8/11/2019 Review G System Music Tech

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Most of us associateScandinavian audioequipment withinnovative design andsuperb build quality.

Brands such as Bang & Olufsen,Dynaudio and Genelec have alwaysseemed to offer just a little morerefinement than you would expect fromsimilar Far Eastern products.TC Electronic is no exception, and thecompany has developed some classicgear over the years, including the 2290digital delay and the ground-breakingFinalizer, that so dismayed all thosemastering engineers.

As well as st udio processors, TCElectronic has always maintained aninterest in guitar effects. But there aretwo noticeable absences that makethis particular product a departurefrom typical multi-effects boxes: bothdigital amplifier modelling and a

distortion effect are missing.

The new G-System looks fantasticand the build quality of the brushedmetal chassis is outstanding. It feelsarmour-plated, which for a piece of kitthats destined to spend its life being

jumped on, is no bad thing. Ratherthan the clutter of vague push pedalsor hard-to-hit metal footswitches thatblight most processors and pedals, theG-System has bright chrome switcheswith a diameter roughly equivalent to a

ten-pence coin. As well as being easyto switch, they are surrounded bybright red light when active.

The G-Systems layout is simpleand ergonomic and there are nobreakable plastic knobs to tweak beforeyou get started we had this thing upand running in next to no time. Thereare 100 factory presets in banks A0B9,plus you can store 200 of your own.The Up/Down switches select thebanks and there are five sounds in

each, selected from footswitches 15.

Each preset has a combination of up tosix effects, including filter, compression,modulation, pitch, delay and reverb. Ifthe effect is active the correspondingswitch lights up; if you want to switch itoff, just press the footswitch.

The integral tuner and the Boostbutton are very guitarist-friendlyfeatures. You can program the desiredlevel of boost for individual presets,giving you a clean volume lift for solos.

Middle managementConnecting a distortion unit (or othereffect) to the G-System is simply amatter of patching to one of fouranalogue loops. You can set send andreturn levels and you can activate threeof them using the Loop footswitcheson the G-System. Another trick theG-System has up its sleeve is that theprocessor box can be removed fromunderneath the unit and rackmounted.Since it also supplies 9V DC power for

up to four effects pedals, both the

G-SYSTEM!"#$%"&'$()( TC Electronic+(,&) 1,174-.#'"&' TC Electronic 0800 917 8926/)0 www.tcelectronic.com

KEY FEATURESY Two 1/4-inch

instrumentinputs,pseudo-balanced

Y Impedance:1M!

Y Four analogueeffects loops

Y Max output:12dBu

Y Two analogueoutputs (L/R)

Y Sample rate:44.1kHz(24-bit)

Y MIDI In/OutY USB 1.1Y 100 factory

presetsY 200 user

presets

It might lack one fundamental guitar effect, but TC Electronics new G-Systemdelivers the very best of the rest. Huw Price plugs in.

TC Electronic

!"#$%&'( RECOMMENDED

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MusicTech MAGAZINEOctober 2005 73

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G-System and all your analogueeffects can be controlled remotelyusing the floorboard. Three of theswitches along the top are alsoencoder knobs. When you are editingeffects, simply turn the Loop knob thatcorresponds to the parameters.

In addition to the usual analogueinputs and outputs youll find MIDI Inand Out, so you can select G-Systempresets from your sequencer. Theres aUSB socket to connect the G-Systemto your computer for softwareupgrades, plus an S/PDIF socket forfeeding straight into a digital recorder.There are also two pedal inputs forcontrolling wah and volume fromexpression pedals.

Hitting the spotSadly, guitar multi-effects units areoften like adventure playgrounds forinexperienced players packed withunusable sounds, excessive effects andbewildering interfaces. The G-System is

the total opposite: its simple to useand the presets are mostly practicaltones that can be used without priorediting. Having said that, there is somemore out-there stuff, too, includingbackwards delays, pitch shifting,dynamic filtering and dramaticmodulations. The big difference is thatthese sound as though they werecarefully engineered in a recordingstudio rather than cobbled together bya lab technician taking a day off fromdesigning cheap synthesizers.

Some of the preset names Message In A Bottle, Right On TheEdge and Gilmours Delays provideclues about what to expect, but othersare more enigmatic. But rather thanspending time figuring out how toswitch things off, we enjoyed switchingthings on! Editing is simple thanks tothe standard layout, but everyone hasa preferred way of doing things. To thisend you can customise the G-Systemsswitch functions to your preferred wayof working and adhesive labels areprovided for your new configuration.

Many guitarists use amps withchannel switching, while others usetwo amps. The G-System enables youto route presets to different outputs sochannel or amp switching is handledfor you no more Rudolf Nureyevroutines as you try to stomp on severalswitches simultaneously. You can useup to three amplifiers, too, either

individually or together.With a guitar plugged in and all the

effects bypassed, the G-System hasvery little impact if any on thenatural sound of the guitar, but itseemed a little quieter. A quick nosethrough the manual revealed that theBoost function is actually anattenuation lift. Since this is a digitalprocessor, theres a digital ceiling toworry about. Rather than risk overload,TC Electronic decided to attenuate theregular signal so the Boost buttonbrings things back up to a normal level although you can apply a boost, too.

With the G-System theres none ofthe insipid and sterile quality that digitalprocessing often brings to guitarsounds. We believe this product will

Measuring UpLittle compares to the G-System except, perhaps, the Vox TonelabSE (399). But thats a dedicated digital modelling preamp and itdoesnt have control capabilities for analogue effects. Its perhapsmore meaningful to compare the G-System with individualstompboxes of a similar calibre. So, what about a FulltoneChoralflange (299), a T-Rex Replica (269), an Electro HarmonixHoly Grail (105) an EMMA DiscumBOBulator (110) and a KeeleyCompressor (185)? That adds up to 968, but youd have to buy apower supply and youd still lack a tuner, programmability, MIDIcontrol, speaker simulation, amp switching and digital output.

appeal to guitar traditionalists as well asthe more sonically adventurous. Its awonderful-sounding, real-world productthats based on reality rather thanfantasy, designed to work with guitars,amps and, most importantly, players.

No compromise At first we were surprised by theabsence of distortion effects, but wenow think TC Electronic has pulled offa masterstroke. Most guitaristsacknowledge that amplifier valves andspecialist analogue stompboxesproduce the best distortion. Digitaldistortion is never convincing and byplaying to the strengths of digitaltechnology with studio-quality reverb,delays, modulation and filtering, TCElectronic has successfully avoidedhaving to make any compromises.

Factor in the low noise levels and theoption to separate the system thereby keeping analogue pedals out ofharms way and it seems that TCElectronic has developed a veryprofessional product for home practice,serious gigging or studio work. MTM

METHOD SPOTBecause the G-Systemspoils you with suchconvenient andclutter-free effectsmanagement,the lastthing you want is oneof those annoyingamplifier channel-switching boxesmessing things up.

Happily, the G Systemcan handle that foryou, too.It has two1/4-inch stereo jack outputs for channel-switching duties.Simply run cablesfrom these switchoutputs to the switchinputs on your amps.16 relay combinationsare possible and theycan be stored withyour presets. As wellas alternatingbetween amps, youcan channel-switchindividual amps formultiple combinationsand sounds and itsall pre-programmable.

!"##$%& WHY BUY

Fantastic soundsGorgeous stylingErgonomic designMulti-functionalNo wall-wart power supply

'(%)*+,By seamlessly integrating the best ofDSP technology with analogue pedalmanagement, TCs G-System certainlyhits the spot.

WALK ON BYNo integral wah/expression pedal44.1K sample rate onlyBoost is actually attenuation liftExpensive

The G-Systems processor box can be

separated from the floorboard and

rackmounted. Note the four 9V power socketsfor powering external effects boxes.

74 October 2005 MusicTech MAGAZINE

The G-System is sturdily built, clearly laid out

and extremely easy to operate.

BUY THIS PRODUCT AT WWW.MUSICTECHMAG.CO.UK/STORE

!"!#$%&'()'* ", -./0/1'2 3456476 6879 :! :;