Tech 21 Sansamp

[dosmun]

Anyone ever use one of these on guitar, especially direct to PA? I recently filled in with a band on Bass where everything is direct including elec drums, no amps just IEM's. It was a change but I can appreciate it. I bought a Tech 21 BDDI for bass but was considering a Sansamp Classic because I will most likely end up filling in on guitar as well and would like to have my own direct rig instead of using the guitar players Line 6 rig. (I prefer to have a rig I'm familiar with) Any opinions would be great.

If anyone has one they might want to sell let me know as I will most likely buy or build one myself anyway.

[BassMent]

dosmun, I have Tech 21 SansAmp (this is an original, which they're now calling the "Classic"), a GT2, a Tri A.C., and a Character Series Blonde. I am currently using the CS Blonde as my "amp," running it into a Tech 21 Power Engine 60.

All four are solid tools, and all have been run direct into a PA when circumstances required. Some observations about the four:

The Classic is the most versatile, but you've got to twiddle the knobs and DIP switches to change sounds. The "Bass" (Fender) and "Normal" (Mesa) sounds are dead-on convincing, incredibly close to the real thing. The "Lead" (Marshall) is less successful I feel, but since I'm not a Marshall afficionado don't go by my assessment. I'm not certain the Classic really does much in the way of speaker/cabinet emulation... it certainly falls short in this area compared with the other three. The Classic also puts out the most hiss of the four.

The GT2 is kind of a simplified Classic. The strength here is the cabinet/mic placement emulations... these are really very good.

The Tri A.C. is the most flexible in live performance, because you can have three different settings programmed and available at the touch of a footswitch. You could set three different gain/eq settings of the same amp type (e.g., Fender clean, Fender needing a shave, Fender maxed out), or go really crazy and switch between a Fender, a Marshall and a Mesa sound. It's very versatile.

So why am I using the Blonde as the core of my live sound? Because it's allowed me to create the Fender amp that up until now has existed only in my head. Fender amps (and the boutique versions thereof) tend to either go in a very 50's tweedy direction, or a very 60's clean direction. The Blonde has let me dial in a sound that's somewhere in no man's land between a Bassman and a silverface twin. It's really cool, and VERY responsive to guitar volume and picking dynamics. The Jensen speaker emulation is spot-on (although you can't change mic placements), and the interactive eq controls, while incredibly twitchy in that unique Tech 21 way, allow you to get just about any Fender sound you can imagine. The Character knob sweeps from infinite-headroom clean to '57 Champ cranked to 11 (fully clockwise it is VERY nasty!). It's really sweet. It also takes pedals in front of it better than the other three... my MI Blues Boy Deluxe sounds killer through this thing. The Blonde is also the quietest Tech 21 product I've ever owned, which has a lot to do with the fact that it sounds the best of the four direct into a PA.

All of these Tech 21 toys require some dedicated tweaking time, as it's possible on all of them to get crap sounds as well as brilliant sounds.

I think if there's one type of amp you really love (Fender, Vox, Marshall or Mesa), the Character Series is the way to go. I messed around with the Liverpool in the store, and it NAILS the Vox sound. I have to assume the others are just as good at doing what they're meant to do.

If you're looking to play through different amps in one set, go with the Tri A.C.

BTW, I also have the Acoustic Driver, which is very good, and the Boost RVB, which is the most versatile, tweakable reverb pedal on the market IMHO. I have been very satisfied with Tech 21's products over the years... no failures, solid quality all the way around, and no tubes to replace! Yes, I am a fan!-

[dosmun]

Thanks for the info. It is cool that you are able to compare all of them. Most of what I read had players leaning toward the classic (not including the character pedals). I think the character peds may be more what I'm looking for. Having more sounds would be cool but I have a feeling I would find "my sound" and stay with one setting anyway.

Do you just use the 1/4" out to run to a PA?

Are these switchable between line level and instrument level?

How do they clean up with the volume control?

I ask this because I am leaning toward the British ped and will use my volume to clean it up which is what I do most of the time with my amps.

Do they take pedals well? I am thinking it would be cool to be able to use an OD to give it more umph when needed.

[Glo®bz]

Dosmun, I have but not with the sansamp...

I have been using direct signal feed since 98 or so.

I bought my Tech21 PSA-1 (now they're up to 1.1) to replace a previous tube preamp w/ built-in fx... I wanted a good preamp on its own and figured I cxould throw any fx at it on my own with whatever I fancy. I also bought it with the intent of using for both bass and guitars... back then I just got my hands on an active fretless bass (Hohner Steinberger copy) so it made a lot of sense. I bought mine used... modded it for MIDI phantom power(now standard feature on the 1.1) otherwise it's stock.

If you intend to use it for both guitar and bass... the PSA-1 will cover you and you can always have it as a backup to your amps and as a quite direct recording preamp for home. For recording that thing has a lot uses... I can't say often enough how good acoustic signal sent thru this using their Ampeg bass preset is. Light tweaks from that starting point and you get ballpark great acoustic tones. Anyway... the unit is versatile. If I were you I'd get the PSA-1 and get back some money by selling the BBDI...

Heck why don't you check if you can rent one for that one gig... try it few days before hand because it does take a bit of getting used to but it's quite obvious and easy.

Last "gig" I did was with my PSA-1 (national radio gig) sounded good even through the airwaves(I got commented on the tone after the fact) I only got to listen to an mp3 version after the fact sounded as I was expecting my sound to be then again I'm used and know what to expect from my direct signal.

[Glo®bz]

Oh I also used the Power Engine as my "monitor"

I always use the XLR as my direct signal on the PSA-1.

FX I run in the fx loop with the switch at 50% meaning only 50% of the fx signal (no matter how wet or dry it is) is sent thru. So if I set my fx 100% wet in reality they're at 50% when used in the guitar rig.

For recording I'll often use my dbx 1066 in line after the PSA-1 for some compression as a set accordingly to the instrument and mix I have in mind... usually I like some 8:1 dbx comp on rhythm tracks to simulate the effcet of hitting 2" tape hard. Wich in fact creates something really close to 8:1 compression to start with (I A/B both a Studer 2" with playing a doubling track with 8:1 compression (using a vintage dbx mind you) and it's a quite a similar result... so good thing to do when you don't have a Studer in you closet

[jonc]

+1 on the PSA1. Incredibly useful, flexible and great sounding unit with the ability to tailor your sound for most any application. I've had one in my recording rack for years now and have also used it live on many occasions for bass, guitar (electric and acoustic), vocals and a slew of other things. the PSA1 is probably one of the best pieces of gear I ever bought and I would be lost without it.

[jaydee]

Man I LOVE my original early 90's Sansamp for recording. I wish I could sell it to you but I haven't found a suitable replacement in that size enclosure from any of the modern equivalents. I can see why they are a Classic although I think that relic'd one they have out now is janky. It DOES have a lot of dipswitchs to mess with and they are tiny but what a great pedal. I actually had very good results on the Marshall tone and I use the Fender for Bass direct. Haven't used it live cause none of my amps have crapped out, but I keep it in the gig bag just in case. It sounded MUCH better to my ears than a first run Sansamp GT 2 I also had. For Bass, the Sansamp BASS Driver DI is OK but kinda scoops the mids and you can get lost in the mix real quick. I found their Paradriver DI more useful for BASS as you have more control over the mids and it works well for guitar too.

[BassMent]

Originally Posted by dosmun

Do you just use the 1/4" out to run to a PA?

Are these switchable between line level and instrument level?

How do they clean up with the volume control?

I ask this because I am leaning toward the British ped and will use my volume to clean it up which is what I do most of the time with my amps.

Do they take pedals well? I am thinking it would be cool to be able to use an OD to give it more umph when needed.

The line levels aren't switchable, but the output level has a huge amount of variance based on the output knob setting. And yes, I just run a 1/4" unbalanced guitar cable to the PA. Sounds fine, but I do like the sound much better through the Power Engine.

The Blonde is very sensitive to guitar volume level, and I'm using a Korean Gretsch with the stock Asian pickups... they're pretty mild in terms of the signal level even cracked all the way open. I plugged my buddy's G&L ASAT Blues Boy into it without changing any of the settings, and it was WAY more grinding... sounded very ferocious. The other SansAmp boxes are also sensitive to the guitar volume and will clean up with a decrease in signal, but my perception is that the engineers at Tech 21 have gotten better at this over the years. The Character Series pedal I have (as well as the Liverpool I tried) are more refined in this kind of sensitivity than the earlier pedals (although the Tri A.C. is also pretty damb impressive in this regard). I gotta figure the British would be sensitive as well... it's going to be a lot more gainy than the Blonde I'm using.

The Blonde takes pedals up front better than any other Tech 21 pedal I've used. Pushing it with my Retro-Sonic Compressor makes it sing, and with some OD from my MI Blues Boy Deluxe it howls. I also use pedals AFTER the Blonde, including a DLS RotoSIM, Vox Time Machine, Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter and Tech 21 Boost RVB. It's all good... but the Blonde through the Shape Shifter trem followed by the RVB is like crack cocaine, I just can't get enough of that stack. It's retro-licious!!

[dosmun]

I see a couple of the Tri AC's for decent prices. Is there a big difference between the Tri AC and Tri OD? I may pickup up one of the Tri AC's and give it a shot as it seems a little more versatile than the Classic.

[dosmun]

I've actually been messin around with my Bass DI and running pedals in front of it. I am getting some decent sounds direct through just a cheap 15" wedge.