Easier to dial in than a G Major but not as spiffy.

The G Sharp came out with the original TC G Major as a knob-tweakin', low cost and stripped down variant of TC's then-flagship guitar processor. I bought it because it has ZERO menus and the onboard effects and verb incude the 2290 ducking delay and TC's famous plate simulations including gold plate and my favorite, tin plate! Now, I have a Lexicon with their fantastic 90s plate simulations, but they're a different animal and I'm tired of those sounds. Plus, being older and wiser when it comes to legit EMT plates I have realized that the Lexicons sound good but not right.

This cute little fella fits in 1 RU and has a digital encoder knob for every parameter but tap and rotary knobs for selecting your 1 effect/delay and 1 reverb. I hate that the Delays share space with chorus, vibrato, phase etc because some of those TC effects turned out to sound really neat and are really stereo. I use delay more than verb and would rather have the modulation share with the reverb (though stereo vibrato routed in series into reverb at 100% wetness in a wet/dry/wet setup is a great effect). Anyway, I guess it was to keep it down to 2 DSP engines, but 3 woulda been nice. But would 3 sets of parameters fit as knobs on this little box? Why not spring for G Major and begin the headache of programming it like programming the good 'ol Lexi units or my SPX90? This thing is meant to be a fast and dirty basic solution for guy who don't use a ton of effects, like the old alesis midi-verb (only good).

So all of the delays sound really cool and are reputable enough simulations of the analog stuff they are meant to emulate, at least once the band is rockin' out. The reverbs are world class and I do not hesitate to use them to mix tracks. There's no piece of software that has EMT plates I prefer. The spring reverb is awesome and even captures some of that fender long-pan bounce at high settings... wow.

The real standout to me is a setting called Lo-Fi delay that simulates nothing... Its got a mix of analog BBD decay with this bitty distortion like a 1st generation digital delay from the late 70s. Its shockingly great in the mix. The ducking delay is, of course, incredibly useful for soaring leads and solos combined with the tap tempo.

Did I say tap tempo? With my G Sharp I got an analog 3 button switch with on/offs for the effects/delay engine and reverb engine and an old school tap-tempo button that never gave me a bit of grief. Its a sturdy metal box with chunk EHX type stomps that you can't F-up. plugs in with a 1/4" jack to the back. Screw MIDI, this is so easy.

The last feature I like about this unit is the your dry signal passes through the unit 100% untouched by converters or DSP. And for those of us (like myself) who got this for use in a wet/dry/wet rig? There's a "dry kill" switch on the back! My rig initially involved my plexi into a 16 ohm hot plate feeding a tv cab, then the line out from the plate would hit the TC with the complete distorted power amp sound, get the effects with no dry, and then hit a 70s stereo ASR power amp that would drive a couple 4x10s.

No for the bad news. There's just something plastic and off about the top end of the effects/delay section on this little guy. The Line 6 green delay stomp and purple modulation stomp have the same quality. Its like the anti-aliasing they use on the cheap D/A converters does something unnatural to the sound that a sensitive dog ear like mine can't get next to. Anyway, it can really bug me in a stereo setting when I'm surrounded by oddall treble on all my echo. With lo-fi delay mode it doesn't matter because of the bitty, gritty, furriness, and lo-fi delay is really cool and fun. The 2290 ducking delay sounded pretty much okay too. Weird. I don't know why. Also, lots of effects are kinda lame. I found myself having the wet part of my rig muted so much of the time other than when I kicked in a fuzz face or tonebender for a solo and wanted some tasteful echo. And sound guys in clubs hated me.

If you have a use for a complex rig with a simple but tasteful effects generator that ties your hands when you want to spread on the cheese a lil too thick? this is FOR YOU. If you think rack gear for guitar shoulda stayed in the 80s or you are really fussy about your effects sounding JUST RIGHT? Then stay away. These can be had for less $100 on the internet used.

Useful MFX not only for guitar, nothing special but good price/quality

Born as Guitar rack multi-effect i've used it a lot as live voice reverb, it packs 16 reverbs and 16 effects between delays, choruses, phasers and tremolos. Reverb sounds pretty good despite sometimes a little thick but that problem can be fixed thru the color control; effects works pretty good especially on synths, voices or snares; I don't like so much on guitar, i think his sound are more a kind of overall effect but i paid it 80€ in mint condition and its a great gear piece, easy to use and really light.

Poor man's 2290

Used exclusively for dynamic delay, and a slight gain boost