TC Electronics

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TC Electronics

Post by ef37a »

Following the review in the latest issue I was moved to order the 'Infinite Sample Sustainer' for my son who is rehearsing with a band who does "Queenlike" music (but not a covers band) he is therefore trying to emulate some of the guitar style and sounds of Mr May.

No one seems to have stock of the pedal and since I want it in the next two weeks for his visit I kept phoning around. Then I hit upon my local PMT music store. A very helpful chap told me they cannot stock TC E product because the parent company Music Tribe will, for reasons I did not ask, not deal with PMT.

There's a 'free market' for you! Some more delving on another forum got me more information. Music Tribe are in turn owned by Behringer and many people on the forum told me that TC products are not what they were and are mostly clones of Behringer pedals that in turn were clones of other makes!

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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Wonks »

It’s actually the other way round, I think. Music Tribe is now the official blanket parent company of Behringer, plus all the other associated companies like Midas, TC, Klark Technik etc. though Music Tribe did stem from Behringer as a means of keeping well known company names to the fore after Behringer took them over.

There seem to be two sides to TC products, the older high-tech side that still makes/designs good quality products, and the badge engineered Behringer and clone pedal remakes.

That’s not to say that the cheaper TC pedals aren’t any good. Like any cheap Chinese clone pedal, some can be really great and others a bit ‘meh’.
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Arpangel »

You’ve set the stage Dave :D
"In my opinion"
TC aren’t what they used to be, and I’d look elsewhere, I’ve owned a Flashback delay, and Flashback Triple, both sent back after a few days use, they just didn’t sound very good to me, allowing for personal taste, it seemed to go a bit beyond that, they just didn’t seem to have the vibe of a quality product, that you’d expect from something with TC written on it.
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Wonks »

I expect the ‘not dealing’ business is partly the usual haggling setup of not agreeing quantities vs discounts between the two parties, or maybe the range of products Music Tribe wanted PMT to carry didn’t fit with what PMT wanted.

And maybe MT’s supply chain issues with lots of promised products but no actual product to sell in the shops also had an impact.
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Arpangel »

Wonks wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:48 am
And maybe MT’s supply chain issues with lots of promised products but no actual product to sell in the shops also had an impact.

That was/is? getting very silly indeed.
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Wonks »

The TC Infinite Sample Sustainer was an 'early 2022 issue' product, which almost certainly means that bulk delivery has been delayed by chip and manufacturing shortages.

The EHX Freeze might be a suitable alternative, though it doesn't have all the features of the TC. It really depends on exactly what is required.
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Drew Stephenson »

I've been waiting on a TC pedal to come back into stock for the better part of two years now.
Chip shortage, container issues and the ongoing Chinese lockdowns are plainly still hammering the supply lines.
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Hugh Robjohns »

No inside knowledge here, but I wonder if part of the reason for shortages could be because Music Tribe have relocated manufacture of TC products to their Chinese factories instead of wherever TC had them built previously? It could take a while to translate everything to a new production line... and then there's the chip shortages, the shipping delays, the customs issues, and so on and so forth.
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Drew Stephenson »

I suspect one of the other things in play is that for low margin stuff it just doesn't make economic sense to redesign for a different chip set.
So whilst the likes of Focusrite have been able to work around the chip shortage by re-engineering some of their interfaces, it just doesn't add up at the lower end of the market.
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by N i g e l »

blinddrew wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 12:33 pm I suspect one of the other things in play is that for low margin stuff it just doesn't make economic sense to redesign for a different chip set.

redesign for low margin gear is viable if theres the quantity to support it.

When the top end gear gets redesigned using alternative components, it then causes increased demand and shortages for those alternative components; and so it ripples down the line.

My personal Behringer woe is that theres no sign of the new BCR2000 MIDI knob box which has been on the cards for 18 months or the BBG Wave which went to beta testing last summer.

I am begining to think that Behringers chip factory is being utilised to cash in on other more profitable markets, like chips for washing machines or flashing pet collars.

I really thought everything would be back to normal now.

:protest:
: loudly crying emoji:
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by Drew Stephenson »

N i g e l wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 1:08 pm My personal Behringer woe is that theres no sign of the new BCR2000 MIDI knob box which has been on the cards for 18 months or the BBG Wave which went to beta testing last summer.

You and me both sir! My BCR2000 is on its last legs. :(
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Re: TC Electronics

Post by DGL. »

As I understand it MT decided that most purchases are done through the big retailers and there were cost savings by getting rid of distributors, the smaller dealers and supplying the big companies directly (Thomann, Sweetwater Etc.), these are called their "super partners" and are also responsible for after sales service as well.
The high end touring stuff and Tannoy home stuff is supplied/distributed seperately as I understand and it would generally be the case that the same supplier would not have both the normal range and the high end range.
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