Ampworx

The TC Electronic camp touted these to be the best amp emulation in a pedal. The V550 received a definite thumbs up by many players. For those of us who dislike the MESA Rectifier amps, the DW interpretation had won over many reviewers who concluded this version to be better sounding than the amp itself. Of course, better here is subjective but I like what I hear thusfar from online demos. The Jims, did very well to differentiate itself from the other two featured here by sounding very British in its distortion voicing. Available at Swee Lee now: $189 ea.

Pic: TCE

Magus Pro

This is a new one by the TCE camp; the Magus Pro distortion unit. It is virtually a refinement of the current Grand Magus distortion with a 3-tier gain voicing. In the following clip by the manufacturer, you'll hear them in action. Personally, I hear crunchy distortion in three modes, all in British-type interpretations. The less intense setting reminds me of a VOX with a more pronounced midrange in the mix. There's some fuzziness going on in FAT mode, very RAT-esque. The manufacturer also takes pride in their attempt to match the LM308 chip. This pedal lists for USD69 so when it reaches here (hopefully), it will remain affordable.

Pic: TCE

An eye for destruction

Let's be quick with this one because it's a single objective pedal- mega destruction. If you wish for lots of distortion, a blatant disregard for EQ & setting everything to extremes, this is it. So is that a good thing? It depends on the manipulator If you are looking for something intense but with singing tonal quality then you are wasting your time. Being 'nice' should never be a point of reference with this one, maybe that's the reason two knobs are all it needs to serve its master. TCE's Eyemaster, together with Digitech's Death Metal, are on equal terms when it comes to maximum delivery. On the more appealing side, I dare say the Eyemaster has a more usable bottom end by default. If it helps, Entombed's Left Hand Path should be a useful backdrop when it comes to understanding what's in store for the player. Perhaps one needs to dial up a wee bit more lower frequencies over at the amp end to make it more convincing.

What I like about this pedal- the holes you see depicted above. These keep the battery clip tips in place if no battery is in use. This way, the clip stays put & most likely would not damage/ short circuit the pedal. 

TC Electronic: Eyemaster

Availability: Swee Lee Co.

List: $79

Selling: Iron Curtain (SOLD)

I have more than one noise suppressing unit, this one will be the least engaged due to my personal set up requirements:

• TC Electronic: Iron Curtain
• Box included, 9.5/10 condition 
• No reservations/ trades
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• FINAL price: $65 (non-nego)

Ironed

Here we go- a very affordable noise gate by TC Electronic. If you are familiar with this range of effects by TCE you are assured of two things: 1) Quality 2) Value-for-money.

The Iron Curtain is a noise suppressing unit with two essential controls- threshold & decay. The former is the effects limit setting which passing signals have to overcome to be manifested over at the amp. Background hissing, cycle hums & extraneous noises have difficulty getting through this barrier so to speak unless the unit itself was created with a very low threshold range. The latter, in simple terms, controls the extent of ringing notes; sustain if your will. Some heavy metal dweebs prefer an immediate muting after each picked note, others want to hear their notes die a natural death. Whatever the preference, you deal with this knob to get the desired outcome.

Most pickups (only passive ones were used for this review) couldn't get past the threshold limit of about 40%. However, higher output humbuckers (eg. Duncan's SH-6) require a higher threshold limit of 70% +/-. If you are the type who tempts the noise suppressing unit with a drive pedal, be informed that the IC was conceived for best performance involving a direct instrument connection. 

Battery access requires a removal of the base plate. The screws keeping that attached to the main housing are the very small ones you see above- definitely not a wise thing to do at dark performance venues. This might be the only gripe I have with this pedal, everything else are no frills, deserving of the asking price. 

The Iron Curtain is a member of the second wave of affordable TCE pedals which re-assures the player with budget limitations of quality returns. It's neither boutique nor skimpy, something in between & treading on affordability more than deliberation. 

Rating: 75%

TC Electronics: Iron Curtain

Noise reduction/ elimination unit

Availability: Swee Lee Co.

List: $79

Eye iron

Finally. Got news these were available & it wasn't a recent shipment. Stock wasn't updated online, so... 😑

Selling: Cinders OD

Letting this go for a good price 😐

• TC Electronic Cinders OD (box included)
• Condition: 9/10
• Self-collect @ CCK MRT station
• No reservations, no trades
• Queries: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $59 (final)

Selling: Grand Magus (SOLD)

My TCE Grand Magus pedal up for grabs:

• True bypass
• Box included
• 8.5/10 condition
• Queries/ confirmation through e-mail
• Self-collect @ CCK mrt stn
• Price is FINAL: $59

Thanks for reading 😁

New 8

We can look forward to 8 new pedals form TC Electronic soon. These are from their budget range & I own 2 from their previous batch (Cinders/ Grand Magus). 

I'm anticipating how the Eyemaster metal distortion will measure up to being the manufacturer's 'Swedish buzzsaw' unit. The colour scheme reminds me of a certain Death Metal pedal which wasn't as popular as it was touted to be. Even a second manifestation of that pedal failed to garner a more favourable reception. 

Grand D

Once more, nothing ground-breaking here, just the TC Electronic Grand Magus distortion pedal. I've been using my DS-1 for distortion-related stuff lately. In terms of intensity, it's not as intense as the name suggests which isn't a bad thing. I find such organic responses to be more useful when pushing an amp's dirty channel rather than having a terribly angry distortion pedal which would serve to be a one-trick pony. The Grand Magus here isn't that intense, it still doesn't cross into the metal territorty. It's not a super saturated, Wampler Pinnacle-esque type either. It's a grizzly bear which isn't too angry when put to use, just angry. It's neither costly nor skimpy when it comes to the available voicings. 

Mummy fly cinders

Had been a crappy week. But more importantly, I still got to play guitar, this evening included. 🎸 Kept it light. It's any guitar that's within reach plus the line up above: Blackstar FLY3 amp, TCE Cinders OD & my fav Mummy pick.

Cinders battery

Someone asked me if the new range of TC Electronic pedals could be run on battery- here you go. If there is a battery option for pedals, I'd run it on battery first to see if there are issues. Subsequently, I might run it on PSU, that's the ritual. 

Cinders & ashes...

Fighting backache, thought I'd do some walking around at Swee Lee... retail therapy 😁

Anyway, managed to score the new TC Electronic pedal- Cinders overdrive. It's green & does overdrive- you get the hint. However, there's no signature midrange bump, & it could get a little spiky at the treble end if push comes to shove. Bottom line- affordability + above average performance = smiles. 

New TCs

This new range of TC Electronics pedals are now available at Swee Lee. As promised by the manufacturer, they are more affordable than the other range of pedals: $79

Affordable TCs

Some of us think the TC Electronic pedals are above average but sporting near boutique prices; that's the primary put off. This range of new TC Electronic pedals allegedly retain the manufacturer's very polished tones at just a fraction of their core offering prices: USD50. These would make very good festive acquisitions, yes?

Tap ready

Checking in & ready to tap :-)

Wire tapping

TE Electronics had just redefined the standard in looping technology; OK maybe not looping per se. The Wiretap here is a recording/ playback unit which can be utilized as a looping device. Best thing is, you can control it via Bluetooth over at your smart phone- aw darn! I want one!

TC Electronics: Sentry

We end September with this piece of news from TC Electronics. It's another noise reduction unit out there but offering something different. 1) The pedal has a frequency noise reduction focus, meaning, you can target the frequencies which are generating noise instead of gating the entire signal. 2) The pedal has a loop feature so you connect the noisy culprit (most probably a pedal yes?) in parallel & again, this will not gate your entire signal. Now, that's a very welcomed perspective in this light.

TC Electronics: The clipping standard

Yes, it's another clip-on tuner but kudos to TC Electronic for making it a standard above what's out there at the stores right now. We already know the polytune technology that allows multiple-string detection while tuning, add to that a strobe mode & an intelligent screen that flips its display according to placement. If you say you've had one too many clip-ons to deal with, at the very least, with reference to what's being offered here here, you'd want to check this out, yes?

Selling: TC Electronic Ditto looper (SOLD)

Someone borrowed my Ditto pedal. It was broken/lost (unclear, he didn't want to disclose fully) so I ended up receiving a brand new one but before this happened, I already bought another loop pedal so this fresh, still sealed in box, is for sale :-)

• Selling: TC Electronic Ditto looper (brand new, sealed in box)
• Condition: 10/10
• No reservations/ No trades
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• Queries/confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Price: $99 (final)

Item sold as at 1240hrs today. Thanks to all 14 respondents.