Ugly Truth: TC Electronic Sentry

TC Electric is at it again with the new Sentry Noise Gate. Known for their quality effect, TC Electronic has put together a line of effect that are praised by many for their quality and flexibility. This pedal appears to be no different. The force is strong with this one due to the Toneprint technology. Not only doe it appear to be a smart noise gating pedal, but it's features are unlocked by its editable setting via linking to your computer or smart-device. Just like TC Electronic's other formidable offerings, this pedal is has been well though out. It looks like a pretty favorable picture, or is it?

It's A Yawn

Let's take a look at TC Electronic's new offerings lately: clip-on tuner, acoustic pre-amp and noise gate. Not exactly exciting stuff. But let's not forget that this is what TC Electronic is good at. Yes, the Polytune clip-on and BodyRez aren't flashy, but those are tools that are indispensable. Honestly, these are what TC Electronic are best at. The Mojo Mojo and Dark Matter are not as highly praise as their other offerings. Their Hall Of Fame reverb and Flashback delay are highly desired effect. Their Toneprint technology is a exciting feature that lets you apply famous artist's actual settings.

What It Does Is Nothing

Sure, it is a noise gate. It does what it does. It takes the noise that you don't want out of the signal. When you engage it, all your problems should go away, but what ends up happening with most of these pedal is that your tone ends up going away with it. When you watch the promotional video (because that is a thing now) you hear all about how it won't effect your tone at all. Does it work like that? Maybe.

Conclusion

Let's get down to business, this pedal comes from an impressive pedigree. Priced at around the cost of a comparable unit and promising performance that is unparalleled, This pedal is posed to take the noise gate pedal market in a fell swoop. This comes at a great time. I've recently added compression to my pedal rig and it can get a little noisy. This pedal would be my pick for a noise gate.

TC Electronic's New Pedal Is Not A Pedal

So all the hype was made and many people, include me, were extremely excited. What was this new product that was coming out? I was convinced that it would be a interesting new pedal. Then we got this:

That's right. A clip on tuner. That might be the single least exciting product that I can imagine. I own several clip on tuners, but that doesn't mean that they are worth putting out teaser videos. The thing that gets my attention about a product about this is the price. That too is note worthy, because it is 50 dollars. That is not worthy for the fact that is more than twice the price of any clip on tuner that I've ever bought. TC Electronic is a little slow getting to market because Fender beat them to the punch with their own $50 clip on.

Yep. Looks like a Snark to me too. I think the Polytune has the upper hand in this fight because of how well the pedal version works. The Fender looks pretty standard exept that someone scribbled their name on it. In conclusion, if I were in the market for a $50 clip on tuner, I'd get the TC Electronic.