GM36 with a TC Electronic G-System

I'm just about to pull the trigger on a GM36. It sounds like the perfect amp for me. A great combination of old school analog (tubes) and new school digital & remote programability. Just wondering if anybody has had any experience hooking up a TC Electronic G-system to the GM36? If so are there are any suggestions as to how to do it in order to minimize noise and maximize sound? I'd appreciate any thoughts!

I currently use a GM36 with no add'l fx units but my prior rig was a TM18 head with the G-System. It was a fantastic rig but in the end I became weary of chasing my tail with the never-ending tweakability of the G-System. The GM36 was released and I jumped on it, selling my TM18 and G-System. I don't regret it, but at times I do miss the better quality fx of the G-System, and of course the finer parameter control. But generally I feel that I made the right decision.

My main advice would be to google Laird Williams' famous "White Paper" - it's a real-world user guide which covers all the realistic speed bumps that you are sure to hit while configuring the G and integrating it into your rig. You will barely need (if at all) the actual TC Electronic user guide!

Other advice based on my own experience:
Do use the 4 cable method. For one thing, that is the correct/intended way to integrate it with your amp. Also, you can rack mount the brain with your amp and need only short 12-18" patch cables to hook it all up. That's how I did it and it worked beautifully. The G can handle channel changes on the TM18 which I made good use of.

If you search around online you'll see a lot of folks recommending add'l buffers in order to make the G 'usable'... at one point I drank the koolaid and bought a Lehle Sunday Driver (one of the best and most recommended buffers in the world) but honestly I didn't notice any change or improvement. YMMV of course. We are lucky that the specs on H&K's fx loop send and other connections are perfectly suited for the G-System. You shouldn't need any band-aids.

Pay very close attention to Laird's White Paper in regards to setting up the G's input level, loop levels, etc. That will make or break your rig. Be patient and be prepared for quite a bit of trial and error until you get it right. The G-System is a tweaker's paradise but like I said, I ended up opting for a simpler life

Good luck!

Thanks man I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I probably should have given a little more background.

I have read and reread Lairds white paper and bought tons of cables, hum eliminators, Nova drive, Lehle Sunday driver, expression pedals, etc. trying to get the g-system to work properly sending midi signals to a Mesa Triaxis and Marshall 9200 Dual Monoblock power amp. I just got frustrated since I'm not an electrical engineer or super guitar tech.

I just want to gig and play my guitar not continually tweak stuff. So I'm wondering if I should just sell the g system or if I can get it to interface with the GM36 smoothly. I love the quality of the effects on the g system.

And that's exactly where the rub is, isn't it. Once you have experienced TC's fx it's really hard to settle for anything else. The GM's fx are no slouch in my opinion but let's face it they have their limitations. The reverb in particular is a bit blah, but it's fine. The question for me was, are the GM's fx "good enough"? Are they good enough for everyday practical use, and the answer (for me) was Yes. Especially for live use, they're perfectly fine. For recording, I turn off the amp's fx and use daw plugins so that the fx can be modified as needed afterward (not integrated into the track therefore uneditable).

So yeah... I'd ditch the G-System if you're getting the GM36. But hey that's just my crazy opinion. Good luck!

Here's a pic of my prior rig - you can see the G's brain is racked with the TM18: