TC Electronic G-System

Hey brothers, I just got my unit and it may be sort of early for a reveiw but Im in the mood and so here goes my opinions. This is not easy to use.. like a computer the patches and proceedures must be followed to a T otherwise you are spinning your wheels but as we all know persistence and determination in guitar playing is the winning combination... so I would have to say at this point you must be willing to tackle whatever it takes to rise to the top... but as far as I can perceive this thing so far... IT IS WORTH THE WORK

My guitars are a studio firebird with hot tv jones pickups and a custom shop 54 strat with a hybred warmouth neck playing into a tone king comet and I currently play classic rock mostly 70s &80s. The set up is very quiet until you turn on external effects or if you are near a computer or other potentially noisy elec. source. This unit has the potential to cop almost any sounds you want but your distortion sounds come from your own added stomps or pre-amps. Im using a tone bone plexie with a telefunken 12ax7 and it is killer for hard rock... And to my delight this unit sounds better through the G system because of the ability to tweek the input and output levels. Without being overyly loud, I can get a huge wall of distorted sound not possible from just the tonebone and my amp. And, everyone that has heard it so far has been shocked at how pro and impressive this combo sounds. The G does have sort of a signature tone quality but overall is transparent. I would say overall it enhances every aspect of your tone but definately changes your sound in general. I would add that I have always been skeptical about letting anything get between my guitar and amp because I cant tolerate loss of signal. There is a change in the sound that is from the unit that you must accept but if you tweek the G input/outputs and your stomp level you can gain way more as a trade off.

dont know about this but Ive never seen a more heavily built unit. It probably needs to be taken care of like a computer though... as in watch out for heat and vibration etc

I bought this unit used .. two years old and it doesent need any thing yet but a better manual would be nice. The geeks at TC seem to assume you know more than you do when it comes to splaining proceedures.

Ive been playing 35 years and never been much into a lot of stomps but Im doing a 3 piece hard rock band and need some color and flavors to mix it up a bit. So far, Im very impressed with this unit and although Im presently pretty green on the learning curve, I see this thing as a major move in the right direction. The only downside is the time it takes to get it incorporated into my act. It takes away valuable time from learning new covers as my band is still in the woodshed.... but buying this unit was a very positive move for me and If you can relate to what I have said I would say go for it.. buy it... got mine off of ebay for $860.

I give it a 7 because it takes a time to set it right, but if you are used to rack or multifx than it is not really a problem. I am using version 3.0

Use the TC Forum and The guide From Laird (all credits for you mate thanks) and give it some time to get it right.

I use it on 3 setups 1- 2 Rolands JC 120 in stereo 2- Rivera Knucklehead 3- Marshall 6100 and my axes are a Fender CS strat a Suhr carved top and a Boel GG200
All setups sounds great and are not noisy at all.
The effects are REALLY good except for the flanger and phaser, Delay, Chorus and Reverb are impressive, the pitchshifter is very good and even the Wah is good.
Do not use the boost, rather buy an boostpedal.
The G-system is my (engine) of all my setups and what i really like is the channel switching by midi or relay for both the Marshall and the Rivera, i never liked the tapdancing with my former pedalboard.

Can it replace all youre favourite pedals ? Well no For delay chorus and reverb etc it does but i use a mxr flanger and a mxr booster in the loops.

The loops i love also, youre analog pedals are even getting 9 volt from the G.
I also use an Volume and expression pedal from boss (works great)

There is a NEED to have good cables (i use spectraflex) so keep in mind that takes a part of the budget also.

Overall the effects a real transparent what i like, There is very litle toneloss and the system gives you a lot of flexibility, and once you setup right there is a lot of eas at use.

Well so far it is reliable for me so i give it a 9 (it still should after 1.5 years :)

Never dealt with them so i dont know

I play Symphonic Rock, Rock and top 100 it covers it all.

Untill there is a better product for my needs the G-System is my thing, also i am a real gearslut :) and bought to much i regret.
If it was stolen or broken i replace it directly.

Things can always be better but for the products on the market now for me this is the best.

It helps to have some experience setting the G System up. Laird Williams has a killer tutorial in PDF form that is of great help. It should be part of the manual, but it's not. Contact him directly on the tc forums and he'll email it to you.

Modifying sounds on the system itself is about as difficult as on any other rack unit. What sets the G-System apart is the ability to use the footswitches as rotary knobs. Yes, you can change delay times on the fly as on your Boss DD3 or EH Memory Man.

Psicraft's "Vyzor G-System" software for PC and Mac is absolutely fantastic. You can save and modify all your settings via a UI right on your 30" computer monitor. With this system in place, the process for changing, storing/backing up sounds is a perfect 10. NOBODY does it better, but some match it.

Overall, the control scheme is the **best ever made** in a digital unit that is essentially a rack processor in floor-based pedal board form.

The delays and chorus are best in class - absolute 10. They're straight from the TC 2290. The pitch functions include an intelligent pitch shifter in the 3.0 G-System firmware software. Tracking is eventide rack unit quality but newer eventide systems still have more routing options.

The other effects are excellent. Analog purists will be disappointed, but that perfect analog flanger sound is only perfect for that one song, and at one tempo. This will nail the right sweep and tempo every time. The flexibility of this system and its consistent, predictable sound quality makes it a competitor to large, modern switched rack units, not to analog effects. With a high-quality tube amp cranked up to breathe and the right programming, the G-System is indistinguishable from analog units and is defeated only by the best analog units.

The 4 pedal loops and insert loop help preserve the flexibility of using your own analog distortion pedals and tube amp character. It is even possible to use the G-System to control your amp's channels (via midi or via analog relays), so one can switch amp channels when switching among presets. These features separate the G-System from any competitor and elevate it above any floor-based unit available today.

Without reservation, this is the single best device ever made for time-based effects used in practical, real-life situations.

It's very well-built and reliable. The switches are large, spaced far apart, but have a soft feel.

TC has great support. No, they probably won't tell you how to make a Hendrix patch but they will guide you with any hardware errors and provide repairs if they are necessary.

You can get best in class studio-quality effects using a $20,000 rack with intricate switching systems. This device is 1/10th the size, 1/12th the weight, and 1/15th the cost. It provides 95% of the functionality and sound quality. There is no better floorboard unit on the market today if you're playing a full set with a wide array of sounds.

Delay spillover, tap tempo across presets (controlled manually, through presets or via midi), and the apt memory of the unit - 40 patches with 5 presets each that you can use as intro, verse, chorus, solo, bridge or outro, etc - make it the best candidate for touring musicians who cannot carry a ton of amps and rack effects to recreate the sounds they layer in the studio. It is an excellent tool for practice and recording.

It's a complex unit, but the interface is good. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to program.

If we were talking about studio FX, I'd give it a 10. The FX are very clean...too clean for guitar IMO. It yields a very generic type of compressor, chorus, delay, etc. This is the main reason I sold it. It does everything you want, it's clean and noiseless, but it lacks the character of high quality analog pedals.

Didn't have it long enough for a rating, but the thing is built like a tank.

I've dealt with TC on other matters, and they are one of the better companies out there. They will even support long discontinued products.

Again, if I was looking for super clean, transparent FX, I would rate this a 10, but I'm a bit more of an old school guitar player, growing up on analog chorus, delay, compressors, etc. Those effects had a character that brought your sound to another level. I ended up selling the G-system and going back to my analog pedals.

Not real easy, not real hard. Just take some time with it,read the manual, and forums.If you've played with rack mount gear before, about the same.

Well, I bought this when it was first released, it looked like the ultimate tool.great design, nice layout, options of all sorts, but I could not get it to sound right with my amps, tone loss volume loss, it killed it for me so I sold it a few months after i got it.Now here we are 09' n I bought it again,WHY? thought you'd never ask. Iread the manual LAIRD sent me online he wrote, I read it thru several times, then read articles and posts of guys doing what he said, with the same amps as me,Diezel, mesa,diamond,marshall.The book should be included with the g system,Its spot on.
Took the plunge, cuz i want it to work as I see many artists using it more n more,many new updates( just for the guy that posted he has to hit switch to turn on wah, There is an auto on feature so as soon as you put your foot on wah it turns it on/off) Got it home hooked it up as Laird said, check all connections, got balanced cables where needed, and presto PERFECT!
PS all the effects are great, typical tc stuff just like g force/gmajor, the wah is awesome,yes it is! thank you, 2 less long cables to be run!

The boost thing in the book Laird wrote,as well as all the settings... thats where i went wrong 1st time out.

tc always answers me, for yrs no problems

Im glad I read that book, its nice to have this system again, I use it with the rjm rg16 switcher, multiple heads and a couple vintage pedals w/ g system.

HINDSIGHT is ALWAYS 20/20 !

I have owned the G-System for about six months and thought it was time to submit a review. This system requires a lot of explaining (both good and bad).

Operating the G-System is not difficult by any means once you have it setup the way you like. Changing patches and parameters, for example, is a breeze. However, the first day you own the system it feels like you are playing a game of Twister, pressing and turning knobs to figure out where everything is located.

It is important to know that deploying the G-System can be complicated because it strives to be a "do it all" device, a controller for your entire rig. Using it requires somewhat of a commitment and strategic thinking about your setup. For example, you must decide where the brains of the unit will be located (it can remain within the floor controller or in a rack space.) Once you take that step you must decide where your stompboxes will go. So there is a logistical challenge right from the onset to reep all the benefits.

I am using the very simplest of setups and have encountered very few problems. It sounds great and is easy to use. I enjoy it a great deal. I am rating this category a 6 because there is a lot of setup required to use the system.

I purchased the G-System because I wanted quality delay and reverb. Both are excellent! You will love them. In my view these are the primary effects that you are paying for. One of the features I like is the ability to control parameters in real time using a pedal (I am using an Ernie Ball for this.) So, for example, I can control the delay mix, adding more or less as needed.

All of the other effects in the G-System are quite usable and worthy. They have a nice transparency to them, keeping the guitar tone clean throughout. The parameters give you tons of control. I am not disappointed in any particular effect, though the modulating effects require a lot of trial and error. I can't say that the G-System will always reproduce your favorite stompbox, but the effects should be sufficient for most uses.

I wanted to mention that I don't like the solo/boost feature. It's not that it is unusable, but it involves reducing the signal for normal playing, then bringing it back up when activated. It's more like a simulated boost. I deactivated it and added a Boosta Grande to the chain just prior to the amp (Note - I am using a mono output. Adding a boost pedal might not work for you if you want to use the stereo output option.)

I also no longer use the "cry baby" wah effect. I like the sound, but find it to be a hassle to press the "on" button before using the pedal. In other words, the extra step of activating the effect gets in the way of playing in real time. Therefore I added a separate wah pedal pre G-System. I also added a volume pedal so I don't need to fiddle with the built-in volume parameter.

Many people have complained about noise problems with the G-System. I have not had a problem with this while using my Gibson SG with humbuckers. However, I did once encounter extreme noise issues when using my Telecaster. So I think the G-System is tempermental to noise. But I am told that these problems can be resolved with good cabling and a hum eliminator.

I am using a very simple setup with three pedals in the loops. One loop goes to a Roland GP8 and the others go to Maxon OD9 Pros.

Guitar - volume pedal - wah pedal - G System (loops) - Boosta Grande - Fender Twin Reverb

I have never had a problem with it. Built with integrity. Software upgrades occasionally have side effects, but nothing to worry about.

No experience with support.

The concept behind the G-System is great and TC Electronic really worked hard to get it right. I really like the quality effects. BUT it is my hope that they will release an upgraded version someday. I would buy it the day it was released.

There are inevitable challenges setting up the G-System simply because it tries to do so much. Be aware that it is a commitment. It requires plenty of cabling (plan on spending money on this) and effort to get it setup the way you want. You will find yourself tweeking such things as input gain, loop levels, boost level, etc. Also, many people have struggled with the advanced features such as channel switching.

It's a great and powerful system but I strongly recommend that you read the TC Electronic bulletin board before purchasing.

I have owned the G-System (version 3.0) for about six months and thought it was time to submit a review. This system requires a lot of explaining (both good and bad).

Operating the G-System is not difficult by any means once you have it setup the way you like. Changing patches and parameters, for example, is a breeze. However, the first day you own the system it feels like you are playing a game of Twister, pressing and turning knobs to figure out where everything is located.

It is important to know that deploying the G-System can be complicated because it strives to be a "do it all" device, a controller for your entire rig. Using it requires somewhat of a commitment and strategic thinking about your setup. For example, you must decide where the brains of the unit will be located (it can remain within the floor controller or in a rack space.) Once you take that step you must decide where your stompboxes will go. So there is a logistical challenge right from the onset to reep all the benefits.

I am using the very simplest of setups and have encountered very few problems. It sounds great and is easy to use. I enjoy it a great deal. I am rating this category a 6 because there is a lot of setup required to use the system.

I purchased the G-System because I wanted quality delay and reverb. Both are excellent! You will love them. In my view these are the primary effects that you are paying for. One of the features I like is the ability to control parameters in real time using a pedal (I am using an Ernie Ball for this.) So, for example, I can control the delay mix, adding more or less as needed.

All of the other effects in the G-System are quite usable and worthy. They have a nice transparency to them, keeping the guitar tone clean throughout. The parameters give you tons of control. I am not disappointed in any particular effect, though the modulating effects require a lot of trial and error. I can't say that the G-System will always reproduce your favorite stompbox, but the effects should be sufficient for most uses.

I wanted to mention that I don't like the solo/boost feature. It's not that it is unusable, but it involves reducing the signal for normal playing, then bringing it back up when activated. It's more like a simulated boost. I deactivated it and added a Boosta Grande to the chain just prior to the amp (Note - I am using a mono output. Adding a boost pedal might not work for you if you want to use the stereo output option.)

I also no longer use the "cry baby" wah effect. I like the sound, but find it to be a hassle to press the "on" button before using the pedal. In other words, the extra step of activating the effect gets in the way of playing in real time. Therefore I added a separate wah pedal pre G-System. I also added a volume pedal so I don't need to fiddle with the built-in volume parameter.

Many people have complained about noise problems with the G-System. I have not had a problem with this while using my Gibson SG with humbuckers. However, I did once encounter extreme noise issues when using my Telecaster. So I think the G-System is tempermental to noise. But I am told that these problems can be resolved with good cabling and a hum eliminator.

I am using a very simple setup with three pedals in the loops. One loop goes to a Roland GP8 and the others go to Maxon OD9 Pros.

Guitar - volume pedal - wah pedal - G System (loops) - Boosta Grande - Fender Twin Reverb

Very reliable. Built solidly.

I have never used the customer support.

The concept behind the G-System is great and TC Electronic really worked hard to get it right. I really like the quality effects. BUT it is my hope that they will release an upgraded version someday. I would buy it the day it was released.

There are inevitable challenges setting up the G-System simply because it tries to do so much. Be aware that it is a commitment. It requires plenty of cabling (plan on spending money on this) and effort to get it setup the way you want. You will find yourself tweeking such things as input gain, loop levels, boost level, etc. Also, many people have struggled with the advanced features such as channel switching.

It's a great and powerful system but I strongly recommend that you read the TC Electronic bulletin board before purchasing.

I'm not an expert on tone or anything, but you can hear me using the G-System on YouTube. Do a search for the band Fayrewether. I am in the more recent videos.

I have owned the G-System for about six months and thought it was a good time to submit a review. This system requires a lot of explaining (both good and bad).

Operating the G-System is not difficult by any means once you have it setup the way you like. Changing patches and parameters, for example, is a breeze. However, the first day you own the system it feels like you are playing a game of Twister, pressing and turning knobs to figure out where everything is located.

It is important to know that employing this unit can be complicated. The G-System strives to be a "do it all" device. It is a commitment that demands strategic thinking about your setup. For example, you must decide where the brains of the unit will be located (it can remain within the floor controller or, say, in a rack space.) Once you take that step you must decide where your stompboxes will go. Etc.

I am using the very simplest of setups and have encountered very few problems. I enjoy using it a great deal. I am rating this category a 6 because there is a lot of setup required to use the system.

I purchased the G-System because I wanted quality delay and reverb, and both are excellent! You will love them. In my view these are the primary effects that you are paying for. Likewise, all of the other effects in the G-System are quite usable and worthy. They have a nice transparency to them, keeping the guitar tone clean throughout. The parameters give you lots of control.

I can't say that the G-System will always reproduce your favorite stompbox, but the effects should be sufficient for most uses. Some of them, like chorus and phaser, require some work to get the sounds you want.

I wanted to mention that I don't like the solo/boost feature. It's not that it is unusable, but it involves reducing the signal for normal playing, then bringing it back up when activated. It's more like a simulated boost. I deactivated it and added a Boosta Grande to the chain just prior to the amp (Note - I am using a mono output. So adding a boost pedal might not work with stereo output.)

Also, I no longer use the "cry baby" wah effect. I like the sound, but find it to be a hassle to press the "on" button before using the pedal. In other words, the extra step of activating the effect gets in the way of playing in real time. Therefore I added a regular wah pedal pre G-System. Likewise, I also added a volume pedal so I don't need to fiddle with the built-in volume controller.

Many people have complained about noise problems with the G-System. I have not had a problem with this while using my Gibson SG with humbuckers. However, I did once encounter extreme noise issues when using my Telecaster. I am told that these problems can be resolved with diligence.

I am using a very simple linear setup as follows:
Guitar - volume pedal - wah pedal - G System - Boosta Grande - Fender Twin Reverb

This product is built well. Reliability has never been an issue for me.

I have never used customer support.

The concept behind the G-System is great and TC Electronic really worked hard to get it right. I really like the quality effects. But it is my hope that they will release an upgraded version someday. I would buy it the day it was released.

There are inevitable challenges setting up the G-System simply because it tries to do so much. Be aware that it is a commitment. It requires plenty of cabling (plan on spending money on this.) Also, many people have complained about noise issues and have trouble with some of the advanced features such as channel switching.

I strongly recommend that you read the TC Electronic bulletin board before purchasing. Do your research to see if it will work well for your needs.

For what it is worth, here is a video of me playing while using the g-System: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16CJBCbVhhE

Initially I was getting a weird noise when hooked up to my Mesa Retoverb 50 and spent 3 weeks trying to diagnose. I attributed it to the "tone sucking" some people have mentioned in these reviews.
The people on the TC Forum were very helpful in helping me troubleshoot the issue.
Once the amp was fixed I have to say this thing sounds AMAZING.

My main guitars are a 2003 Les Paul Standard, a 2007 Les Paul Studio,
and an American Standard Tele with the Graphtech Ghost piezo system installed. I've been playing/gigging for 30 years. For the last 3 years I have just gone Les Paul/one cable/Mesa Rectoverb 50. No effects but the amp's reverb. Anytime I put something between the guitar and amp I lost more than I gained tone-wise. I have used everything from stomp boxes to the old fridge rack. Finally settled on a small rig I can chuck in my car and still get good tone at the gigs. Once I got everything working correctly with the G System I honestly can't hear ANY tone loss even with a parallel loop. I may still get my loop modded to serial but I am not having any of the phasing issues I have read about.

I will be buying something like a POD with a few sounds dialed in. More for a backup in case my amp dies at a gig, not as a backup for the G System. The unit seems very well built. I am running it as a separate rack unit/floor controller and both halves are in ATA flight cases so I'm hopeful everything will work reliably.

Talked to their tech on the phone while trying to diagnose the problem. It was a problem with my amp which was only intermittent
so it was hard to pin down. They were very cool and very interested
in helping me get the best out of my rig.

This unit is exactly what I was looking for. It took about 3 weeks to diagnose my amp trouble which I unfairly blamed on the G System, but once that was fixed I can say these are the cleanest most transparent effects I've ever used. To the guys complaining about tone sucking, I would just say be persistent and patient. I was blaming the G System for the fact that I couldn't properly troubleshoot my system. I used to use a Boss GT-6 wired with the same "4 cable" method. When I would A/B it you couldn't tell the difference, but after gigging for say a year without plugging it in at home, I would later record at home with just guitar/cable/amp
and POW! You could really feel what the AD/DA conversion was stealing tone-wise. With this unit, it sounds and FEELS identical to the straight amp. I don't use many effects and the ones I do, I use sparingly. Overall this is exactly what I needed.

A poor rating but only because the manual is badly written in my opinion. however once I got onto the tc forum there was an excellent contributor called Laird who took me through things step by step. TC would do themselves a huge favour by getting this person to rewrite the manual. Editing patches & upgrading firmware is simple. Once again a manual rewrite would help as some of the effects have many options.

The sound quality was outstanding but once again only after my good experience on the TC forum. There is no noise, the effects are fantastic, the loops work, the amp switching works, really a great piece of equipment. I do however pity the guy who buys this equipment who does not have the experience or drive to actually try and get the best out of it. As I say the manual is shocking.

I have had no problems at all.

Customer support is not good as they do not communicate properly. If it was not for the TC forum I would have sold the unit.

I have been gigging for 40 years and the g system is the best thing in my opinion. I need no other pedals apart from a wah and a volume pedal. I would definitely buy another one and can recommend it highly but users should go to the TC forum site and look at the stuff written by Laird. He is brilliant and it is easy to understand what he says and what steps you need to take to ensure you get the best out of it. I suppose some will say why buy equipment with a shocking manual that makes it hard to work and this is a valid point. So 9 and not 10 point simply based on the hopeless manual and support.