TC Electronic G-Sharp Guitar Effects User Reviews at zZounds

"Subtle effects paired with digital reverbs might not appeal to everyone. But if your effects loop is lonely, this is certainly" submitted March 13, 2009

By a customer from kc.rr.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist, home recordist, former performing guitarist

Music Style: Rock, Alternative, Indie, home-recorded

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Sound: I use this unit in the parallel effects loop of a Traynor YCV80. Since its a parallel effects loop, I use the G-Sharp's "killdry" switch, which does away with any dry signal sent through the unit. This allows me to use the wet/dry mix knobs to control the amount of effects/reverb and not worry about my amp's effects loop mix. The G-Sharp's effects engine is rather subtle, especially on the flanger, tremolo, and soft chorus settings. I don't feel like I can get a wet enough mix for these effects. The delays are excellent and you get a remarkable amount of effect parameter control out of only 2 knobs on this engine. You can just walk right up to the unit and start twisting knobs to quickly hone in on the sound you're after. As far as the reverb engine, I can detect a digital quality to all of the reverbs. It's not that bad, but since my amp has a built-in spring reverb, the difference between an honest-to-goodness reverb tank and a digital emulation of a reverb is pretty obvious. Plus most of the reverbs sound pretty similar. The differences are subtle, but I'm sure that I'll get to know them better after I've logged more hours on this unit. Feature: All that came in the box was the unit itself, a manual, and a power cable. No footswitch, no MIDI cables. I bought the overpriced G-Switch 3-button footswitch, which provides 2 modes of operation: preset mode and manual mode. Preset mode uses the 3 buttons as patch up, patch down, and bypass. Manual mode uses the 3 buttons as reverb on/off, effects on/off, and tap tempo. Pretty slick, and you can get all the control you'd need onstage between these 2 modes. The unit itself is all metal, the knobs are sturdy and the pots have a solid feel to them. It doesn't feel flimsy or plastic-y like some effects boxes do. I'm still debating on the worth of the ability to switch between parallel mode and serial mode between the 2 engines. Parallel mode sends the signal to both engines at the same time, while serial mode sends the signal through the effects engine and then through the reverb engine. On my unit, the effects engine doesn't work at all in serial mode. Not sure if this is a feature or a bug, but I'll be calling the company soon to find out. I just wish you could use more than 1 effect and 1 reverb at a time, but considering the setup of the device, that probably just isn't possible. Ease of Use: No menus! Hooray! You just walk up to the unit, twist some knobs, and voila! There's your tone. The default 12:00 position for each knob is the recommended setting from TC Electronics, but you can tweak each parameter from there. Press the "store" button and all knob settings are saved as a preset for later recall. Very easy. I actually think it rates a 9.5 and not a 10 because the only way to give each preset an identity is to give it a number between 1-99. It'd be nice to be able to name each preset (i.e. "slapback & gold plate" or "light flange & dry") but that'd take up a lot of front-panel real estate that just isn't there on this unit. Quality: I've only owned this unit for a couple of days so I've only got about 8 hours logged on it so far. So I'm not able to rate reliability quite yet. If I have the ability to modify my review after I've submitted it, I'll come back in a year or so and give an update. But the fit and finish is great. Like I mentioned above, the all-metal construction and solid feel to the knobs gives an impression of a nice, high-quality unit. Even the input/output jacks hold an instrument cable tightly and with no wobble or crackling when I jiggle it. Value: I can't give this a high enough rating for value. For what I payed for it, I could have only afforded 1 or 2 comparable effects in stomp-box format. Individual effects boxes might be more tweakable, but there's no way I could purchase all of these effects individually for this price and still get this high of quality. Manufacturer Support: I can't comment on support yet. I'll contact the company to ask about the non-operational effects engine while in serial mode and report back if I can modify my review. The Wow Factor: The sturdy enclosure is definitely nice, but its a pretty utilitarian piece of equipment. Its pretty no-frills in its design and purpose. Overall: If I were to replace this unit, I would seek one with more features, more simultaneous effects, and more effects to choose from. I chose this unit because I play through a tube amp and I'm very satisfied with the distortion I get through it and a Tube Screamer. I also record my amp with a microphone and not direct, so cabinet/speaker emulation, modelling, distortion and overdrive weren't on my list of desired features. I have to admit that I was enticed by other units' inclusion of an expression pedal and wah effects. But in the end, I wanted a unit that I could just send through my amp's effects loop so I can use separate units to put between my guitar and my amp's input. The G-Sharp really fits that bill perfectly. There aren't a bunch of features that I'll never use, and I plan on making the most of the relatively slim selection of effects and large selection of reverbs provided by the G-Sharp.

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TC Electronic G-Sharp Guitar Multi-Effects Processor

User Ratings

"Subtle effects paired with digital reverbs might not appeal to everyone. But if your effects loop is lonely, this is certainly" submitted March 13, 2009