Winston Psmith

Save your money. It's part of the TonePrint series, which has the footswitch mounted on the circuit board - if it breaks, it's dead.

@Johnny Oak - I'm a big fan of the Boss GT-series multi-effects. I went over to multi-fx to streamline my live set-up, and the Boss multis have never failed me. I used a GT-3 live for over ten years, before upgrading to the GT-10. For a little back-up unit, I have an ME-25. The Line 6 M13 looks pretty impressive, as well, but IME, the Boss units are somewhat more flexible. The Boss units will have some things the M13 lacks, like the Feedbacker, but the reverse is also true; Boss doesn't have anything quite like the M13's bank of Filter effects. Honestly, the Wah/Auto-Wah effects may be the weakest aspect of the Boss multis. If you're a devoted Wah user, that may be an issue for you.

Very much - could even be the same artist. I see a few common elements, in terms of design and materials.

Has everyone seen the Steampunk Squier Jag in the Holiday issue of GP?

Man, I clicked on the link to check out the Eastwood Breadwinner - they even cloned the original hardware!

A String, I have to ask, did you ever find a product that suited your needs? That would be valuable info for anyone who was considering the TC.

I'm glad A String got his money back, but what a PITA!!! Even if the software development problem was a third-party issue, IIRC, the software was being developed for TC, not as some after-market product, and the plug-in aspect was touted as part of TC's marketing. All of that suggests to me that TC is still responsible for making sure the end product functioned as advertised. Fail.

Just found this, from 2007 - ProSound review M350

While I agree with the sentiment, as a naturally vindictive SOB, I'm not sure abusing the folks at the demo booth will have any real impact on the higher-ups. Unlike a lot of the small, boutique gear makers, who show up to represent their own products, I don't expect to see department heads from TC working the floor: Maybe I'm wrong about that. I do think that asking embarrassing questions during their product demos is appropriate, and possibly educational. It might even be worthwhile to try to engage them, on some level. "Were you guys aware of this problem with . . .?" At least it raises the issue in way that's less likely to get you thrown out of the showroom, and once other visitors overhear you, well, they'll probably want an answer, too, before they commit to ordering a pile of products that are going to piss off their customers.

What makes this such a poor example of Customer Service is that Tore from TC (remember him?) posted to this thread, seemingly on his own initiative, then vanished: There's no question that TC is already aware of this thread, even if it hasn't gone viral.

A String, I'm sorry you didn't get a better response, but a refund, even with the high PITA factor, is better than a big, expensive paperweight sitting on your desk. We'll see how long it takes to set up your refund. I would think after all you've gone through, they'd send you a check and a UPS, or FEDEX, RA #, so you could just be done with it. Don't let them pull a bait-&-switch by offering you credit towards another TC product. Fool me once, as the saying goes. FWIW, you might look into something like this - Lexicon MX400. I'm not sure if it addresses your needs, but from everything I've read, the Lexicon units work.

I shared it on my Timeline, too, just to add fuel to the fire.

I've taken this to TC's Facebook 'page, and also my own... Yeah, just saw your FB post, and 'liked' it.

I worked in music retail, and the rule of thumb in the retail world, overall, was that if a customer had a good experience, they were only likely to tell one or two friends, but if they had a bad experience, they were likely to share it with ten or more. The simple math was that bad reviews travel farther and faster than good ones. Looking at this thread, I can see that TC has already lost all of us, and applying that same math, I see a lot of lost sales in their future. Viral marketing in reverse?

Looking back, I see that although this thread started at the end of March, we didn't hear from Tore until June, then he re-surfaced, briefly, in July. Maybe it's time for another seasonal sighting? OTOH, there must be a way to forward this entire thread to Tore via email, or maybe even create a Facebook page, just for it. I expect a "TC Electronics Suck!" page amassing 'likes' would get someone's attention . . . not that any of us would stoop to such a level.

Damn! Do we need to make this a 'sticky' thread? BTW, A String, I meant no criticism in my previous post, re avoiding products 'in development' - I've just seen other folks burned before, by this same sort of thing, often at great expense & aggravation. My latest tactic is to ask the sales rep how much I'm paying for the features & functions that haven't been installed yet - still waiting to hear a good answer for that.

This is why I've been going to the same music store for over twenty years, and dealing with the same two guys for most of that time. If something isn't right, I can go back to someone I know, and let them contact the company, if it comes to that. It doesn't hurt that my FLMS has some pretty serious clout, for a locally-owned business, as well. OTOH, I'm always suspicious of any hardware that has features 'in development'. I've seen it too many times with synths & signal processors, but particularly synths, where the software developers never caught up with the potential of the hardware.

It's getting harder to give Tore TC the benefit of the doubt, at this point.

If Tore TC is in the U.S., it's very possible he's already off for the weekend. You might want to give another bump on Sunday night/Monday morning.

His responses have been too straightforward for a troll or a prankster, but he may just have a very dry sense of humor. If he left an email address with his profile, it might be worthwhile to try to contact him directly. For my part, this thread has convinced me not to buy anything from TC.

What's really sad is this guy took the time to make contact, and then vanished back into the woodwork. I'm waiting to see if A String gets any further response.

(bump) Just wondering - was there ever any response to A String's issue, or did Tore from TC just disappear? It seemed like he (Tore) hadn't really read through the thread, since A String had already described the issue with TC.

Here's a link so you can hear my recent radio show. It's not set up for download yet, but if anyone wants a copy, PM me. Winston Psmith, live on WMUC FM, 4-28-13

I had a Gibson Corvus II for a short time, affectionately known as "The Can Opener". Made me think there was just too much nose candy at a late meeting one night, and it went into production before anyone could sober up. It weighed next to nothing, sounded as thin as it felt, and looked as little like a Gibson as possible. http://cdn1.gbase.com/usercontent/gear/1827401/p1_ujwxainku_so.jpg

They were kind of forward-looking, for their time, not just in terms of the body design, but the electronics and the 24-fret neck. I have very vague recollections of one of the early Prog guitarists with one, either Anthony Phillips or Peter Banks? Someone with a better memory, or search engine, might know.