TC Electronic Alter Ego

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 1:26 am

My wife offered me a graduation gift last spring after I completed my MSc; I could buy myself a new pedal... well, today I finally placed the order

I opted for the TC Electronic Alter Ego, the ProGuitarShop exclusive version of the Flashback Delay. With the current 15% off promotion, after shipping the pedal came to about $13 less than if I had placed an order for the Flashback through my local music shop (Long & McQuade), after taxes.

This is my first delay pedal... I don't own many pedals in general (Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus, Fulltone Distortion Pro, Marshall Jackhammer, a Korg OD/Distortion). I figured delay would be a good way to round out the collection a bit, and get the most use. I'm looking forward to experimenting with delay/chorus/reverb chains with my VIs in particular! I opted for the Alter Ego because its modelling and expansion options sounded pretty good to me, and I really wanted the DMM and Echorec modes.

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Reviews after I get it and experiment a bit to get to know delay and the different modes.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 5:54 pm

It arrived a little over a week after I ordered it... but I didn't get to try it until I got home from work at the end of the week. Due to my work situation, I only get to play on the weekend, so I haven't managed a whole lot of time with it. I've only managed to play around with the pedal the past two weekends. With only a couple minutes with it before playing a show, I found use for the delay within our set; it really filled out a sort of break down section in one of our songs that I've always found too sparse.

I've found that I'm mostly experimenting with the tape and EchoRec settings... as predicted I prefer the more atmospheric, modulated sounds. The cleaner types of delays are probably more useful musically, but I don't know how to incorporate them yet.

I tried testing out the TonePrint feature today, beaming in a couple prints. The first worked fine, but the second one appeared to import properly, but that's where things went wonky.
The second print didn't work and after a second, the indicator clicked off and it didn't respond to toggling the footswitch or mode selector. After about 8-10 seconds the indicator flashes res and a pop goes through the amp. I'm in the process of trying to troubleshoot the issue, but, haven't really come across this issue yet. Maybe I'll need to do a return-exchange :/

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:02 pm

the echorec sim sounds really cool, i wish a) these were available in the uk and b) i could justify getting one with my shitty rhythm guitar playing.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:09 pm

ProGuitarShop does ship to the UK. I'm in Canada, so also had to pay international shipping for mine. Even so, with the 15-20% off promos that PGS almost always has on the go, it can come out cheaper than buying the Flashback (like it did for me).
Also, I'm a fuckin shit guitar player, don't let that scare you from tryin out gear

I'm not a lead player neither... and most of the testing I've been doing with the pedal has been with my VI, and a little with rhythm guitar playing.

Volume swells with modulated delay and deep VI chords is wonderful... very synth-like and spacious. I'm going to have to find a use for it in my band

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:14 pm

stewart wrote:the echorec sim sounds really cool, i wish a) these were available in the uk

They are, silly.

In my opinion, the only dick move TC have made in their otherwise flawless work with these is when they stopped the Echorec sim being available for the Flashback (they trashed it when the Alter Ego was released).

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:59 pm

After a little poking around and hauling out my multimeter, it seems the problem was pretty much that these thing EAT batteries. I put an industrial Energizer battery in when I got it last week, and it's already reading just over 6V... I've maybe used the pedal an hour... maybe. I found a generic 9V wall wart, removed the old battery and it hasn't gone into hissy fit since (ya know, in the last 30 minutes or so). I guess I should get myself a small pedal board or something so I can power this thing consistently; I don't want it to suddenly stop working in the middle of a set.

I tested out beaming in a couple more tone prints, and I've been enjoying the PGS EP-3 Echoplex print and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's "David, the Dogs!" print quite a bit. The Echoplex print could likely see some stage use, while the ORL print is just sitting at home fun, I think.

I might try to do a phone demo of some of the settings and such, as my MacBook is still dead... I can't use it for recording or even maybe trying to edit for the first time. We'll see if I figure out some sort of rig to hold the phone.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:56 pm

I think that's pretty standard for delays, though. They generally eat batteries to the point that batteries are a waste of time.

Ankhanu · Post by **Ankhanu** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:01 pm

Yeah, as I've read more that seems to be the case.
Guess I'll have to get a small pedal board and PSU after I replace my computer.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 10:35 pm

good job convincing me not to buy one, dicks.

i do fancy a new delay but haven't found one that ticks all the boxes. this one probably doesn't either, but it sounds cool.