What are the "Cons" of the the G system?

[N_O_VATER220]

This thing looks really cool and im intrigued, what are the down falls? other than price.

[GAD]

I've got one. I bought it because I wanted one damn pedal, the ability to off/on any individual effect, the ability to program patches, AND killer effects.

The G does all that.

Downfalls:

It can be a bitch to learn how to program. It's not what I'd call intuitive. Once you spend a full day or two with it though, you're golden.

The display on it is nice, but should be bigger IMHO.

The support from TC is horrible. There's a forum that users frequent, and there are one or two guys there who REALLY get the G-system. Without them, mine would have been gone long ago. Firmware updates are few and far between.

The tuner can be confused by OD pedals in the loops. IIRC, the loops come before the tuner, so even if you mute (default tuner action), the loops are still on, so the tuner gets confused.

The MIDI doesn't work well with some amps. The MIDI is also VERY limited.

Expression pedal use is pretty icky. The TC X1 and V1 pedals simply don't exist, so you'll have to use something else like a BOSS V500. The forum is your friend here though. Many people gave up trying and put a wah inline with the G. That would piss me off if I had to add a pedal to my all in one...

There is a PC-based patch editor. It SUCKS. There is a new version in beta that I have not tried, but I hear it's better. I won't fool with TC beta stuff.

The boost is not a boost. The G lowers all signal by 6-10dB, then raises it to unity gain when you hit the boost. WTF? Once figured out it's easy to correct, but you'll think the G is sucking your tone dry until you disable this.

After all that, why do I keep it?

The effects are the best digital effects I've heard save for big $$ rack stuff.
The buttons/light setup is just killer. This alone is a huge win for me.
You can split the brains from the floor. I have the brains in a rack case with all my OD pedals in the case. Connects to the floor with Ethernet. Beautiful, simple, elegant. I love this.
I have one thing on the floor. Two if I want the expression pedal.
My ODs, now in a rack case, are at waist level - no more bending to tweak.
Once you figure it out, and program the patches the way you like, it's a wonderful tool.

Here's a pic of the custom shelf I made. The brains are over the shelf.



I love the lights around the BIG buttons. My big ol' clown feet rarely hit more than one at a time.




HTH,

GAD

[N_O_VATER220]

thank you sir that is a wealth of info, killer gear by the way. I assume the delays and reverbs are really nice, how is the phaser / flanger/ chorus. does it have any sort of univibe sound and is it any good? I like the idea of being able to hit one button and change everything.

[GAD]

Originally Posted by N_O_VATER220

thank you sir that is a wealth of info, killer gear by the way. I assume the delays and reverbs are really nice, how is the phaser / flanger/ chorus. does it have any sort of univibe sound and is it any good? I like the idea of being able to hit one button and change everything.

I'll warn you that I'm not much of an effects snob, so the ability to have a wide variety overshadows the quality for me. That being said, the reverb on the G is the only thing I've noticed that's "not as good" as what I'm used to, which is spring reverb. The new version of firmware for the G has "better" reverb, and it's gotten some pretty good reviews, but I won't upgrade until it's out of beta.

What I really like is the versatility. I've got analog delay, digital delay, tape delay, etc. all with a pile of options - and that's just the delay. Being a child of the 80s, I use delay a lot, and I'm happy with the delay on the G. I tend to be playing cover tunes and want to get as close as I can to the original sound, but I don't feel the need to buy the exact same box the original artist used - hence the G.

There is no dedicated "univibe" effect, but I've read of people tweaking to get close.

Check out the G-system forum: http://forum.tcelectronic.com/viewforum.php?id=7 You'll likely find anything you'd want to know there.

[GAD]

Originally Posted by N_O_VATER220

thank you sir that is a wealth of info, killer gear by the way. I assume the delays and reverbs are really nice, how is the phaser / flanger/ chorus. does it have any sort of univibe sound and is it any good? I like the idea of being able to hit one button and change everything.

Just an update. Ver. 4.02 has been publicly released for the G-system and it now supports Univibe with "Modern" and "Vintage" types.

I'm off to download and install and see how it sounds.

[raph]

Cons are same as the pros.. really, really great studio effects - clean, transparent - in a footpedal format but if you're looking for a noisemaker you're better off with line 6's excellent M9 or M13, the digitech stuff, the boss stuff, etc.

If you're the type of guitar player who gets the tone you want out of an amp and a couple of dirt boxes, this is the device for you. Otherwise, look elsewhere.