Tech 21 SansAmp Classic

DIP switches are a little fiddly (use a pick to adjust). Very easy to get a wide range of sounds from clean to crunch. Start with the sample settings to get used to what the DIP switches and knobs do, then go for it! Great SRV tones here! ;)

I cannot believe that anyone would say that they could not coax a sound out of this unit that they did not like. I have used mine for a whole variety of sounds and I still amaze the onlookers (has it for over 10 years now). I would give it a 10, but I have found that there is some noise at some of the more extreme settings (but that is to be expected...)

Had it for 10 years without a problem. Solid contruction and footswitch. NB Make sure you use fresh batteries! I thought mine had given up the ghost...duh (LED was bright, sound broke up and faded out).

Written to Tech 21 in the early days (before e-mail!) and heard back within days.First rate as I live in the UK. Sent me a manual and a whole bunch of extra settings!

Tech 21! Get manuals and settings PDFs on your website NOW!

I would cry if it was stolen or went wrong, then I would buy another without hesitation (albeit after saving my pennies cost it is a little on the expensive side). Fortunatley I got mine second-hand for a song.

Amazingly excellent for ALL types of music, live or recording. If you do DI into a desk or multi-track, a little reverb helps to give it some 'air'

For all you second-hand users, PDF can be downloaded from
http://www.btinternet.com/~too.loud/manuals/sansampclassic.pdf
(took me AGES to find..!)

Incredibly easy to use. Just grow those nails for the switches! AAAARGH! I gotta fiddle with the switches t get the right ones I want...Don't bother with that manual. It's OK, but you don't need it unless you want to figure out what some other guy is playing out of.

I feel that the Amp Drive provides a very heavy CRUNNNCH 'specially if you use switches 1 & 2 and the amp drive turned to about 5 o'clock. Vocals are KILLER if you use the normal setting and low amp drive.Has great reverb as well. Try it with a bunch of instruments and your voice direct through a mixer. I loved all the sounds I used for my voice and git. I have a Mesa .22, and well, of course the Mesa has enough tweaker's joy to it, but this guy gives it the boost it needs for my rhythm playing.

I'd use it for recording without a doubt. Had a POD before this, and I was told by a friend not to even think about dealing with THAT, but I did (OOPS). Say the least, this guy has come through for more tracks than the kidney bean did. Digital ain't bad, but it's better to find the tone yourself. I had to WORK with this to find my real tone. And although mine was used, it's a tank. The previous owner basically returned it the day he bought it, I reckon.

Well I'm from NYC,likethe manufacturer, and I shouldn't HAVE to ask 'em how to use it or fix it unless they broke it when I got it. (NY thinkin' here)

I am a singer/ songwriter/ who plays guitar (I'd like to think). Been playing off and on for 20 years. (The love/hate relationship that happens with music) heavy shit (METALLICA) to jazz (Charlie Christian). All I can say is that to each his own. The SansAmp Classic should've been my first buy, because my friend who recommended it to me said "You can find yourself in this thing": which I believe is the case. Granted, if you're looking for SERIOUS vintage sounds, get the amps they sample in the manual. But to me, those are the most BORING aspects of the SA Classic. Twiddle with it. Use it while you practice at home w/ headphones. It's fuckin' a pain in the ass to get what you want right away, and if you're looking for Hetfield or Cobain: LOOK AT WHAT THEY USE(D). This is a musician's TOOL. I don't like some of the sounds I culled from it, and I have to work w/ what I've got: MM Silhouette SpecialHSS, Mesa .22, Mackie mixer...and my voice. The POD was a complete disappointment. Can't use that fucker live (Get a rack) and the model changed too often.TRADED that white elephant for this. Still satisfied 1 yr. later, my friends. USE IT LIVE by all means to figure out what settings make you sound the way you want. It will be a ballbuster at first, but you'll love it in time...

very hard at first if you are not used to hearing differences between ss and valve when your adjusting the dips...i recommend u use the knobs first and turn off the dips and slowly integrate them one by one till you know what each one does...the manual is okay as a referrence especially when describing the dipswitches and that helps a lot.it definitely upgraded my sound for what it can do and for its price

lp standard tech 21 trademark60 which is annoying me coz it isnt reliable only had it for 18 months with no gigging experience and its startin to die out on high volumes...anyway it sounds very good when i practice with it even when plugged thru a fender 100watt ss kbx amp...it is just hard when i gig on have to go direct thru the mixer which this puppy should really shine but alas.I was unable to get the sound i want in coz i could not practice tweaking it thru the mixer before or did not enough have time or experience on how to get it to sound the way i want it.I havent givin up on it yet coz next time im in that situation ill turn off all the bass,mid and treble and just set the volume of the mixer in unison with the d.i. unit and tweak everything accordingly from the small switches.Its a bit noisy when you have the pres.knob beyond 1130 but i like using the cleam amp with the marshall/mesa amp char.on the side and then have a second od unit preferably a carl martin hot drive mk2 but right know i just use a BD-2 with the tone set at 9 level at 12 and drive as desired then i amp happy.....for now

No...maybe i got a lemon.Im happy with what it can do soundwise but when i gig it acts as a filter coz its the last unit on my chain b4 the amp hence it is always on and set to clean coz sometimes i step on the damn thing it gives me inconsistent volumes even though the unit lights up to show its engaged and i correct this by turning it off and step on it again until i hear the soundlevel i set it for.I have tried fresh batts. and wallwarts and it still happens... not all the time but enough to not use it as a footswitch hence it is going in for repairs....DAMN

okay i guess coz they asked TOM LEE MUSIC in honkong to take care of me but i hate them coz there is just no service with these people and i have no choice...i was willin to ship mine back to new york and wait for it to come back..

very good and happy with sound i think it is just not designed to be a stompbox but a tool for recording....i love tech21..i have the amp...GT2...Acoustic D.I. and this...but the 2 is to 2 ratio of satisfied with not satisfied is ridiculous

Turn it on and a good sound comes out of it. DIP switches a bit fiddly: don't try and change them onstage. Manual's Ok but who needs manuals? : )

Every guitarist should have one. I mean it, it's that good. Nuf said.
I use an adaptor with it and get even more sounds out of it by running it at several set voltages less than 9: 7.5, 6.0, etc. Don't try it at more than 9 whatever you do. The lower the voltage the more distortion and softness you get. I find the 'normal'setting with all the DIPs off and all the knobs facing 12 o'clock gets my favourite sound. Actually, the best sound is on a battery, but I expect no one other than another perfectionist guitar player would notice. A battery smooths off the attack in a tube like way to my ears.

Always works

You name the situation and this box will cover it for you. Sure, there are tube amps which sound better on one particular setting but with this thing you can go from glassy shimmer to massive crunch at the flick of a switch and both sounds score more than 9 out of ten. I would buy a new one the same day that I lost this one. For recording you might as well throw away all your expensive mikes and boutique amps 'cos this will do even better. For live work just add a bit of eq and reverb and that's it. As far as I'm concerned this thing sets the standard, for amp simulators, equally as groundbreaking as the Strat or Marshall amp. I mean it, however over the top that may sound.I've tried digital simulators but the Sansamp is way better. Buy one. I dont work for Tech 21!

Super easy to use, the controls are a bit tiny for some functions, but for a unit with no manual, it doesn't take any effort to get sounds out of this unit.

This thing sounds very cool through my amp(Egnater TOL50). I always thought I'd like a little more crunch out of my amp and the Sansamp Classic does a beautiful job. The clean function of the Sansamp is pretty good too but I was already getting really nice clean sounds. I'm not sure how this unit would sound with a solid state amp, probably not nearly as good but I'm pretty sure the Sansamp Classic would improve anybody's sound who is looking for a lot of bark and bit, from Marshall to Mesa and in beween. Awesome sound!

No problems, thus far!

Haven't needed any support so far.

Great unit, great sounds, makes me want to try a PSA-1 just for the fact it would be alot easier to have presets for a live situation, but I sing. Guitar is for my own amusement! I'd buy another if it were lost. I love the crunch of it. I wish it had presets but I can't whine because I knew it didn't when I bought it! Great unit, like I said, for Rock(especially), and probably any style.

Its very easy to use, I bought it used so there was no manual. I like to have the distortion a lot louder than clean sound and it gets really loud! There is alot of options wich can change the sound completley!

I use a jag-stang with Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck(JB) model, into a mesa/boogie sudio preamp into a marshall 8008 power amp into a 4x12 marshall 1960 cab.


I play most rock or grunge as somebody call it, I like Nirvana and i can get the In utero sound...

I bought this used, and it seemed to be quite old, I havent had any trouble with it at all!! I would use it on a gig without backup, yes!

I havent dealt with the company

I play punk, grunge rock style and I love the sound of it, If it were stolen I would def get another one! I really Like the clean distortion sound you can get when you are playing loud! Its a bit expensive but compared to other expensive things Its worth it!!!

Dead easy to use , I can get good valve clean and Filth straight to tape with the minimum of fuss. Micro switches are a bit of a pain but I am being over critical

'62 strat with A Jeff Beck junior in the bridge can have the creamiest ,smoothest lead tone without sounding muddy and losing tje characteristics of the guitar

It has not gone down in 6 years 'nuff said

I play in a blues band and in a Bon Jovi tribute band and the sansamp does what I need

It's easy to use. Flip the switches, it says what they do on them. Very obvious.

It's almost hard to get a bad sound out of this thing. I suspect that those that don't like the tones it produces are looking for something unconventional or are playing crappy guitars into crappy amps (don't do that). I use vintage Strats and vintage amps - ya, I know their expensive but I want a good tone. Some of the tones it produces are approximations of the real thing, but close enough. It produces a very good overdriven Fender tone when set up right - a tone I can't get out of most tube amps with a master vol. Use a decent Strat into a vintage tube Fender amp and you'll see what I mean. Don't match a crummy copy guitar with a lame solid state amp and expect a SansAmp to save you.

10 years and keeps on ticking. What else do you want? The little switches are lame though, and the silk screening that explains what they do is wearing off.

Never needed it.

I've been playing vintage gear for 20 years. I'd pay up for another SansAmp if I lost this one. The only other tone that compares to it is a Deluxe Reverb turned up to 9 and that doesn't always make sense in based on the venue. I've owned a few overrated Boogies too and sold them because they are so boring.

I've had the unit for almost 10 years so I know it pretty well by now but initially it will take patience. You will need to use the suggested sounds and tweak those to you're liking.

The sound is the best I've ever come across,better than the modeling amps. I'm using it with a Vox AC-30 and I can go from early Beatles to
a dead ringer Eric Johnson sound to an exact (and I mean exact) Stevie Ray Vaughn sound. It is pretty quiet too. Using it through a Fender Ultra (solid state) amp turned it into a great sounding tube amp. Of all the Sans Amp pedals, this is the only one that will give you that "very" smooth Marshall sound. I use it in conjunction with a Line 6 DDL-4 delay pedal and a Lexicon MPX 100.

I've been using it for 10 years without any problems, but I'm very careful with it as well as my other equipment.

I've called Tech 21 a few times over the years and they were very helpful, friendly and accomodating with every question.

This unit is a must for my set-up. If I had to I would replace it in a heartbeat. Modeling technology has not caught up with Tech 21 yet.

I bought this pedal 9 years ago that was when I first started some home recording. There wasn't much choice in the market. The tiny dip switches certainly not user friendly. AFter opening it I was even surprised that it had virtually no parts in it, just a 1"x1" piece of black " thing " with papaer thin flat pots connecting to it. Left me wondering if I paid too much for this pedal. It took me a look time to get a good tone out of it so I give it a 6 for Ease Of Use.

I have a no. of guitars but basically Gibson Les Paul and a Hamer Strat copy and I use it mainly for recording. I also have a Pod Line-6 and most of the time I use the Line 6 because it is easier to use. But the two units have very different sound. Once I need a Dire Strait sound and I could only get it with the sansamp. Just flip in the clean amp mode and dial in overdrive, add a lot of compression and I got that overdrive clean amp sound. Very covincing. But for really heavy distortion or metal sound, the Line 6 is better. So I wouldn't say which one is better, it's just the way you use it and believe me, it has a lot of good tones hiden in it. Without presets, it's just more differcult to discover the merits of it.

Rock Solid. Haven't really used it on stage as a pedal, but I suspect it will do some major damage if accidently stepon the DIP switches.

No experience yet.

The fact that it's still working after 11 years ( gee has it been that long? ) says a lot about it's built, and the fact that the sound is still pretty good compared to some new models ( forget about all the wimpy Japanese distorion box ). I wish they have built in effect and a couple of days ago I saw this tech21 amp in the local music store, sound very good too, it can also go direct to a mixing board for recording, that maybe my next buy.