iB modified G System

[Lawrence]

so had this about 10 days now...thought I should share.

Im in Love....no really!

As is my style I read the manual and many reviews (and "lairds White Paper") before I made the decision to buy. Thus I was expecting some noise issues and some tone suck. I have found none.

I plugged up (4 cable) and put my road rage mini volume pedal in one loop and a blues driver in another. I used my existing cable loom which is Ts to TS (TC electronics recommentd TRS to TRS). Also have channel switch on the Mesa hooked in.

Everything worked first time - noise free - great tone.

The effects all sound superb...in fact it seems to be particularly "musical"...hard to define, but even extreme levels of say, delay, sound clear and useable. The only tricky bit was configuring the expression pedals...cos theres a function not clear in the manual. Once I found that everything is sweet. I have one pedal on post amp volume, and the other on mostly wah, (using auto switching) but also whammy , pitch shift and leslie speed.

Ive even moved the channel switching from one switch to another after a day or so...sooo easy.

Ill post a pic soon

[Bg]

Awesome, I recently aquired a red one, expecting mega amounts of tone suck - haven't noticed any yet. To be fair though thanks to kiwiaxe, it came with all the recommended stuff like the hum killer, buffer (not used yet though) and a decent moog expression pedal and trs cables etc.
Set up according the whitepaper and its pretty damn cool. The only sticky bit I have is the amp channel switching on the Bognor as it uses momentary switching for channels - I've had on occasion had all 3 channels lit up like a xmas tree, the bognor doesn't seem to mind though and its not blown it up. I just need to program the bloody thing now

[Basket Case]

Congrats!

I noticed a lot of tone-suck with the original silver one I had. I think it was more of an impedence issue than anything else. Worse with some amps than others.

Other than that, the only thing that made the G System less than perfect for me was that you couldn't change the order of the effects. I much prefer my modulations in front of the amp. It also couldn't do a good Phase 90 or Univibe impression imo.

When second-hand IB-Modified ones start popping up for a reasonable price second-hand, I might be tempted to give it another go. There is nothing else that really comes close to being able to do what the G-System does.

[hamo]

Happy NIBMGS day! Can't wait to hear it at the next gearfest (so, next year some time...)

[sambrowne]

I love my original silver one though I'd like a red one (because they go faster). It's a little annoying that they keep coming out with new, better-er ones, when I've already spent a ton on my original one - couldn't they just update the fucking software so us original silver g owners don't slap our foreheads and wish for a superior colour?

Anyway I'm happy as with mine. The delay and reverb are as good as anything else out there (other than analog delays of course), filters etc do the job, pitch shifting does the job. I have found the phaser etc a bit weak and the compressor pretty much useless but this is made up for by the ease of use with my midi capable amp. All pedal switching and effects on/off is pre-loaded into my G so when I play live (or rehearse or whatever) life is simple and joyous.

Bottom line, it's not for everyone but you're unlikely to regret getting one, especially with a multi channel amp.

[handsoffmatt]

Yup - I love my iB G-System. It kicks serious ass!

(except for the phasers and comps which are poos)

[mr_sooty]

Yup - I love my iB G-System. It kicks serious ass!

(except for the phasers and comps which are poos)

This sums up why I pefer individual effects and have never really been interested in a 'one unit to rule them all' scenario. They always have great this and that, but average something. With a pedal board I get to choose my favourite phaser, and my favourite drives, and my favourtie compressor - I get to have awesome everything.

[Bg]

Yup - I love my iB G-System. It kicks serious ass!

(except for the phasers and comps which are poos)

This sums up why I pefer individual effects and have never really been interested in a 'one unit to rule them all' scenario. They always have great this and that, but average something. With a pedal board I get to choose my favourite phaser, and my favourite drives, and my favourtie compressor - I get to have awesome everything.

but you can just put your favourite pedals in the effects loops, powered by the built in power supply and switch them with the patches. So it still rules all, think of it more as a great amp/pedal switching system with some awesome effects built in - I'm going to run a fuzziebro OD and Fuzz in a couple of loops, if I get bored with them I can put something else in later. Probably rack mount the unit itself too. It really is just so bloody flexible.

I haven't any issues with the compressor, mainly because compressors don't really feature big in my outlook. Hence I've sold the diamond (rather than putting it in a loop).

[twistedthoughts]

What are these worth? Sounds like a kick ass system...not that I'm unhappy with the M13.

[Zaulkin]

I will join in with the G-system love thread <3

[handsoffmatt]

Yup - I love my iB G-System. It kicks serious ass!

(except for the phasers and comps which are poos)

This sums up why I pefer individual effects and have never really been interested in a 'one unit to rule them all' scenario. They always have great this and that, but average something. With a pedal board I get to choose my favourite phaser, and my favourite drives, and my favourtie compressor - I get to have awesome everything.

but you can just put your favourite pedals in the effects loops, powered by the built in power supply and switch them with the patches. So it still rules all, think of it more as a great amp/pedal switching system with some awesome effects built in - I'm going to run a fuzziebro OD and Fuzz in a couple of loops, if I get bored with them I can put something else in later.

This.

I used to be all about the single pedals too. But I got sick of the tap dancing. That's when I bought the GigRig and had my amazing pedalboard of doom. Ultimately though, the G-System has become an amazing solution for me with FAR more flexbility than I ever had with single pedal. Plus it just plain sounds amazing!

I use my beloved Phase 90 and Dyna Comp in the loops which makes up for the G-System's shortcoming in these areas. I change my OD pedals around depending on my mood at the time. Right now I'm back to "Old Faithful" - my Analogman King of Tone....and a Boss OD3. Here's my board...

[GrantB]

What are the key differences here vs. say an M9/13 etc? Aisde from the TC engines?

[Bg]

Number 1 would be the TC Engines but aside from that
Amp switching
Midi switching
5 effects loops, including a preamp loop, switchable via master buttons (that can be edited to what you want) or on a patch by patch basis.
built in psu for pedals
rack mountable or mountable under foot controller. If in the rack, you just have one cat 5 network cable running between foot controller and rack, and a guitar lead or wireless.
Built like a tank, in fact theres a youtube vid of a tank being driven over one.
I'm sure theres more but I'm not that big a fanboi yet
Great big fuck off red leds round each button that show you its turned on - this looks awesome in a darkened room and is number 1 in my book.

I like M9/M13 but they feel a bit like a toy next to one of these.

[handsoffmatt]

Furthermore - it's the funcitonality aspect,

M9/M13 sounds fantastic - however they still act like stompboxes and require some "tap-dancing". The G-System offers preset switching, where with one stomp you can go switch in/out multiple effects (including 4 of your stompboxes) and switch channels add boost etc etc

[handsoffmatt]

BTW, for the record I have an M9 too. It sounds killer and it's power/size ratio is awesome. I'm building a small "B rig" board around my M9 right now.