is much more affordable.

The manual is useful for getting in touch with this thing, but after one week of tweakings you can seriously think you can live without it... This thing is a damned logic piece of a gear! Everithink is IMO setted up to be understood by a technician and a smart musician... very easy! Nothing to do with a Intellifex which I owned before. You can easily jump from one parameter to the other, without thinking of move them with a row and column logical interface.

Firmware 2.04

Pristine sounding effects... I'm so satisfied of reverbs that I learned how they acts and now I can clearly tell you in what kind of room you are speaking on the PHONE!
Also Chorus and delays are the best I ever used.

Just bought, it works fine... I don't think it will have problems before me!!!

Never had any problem, but it seems to me that TC is a very reliable customer support, they have a good website where you can find everything you need, they have a very good FAQ page, where you can find answers to FAQ and problems... there is also a dedicated forum to this gear in www.gforce.com

I appreciate everything within this unit... it is fantastic, I think I will never look for a change... only one complain is that there is not a compare function... but this is not a problem if you know exactly what sound are you looking for...

Absolutely wonderful sound. For me, this is the holy grail of guitar processors. I have several rack processors including Lexicon, Rocktron, Korg, etc. This is my favorite.
This one is probably the most sophisticated in features, but is still fairly easy to edit and understand.

Setup is: Musicman Axis (w P-90's) or 73 Les Paul through Soldano X88R preamp through G-Force through Marshall poweramp. With my setup, I get zero noise. In bypass, this things sucks zero tone. I can't find a bad effect on this thing. The delays especially are incredible. I love the Edge, and this unit helps me nail that sound when I need it. The phasers, chorus, delay, and pitch fx are all fantastic. The crunch, is, well, digital crunch. I don't use it, that's what the Soldano's for. With a good wah pedal, a fuzz, and a boost, you are set.

Seems as sturdy as rack processors get.

N/A.

No more searching for me. This is it. I've been using it for six months and can't imagine using anything else

Its a cinch to use. Plug it in and start. Figure out the details later. The manual explains that. ITS VERY INTUITIVE! When you have the time, go inside any effect and delve into an acid trip you will never forget (a good one). I like tweaking, if you dont, sorry.

I use a Les Paul and Strat. It runs with a JMP-1 and 9100 Pre-amp, fuhgettaboutit!! This thing is a whisper and I have never heard a better delay yet, and Ive been around this stuff since the sixties. Forget the old crap, cause thats what most of the old stuff was. Dont let your nostalgic memory fool you. This is the shit. Nothing is perfect. You think the other companies dont have faults? Let me say this: I'd keep this unit for the flange, phase, chorus, and reverb alone, than have any other unit out there, even at the high price!

Totally dependable, not one problem!! The only backup I would bring toa gig would be other t.c. electronic pedals or effects.

JImmy "B" is the best! He always did me right!

I started in the mid sixties and have owned all quality stuff from amps, to guitars, to the best cables, and I demand quality. Im inspired when using the distortion and delay (whats up Satch?), its like I am following the sound when using this G-Force! Lexicon is good, used by many, but many pros are now being turned on by this G-Force!If it got lost or stolen, I would do my best to steal another one (ONLY KIDDING! AHEM!!!). Put it this way and Im not kidding: I would pay full price for the G-Force instead of having another effects unit, for half its price. P.S., the distortion blows! but who cares, I got distortion in other places, Im not gonna buy the G-Force cauz of that, get out a here!!!!!

The manual is ok, but sections like modifiers, matrix etc.. are very vaque. It has a fairly good layout in terms of logic.

I'm noticing that on some delay settings, the delays will not pan out all the way left and right, instead they will be at 10 and 2 in the stereo field. Or (even wierder) the delay will be dead center then as it repeats will move out to hard left or right, and there seems to be no control over this. There are other strange things going on in this unit, but I won't go into. Anyone else experiencing this?

Well, I'm wondering if there is a problem with these units programming. For over $1300, these things should not have any bugs.

Jim has been very quick with repsonces to e-mail, but has not offered any solutions to these problems except software upgrades, which hasn't helped.

TC really needs to check into this unit for bugs, it's a great machine for all that it was design to do, but if it can't do it right what's the point????

It is easy to use if you have experience with multifx processors. My only experience was with a Digitech RP-1 which couldn't do nearly as much as the G-Force. The manual is useful but doesn't explain modifiers, such as the ADSR's, very well. If you are not familiar with these to begin with check out the G-Force Page website. There is some simple and advanced effects to choose from such as the simple and andvanced reverbs. The simple algorythms are a lot easier to adust than the advanced but you don't have as much control over their overall sound. This processor is very easy to use after I got the hang of it.

Everybody claims this processor is transparent and I strongly disagree. I play through an Ibanez RG770 into a Bad Horsie wah, into a Boss DS-1 distortion, into a Mesa/Boogie Mark III Simu-class with the G-Force in the effects loop. The G-Force kills the feel of my amp. The signal becomes digital sounding and kills the beautiful tone I get from the Boogie. I thought it might be the effects loop of the amp but it sounds just as good if I plug a cable straight from the effect send to effects return. Though the G-Force still sounds good it is still lacking. I have the 2.03 version which has a better gate. The compressor is plenty good enough for me. The filters are excellent, I can get some weird sounds. They include parametric eq, wah, resonance, format, and phaser. You do have to use the G-Force's distortion to use the wah. Then pan and tremolo are great. The pitch effect has several algorythms including intelligent pitch shift which is good if its mix is turned down, otherwise it sounds like a cheap keyboard. The delay is really versatile. The drive on the 2.03 version is much better than the 1.13 version that I had. It is warmer and sounds just as good as the Boogie's distortion. The chorus/flanger is lush but doesn't sound as good as a Carl Martin analog chorus pedal. The reverbs are pretty good but not very warm souding. I would give this thing a 10 but it kills my dry signal. I plan on getting a Boss LS-2 and running the G-Force in parallel with the Boogie. The G-Force does have a kill dry function that only lets the wet signal leave.

This is somewhat reliable. I had to get the the value wheel replaced because it would skip values and would only scroll one way half the time making it impossible to adjust effects parameters. They fixed it for free under warranty. Also the power button acts strange some times. It actually cut off completely during a gig making a loud noise and turning everbody's head my way. Since I was the only guitarist in the band I'm sure every one in the club noticed it.

Customer support is excellent. They fixed the value wheel and upgraded the software for free. I just had to pay to have it shipped to them. They were always very helpful and friendly.

Overall I guess it is good compared to other processors but I haven't used other high-end processors. I have used this processor for country, blues, rock, metal and jazz. It is good for any style. My complaints are that you can't place effects before and after the effects loop and it kills the tone of the dry signal by making it sound digital. I have had this processor for 2 1/2 years and woulnd't get rid of it because of the quality of the effects. If it it were stolen I couldn't afford to replace. I would recommend others trying different high-end processor before buying this but it may be the best sounding that you can get.

Pretty easy to use if you've been working with digital MultiFX before, except for the Matrix modifiers. But, this section is the section that leaves the compettion behind,so...

I use it (latest versio) in a serial fx loop of my Engl savage SE head. My guitars are Gibsons; a '94 LE explorer and a '86 Flying V. I use Marshall 4*12 cabs. Without the G-Force, I have one of the fattest sounds around, With it, I have the same killer sounds, but with the effects. So, the G-Force does NOT affect the signal I've bbuild through the years (24 bit AD/DA you know). In the latest version, the distortion has become pretty usable, e.g. to make a clean/distortion sound in one. Because I place it after the preamp (the only way to do it) the wah can only be used in small amounts.
Some FX produce some noice (e.g. detune, distortion) that can't be muted by the gate, because it's always in the beginning of the routing. But I have a Rocktron Patchmate to solve that.

Got some free updates, the distributor even gave his GSM-number to me.

I play alternative heavy rock and my sound is very dynamic but the G-Force doesn't influence it. The only 'bad' things are the tuner (good, but not great) and the minime wait after you pressed the pedal (not for the expresiion pedal, only PG messages). I also hope they'll include some more weird filters in the next update, so I'll be able to make crazy sounds live & in the studio.

The manual is very clear. You need 2 hours to learn all principal functions.

The best guitar sound processor i ever owned. My set-up is: PARKER NITEFLY S/S/H, HEAD BRUNETTI 059, G-FORCE, CABINET MARSHALL 1960/A, VOLUME PEDAL BOSS FV-5. I owned intelliflex, digitech studio 400, lexicon mpx-1: another planet !!!!
Just one little bad thing: the delay time max (1200 msec.) is too short for a machine like this.

Well, I didn't think the manual was that bad, but then I've messed with this stuff alot! for a beginner, I would say frustration would set in.. unless your willing to learn a little and get your own sounds dialed in, you won't be happy.

I run a marshall jmp-1 through this, then to a marshall 9200 power amp. good sounds! really keeps the sound together, doesn't muddy it up at all. that alone is worth the high price, if your sound is the most important thing to you, then don't sacrifice it on cheap equipment. This does everything I think I need from an effects processor... owned just about everything else, all others always left me with the feeling that it needed to be 'tweaked' somewhere, that there was still something missing... not so with this one. adjusting effects, parameters, etc works well, doesn't take long to set up a sound once you know what your doing.

so far so good, no problems...

never called them...

If you want to keep your rack rig small, this will complete all of your effects needs... I play hard rock, metal, and sometimes other stuff, works well for all.. I would buy it again.. If your sound is simple or complicated, this won't clutter it up, will add to it if anything....

The manual is a total disaster to those who are inexperienced with digital effect processing units. The user interface and countless pages take some getting used to as well. On the other hand, what's a G-Force to an inexperienced mortal. Don't break your head on this when you're new, have a Roland GP16 to start off with coz it has a great manual and great sounds too for much less money and leave this on your wish-list for next time. You'll only get frustrated and this unit deserves better. You can figure it out if you already know about MIDI, Envelopes, LFO's and ADSR's.

I use it with H&K Attax tube pre-amp, Marshall JMP-1 tube pre-amp, Peavey Classic 120 and 50/50 tube power amps on 4 Celestion Vintage 30 monitors. I play PRS swamp ash, Blade R4, Gibson SG and Ibanez JS 1000. This unit costs a lot of money but it delivers everything you need from it. Beware, this is definetely NOT a pre-amp but an effects unit! It supplies 7 effects (I'm excluding the drive coz it's useless) and they're the best. It also features a noise gate, and it works! (Don't laugh, noise gates in fx units suck without an exception but not this one. I always used a Behringer Intelligate instead but I don't need it anymore) Chorus, flanging, delay, reverb, filters, equalizers, harmonizers... You can put them anywhere in your fx chain, serial or parallel, assign them to your mother in law if she has a MIDI interface somewhere; this unit's versatility is borderless once you figured it out (see above). The sounds are simply the best you can get from an effect unit and I've tried and had a few... The G-Force rendered most of my rack void.

No problems at all. It's safely stacked in a 19" hardcase. I haven't had it long enough yet to use the CMOS battery up (> 10 years).

Never needed them. They have a good image to uphold though.

This is the best there is in the field of guitar effects processing. The price tag equals a very nice guitar so it ain't cheap. Don't buy this if you're a rookie coz it's not an easy device to get acquainted with. Don't be deceaved by the displayed default billboard message - 'this machine rocks' - that's exactly what it doesn't do coz the drive is useless. Get your drive and dry sound shaping from a good pre-amp and just use this as an effects processor. Tip: don't be tempted to insert it in a parallel fx loop coz you can mix everything parallelled in the G-Force, so allocate it serially, behind your pre-amp! I play fusion jazz, bebop, hard rock and heavy metal, on gigs, studio sessions and rehearsals. It's simply the best I know (compared with Roland, Digitech, Rocktron, Lexicon etc.), it has everything I need, it slimmed the cases in my backline down considerably and I would buy it again right away if it was stolen - with an aching wallet though.

i was able to try this machine out just for two days and my only concern was: how to get money enough to buy it.

the g-force is the most impressive and creative fx i ever owned. after reading the manual i just started trying out different things and everything worked out, sometimes really freaky things. everything is allowd and everything is possible.

after two weeks i was able to create every sound i wanted. a friend and me made a little contest: he told me what to built and i had to be ready in half an hour. then we changed. hehe.

but i had to say i had get used to this fx, nothing out of the guitar fx corner can be compared to this one.

i use a rg-seven string and a sansamp psa-1 and i got the best recording sound i ever had. and that although i record it directly!!!!

crystal clear, wonderful sounds, great chorus, great delay and a wonderful reverb, cool formant filters, when you want to create real freaky sounds, use this one, perhaps try a pitch-shifter in addition, it's amazing: you can make a bunch of all effects and it sounds great, you may just use a reverb and slight chorus: it sounds great!
no noise at all. i use for little breaks the gate but when i leave it open, nothing can be heared, except the little hum of my psa-1.

unbelieveable.

the g-force is on nearly the whole day and it never left me.
absolute relieable!

i have never consulted them but i hear just good thing about T.C.

i play music in style of korn mixed with dream theater so i am able to use a great range of effects in my music. for nearly 15 years i use different types of effects but no one ever impressed me like the g-force did. it even inspires me because finding interesting/freaky sounds was never this easy.

i will buy it again and again. i'm shure about that!


this thing really impressed me and is worth every penny!!!

The reverbs and delays are unreal. They are the highest quality and are EXTREMELY transparent. The delays are from the 2290, the reverbs are from the M2000/M3000(forget if either or both), the flanger, EQ, phaser are from the famous TC Electronic pedals. The one thing that could be better is the pitch shifting. The only thing which is better is the Eventide GTR4000, but that is the ultimate for pitch shifting. Other things on that machine are really excellent, but not as good, in my opinion, as the G-Force.

There are WAY too many features to list on this thing. It has 8 effects blocks and contain reverbs, delays, panners, tremolos, EQ, intelligent pitch shifting, drive, flangers, phasers, etc.. The most transparent effects processor on the market. Has advanced parameters which scroll down forever and a 2nd set of things to tinker with called modifiers which include ADSRs and LFOs. Complicated at first, but almost anything is possible with this. You can route effects in any way you want, and changes your sound! Experiment with all that and mixing levels and you have one hell of a machine for effects. Also includes a cool tuner and billboard for messages and preset numbers and names. A large green LCD screen is nice for using the G-Force and looks cool!

Well, it is a stereo effects unit and can get hot so something could happen. I have two(2) of these just in case. No problems so far.

TC Electronic are excellent in customer support. Jim Bellamy is excellent in returning phone calls and e-mail RIGHT AWAY. Hats off to them for their service!

This is my favorite multi-effects unit I've ever owned. I have owned the Lexicon MPX-1, PCM-70, PCM-80, Eventide GTR4000(the DSP4500 is WAY better), and a few other TC Electronic things. Overall, the G-Force whoops all of them!

Manual is relatively good but absolutely essential to get anywhere. I owned a lot of FX in my life and this one ain't the easiest of them, not only due to the vast possibilities - the interface just isn't as easy and intuitive as everybody states. The big led screen is fun to watch but doesn't get u anywhere on its own... u still have to press the right buttons!

Used with PRS, Les Paul, and Yamaha accoustic, mostly with sansamp Psa-1 direct to board, sometimes in fx loop of two channel Marshall JCM 100 Head with 4x12 box.
Of course the basic quality of the timebased fx is pristine, and overall the unit is not taking away much of your sound BUT:
- compressor is not really cool (maybe due to digital)
- gate is a far cry from working smooth (no matter how much tweaking)
- fixed pitch transposer is a joke (i had chaper FX w. better ones)
- distortion sucks big time (so TC claims it's just a little addon but how can it be that i fork out so much money and friends with cheapo machines like the POD let me eat their dust? I simply don't want to drag my whole rig along just for laying down some demo tracks or dance music accompaniments in some small studio...)
- worst of all: there's a veeeeery audible gap when switching between presets (even if they are near identical) making it impossible to use the thing in a serial loop when u play live. But if u go to parallel u miss complete volume control, compression and gating (however bad they may be...) and so forth.

Freezed during edit when i got it (fixed with new software) lettering on knobs wears off otherwise really sturdy, no backup.

Very personal and friendly support via eMail, got software update for free via my dealer.

I play cover for a living and thus need a bunch of instantly (!) accessible sounds. My big list of complaints is to be found under "sound quality" and i don't use the G-Force anymore... I spent so much money on it to replace the rest of my gear besides preamp (like compressor, gate, volume control) and then I still have to stick to my old stuff for the shortcomings of this unit?!
This sucks big time.
Unfortunately nobody wants to buy it.

Once you master it, it's fairly easy to use. A nice big LCD screen with two knobs to move you around and change values makes programming fairly expedient. None of these rackmount multi-effectors are terribly easy to use because of the format, but this has to be the easiest one to use that I've ever owned. The user interface is very elegant. The programmers did a fine job here. I'm giving it a nine because I do embedded programming and I realize how difficult it is to make a good user interface with a limited aresenal of display real estate and buttons. The manual is terse and doesn't explain all of the parameters fully but is enough to get you up and going. The best way to learn the thing is to dive in and experiment.

Whenever you edit parameters there's these little graphs and sliders and stuff that appear to help you visualize what you are doing. A real nice touch.

The unit has eight basic effects: compression, chorus, filtering, delay, pan/tremolo, pitch, drive and reverb. I'll address each one separately.

The compressor is ok. It has a funny attack and is not as smooth as most analog compressors. I think it has something to do with the fact the compression is done in the digital domain and the algorithm has some lag in it.

The chorus is incredible. But this is what TC is known for so no surprise here. The flanger sounds a little strange. I think I need to work on it a little more. I never really use flanging anyways.

The EQ section is very powerful. A really nice 5-band parametric EQ. And the great thing is the little graph that shows you what you are doing. There are also formant filters and resonance filters and a wah-wah. I haven't used these much so no comment.

The delay is fairly standard. Nothing really sticks out positive or negative about the delay. I could get a fairly good tape echo simulation by cutting the high frequency response.

The pan / tremolo block is something I don't use much. I've tried to get a Leslie simulation by running the pitch shifter into the tremolo but it's not very convincing. Nothing beats the original Quadraverb Leslie simulator.

The pitch section has intelligent and fixed pitch. None of them work all that well. I tried to make a patch so I could play Hotel California but the shifter was searching at times and didn't so very natural. Never cared for pitch shifters anyways.

The drive section is actually quite good if you understand it's usage. Most people have panned the drive but I find it to be quite adequate. I'm using a separate preamp so I have no use for it but if you tweak it you can get a fairly good distortion out of it.

The reverb is very nice. You have to tweak it to get it to sound good but once you get it set up right it's killer.

I'm using this with a Mesa/Boogie Triaxis and a Simulclass 2-90 and it's a very flexible configuration. Very quiet and very professional sounding. My only complaint is that I can't get a good Leslie sound and the pitch shifter is kinda weak but I wouldn't use it anyways.

Too early to tell.

I've been playing over 20 years and I play rock and fusion. I have a ton of other processors and this one is by far the best.

Some other great features are the ability to map a MIDI controller to the main volume level. I've been trying to do this for years and none of the other processors supported this except for the MPX 1 and even it didn't do it correctly. I always use a volume pedal and now I can use a MIDI controller and not have to worry about signal degradation to and from the volume pedal. The other great thing is the built in tuner. Nice touch.

Like all t.c. electronic devices I've used, the G-Force is very logical, flexible, and easy to get good sounds right off. Yet, it's very deep and can accommodate new ideas indefinitely. It really helps to understand how certain effects are achieved (Leslie Speaker emulation, for example), but a lot can be done by ear. The manual is clear and to the point, but doesn't help much on the creative side. I recommend purchasing the optional "G-Force Presets Card" (about $100) because it contains 245 really good presets designed by over 20 immaginative musicians (such as Dweezil Zappa, Eric Johnson, Bob Bradshaw, and Steve Vai, et al). You can learn a lot about creating your own presets by using these as models (kind of an education in itself). The 225 factory presets are also very good and useful, but the G-Force card takes it's potential another step further. The latest software version 2.02 is a significant improvement over some earlier versions (mine came with 1.13b), and addresses some of the pitch, overdrive, and preset change issues raised in some of the other reviews here. You can get it directly from t.c. for about $75 with a PCMCIA card to back up your presets. One of it's best features is the ability to control multiple simulataneous effect parameters via MIDI controllers.

I play alt. and classic rock styles, country, funk, and a little jazz. The A/D converters are very clean and accurate, facilitating first-rate digital recording, as well as a very transparent bypass mode (post conversion). Chorus, reverb, phaser, and delays are very smooth and clear, providing numerous parameter controls. Maximum delay is a somewhat conservative 1480ms, but reverb can delay up to 20 seconds (not conservative, at all). I don't like the automatic make-up gain of the compressor, which sounds unnatural to me, so I don't use the compressor (I use my preamp's compressor, or the FireworX', instead). The intelligent and fixed pitch shifters track pretty well on one pitch at a time, and ocassionaly work okay on intervals, but they're unusable on chords. The software upgrade improved this, but it's still a bit limited. You can get some really cool whammy effects, though (I like them better than Digitech whammies). The distortion can add a slight edge to your Tele, and can further saturate your amp's distortion, but can't be used by itself as overdrive emulation (it wasn't intended to be). The tremolo and panning effects work great. The 5-band "parametric" EQ is limited to upper and lower shelving filters and three peak filters at +/-12dB. High/Low and formant filters add interesting nuances to guitar sounds. My setup is: tuner>cry baby>Ibanez Tube Screamer>Boss DD-5 delay pedal>Rocktron Voodu-Valve stereo preamp>G-Force guitar>t.c. electronic FireworX effects processor>BBE 862 sonic maximizer>Mesa Simul 2:90 stereo tube amp>Marshall 4x12 w/Celestian 75 speakers. I use a DMC Ground Control MIDI switcher with two Ernie Ball pedals for parameter and volume control. It's usable for probably most styles of music. I"d place it on the "high-tech" end of the current DSP spectrum, though I don't consider it "sterile" sounding.

Only had it for three weeks.

I like the folks at t.c. electronics. Over the past couple of years of dealing with them, they've been astonishingly helpful and knowledgeable.

I went through comparison hell between this and the Lexicon MPX G2, Digitech DP21d and DP2000, Boss GT-3, t.c. electronic M2000, and I liked the transparent, clean sound quality, configuration versatility and external control options of the G-Force the most. I wish it had better multi-voice intelligent pitch shifting, adjustable make-up gain on the compressor, and more bands of parametric EQ. But, for the money, I know of nothing I like better.

The G-Force is not a "plug & play" kind of FX unit, though you don't have to be a NASA engineer in order to use it. It took me three days of extensive learning and I got it under control. The menual is great, informative and brief.

Ho boy!!! I use a Brian Moore guitar, Marshall JMP-1 preamp, Carvin tube 100 power amp, a 4*12 Marshall JCM 800 cab and several pedals. The Force is the most silent and not-alternating unit with its 24 bit DA\AD convertors. I actually use it in front of my amp (after the preamp) and not in the FX paralel loop. The Cuorus sounds amazing aswell as the de-tune you get from the pitch. I really like the Format filter. One of thebest sounding units I have ever heard.

Didn't had any problems with it so far.

I had a some questions to the TC peaple, I emailed them and got a helpful and full answer in 6 hours.

I play a lot of rock, jazz, blues, funk and other stuff. I've been playing for 13 years, and I love this unit One thing I think can be improved is the stereo utilitys, (i.e - inorder to get your reverb in the right side only you have to put a pan after). Insperation !

This unit it suprisingly easy to use. Because of it's ability's, it is time consuming to tweak, but once you've become familar with it's terms, your good to go. Editing patches is a piece of cake. You can either make simple adjustments or dive deep into an effect, in it's advance settings. The manual is sufficient, but could be a little more detailed. It could be more organized. I find several reference on the same subject, in different places with in the manual. I have 1.14 firmware, and like the fact that when it is time to upgrade, it can be done from the pcm slot instead of cracking the unit open.

I'm going to go against the grain on this issue. While it is very transparent, it has altered my tone, but I'm running a Peavey Tubefex preamp processor infront of it, so I am able to use the EQ's to get the tone I desire, which very's so it works for me.
I have a LoneStar strat, Roland GR-30 guitar synth,Tubefex,and a G-Force. All controlled via Art X-15 midi foot controller. The GF was so simple to set up with my X-15. Especially compared to other effect units. It has a learn function that does basically all the programming work for you. The designers obviously know what they are doing.
I run everything through my Ampeg V-4 head, then into a stereo cabinet and two inputs into a PA, splitting the left & right legs. The separation of sound is incredible.
I'm really not into other artist sounds, but I hear the artist card is great. I can get any type of sound I desire with my rig. The GF plays a huge part in that.
I think the factory presets are set up more to show you from the basics to the extremes of the unit, so if you were to plug and play right from the box, you could be a little dissapointed, depending on your expectations.
As far as the individual effects, it's all been said in prior reviews, they are GREAT!

I really hope that this unit holds up. I am depending on it in a major way, and it's certainly way to expensive to have an extra one standing by. I guess time will tell. I did check out the company's rep, and it seemed to be very good. However if the unit does need to be sent back for a fix, I heard it takes a while. I hope that being as they put that much thought into the unit, they didn't forget the term reliability.

So far so good. I too, have dealt with Jim Belemy and online with Niels, and there response has been good. The will to help is there.

High price, but a great unit. Users interface is very simple, very well though out. Great sound. Great flexibilty. You must be familar with effects and their parameters to efficiently use this unit, while it is very easy, I would not want to learn on this unit.
To those of you G-Force owners that read this, I have started a users group for the GF. It's long over do. You can join us at, http://www.onelist.com/viewarchive.cgi?listname=G-Force. Patch trading, troublshooting, general G-Force discussion. Users groups can be great tools for products. Please join us.

This is an addendum to another review I made about 6 months ago, so I won't go into detail about the unit's funtionality. I've upgraded the operating system and installed some custom patches via the TC G-Card. This process was pretty easy, and the card is a nice way of expanding the capabilities of the unit.
This is not a unit for beginners or technically challenged individuals. The manual is almost useless, and their website contains virtually no practical information at all. However, if you're used to rack gear, and aren't afraid to tweak things, the unit is easy to use. One caveat - YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE TIME TO LEARN IT ON YOUR OWN. There's no other way to do it. This is not a plug & play unit.
However, if you take the time, the unit is really well layed out and easy to use - you just have to tinker with it for a while to get used to it. It's basically a highly complex digital pedal board, and each screen allows you to do certain things.

I use a Mesa TriAxis for my guitar tone and the G-Force for the effects. I've also got a BBE 362 patched through the TriAxis's effects loop and a Mesa Simul 2:90 power amp. It's a deadly setup. I can get any sound my sick mind can dream up. The more I learn about the unit, the better sounds I can get from it.
I've been using an expression pedal for almost all of my sounds. Each patch can contain any number of modifiers that adjust the effect levels & other parameters just by using the pedal or picking harder. Using an expression pedal with this unit is just insane - you can introduce subtleties into your playing that are just inspired. My lead tones are SO expressive - they are keeping me up at night. Just ask my neighbors!

6 months of moderate to heavy studio use and some local gigs - still works great. If you use the G-Card, you'll have to watch that the card doesn't get munched when you pack up your rack - it sticks out about 1/2 an inch from the face of the unit.

I emailed their webmaster about some technical considerations and got no reply. I'd like to think they merely couldn't understand me...

Personally, I think the best rig money can buy for gigging musicians is a TriAxis, a G-Force, and a Mesa Simul 2:90. Throw in a BBE if you really want sparkling highs on your clean sounds and a low-end grind on your rhythm crunch.
I still wish the unit had a programmable effects loop! It's an expensive unit, but it's probably the best unit for guitar players right now. The Lexicon MP1 G2 looks interesting, but it's got a confusing interface to me.

This is my first ever rack mounted effects unit, so if you are inexperienced when it comes to rack stuff, my review might help you a bit. Within 20 minutes of unpacking the G-Force I was getting decent sounds with it. The manual is pretty good for basic stuff. I am using this unit in a guitar rig with a Marshall stack.

I love the chorus, flange and delay. I happen to really like the intelligent pitch shifting. I play heavy metal and worked in a lot of harmony stuff. It does get a little hectic when I need to change presets with a scale change in mid-sold. The phaser is also extremely cool. Honestly, I don't really hate anything. I tried to used the distortion for a boost during leads but the feedback was a problem. The gate is just OK. I have to turn it off when I am practicing because I don't practice loud enough to turn off the gate. This is something I could probably adjust but I works great at loud volumes and I didn't want to mess it up. It bother's me that a lot of the pre-sets are set up for stereo operation. I am using a single Marshall stack mono- it seems like a waste. Maybe I'll have to get another stack? One other thing, a fav of mine is the de-tune. I used it to bring my guitar down to C#. I then wrote a couple tunes using this setting. It tracked very well, clean and crunched. When I record the song I will actually tune a guitar (w/11s) down to C#. Live, I'll probably use the G-Force.

No backup. T.C. has a good reputation and have been helpful, see below...

First off, I beat Jim Bellamy at T.C. in to total and complete submission my first week with the G-Force. I called many times tying to figure out this thing. He was always very helpful and patient. I am still having a few problems (I can't get the AUTO WAH to work) but I'll get it in time. T.C. has been great. My G-Force sat at Guitar Center for a long time. It had software version 1.05. I called Jim because I knew this was dated software. He immediately Fed-X'd a PCIM card with the new software for free. Now I am running 1.14 (although I can't really tell a difference). I give T.C. Electronic TWO BIG THUMBS UP BROTHER!!

I dig it. I do wish it wasn't so damn expensive. I had to sell a killer guitar to buy this thing. We are recording will all new digital equipment and I needed great effects to add to my sound (i play in a one guitar band). I am using the G-Force a lot for its chorus (soft parts)and other presets for specific parts in songs. Overall, I am VERY happy with the G-Force. I dumped all of my stomp boxes. I really like that I can use the G-F and it doesn't alter my Jackson w/Seymour Duncans in to a JCM2000 head's killer tone. I didn't want a pre-amp. I wanted just nice effects and that is what I got from the G-Force. If I could only figure out the AUTO WAH. I'll have some .wav sounds bites on my bands web site, if it is an effect it is the G-Force: www.penaltykill.com

It's easy to get a great sound out of this unit by virtue of the presets. That said, this thing is pretty ominous to program. I'm an educated individual and I don't shy away from programming (lots of computer work and in the music realm, I've owned and mastered plenty of effects, including the programming-intensive VG-8) but this thing is complex in a big way. The manual is sparse, but generally gives you enough to get started. Not sure there is a better way to lay it out, and the TC guys have done a great job. It's just extremely flexible as a unit and consequently extremely complex. If you're programming a noise gate, expect to have to mold the curve of the gate, specify shapes, half a dozen frequencies, and a lot of other esoteric variables. Do you want the "golden ratio" turned on or off on your chorus? Who the hell knows. For a lot of this stuff, it's trial and error.

This is the real deal. No noise. No corruption of tone. Have been using direct, direct into PA, and ultimately will be using it in a rack with boogie pre amp and power amp.
Distortion is pathetic (but I didn't expect to use it for distortion and neither should you, dear reader!). It also loses a points for pitch shifting, as others have noted, but I'm comparing it against the VG-8 which is flawless on pitch shifting, so it's a tough comparison.
That said, if you want a tone produced by a chorus, flange, reverb, delay, tremolo, etc. that does the effect flawlessly without so much as touching your original tone, this is the unit.

Haven't owned it long enough to tell you. TC has a great repuptation for building things that last. At first glance, it's a very heavy duty unit.

N/A.

This is not a cheap unit, but excluding Eventide equipment I don't think they make them any better. I play primarily progressive metal and progressive hard rock, but this unit is of course versatile enough to cover just about any ground you could want. I've owned plenty of effects units over the years (Art, Alesis, Korg, etc.) and this smokes all of them.

In my opinion, the G-Force sets a new standard for ease of programmability. If you hate any kind of programming at all, then you'll still hate this, because it's still...well, programming. But, if you've programmed other units before, you'll totally dig the G-Force's interface.
I gave this category a 10, but that's only true if you're at least semi-experienced in programming other effects. If you're a complete novice, change that rating to about a 6.

My setup is:
SansAmp PSA-1 -> G-Force -> BBE 462 -> (output*)
(*I sometimes play direct into a mixer, other times into an amp. That's why I use the PSA-1 preamp. It sounds good either way.)
The G-Force doesn't color my tone unless I want it to. It's very transparent, and usually very quiet. Some effects create a little noise, but nothing too bad.
As mentioned in other reviews, the pitch shift is completely useless on chords, unless they're very high in pitch. Pitch shifted power chords? Forget it. Single-note shifting is good, if not fantastic. The G-Force tracks well, and does intelligent pitch shifting, too.
Everything else about this unit is stellar, and the pitch shifting is the only thing stopping me from giving a higher rating here.
I can't emphasize too much how easy this thing is to program! It's truly amazing. It has built-in envelopes and LFO's so you can do crazy modulating effects. You can also plug a volume pedal into it to control just about any effect parameter, and of course, it's completely MIDI-able.
This has been said before, but bears reiterating--the drive module is NOT intended to be your primary distortion source. It's only supposed to be used to give you a little extra juice if you desire. Don't buy the G-Force expecting a preamp.

I baby my equipment--it rarely leaves my studio, so I don't usually have anything fail on me. (Except for DigiTech crap, of course, but that's another story.)

I have no idea. Their Web site sure is pretty, but it's not all that informative. Hey, T.C., if you read this stuff, how about a user area where people can trade ideas, presets, and stuff?

I play heavy progressive rock, but the G-Force is compatible with ANY style of music. If it were lost or stolen, I'd definitely buy it again--unless I had enough money to buy an Eventide!

Very easy to get good sounds out of this unit. The manual still leaves a lot to be desired though. I wish there was a little more info on the modifier section

I use the G-Force in conjunction with a Mesa Triaxis, V-Twin Rackmount and Mesa Stereo 2:90 along with DMC Ground Control, GCX and System Mix Plus. The guitars I use are G&L and Fender Strats with EMG's. The pitch effects seem to be a little glitchy and I can't seem to adjust the noise gate to my liking but all of the other effects blocks are killer. The routing combinations are damn near infinte. The blocks and modules enhance your sound without stepping all over your tone (very transparent!!!!!). I do hear a lot of people complain about the drive module but they are missing the point. The drive module is used to enhance your amplifer tone. For instance, if you have a fat clean tone and want to move into Stevie Ray territory you can use the drive module to achieve this. I feel the best sounding modules are the chorus and delay. Since I gig somewhat frequently, I don't use the reverbs much as a rule in live performance because they tend to smear the sound. I can get very cool spacious reverb sounds on tape in the studio though with this unit.

I feel I can depend on this unit. I have used it at gigs, and at rehearsal for a few months now without even the slightest glitch. I feel I have now passed the infant mortality stage with this unit.

I have called them for the availability of the G-Card which is an preset upgrade. They were friendly and very helpful over the phone.

I've been playing for about 17 years and play rock, metal, R&B/Funk, and jazz. I am able to get a lot of the sounds I am searching for with the G-Force. I compared it to the Lexicon MPX, Eventide H-3000 (nice but WAY too expensive)and the less expensive Rocktron units. The G-Force for me was the price/performance winner. If mine were stolen or lost, I would get another in an instant. I can get monster fat studio type sounds or cheezy stompbox sounds to spacey freaky un-guitarlike sounds. The only thing I wish it had is an external loop that you could use to patch in additional effects.

This unit is a tweaker's dream. I can't get over just how complex the effects are, and how many different parameters you can tinker with.
If you are experienced with rack equipment, pedal boards and stomp boxes, this is fairly easy. If you aren't, then you could really have a difficult time with the unit. Personally, I think it's the most intelligently laid out unit I've ever worked with. Imagine a virtual pedalboard you can reroute/reconfigure in about 15 seconds. I've used a number of Rocktron, Alesis, Boss, Roland and Ibanez rack effect units and this just amazed me with its intuitive layout.
The graphic displays really help out. Editing is easy once you figure it out. Creating patches from scratch isn't too bad, but I think Rocktron units are much easier for this. One big bitch: Their manual is completely free of anything resembling detailed guidance, so you're on your own for the most part. The graphic displays are REALLY impressive though, and can guide you through most functions the unit can do. You have to invest some serious time into this unit, but I feel it's time well spent. If you are a tone freak and love to tweak things a lot, then run out and go buy one right now. If you don't want to hassle with computer-style interfaces, submenus and MIDI, then this probably isn't the right unit for you.

I currently use a Mesa Boogie Triaxis, the G-Force, a BBE 462, a Mesa Simul 2:90 power amp and a pair of Mesa Rectifier 1x12 cabinets. Small rig - big sound. My main guitars are from PRS - A McCarty and a Swamp Ash Special. To me, this setup is a dream. I can get just about any tone I want, from Eric Johnson to Allan Holdsworth to Phil Keaggy to John Petrucci to Gary Moore. The G-Force replaced 3 of my rack units - a Rocktron Replifex, a rack tuner and an Alesis Quadraverb GT.
Overall - It sounds amazing. Your original guitar tone doesn't change when you run it through the G-Force, the effects just compliment your existing tone. The biggest thing to remember with this unit is that is was not desined to do everything. It is not a preamp and was not designed to be one. The drive function is only used to add some grit to the effects to reproduce a more analog feel (One of the new Rocktron units does this, too). If you already have a good preamp, then this thing is God In A Box. If you don't, save your pennies and go get a Triaxis first.
The reverbs and delays have both high and low EQ rolloff capabilities, so you can go from a cold & digital 80's sound to a warm & analog 60's vibe. The chorusing and flanging sounds are to die for, and the reverbs just knock me out. Max delay time is 1.4 seconds, so you can't really loop anything complicated - I'd get a Lexicon Jam Man for that. The presets are pretty iffy (as usual with rack units) but you can copy specific effects from presets (i.e., only the reverb effect from Patch 128) into your own custom designed patches. This makes building your own patches easy. This thing had to be designed by a guitar player. A very warped guitar player, though...

I've had the unit for a month, and don't really see where there could be a reliability problem. There's a 2 year warranty, so that's cool. Of course, Murphy's law implies that the one night major label A&R guys are watching is the time your gear will spontaneously catch fire and die...

Haven't needed a repair yet (at $1,300 bucks I pray I never have to). Their website isn't too bad, but it would be nice if they had a page for swapping presets and such like Rocktron does. They do have manuals on-line, though, which would be nice if the manual actually contained useful info.

I play mainly original music in the vein of Phil Keaggy, Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson. The sounds I use are mostly pristine ringing clean tones, warm rhythm tones and high-gain lead tones using effects to support the sound I'm after, not overwhelm it. This unit really helps me get the sounds I hear in my head.
This thing is capable of going from "subtle" to "Oh my God - the Martians have landed!".
A point to consider: This unit was designed specifically for guitar players to put in their racks. It is not a studio processor per se although it can do a spiffy job in a home studio. Also - it is not a preamp. They assume you already have one. If you read the other G-Force reviews, you can see where some of the reviewers were hoping this was an "all-in-one" box, which it isn't. It IS a very believable effects unit though, and sounds incredible. It has very warm sounding tones and is very versatile. This unit is probably the best thing I've done to my guitar tone since I ditched my Marshalls for a Mesa rig ;)
Overall, I think it's a great unit for experienced players and tweakaholics, but it could easily overwhelm someone scared of all things electronica. The manual just plain sucks, so you basically have to learn it for yourself. The other gripe I have is that it doesn't have a programmable FX loop, which is a little arrogant - they assume you wouldn't want another processor in your rack (read their on-line FAQ sometime - it's pretty funny).
Other than that, I think it's a spiffy little unit - I just wish the thing didn't cost so damn much. I'd give it a 10 if it were priced more reasonably. Cool factoid: I am pretty sure dealer cost for this thing is just over $1,200 so be sure to call around for the best deal.

very easy to use if you read manual, but may be complicated for those who do not know anything about electronics/effects, etc.

using with ibanez jem vwh guitar and jcm 2000 reasonably quiet great chorus, reverb, and tremolo:good delay eq is complicated to use because there are so many types with many parameters this unit has a drive effect. this is not supposed to be distortion!!! it overdrive the effects artificially. it sounds great with the harmonizer.
overall this unit is complex and will take a while to learn every capability it has, but for thoise who are patient you can coax so many new sounds out of it. This unit is a breath of fresh air in a market filled with companies trying to produce vintage effects for vintage wannabees

owned for 6 month, haven't had a problem. Like any rack mounted piece of equipment, i would't kick it around (it is a computer and therefore not the sturdiest piece of equipment.

dealt with company once because it was a little noisy at first. this was easily solved by eliminating a ground loop

I'm really not into trying to copy anyone elses sound, so i was looking for a unit with quality effects which can be used simultaneously. I was not looking for something with a preample tube because the distortion on my amplifier is perfect. this unit is a toy for me because I never ever used any kind of effect even though i've played for 10 years.Overall you can get basically any sound imaginable out of this thing. The only thing I wish was that the unit came with a flloor pedal; it is however compatable with pedals from lexicon, art, custom audio, roland, etc.

This is a box that you can just jump in and start using if you only want to worry about the presets but programming it is another story. It's not the easiest processor to create your own presets on, there are quite a few menus and you can easily get lost inside of it. Having two knobs is also a bit weird and in my opinion wasted space on the front panel. One is for Value and the other is for Parameter. I always turn the wrong one.

The sound quality overall of the G-Force is very, very clear and quite digital sounding (as in a little cold). I have been putting my Les Paul into it both direct and out of the effects loop of my Peavey.
As far as the individual effects go some are great and some are weak.
The Great Ones: The modulation effects on this box stand out quite a bit. My favorite by far is the chorus. There's something about it that just draws you in, whether you have a super fast rate or a slow one. The Flanger, Phaser and Tremolo are also quite good. The Weak Ones: I wouldn't use the G-Force for any Reverbs or pitch shifting, I couldn't get either of those effects to do anything that impressive. The distortion is laughable, I'm not sure what they were thinking when they programmed it. The delay is average nothing really wrong with it but nothing impressive about it.
The titling of the presets was pretty cool. They have a few presets copying famous guitar (and other instruments) sounds of popular songs for example the preset called "The Schmiths" gives you that great tremolo sound on Johnny Marr's guitar in How Soon Is Now. The preset "Who's Next" copies the sound of the synthesizer used in Baba O'Riley.

I have not gigged with it but it did break within the first few weeks I had it. The right output channle blew out and an op-amp had to be replaced. The front panel is not too rugged either. The knobs are cheap plastic and they feel like you could just break them off.

I repaired it myself but the company was helpful.

I play mostly rock music so I guess it's a pretty good match for it but I'm honestly pretty close to selling it because I don't think it is even worth half the money I paid for it. I also own an Eventide H3000 and I should have just stuck with that, it does almost everything the G-Force does but better. Sometimes you think you want something new though. I'll admit I got sucked into buying the G-Force because of all the pretty LEDs and the nice green display. I think I'm just going to buy the TC chorus/flanger pedal, if it sounds anything like the G-Force chorus I'll be happy.

Well this is rocket science. The unit is in a word versitile I will not say it is hard to use. Time spent learning is rewarding and suprising

The distortion is lame, but all other things about this unit are above all others positively the best.

Well I spent 3 hours in the store I hear they are reliable from others.

Get a good tube preamp or amp and you will have the best there is.

They don't seem to have a huge staff, but they've been very helpful when I called.

Well, I've spent the last two weeks doing little else but stare into the oh-so-impressive face of a t.c.electronic G-Force, headphones clamped on, guitar in lap and fingertips complaining... IMHO, it's a marvel.
If I needed to use a single word to sum it up, I'd pick "MOTION," because, amidst all the impressive, even fantastic, sonic virtues (and vices) of the fx blocks, the single most memorable feature for me has been the incredible power and ease of use of the modifier matrix, the "linking" area, where pedals, MIDI controllers, internal LFOs, ADSR curves, and your pitch and input envelopes can be connected to virtually any and all parameters of whatever fx blocks you've currently loaded, resulting in multi-layered sounds that shift and twist, fade and swell, speed up and wind down, ring out and filter away, subtly or dramatically, all at once, either linked rhythmically or independant of one another.
The graphic simplicity of the G-Force's control interface is so useful and well-designed that, deep as it is, I'd spent almost no time with the manual (which is the shortest still-useful manual for a multi-fx I've ever seen) before I was easily cooking up complex, evolving sounds I'd never been able to come close to with my other fx. For example: Once you've linked a modifier to a parameter, you go to a screen with a little graph. Below the graph, there's a little triangle that moves to show you how your controller is behaving--if it's a pedal, press down and the triangle slides across the bottom of the graph. Next you can easily and radically reshape the curve so that the parameter is set to just where you want it for the different points along the controller's travel. (There should soon be a G-Force website where you can see this.) Once you get this going on, you tweek your patch mostly by adjusting the various response curves, instead of by scrolling to a parameter list and dialing in a fixed value.
The sonic results from the linking options and the almost computer-screen-like graphic clarity of the display are so good that, in my opinion, they almost render the shortcomings of the unit (which are surprisingly plentiful!) completely unimportant. Of course, if your goals are resting on one of these weak links, you'll feel otherwise, but as a seeker of new noises and an unapologetic fan of "SpecialFX", who was initially underwhelmed by the quite-tradtional palette of fx types described in the G-F press releases, I'm MOST gratified by the actual product: It is COOL!
Let's face up to the main shortcomings I experienced right away, so I can get back to gloating over the power and the positives: No compare function--ridiculous; The copy/move/rename functions are limited and awkward--check the competition, guys!; Instant patch changes, but NO delay/reverb spillover (at least not easily accessible spillover--it CAN be done, but in a very limiting way. Why is this easy for lesser units?); Modulators are centered when patches change, not immediately linked to current pedal position, for instance, so you have to move the pedal to zero it, even if it was zeroed when you changed--this really limits the potential power of instantaneous switching, in my view; The noise gate is fixed at the input, not moveable wherever needed--and it IS needed for some internal fx; ...I'm disappointed, but I can live with these flaws--hey, I'm not sending it back!! I describe them in hopes that they'll be improveable.
Problems I had on the level of individual fx: The Pitch Shifter is the big disappointment for me. I admit I'm spoiled by the VG-8's polyphonic abilities, but none of my other shifting devices had ever complained so badly over simple low double stops that I thought at first the thing was broken! I'm not much into intelligent harmonization, so I can't speak on that score (it certainly tracks well, tho), but I've found it hard (not impossible, however) to create really rich pitch-shifting effects. In fact, if I try to use it, I typically have to