Ugly Guitar Truth: TC Electronic Iron Curtain Noise Gate

Alright, I guess I'm going to to do all of these things. By now, we know that TC is putting out a huge number of pedals that should look familiar to anyone that has been around BOSS or Behringer effect pedals. When I first heard of the people, I thought it was something different. I'll get into that in a second, but now we will take a closer look.

Not A Clone

So Behringer put out direct BOSS clones for a long time. They are still producing cost-effective stomp boxes that are nearly identical to their BOSS brethren. Here come TC and they look like they are upping the ante. They are pretty much taking some of the most successful circuits and stilling them in rugged boxes. Basically taking Behringer's game and raising the bar... kinda. Like we saw with the 3rd Dimension, TC pedals aren't always direct copies. I'm not saying that they aren't up to par, but some of the features don't make to the final product. The same thing has happened here. The BOSS and Behringer pedals both feature an effects loop. This isn't necessary, but it is a noted loss when comparing these very related pedals.

The Competition

Looking at budget noise gate pedals, you won't find many. Most start out well north of the advertised price of the Iron Curtain-$50. The Behringer has a spotted reputation, and the BOSS is twice the price. It's pretty much between EHX and TC at this price point. If you need anything more substantial than what those two pedal can give you, then you should probably take a look at the TC Sentry and stop messing around with bargain bin pedals. Personally, I've never really had any need for noise gate on my board. Not to say that I haven't used them. My experience with the BOSS NS-2 and MXR Smart Gate is enough for me not to recommend them. Even with the limited features, if TC made a solid noise gate at $50, then this is a huge win for guitarists in general.

So Close

They had the name and the look, but if they just could have made this a Russian Big Muff clone I think I could have forgiven the lack of green. I know this is on the heels of EHX releasing their Green Russian, but imagine for a second a world that had a choice of Russian Fuzz clones. Maybe this one goes for more of a Black Russian feel? What makes it worse is that they put out a Muff Clone in the line. The demo did sound pretty low-gain, so maybe it's going for a Russian feel... but that just makes it worse. You were so close TC!

Conclusion

I'm actually pretty surprised that I have so many feelings about a Noise Gate. But honestly, this pedal does seem to feel a bit of a gap in the market. The lack of features does give me a little bit of pause. If I were to find myself in need of a noise gate and had the option of the Iron Curtain and the Silencer, then I might just get the Silencer on the features alone. I mean, seven dollars buy quite a bit more. Then again, noise gates are a hard thing to get right, and I haven' really see TC drop the ball on any of these pedals, so it might come down to a dual.

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.