Tech 21 SansAmp Classic

The small thingies that you do the character changes with are no so easy to change if you have to do it "live". The knobs are straightforward and simple in use.

Real good sound. If you compare it to the GT2 it has more clean options. I've used it live straight through a PA and its works OK. It feels kind of strange though...

No problems, but then I've never really had that with any stompbox. I believe that people who have are stomping a little too hard on the things.

Bought it second hand and I've had no problems so I don't know.

It's NOT an amp and to me an amp still sounds better. Even some good solid state amps sound better than this, but the point is that this is not an amp. It's so much easier to carry and won't break down.

Very easy

The guys that gave it 1 or 2 probably use lausy guitars.
With my Strat Plus and de Luxe it sings nicely and
I can record miracles if I add Art Levelar (tube) compressor
in the chain - it sounds as ANY top amp you can imagine !
THE SOLUTION - sansamp with compression.
I can also use it as an overdrive for gigs but don't ...

I can depend on it but I have so much gear that I can choose anything: still all other people with little gear should record with
SansAmp and Levelar or ArtTube MP : great inexpensive solution ..

I do not use it for gigs as my amps sing and I have Marshall
overdrive BB-2 and Tube King from Ibanez etc ...

Don't need it.

I play anything except metal and this recent rubbish techno or shred ...

I wish it was with memory but PSA-1 has it ...

I could not get a good sound out of it so i would have to say that the ease of use was poor

When I first heard about the Sansamp I had to have one as my needs at the time were a lot of home recording. Being an amp repairer and seeing almost every amp under the sun (you no what I mean)I thought the idea of not having to use a guitar amp was great. So using a hot trat with a humbucker in the bridge I attempted to record some guitar tracks. I had zero luck and every sound from clean to wild was the worst transitorised sound I'd ever heard. I thought to myself it must be faulty. I opened the unit up to find that it was basically
non-serviceable and I marked the modules with a felt pen so that I could identify them later.I then sent it of for repair. I was charged a service fee. And the unit was sent back to America via the Queensland Australia importers. (who are the worst importers I have had to deal with PERIOD)IN short I recieved the unit back it still sounded like crap, and to make it worse when I opened it, yep you guested it my felt marks were still there and there was no work done to the unit. I will never buy a product from tech 21 again.

I tried every thing I even gave it to a friend to use and he saidit was a bag of shit. So wheres the reliability.

The importer in Queensland Australia Sucked, Tech 21 sucked. This is the first time that I have every bagged a company but they need it.

Some of the knobs are not really logical to use, but after a while you got used to it.

I use a Gibson SG through SansAmp into a Peavy Mark III bass-amplifier into a Marshall 4x12. I think that the sound really is free from unwanted noice. It took a while to get that dry ditortion I wanted to play octavechords the right way, but now it's just the way I want it...

Never had anyproblem as long as the batterys are fresh...

Havn't got any manual due to i bought it second hand, no pdf-s to upload on the tech21 website. ehhh not satisfied.

I play emo-core with emphasis on 2 lead-rythm shifting guitars in almost every bar of the songs.

the dip switches are labeled, and pretty much self-explanatory for anyone who isn't, well, a dip.

i can't believe the number of glowing reviews here for this box. i haven't owned one for quite some time, but i had it for a solid year and tinkered and tinkered with it to try to get good results, doing direct recording with guitar (its intended design). overdriven settings are a joke, with a sound like an overdriven mic solid state mic preamp, with lots of nasty gritties and no glow whatsoever. the "clean amp emulations" are nothing that one couldn't do with a little eq; i've made straight-to-the-board recordings that sounded far better (and i can't say i'm a big fan of *that* sound either). speaking of eq, this box was so treble-happy/lacking in bass that i took to putting a guitar eq pedal after it at all times, with the most ridiculous amount of low-end boost you can imagine. maybe i had a dog, but i can't help but think that anyone who even *tries* to compare this thing to a real live guitar amp of any sort is completely deluding themselves. i will say that i kind of miss it-- it sounded *great* for vocals. :)

with all the good press on the sans amp and its progeny, i spent a long time just thinking that i was doing something wrong. but i had a good axe, a good board, and a good clue how to use the thing (and how an amp should sound). it just doesn't work as advertised. not only does it not sound like a guitar amp, it sounds downright horrid with a guitar plugged into it. i finally gave up, sold it, and purchased an ada microcab and peavey rockmaster preamp with the money, which wasn't perfect, but gave me a *far* warmer and more realistic sound as an ampless recording rig for all the styles i play (imagine the gain knob going from 0-10 and everywhere in between). since then, we've seen a big resurgence in small tube amps, and i can't believe this thing is still on the market, let alone getting favorable reviews from guitarists. unless you can find one in a pawn shop for $50 or so, or want to use it for trendy 90's vocal distortion, it's best left alone.

The controls are really simple to use and well explained on the box itself. I bought it second hand so i didn't have any manuals for it , but I got good sounds out of it from the beginning. My only complaint about the controls is that Specific amp styles ( Fenders, Mesa, etc ) are not marked, so it takes a lot of knob fiddling to find what you want. ( and there's a lot of knobs : 4 pots, 8 dip switches and a 3-way preamp style switch!) Oh thats the other thing, the dip switches are a bit small.

This is a really amazing piece of gear. It's not perfect, but then what is ? I've never really used a tube amp live , so I can't compare from experience, but listening to CD recordings of Stacks and whatever else, you can't tell the difference. I'm playing through it with a Ibanez roadstar (strat type thing ) into a Fender deluxe 85 or more importantly I'm using it for direct to hard drive recording. On both counts it's great. Someone in an earlier review called it a bit muddy through an amp, well I play rhythm and I tune down a whole step and didn't find muddiness a problem, but thats my personal preference. I also use it for bass a bit , at which it does well , but not as well as the guitar settings . I find if you want a bit of low overdrive on the bass it takes quite a bit of knob twisting.
The only sound quibble I have is that on some settings, if you turn up the Presence drive to much, you get unnatural fuzz, but a quick turn solves this.
Overall, really good sounds , are all there , they just take a bit of time to tweak.

I've only had it a week so I going out on a limb a bit. The construction is rock solid , I think you could probably drive over the thing. My only concern is that the dip switches seem a bit flimsy, although the previous owner didn't have any problems with them.

I can't believe how helpful these guys are ! I emailed them requesting presets and things, expecting a week or so's turn around, and I had them the next day. Not only that, Sunny ZA is not the closest place to NYC, but they're mailing me an owners manual free of charge. Joe , Lloyd thank you once again you guys are great.

I would definately buy it again. For my purposes , as a general all round preamp, I haven't seen anything nearly as versatile or great sounding. Okay admittedly, I got one stormer of a deal on the thing ($160 !! ) and with the way the Rands going to the Dollar ( 6.3:1) I don't think I could afford to replace it if it was stolen, but if I could I would. The only other option I had in my price range was a Zoom 503 and to be honest, compared the the SA Classic , the Zooms sounds like trash. The SA Classic may be a bit pricey if you think of it as just a stompbox, but you really get what you pay for. Think of it more as $10000 dollars worth of Vintage gear . . . . .

It has some funky switches, and I wish I could change some stuff live, but I generally leave it alone. The only thing I change during a set is the voicing switch on the side.

Pretty damn remarkable. I've used a lot of distortion stomp boxes but one thing I've noticed is that they don't track very well - sometimes if you play a fast series of notes or a legato flurry notes get lost in the mess. This thing PROPELS your playing - it takes all that you give it and hands out more. The Bassman sound completely transforms your tone - the Mesa voice is the lead tone you've been looking for. The Marshall settings are just a little slicey for my taste.

I think it looks pretty tough. The only thing that worries me are the little bitty dip switches.

No experience as of yet - knock on wood.

This is the box I'd been looking for. Use it live as a virtual amp channel - record direct to tape for the sanity of your neighbors. It kicks the crap out of a Big Muff, TS-9, XXL, MP-1, R2D2, whatever. The temptation is to buy cheaper stuff. Avoid tempation and spend the bucks - this pedal's a KEEPER.

Easy of use is high. Eight DIP switches provide on/off control of certain amp characteristsics, and have labels like Vintage Tubes, Clean Amp, and Mid Boost. Four knobs labeled Amp Drive, Presence Drive, High and Output are all well-explained in the manual and do a lot. One three-position switch that allows you to select Bass (Fender), Normal (Mesa), and Lead (Marshall) preamp voicings. The suggested settings in the manual sounds pretty close to their names, and it's easy to find your own good sound by twiddling a bit. The DIP switches can be a minor annoyance when experimenting to get a sound, thus the 9 rating.

I use it for guitar (Carvin DC127 and PRS Swamp Ash Special) and bass (Carvin LB75) both. It sounds great. Fantastic amp simulation from clean to crunchy. The recorded sound is wonderful. Some folks claim a lack of dynamics, but I haven't had that problem.
Tip: don't use it live through guitar or bass cabs, but through a power amp and full-range stereo speakers. It's designed to emulate an entire amp, speakers included, and I've found that guitar and bass cabs muddy the sound a bit.

Built very solidly. Had this one for moe than a year and haven't had a single problem. I've only known one person who had oe with a problem, but it was fixed easily. I'd likely gig without a backup (if I was gigging these days).

I just got done with an email conversation with a Tech21 support guy, as I was asking about the specifics of the PSA-1. He was prompt, helpful, and knowledgeable.

I play blues, rock, and folks-influenced stuff, and this covers all of the bases. It is versatile and sounds great. I would definitely buy it again, especially for portable use. I'm looking to get a PSA-1 next for its ever greater versatility and presets. It definitely helps me make music, and especially when combined with my PRS and an effect or two, it gives me a sonic pallette so wide that I can always find the sound that's in my head.

This unit has 4 knobs, 8 DIP switches as well as a three postion switch. This unit has ALOT of options, but the manual makes it easy and after a few trials, dialing in your tones are easy.

This thing sounds VERY good! It gives you Fender, Boogie, and Marshall sounds in one convienent package. As good as it is, I have a few complaints. First, it doesn't react to player's dynamics as much as tubes, in fact, it doesn't react much at all. Also, rolling off the volume of the guitar doesn't clean up the sound as nicely as a tube amp either. Never-the-less, it kicks for recording. With a little reverb, you could fool just about everybody that it was a "real" amp.

The Classic comes with a 9V power supply. I wish it had a built-in power supply instead of the stupid wall wart. I've accidently pulled it out of the adaptor jack a few times. The case looks rugged, but since this was not made to be a stomp box, it probably won't be kicked around. just set it, and keep it out of harm's way

haven't had to deal with this. I've had it six months with no problems.

I really like the sounds. If I could get better dynamics (through a tube power amp live, or a tube direct box in the studio), It'd be super. Also, the addition of an internal power supply would increase the reliability emmensly.