Tech 21 SansAmp GT2

Well, this stompbox-preamp is quite easy to use, it's very easy to get quite a good sound of it. Simulations are pretty understandable, no problem. Also, you can start with some settings from the manual, they are very useful to understand what does what.

I was using it in my pedalboard along with Crybaby Mister Wah/Volume or Morley Power Wah/Volume and Boss DD-20 echo/delay. GT-2 was a little noisy, it could be caused by a cheap AC adapter, but it didn't really changed when I tried a battery.
I used to plug it in the Laney VC-30 (i bought it for its superior clean sound) and with a single step on it, GT-2 made my amp really roar. Distortion can be very heavy, but with high clarity. It's also absolutely handy when you need to record something to your PC, because of the speaker simulator (it can't be switched off, but it doesn't mess up the tone in a real amp)
I think, that the biggestproblem of this preamp is big compression->its quite hard to get a clean sound of it with your guitar volume control

I personally would take it for a world tour without a backup. It is build like a tank :-)

I really didn't have to deal with Tech21's customer support

I personally play some kind of heavy/progressive rock. This unit is very good choice for music like that, it has a great rhytm and lead sound. I used to play with some kind of Mesa/Boogie simulation - very good sound, very inspiring

If I wouldn't recommended a little more dynamics, I absolutely wouldn't sold it. When it comes to PC recording, it is a very good work horse, but you know - dynamics. I bought a valve distortion pedal and now I am really happy

This is not so easy to tweek a good sound. However, it can be acheived. Hence, it comes with a manual with details on presets to assist. The control pots are very sensitive and covers a wide range of tone and drive unlike a full blown overdrive or distortion pedals.
It has the options for 3 amp models from CA to Britt to Tweed, and 3 typs of gain and speaker mic postions.

I use a dark sounding valve jr with Fender Strats. Used alone it is not noisy on the clean and tweed settings. As mentioned, the level and drive controls can go from mild to extream. I like the Tweed sound with high gain. Even with high gain it be controled to sound clean and "Tube Overdrive" with the adjustmenst of the volume control on the guitar. The manual gives you a foundation to start from and you can get real great guitar "Tone" from the Tweed settings. However, I give it a 9 because the high gain distortion does not work well with my set up, i.e., strat and tube amp. I also use a holy grail for reverb and the tone is most excellent. Also, ther is a hint of compression in the sound when played with the Tweed setting.

This model was bought used in the mid 1990s it has no battery cover and 5 digit SN 100XX. It is made in NYC with a cast box and 3pdt switch.

Unknown

For over 35 years I have played electric and acoustic guitar, and have owned all kinds of stuff. This was/is a keeper. I currently use it on a board with my Crybaby wah, TS-808, Dynacomp (for boost) stereo chours, and Holy Grail Reverb. This is all I need to get 70s rock and serious blues tone. The GT-2 stays on most of the time and I use the other effects to define the tone I seek. It is pricey, but better sounding than the digitech RP150. The RP150 did not work well with my other effects. But stand alone the RP150 can do alot, but head to head for a clean or fat Fender tone the GT2 sounds a lot better.

Easy to use. The tone controls are pretty sensitive so they must be used with care. Let your ears guide you.

This pedal has great sounds in it. I run it in front of my amp, and I get fender tones, and mesa tones that are pretty good. I don't like the marshall settings too much, but that is just me.

The poster below is clearly one of those old guys who likes to "control the grit with the volume knob..." just ignore him. If you are like him trying to play blues on your single coil strat and to regulate the gain with your volume knob while on the California setting then it is no wonder the pedal sounds bad. It isn't the pedal, but the intended use that should be reviewed here...

The pedal can sound a bit overly saturated and compressed if played in front of an all-tube amp. Again, govern yourself accordingly here, and spend the time to get the right sounds out of this pedal. They are there, you just have to find them. I also find that an EQ pedal is a must after this pedal since it has no mids control. I love metal, and love high gain, but while scooping mids might sound brutal at home, it will erase you from the mix if you play live. Do yourself a favor and invest in a good EQ such as the MXR 10 Band EQ.

So far so good. I bought this pedal used, and the user had it for 10 years!!! That says a lot to me about the quality of this pedal. I would say it is up there with Boss, MXR and Ibanez/Maxon pedals for reliability and durability.

Haven't had to talk to them, and hopefully never will.

Great pedal for what it does. I wish it had midi controls (while still retaining the all-analogue signal path) for more flexibility. That would make this pedal a true must-have.

Would I replace this pedal if I lost it? Maybe, but provably with their TRI-AC or something of the sort. I would recommend that anyone try this pedal, but if possible try it during band practice so that you figure out if how to cut through the mix. The California setting is great for that mesa sound, but then again, easy to over saturate and compress.

A noise gate may also be needed at high gain settings.

Pretty easy since you can't put the volume or drive above 12:00 or it's too noisy, so that limits your choices. Also, you can't use the british since you'll completely lose all the low end, even with the low turned all the way up, so that limits your choices.

Horrible. It simulates "amp tones" ok, but it takes away all touch sensitivity. If you're into the awful EVH sound, then you'll love this thing, but if you're an adult, looking to play adult music and not that Nu Metal crap or whatever it is, then you'll be disappointed. Buy an attenuator and a decent distortion/fuzz

Got it used to try it and see what the buzz was about. It was pretty beat up but still worked fine. I didn't have it for long, so I can't say if it would last with regular use.

Just plain bad. The tweed was he only setting that didn't produce too much noise, but that messed with the mids too much. Bad bad bad.

Juts 4 knobs with 3-way switches x 3 for Mod, Amp, and Mic. Not really hard tough, but you'll need a LITTLE bit times to get used to those controls' characters. If you already get used by it, then it's heavenly easy to get what you want!

I use my Washburn Mercury I series (I think it's already discontinued) and this "chameleonic" pedal since I was around 13 (7th Grade) until now I add Boss CH-1, Boss NS-2 (for elimetaning noise, of course), and Boss GE-7 (and more, next time) to add more wider sounds.

I got almost all DRIVE I need from this pedal, from bluesy drive to cruchy crisp to growling roar! Lately I play an Alternative Rock-kind of band and it help a lot! A little weakness is it difficult to tame when it goes WILD! lol

tank-built! Too bad I hate the on-off switch. It got troubled sometimes, like, it sometimes can't turn off! some other times, can't turn on! Maybe it just old, I hope. That's make an 8.

I buy this pedal second hand, so I didn't got any manual or even box (just a home-made box with Budweizer label, looks funny lol). When I E-mailed them for pdf version of the manual, they e-mail me back right away! Best costumer support! comparing those spoiled gear sellers in Surabaya

If I lost this pedal, maybe I'd quit playing music :'( many friends here ask if I want to sell it but my answers is : HELL NO!!! because I can't buy a new one for it's high price!

This thing is very user friendly. The manual gives a variety of ideas but using it with bass guitar I just set it and forget it.

I used it for a little distortion on bass. Although I do set it for one style, occasionally I will preset it for California or British depending on the venue. Regardless of what others may say, I personally like the speaker simulation for bass. It won't make a bad sounding instrument better but it will give you what you want with a good sounding one.

I have 2 of these. One for backup but have never needed it. As they say, it is built like a tank and never fails me.

Every time I've dealt with them they have been very accommidating but they won't give up their secrets.

I started playing bass in the 60's but I still like a lot of the new music especially Christian rock. I don;t use the GT2 all the time but I keep it in my pedalboard for particular songs and a bit of character. I love this little box because it beats the competition for that hint of distortion though it's capable of much more.

Easy. Knobs are obvious. Plug into mixer or into effects return of an amp. Do NOT plug into instrument input of amp.

First, let me say this: Tech21 absolutely NAILED the preamp section in this pedal. I am almost shocked. Beautiful dynamics like I've never heard in a solid-state pedal, very close to my beloved rare Crate tube amp, and you will hear them in any setup. Responds to picking beautifully, especially through the Brit setting. A MILLION times better than the digital Behringer V-Amp 2 and Line 6 AM4 in this regard. I am impressed. The power amp simulation is also not bad at all and much better than anything else I've heard.

Unfortunately, this thing has one huge gigantic pitfall: built-in speaker simulation.

Why? Two reasons:

1) The cab sim itself is complete crap. It produces fizz like plugging a ****** over-EQed distortion pedal directly into a Red Box Pro and cranking the 10Khz. It doesn't matter which of the 3 mike positions you choose, it's always there. Generally unusable for most recordings. It's IMPOSSIBLE to EQ the fizz out properly, enhancers help little but distort the flat EQ which comes out of the pedal which is actually well done and desirable but, again, plagued by fizzzzzzzzzz. You can hear it in the recordings on their site, but it's a lot worse in practice.

Some people have suggested plugging this into a separate speaker sim to tame the fizz. VERY, VERY BAD IDEA. You don't mike an amp twice; this is the effect pluggin the GT-2 into a cab sim will produce. I have Palmer, Behringer, and Red Box cab sims, and the GT-2 sounds like pure compressed **** through all of them. Instant presence-killer. Even with good EQ-ing and enhancing, a Sansamp into a second speaker sim sounds like tin compared to any decent recording. Believe me I have tried everything for months on end, because I cannot believe they ruined such a beautiful dynamic solid-state preamp with such a ****** cab simulation.

2) YOU CAN'T DISABLE THE SPEAKER SIM!!!!!! Why in the world would you want a speaker sim driving your tube power amp??? I have tried this into multiple amps' effect returns and the presence loss compared to their regular distortion is striking. I can't believe nobody else hears this. THE SANSAMP GT-2 CAN NOT BE USED IN PLACE OF A REAL PREAMP!!!!!!!! The only way you can get a GT-2 or any sansamp for that matter to sound right into an amp is if you're using a very or relatively clean power amp and cabinet, such as the ones Tech 21 themselves produce. Anything else = instant colored tin can sound, even with loads of equalization (which is what Tech 21 recommends to compensate for the simulation - yeah right).


This is really why I am writing this review. I am calling Tech 21 out on their ********. This pedal is really close to something great with its awesome preamp sim, that's true, but this "universal output" is a joke and an insult. Instead of providing separate options for the total TWO, maybe THREE possible scenarios this unit could be used in, they've created a horrible mesh of half-***** poor compromise "speaker simulation" which they're advertising as some magic solution for universal good tone. I am ashamed I have fallen for this.

Plastic, but fairly sturdy. Good enough.

I e-mailed Tech21 asking if they had a model without speaker simulation. They basically told me I was a dumbass. Either they don't know how an amp works at all, or their circuitry is one gigantic hack which happens to magically include some semblant of speaker simulation and this is why it's built into all their models and they're pretending they don't know how amps are actually supposed to be wired so they can sell it to dumbasses like me.

This pedal and the other sansamps have the potential to be the greatest, most versatile solid-state simulators ever produced. I'm serious, I have never heard a solid-state preamp section react as well as the GT-2's does. All it needs is a fourth "bypass" option on each of the sliders, to disable the speaker sim and power amp where necessary (for example, just disable the speaker sim and substitute it with my much better Palmer PDI-09, or disable the speaker sim and power amp to plug preamp-only into a tube amp's effects return, the way it's meant to be).

Instead, this pedal is remarkably limited, you're STUCK with a ****** speaker sim and power-amp simulation, making your better cab sims and tube amps sound like a joke and making it FAR from the versatile beast people claim it is. They've made the same mistake with their new 'character' series and most of their sansamps, too.

I am horribly disappointed with this pedal, simply because they came SO close to producing a great musical tool, but managed to turn into a toy for Metalzone-bashers. I give up.

easy to use, didnt have a manual as it was used but the best and hardest thing is every tiny move on the dials makes a unique sound...it really is deep, but simple to dial in...LOVE that about it. it seems a lot of the new zoom and other digital pedals takes aweek with the manual...NO FUN. basically like an old school pedal with old school sounds. blows so many past pedals away its silly.

i dont find this noisy, and i use it mostly on the tweed clean settings so...? I think i have an older version? you have to take out 4 screws to replace battery...when battery starts to die the noise appears...thats the sign folks.
After having multiple tube amps from princetons to champs to carvins to peaveys...I have found a winner...and it has no tubes! well, pretty much...heres what i mean. I love the tube sound, hate the solid state on most, but definitely not all amps. Sold all the tubers to raise funds, then found out i was out a good amp after trying the under $300 tube amp variety out there. Nothing really sounded that great and the starved=plate designs left me wanting...so I got a cheapass gx15 crate, ditched the speaker for a 12" vintage alnico and put it on clean...man it sucked. So i got this...kapow! For $150 total (crate was almost free it was used and so cheap) i got me a winner,,,,no wieners. In fact, i like the effects better than the roland microcube, which says a lot...plus you get the volume with this setup. If you get the roland, plus this setup you can pretty much cover any sound available for recording and live (mic'd for bigger venues)
effects are perfect...but i usually only use clean tweed and semi-clean california though the british does sound fine!

seems fine but i hate those type switches...though they supposedly last for a long time (russian mics usem so you know they are bombproof)
no backup needed

ahhhhh....NO....hopefully will never need to use them. Now, if you use bartolini pickups and need customer support...HAHAHAHAHA...good luck

After 25 years of hundreds of guitars, effects, amps, basses i am pared down to the essentials, and this is one of them. to give you an idea (and believe me, have owned, used, bought and sold more stuff than any used music store has at any given moment) of my setup I have (definitely not braggin here...just ended up with the best sounding basics) fender mim vintage reissue strat with duncan ssl pickups, danelectro reel echo fake tape loop box, meistersinger chorus, this box, boss extortion, roland microcube, crate gx15 POS with new speaker GREAT!, and cheapo bennet samick bass with really good pickups....cant ask for anything more or better unless a carey sound or mini-dr- tube amp comes around.
THis lil stomper fits the bill nicely, and can record direct! which i rarely do, but will prob. do more of as this sounds so GOOD direct. As good but not as deep as ampfarm...and you can hold it

Fairly easy to good a good sound out of this unit. You have to experiment to find what suits you best.

Well, the interesting thing is that I've begun to use it playing live.
I use a Fender tube amp so I don't really use Tweed settings and I also use a Tube Screamer. What this pedal now does for me is get the real high gain and crunch sounds that I've used other distortion pedals for. It is a little noisy, but for the high gain sounds I'm using it doesn't really matter.

The unit seems pretty reliable, doesn't eat batteries too quickly. The only problem I've had is the battery cover which I have had to tape.

N/A- no problems

I play I wide variety of styles and have been playing for 25 years.
I own a few amps of varying size and numerous effect. My main guitar
is a Strat also use a Tele and occasionally Les Paul Jr.

I bought this unit several years ago after it first came out. I purchased it for recording purposes and used it solely for recording.


Primarily when I use this live I'll got back and forth between the California and British settings with varying degrees of gain depending on what the song calls for.
I believe that this pedal is very underated as a distortion unit for live applications. It took me awhile to figure this out, but I certainly would recommend this to anyone seeking a pedal that will deliver a myriad of tones both vintage and modern.

Well, it's easy to work with, you quickly find out what all the knobs and switches do, but to get a good sound out of it that will take a little more dedication! the manual has all you need to know...

I'm using a Fender Telecaster and a Epiphone Black Beauty into a Crate Blue Voodoo and a Fender Twin Reverb.. The unit isn't noisy at all, I think it is the most silent I got.. But the sound quality.. I've cried rivers for the money I spent with this piece of s....t.. The only usable sound is in the California amp switch, clean setting.. the rest.. well, it costed me 250??? and my 45??? Boss DS-1 beats it in a blink!

It seems reliable, I'm even thinking of throwing it to the wall if I can't sell it real soon!

Never needed, I seldom used it..

I've been playing for 15 years now, some bands, local gigs and I own some cheap gear, except for the amps all is very cheap, and everything works real fine, this was the most expensive pedal i bought and the greatest disapointment.. if it got stolen, poor robber! couldn't use it and couldn't sell it!

slightly more complicated than the overage OD/dist. pedal, but not much. it just has more features. it is very, very easy to get good sound out of the GT-2, I don't think there's a bad sound in the box.

The sound quality on these pedals is great. Roaring. I never used the direct out, just used it as a pedal in front of my amp, even when recording. Settings have been reviewed to death, and I've played through this pedal on a Fender strat (single coils), Gibson blueshawk (p90s), Gibson SG special (humbs) Washburn WI66 Pro (duncan humbs), and the sound remains pretty consistent. That's something to consider about this pedal, it functions somewhat as a regulator of your sound. You pick the setting, adjust the parameter controls, and that's how you sound. In a sense, it's really limited in that way, but also not. You are free to select from several rich, detailed, high-quality sounds, but only those. There are advantages and disadvantages to pedals which function that way. But this pedal does what it does very well. I haven't heard many distortions which sound as good. I had one and ultimately replaced it with a Zoom Hyper-Lead (because I wanted more tonal variety), but I miss it and wish I hadn't needed to sell it to raise $$. It does add some noise, but a fairly low amount. Huge amounts of chunky gain, great for palm-muting. great for boosts and solos, great all around. If you don't mind there being a sort of same-ness to your sound, its all the OD/distortion you'll need.

solid

eh, no idea

I play many varieties of rock, and have done so for many years. As I said, I did sell this pedal eventually, but I do want people to know how good it is. I might get another one some day, when I have a surplus of money. It is really useful, as it becomes your portable backup amp in a pinch. I dissed many a distortion pedal in my search for a proper over-the-top high-gain pedal. I used this one happily for quite a while for rehearsals, live shows and recording. I had been using a keeley-modded Rat II, and then a Boss MZ-2 Digital Metalizer, but they were both too noisy in their own way. The Rat would feed back or muddy up when I needed it to cut through. The MZ-2 is a cool pedal, but limited in its own sonic capabilities. It is great for solos, and that's about it. After using those I kept this one for a long time once I had it. But as I said above, I eventually wanted something with more variety of sound and got the Hyper-Lead, which is a bit noisier, but has more gain on tap coupled with a massive EQ section. But that shouldn't discourage anyone from getting one of these. I used mine with both a solid state Sunn amp and a Carvin Tube amp, as well as smaller practice amps, it brings the sound pretty much no matter what. That's one of the great things about this pedal, as long as it's on, you sound good. Even if what you're playing is crap, the tone will be good!

Easy to use, easy to experiment with, but no ability to save and recall multiple settings / tones. Thus, limited for live use unless you either want to use it for one tone, an overdrive pedal, or don't mind bending over to change settings between songs.

For direct record and live direct into the board of clean to slightly dirty Fender-ish tones, it is exceptional. Use it with a custom Strat with Fender Fat 50's pickups. Middle and neck pickup position. In this tonal area, actually edges out the best tweaked out Boss-GT8 tones I can muster. For direct record I feel it is right there with any miked amp Fender setup, which is saying alot. Not as impressed with higher gain settings as I just cannot get the same pick attack, harmonics and overall dimension as my GT-8. My current setup is to use the SansAmp GT-2 in the GT-8 effects loop for clean fender tones and turn off the GT-8 preamp. Just use the fantastic GT-8 effects for these Fender tones. Switch it out and use the GT-8 for higher gain.

One big plus with SansAmp product are the dynamics. I have not used a digital modeler that has the same pick dynamics / sensitivity, which really adds to how much you expression you put into your playing.

Built like a grenade proof brick.

Have not had to use customer support and probably never will due to the quality of construction

I have owned the GT-2 for about 3 years and had been using it as a backup to my amp modeller for cover gigs where I needed to plug into the house PA. More recently, it has become a mainstay with my Boss GT-8 for classic clean Fender tones from surf to SRV to Hendrix. Highly recommended as a direct record tool, but don't expect this thing to blow your socks off on higher distortion settings. Have also used this very successfully as a bass DI for recording. Again, very dynamic box. I was a SansAmp PS-2A owner for awhile, and while the GT-2 supposedly has the same core circuitry, the PS-2A seemed better in terms of being able to dial up higher gain tones and not lose clarity or pick attack.

It's very easy to use. Just plug-in, set the switches, turn up/down the knobs... and go...

Solid state, but great tone... even when I use cheap amps...

I bought it about 8 years ago... and it still works great...

There so many set-up samples out there in the internet, including in the official site... however, I've never had to repair my pedal... so no comment...

If you play rock/metal style of music... buy it... you won't be regret... very useful when we have to play in a gig/stage and don't really happy with the internal preamps aof the guitar amps...

The unit is very easy to use, although you need to play with it to see what settings suit you best. With 3 modeling switches, level/gain and treble/bass knobs the number of possibilities is really enormous. The small instruction an on-line help may be a good inspiration for starters.

I have not found a match for the sound of this little stomp box. I have 2 guitars: les paul and a the evil (EVL) cort. I am using these to play different kinds of music, and with both this thing sounds great. It is very versatile - from warm bluesy/jazzy to really hot and screaming overdrives. I am not comparing it against the amps it tries to emulate - i think it has the tone of its own, and I like it. I like it very much.

I own the unit for several years (6) now, and unfortunately I had maintenance problems. First: 2 out of 4 O.A's burned :/ Probably because of my power supply that was connected the wrong way (mixed polarization). I think Sansamp should foresee such situation and provide some safety circuit. Then the knobs started to generate noise during adjustments. Then (maybe because of the repair) the unit seamed to be stuck when using the treble knob at more than 3/4. Finally the switch broke. Sometimes one could turn it on, but could not turn it off. Sometimes one couldn't turn on it at all. It was random. I was not using it during live performances so I would expect a better durability. I think I've reached the bottom line and decided to buy a replacement.

No customer support in Europe, although they (SansAmp) do respond to e-mails. Fortunately, I have found a person who made a copy of the device based on the circuit diagrams available on the net, and he was able to help me when it broke down for the first time.

All in all I love the sound of GT2, and even though it failed several times I've decided to buy a second one (I'll try to use it more gently). I've loved it, since the first time I've heard it, so maybe it's more sentimental than reasonable ;)

I just plugged it in and it sounds great. every setting is good.. I use a lot of Fender crunch.

no noise, all good

bought it used about five years ago, still in mint condition.

n/a

pop rock metal folk acoustic, american tele's les paul deluxe, mex strat heritage 555, guild x150 etc. taylor Gibson etc. playing 35+ years.

many amps. JTM 45, Fender Deluxe, etc... sold all vintage gear, prefer new. Recently got Vox Tonelab, interesting fun neat sounds, use it with headphones, stereo power amp and 1960a cab in stereo.

Lacks the punch of sans amp.

There are countless possibilities with this pedal, but it's still very easy to use.

The most important thing. This is the best distortion pedal I've ever owned and I must admit, I've owned at least fifteen different dist pedals including even some boutique pedals like EMMA ReezaFratZiz (or whatever it was). The problem with the dist/od pedals is the low end. Traditional pedals like Ibanez TS-9 don't have enough low end and then some, like EMMA, have low end, but are muddy and not suitable for palm muting etc. GT-2 is the best in this area and it's also sounds very good otherwise. I also have Tech 21 Tri A.C. which is an excellent pedal, too plus you can store three settings. The Tri A.C. is more traditional sounding (also very good overdrive sound) and the GT-2 is somewhat heavier in sound. I'm so glad I found these Tech 21 products, because they make me play better. Tech 21 also produces not-so-good pedals like the DD3x. You can't palm mute with that one, that's for sure.

Never a problem with a Tech 21 product.

No need to deal with them.

I play all kinds of rock from classic rock to progressive and heavy metal. I've been playing for twenty years, so I guess I know something about good sounds (and bad ones). I have two of these and I'd buy two new ones if they were stolen. I must have one for rehearsals and one for home use. I love its sound and versatility. Also very good for recording guitars. There is nothing I hate about it. Of course every pedal could be more silent, but noise isn't really a problem for me. If you want good sounds and if you use palm mutings, then buy this one. Now.

Extremely easy to use. if you don't know what the switches mean, just move them and you'll find out.

also, if you go to the website, there are complete instructions and sample settings.

www.tech21nyc.com

sound quality is very good, sounds much better than a distortion or overdrive stompbox. very versatile as well, although it is difficult when trying to achieve a sound that lies between the switches. low and high EQ slightly remedy this, although i don't mess with them very much. the direct out is unspeakably useful, especially when i can't bring my amp or need to record a quick riff without setting up an amp and mics.

probably the thing that amazes me most is its ability to create massive, controllable feedback. when used through a tube amp with moderate distortion (into the input, not the FX loop), the sansamp can generate massive amounts of gain without making the sound muddy or fuzzy. the direct out makes this possible, bringing new life to the gt2.

i can absolutely depend on the gt2, and would gig without a backup, providing that i change the battery before the gig. the gt2 doesn't eat batteries, and the light begins to dim long before the sound quality, but a lack of true bypass means that when the battery runs out, so does your tone; however, no bypass means a soft switch for noiseless switching, which is definitely a plus.

the outside is rugged and has no scratches, even after buying it used and using it extensively myself.

haven't dealt with customer support. i bought it on ebay without a manual, but i went to the manufacturer's website, and it had explanations for everything, sample settings for guitars as well as bass guitars through the gt2, and sound samples for each of the settings. i don't expect to talk to customer support anytime soon.

the sansamp gt2 is a great, versatile piece of equipment. the direct out is my favorite feature, and the switches and knobs make it very easy to operate and enjoy. i play a epiphone les paul with installed PRS HFS and Vintage Bass pickups. i play all kinds of music: hard rock that is almost, but not quite metal, some moderate-gain alternative rock, and some soft, quiet songs that have been rocked over-the-top using the gt2.

if it were stolen, i would not buy another one, simply because i have an amp to use now. when i purchased the gt2, i had a crappy boss ds-1 through a broken fender amp. the use of the gt2 as a feedback box means i can still use it after buying a tube amp.

i paid about half the price of the retail gt2, since i got it used, but the retail price isn't too bad anyway, considering what you get.
if you can find one on ebay, buy it.

a monkey could get a good aound out of this box in no time...
i can't believe how stupid you have to be to make this one sound like crap... well, or genius.
i have to admit that a little fiddling is needed to get the sound you want...
i have mine for more than a year now.

i play in a black metal band (as for our style think disiplin, mayhem, gehenna, satyricon). we don't have any clean parts anyway, so i plug the gt2 straight into the return of my marshall jcm900 mkIII model 2500 and unleash hell right away. i think plugging into the return of your amp is the only way to play live with it and get a reasonable sound. never tried it the direct way into the mixer. i got tired of my old distortion pedal (marshall jackhammer) and wanted a really basic preamp for some corpsecrushing high gain. there it was.
i use a customized ibanez rg 470 (emg-81 and some other stuff) and a marshall 1960 4x12" cab with it and get a fat and roaring but nevertheless defined sound.
try fucking around with the settings a bit to get your desired sound... using a tube power amp you have to be careful not to get an overly saturated sound. but if you know how to use it the right way you'll never want anything else again.
i especially like it when mic is set to "off axis", mod "high gain" and amp "british" or "california"... cuts through like a fucking chainsaw. ROOOAAAR :P

it always sits on top of my stack, so i never stomped it anyway. seems reliable though.

never dealt with them.

for my style, this including my amp and guitar setup sure is the perfect match for me. been playing for 12 years now. i also have a fender telecaster and a gibson sg which i don't use for the black metal stuff...
i was surprised how such a rather cheap unit could shape my sound that much and enjoyable. if it were lost or stolen i'd definitely buy another one. it's the easiest thing for me... i just plug in it and sound great.

Amazing sound!!!! With a little tweaking of EQ and your amp,your sounds will not only be tonally superior,natural and full,..but CONSISTENT!!!

All sounds are achieved as I desire. I am a session recording artist. My main guitars are MUSICMAN Luke, and Jap strats,USA Strats, Gibson, Tom Anderson. My amps are Mesa Single Rectifiers for live use but in the studio I have a plethero to choose from..Fenders,Marshall,Bogner, Matcless,...You get the Idea...The Sansamp is easy and Natural sounding...I have owned many distortion unitsie: Ibanez,Maxon,Tonebones,Keeley,Boss,mxr/cae....This is the most consistent pedal and offers the most sonic character..Superior in many ways ....

Built like a tank..Used in many road gigs /tours on my pedal board and in the studio!!

Excellent!!!!!

Dissapointed with some prior reviews...I feel this pedal is "Superior" and I would buy anoy=ther if it were stolen...Often these reviews are put out by novices who cant get there tone right because of many variables,...Ususlly crap equipment or the lack of musical creativity in how to use it...TONE comes from you,...not neccesarilly all your gear (however it does help)..

The manual has some great starter positions for presets. The character switches are fairly strait forward, and the 4 knobs; drive, high, low, level are as well.

All the knobs interact with each other as well as the character switches so expect to sit down and take part of a tweakers dream.

The universal output is nice, but its 1/4" so you'll need to go strait to a 1/4" on a mixer or get a DI of some kind to use it with XLR (mic cables) connectors.

There are ALOT of distortion sounds in this little box, and it does all of them well. It produces great amp like distortion for gigging direct or recording. The only thing it really lacks against a real tube amp would be the infamous tube sag/swell that a tube amp can do if setup properly.

The Input is very sensitive, so be sure to play with your guitar volume while carving tones out. Pickup selection is key as the box can easily be setup to be very transparent.

I have read other reviews complaining about noise, and while I have had noise come through the box it was only amplifying what it was given. Before you tag it noisy switch to a humbucker or dual singles on your pickup selector before you pass judgment on a noisy setting.

It seems to be built well, only time will tell. I'm not very hard on equipment. I'm sure it will be fine. The metal seems thinner and lighter than most, but I don't know what the quality of the metal is so it may be the strongest box out there for all I know.

Tech 21 Shines in this regard, I exchanged emails with them about this product and many others before I ever made a purchase. Friendly fast and informative.

I picked up this box to use direct in live applications, it does its job very well. The best direct sounds I have heard from any box, period. Whether it be from a emulated line out on an amp or a POD or whatever, top notch sound quality. Getting clean sounds out of it can be a bit tricky at times, but if one turns the drive all the way down and watches ones guitar volume its fairly easy to boost the signal to the mixer with the level control.

I like to play with power and an expansive range of expression from a single setting or channel with my rig. This box allows me to go from glistening harp like clean tones to mesa roar all done by me just changing my attack on the strings. Not to many amps can do it exactly how I like much less direct, the GT-2 has been the best at it so far.

Go here to check out other settings besides the ones in the manual:

http://milaa.tripod.com/SansAmpGT2/

I have had this stompbox for about 6 years now. When i first got it, i thought it was the most marvellous gain unit ever made but over the years, i've found it to be a temperamental bitch which fluctuates depending on the amp you use, even when you dial in different settings. It's a relatively good pedal but not very user-friendly if you want a consistent sound. The pedal came with a booklet suggesting various settings. Some are spot-on, some arent. Like i said, it really depends on the amp you use. The Gt-2 is generally quite good with solid state amps though, not so much tube.

I use it with a Fender 65 reissue twin reverb and it sounds okay. Not great, but just okay. Ive tried it with Marshall JCM 2000s, 900s and 800s and it sounds like a piece of crap. Try it with a class A amp like a voc ac-30 or 60 and it's even worse. The knobs are also very sensitive. A slight shift in the High or Low knobs and your sound dramatically changes. Not very easy to mould a good sound either.

Its reliable although I started having problems with the footswitch shortly after I bought it. I would step on it and it would come on and then i'd step on it again to switch it off and it wouldn't go off. Imagine the nightmare!
The reverse also happens quite often and can be very embarassing if you're playing a live gig although i suspect this is due to my particular unit.

never dealt with anyone before.

It's a good pedal for a newbie in search of a range of sounds. but for the gigging or touring musician who has to constantly play on a variety of amps, i wouldnt recommend it. I'd recommend the Crowther Audio Hot Cake instead. It's easy to use, consistent sounding with different amps, and kicks serious tone butt.

Pretty darn near perfect and straight forward pedal with excellent sounds. Only hiss noise is if level is up too high. Tweaking it is easy.

I would use this anywhere as vital piece of studio or stage set-up.

I play hard and psychedelic fusion trance rock like Ozric Tentacles meets Tommy Bolin at a Mahavishnu Orchestra reincarnation gig. I have been abusing axes since 1967. The gear I own . . . I haven't got the time right now. If it were stolen then most likely everything else in my studio got ripped off too so I would be too crazy bummed to worry about this pedal. I wish it had a "Suicide" or "Rainbow" setting where you could dial in %'s of Fender, Marshall and Mesa-Boogie mixed together for the chimeric beast of all amps. Maybe next model??? This puppy definitely helps. I may have to sel some other pedals of mine now . . .

It's pretty straightforward and intuitive. I haven't really used the manual other than a casual glance when I first opened it.

There are basically three amp styles, three tube/gain options, and three mic placement options with gain, high, and low knobs for fine tuning. The first time I used it I fiddled with it a lot, but every subsequent time, it's a quick setup.

My main guitar is an Epiphone Les Paul Deluxe. I use the GT2 in three settings: Practicing through my Peavy Transtube Studiopro 112 (a solid-state amp), playing live direct into the PA system, and recording direct into a Tascam 2488. All three of these applications sound amazing.

Typically, I use it with a more clean- or retro-sounding setup. The Tweed amp is great for that. The first time I used it at church (coupled with a Boss TR-2 Tremelo pedal), the sound guys and the other bandmembers kept asking me what I had done to make my guitar sound so good.

I've also used the British and California settings for a harder sound when recording. It's probably the best distortion I've ever had.

When I first plugged it in, I was a bit wary of the hum it generated when engaged in my amp (at any setting this was present). I noticed this to also be the case (though to a much lesser extent) in the monitors of the church's PA system. However, the sound guys said they didn't notice it, and when I recorded into my Tascam, I didn't notice it either.

Straight up and down, this pedal has given me the BEST sound I've ever had.

I've only owned it for a couple of months, but it seems very rugged. It's solid, metal, and reassuringly heavy. This pedal has replaced my amp completely for gigging. The only reason I'd have a backup would be if I wanted two different tones (e.g. one distorted and one clean). I guess the second one wouldn't really be a backup in that case, would it?

I've never dealt with the company, so I don't know.

I love this pedal! The only thing I would like to see improved would be a way to have two presets to switch between on the fly. Two chanels, so to speak.

My guitar sound is heavily influenced by retro (think Chris Isaac's stuff) and classic rock. I haven't really tried it for other sounds yet. I've never done anything that wasn't improved upon by adding the GT2.

I've been playing guitar for 12 years now. Other than the GT2, I typically use the Boss CE-5 Chorus, TR-2 Tremelo, and DS-1 Distortion pedals with the occational Crybaby mixed in. So far, the GT2 has just made all these sound better. Last week I ditched the chorus, wah, and distortion for a simple setup of Tremelo and GT2. It was great!

I'd been looking for a good way to ditch my amp in live settings for a while. Amps are simply a pain to deal with in my opinion. I tried out the POD, but it was too expensive for the overly digital sound. I used the Zoom 505 for a while, but it's sound is definitely sub par (and my sound men HATED it's noisiness). I wish I had listened when I was told to get a Sansamp years ago (couldn't afford it at the time).

When I picked the GT2 up at my local music store, no less than five employees of the store stopped what they were doing to tell me what a good choice I had made. I couldn't agree more. Don't procrastinate like I did. At a price under $200, you'll never miss the money compared to the sound improvement.

the GT2 is dead simple to use - if you use it for its intended purpose!

like the other sansamp products, the GT2 is *not* an overdrive/distortion pedal. it is designed to recreate the entire signal path that generates the overdriven tone. this means that sending signal from the GT2 to the front end of an amp is *not* ideal. it doesn't mean it *won't* work this way, and that you *won't* find a good sound that way, it's just not the intended purpose. you can use a screwdriver to put nails in a wall, but you'd rather use a hammer, right?

i cannot stress this enough! it bugs me to see this and other sansamps getting poor reviews because someone didn't actually think about what they were doing.

for best results, you should always send the signal directly to the PA, to a power amp w/speakers, or to a very clean and preferably solid state amp, like the roland JC120. i use the GT2 along with a Tri-AC in a direct system that 99% of the time gets sent directly to the house sound without an amp on stage.

my one beef with this product is the lack of a dedicated "mid" control.

i really enjoy the sound of this pedal. for me, it picks up where the Tri-ac leaves off. where the tri-ac sounds more "vintage" the GT2 sounds more "modern." depending on the rig it will sound buzzy long before the tri-ac, but not in a way that can't be dialed out without trashing your tone. there is a ridiculous amount of gain on tap in this pedal, but not in a metal zone way - it always sounds big.

i've also dialed back the gain and used the "tweed" setting for clean sounds when recording. it's too bad that they don't make a 3-preset of this pedal, like the Tri-ac and the new double-drive 3x.

again, the only thing missing here is a dedicated mid control.

i can absolutely depend on this pedal, and this is why i continue to use tech 21. consistent, reliable sound - all the time!

see my review of the tri-ac. no one has better customer support than tech 21.

if this were stolen or lost, i would absolutely buy another. this is an integral part of my rig, both live and in the studio.

you can be sure that if/when Tech 21 releases a version of the GT2 with 3 available presets and a dedicated midrange control i will be the first person at the store!

The stomp is easy to use. The various combinations of switches make themselves clear after a bit of playing. I did find that the "Tweed" amp coupled with the "Clean" Mod settings produced a weakened, subdued model that actually was fun to toy with, by boosting the on-board Drive and using my external EQ'ing and compression. I must admit, though, that the various types of OD/distortion effects through this thing were sub-par, to me. My current amp's are a Marshall Valvestate, and an old Gibson Lab Series solid state. Needless to say, it's a bit of a "challenge" to get really good "tube" sounds with this back-end configuration. Other than a Boss and Digitech stomp, the only single device in my current "arsenal" that consistently impresses me is my Vox ToneLab. People are amazed that so many diverse, quality tones can come out of a SS amp using this thing. (I also use external comperession and graphic EQ boxes in the chain and FX loop, which i find fundamental to good live sound.) So, i know that it's a bit "unfair" to hold up the ToneLab against the Sanamp GT2 .... BUT .... then again, the ToneLab cost me less than 2x the Sansamp, but delivers 20x the net results .... so, sorry to say, the GT2 losses. It went back to the dealer for a refund.

I pretty much summed-up my results, above. I bought the GT2 and took it for a "spin". It didn't measure up. Other than having some fun with the lower-powered "Tweed" and related setting's by boosting them up to get a nice smooth drive, i was un-impressed with the OD/distortion results. The sounds were, for the most part were the characteristic brittle, not "warm". In a SS rig, it's difficult to get "quality" (?!) sounds, as compared to the "tube" experience. I CAN do it, but it takes fiddling and experimentation. The bottom line is this: if i can use a $60 Boss or Digitech stomp and get equal or better results than something that costs $160, who's going to end up under my foot?

I wasn't impressed with the construction of the GT2. It's built of light, thin metal, not heavy and sturdy like your "typical" stomp. One of the 1/4" jacks, even after just a few insertions, was working its way loose. If one is to use this box in a gig, you'd better bring a backup of some sort. In short, the "value" here is questionable. Hell, you can go out and buy a modelling practice amp for less than this box. I think this device is totally over-priced and doesn't deliver the value that active players require.

No Opinion.

I said it all above. If you're in the market for a new OD stomp, there's a variety of better choices. (Take a serious look at the Carl Martin line....i think you'll be impressed.)