HAD IT WITH PEDALS!!!!!

[joeydego]

After about 10 intermittent drop outs last night (happened with another amp, same pedalboard), I'm at a juncture where maybe it's time to make the jump to the TC Electronics G system. I have a late 2011 Triple Rec. Forgive me if this has been covered, but a few questions:
1. Do these 2 generally play nice together? I currently have a nova delay and boss chorus going thru my loop no problem. I sorta beat on my gear and need functionality over pristine conditions and minutia in tone differences. If my current set up works sound wise for me, I couldn't imagine my proposed one will be horribly atrocious. I also feel at least half the tone flops I've read here are more pilot error than compatibility, but maybe I'm wrong. I DO hear a bit of difference when I engage my loop, but nothing show stopping and I just tend to leave the loop engaged all night so there is no difference anyhow.
2. Will the TC G System switch my amp channels? I'm not sure if my footswitch for the Rec is midi (I'm not in front of it), but it LOOKS midi-ish. Not a deal breaker if it can't, but it would be nice to have presets that switch amp channels as well.
Is the TC Electronics G System bus powered via the midi cable? Once again, not a deal breaker if it isn't but would be nice. If it ISN'T, would at least the pedal part of the device be bus powered?
Thanks for your time, fellas!

 

[elvis]

I've used a G System over the last few years with a variety of Mesa amps (see my sig). It works great with all of them.

HOWEVER...

The Gsystem is a very complicated. You will absolutely want to go through Laird Williams's white paper step by step. You can get that, and a LOT of great support on the Gsystem forum.

I am using my Gsystem right now with both an Electradyne and a Mini Recto. It is a fabulous piece of hardware. But it does have its limitations.

Some basic information:
It has great FX built in. BUT you have to use them in the order that they are built in. It is not very flexible.
It will switch a few outboard FX, mostly designed for boost and OD pedals in front of the amp.
It will switch up to 4 relay-controllable functions. It will switch channels, reverb, whatever.
Mesa amps don't play well with low-impedance studio FX. The TC Electronic stuff is exactly that. You will need to buffer the amp's FX send that runs to the Gsystem, or it will have a huge effect on your tone. This has been described ad nauseum, so I will not write more here. PM me for more details, or better yet, read the white paper.
The G system has a noise issue in the front end when using high gain amps like Mesa or Diezel. There is a way to work around it, also available from me or the forum.

Many people get a G and then dump it because they think it sounds horrible. The problem is that they are simply not up to the task of working with that complicated a piece of equipment. It takes some time and effort to set it up. With very few exceptions, it has been set up on hundreds of amps with excellent results.

 

[elvis]

Missed the power question. You can run the G with the "brains" in the pedal, and then it needs AC power to the pedal. Or you can run the "brains" in a rack, and the pedal is powered via the ethernet wire that connects the pedal to the rack unit.

In my setup, I use the G system filter and an expression pedal as a wah. So I only have one wire on the floor - the ethernet wire that connects the floor unit to the rack unit. Everything else is in the rack. No analog signals run on the floor, no long signal wires. It's really cool.

 

[joeydego]

Thank you for your reply. A few of your points

I've used a G System over the last few years with a variety of Mesa amps (see my sig). It works great with all of them.

HOWEVER...

The Gsystem is a very complicated. You will absolutely want to go through Laird Williams's white paper step by step. You can get that, and a LOT of great support on the Gsystem forum.

I've anticipated as much. Doesn't look very plug and play. I look forward to getting into the nuts and bolts.

I am using my Gsystem right now with both an Electradyne and a Mini Recto. It is a fabulous piece of hardware. But it does have its limitations.

Some basic information:
It has great FX built in. BUT you have to use them in the order that they are built in. It is not very flexible.

I can live with this. I generally don't stack 15 effects at once with the comp at the end lol. As long as the chain they give makes some kind of sense, this will be fine for me. I rarely look for more than one or 2 at a time, anyhow.

It will switch a few outboard FX, mostly designed for boost and OD pedals in front of the amp.

My whole point of looking at this unit was for an all in one solution. I want to use comp and boost stuff from it in front and modulation/space stuff in the loop.

It will switch up to 4 relay-controllable functions. It will switch channels, reverb, whatever.

Just to confirm, you're saying it'll switch channels on my 2011 Triple Rec?

Mesa amps don't play well with low-impedance studio FX. The TC Electronic stuff is exactly that. You will need to buffer the amp's FX send that runs to the Gsystem, or it will have a huge effect on your tone. This has been described ad nauseum, so I will not write more here. PM me for more details, or better yet, read the white paper.

Yea, I read a bunch of stuff when researching the nova delay pedal, said much of the same. I plugged it in and it seemed to work just fine for me. Hoping this works out the same, but if not I'll add a pedal if I need to.

The G system has a noise issue in the front end when using high gain amps like Mesa or Diezel. There is a way to work around it, also available from me or the forum.

I suppose this can be a problem, but I keep my gain pretty conservative on the head, never past 6 or 7. Maybe that'll make a difference? My last amp was an ORANGE, wanna talk about NOISE LOL?

Many people get a G and then dump it because they think it sounds horrible. The problem is that they are simply not up to the task of working with that complicated a piece of equipment. It takes some time and effort to set it up. With very few exceptions, it has been set up on hundreds of amps with excellent results.

Yea, I figure as much, too. Just poking around for a little info.

 

[elvis]

Yes, it will switch channels. You can connect the G system relays to the external switch jacks on the back of the rectifier. You will have to choose a maximum of 4 functions, so you will not be able to switch one the the 5 functions.

Also, the G has kind of a funny relay control. In a single patch, you can toggle the relays between 2 different settings. For example, you could toggle between channel 1 and channel 2 inside of one G system patch. But to access all the recto channels, you will need to use more than one G system preset.

My Electradyne has 3 modes. I have one G system preset that comes up clean, but lets me toggle to Vintage LO without changing which effects are active, or if boost is on. I also have presets that let me toggle between Vintage LO and Vintage HI.

The G does have effects set in a reasonable order, and you CAN use all at once, so it is not limited there. You can also turn each individual effect on and off separately in a given patch. HOWEVER, the modulation effects (Chorus/phase/flange/etc) are POST preamp. A lot of people (me included) wish that could be moved PRE-preamp. I use MXR phaser and flanger pedals in the G system loops to get more of the Van Halen sound. That's pretty common.

At this point I am using a lot of different gain and FX pedals, so I added a GCX switcher to the G system. They work well together.

For the noise issue, it has helped some people to reduce the G system's input gain and add a quieter gain pedal, like the Xotic EP booster, in front of the Gsystem.

 

[ironjose]

so in conclusion i can have the Gsys controlling everything on the amp... using "trs" cables? hmmm freaking interesting!!!
do you guys think or know if i can control a roadster with this baby?

 

[joeydego]

it seems 2 or 3 TRS cables in the right place can significantly reduce noise. The white Paper is a MUST READ, no doubt. I also purchased the Amp Gizmo to handle channel switching duties so I don't have to compromise functions.

 

[ironjose]

where is this "white paper" info?

nevermind found it !!!

 

[joeydego]

My order won't even be here until Wednesday, and I've already read the white pages, the product manual and even my rectifier manual all twice over. I ordered extra cables just in case as well. I think I have a pretty good grasp on how everything needs to be set up. Of course come Wednesday this will all go horribly wrong I'm sure.

 

[elvis]

Don't forget to lock the insert loop on :mrgreen:

 

[joeydego]

Don't forget to lock the insert loop on :mrgreen:

Oh yes! And connecting from the back end first so if there is a problem it'll be an easy fix.