Tech 21 SansAmp Original

ugh, you silly deaf guitarists. this $300 pedal obviously sounds much worse than my $3000 boutique tube amp i ordered from Germany! i would never touch a ss preamp in a million year. i've been playing for 65 years now, and i've owned every type of eqiup ever made, and i'm telling you, i play all kinds of music, from death metal to creed to bluegrass, and the overdrive on this pedal just doesn't cut it! all you people who like it need to get new ears and be cool like me. now i'm gonna go tweak my rack setup and replace the 16 el84s in my two power amps, right after i get my head out of my a$$

^seriously, i hate people who make reviews like that. i bought one of these used and i'm awaiting its arrival. when it comes i'll make a serious review. i've just found those kind of pointless reviews to be absolutely useless in doing anything other than bringing a good preamp/pedal/DI box's rating down. and yes, i have played/heard one of these before, and i know it sounds good, but i haven't owned it long enough to give it an adequate rating.

Little tiny itsy bitsy dip switches that do alot. Use your pick to flick.

Fender 60's RI Strat (Japan) with Custom Shop 54 pickups. MXR Dyna Comp>SANS AMP>Boss DD-2 Delay>IbanezCS-9 Chorus>Dunlop Uni-Vibe UV-1SC Stereo Chorus (For Uni-Vibe swirl)>Dunlop MXR Phase 100 Phase Shifter into a 68 Princeton Reverb with Blue Alnico Reissue Speaker. This has the Creamy overdriven sound that I've been searching for! When I turn on the Dyna Comp the sustain is inspiring!

It's 8 years old now and still ticking.

Have not had a need to contact them. I have a Bass DI which is perfect for recording and sending a direct signal to the PA. Both have never let me down.

I've been through a gambit of boxes to find that inspiring lead sound. Recently I tried the Fulltone Fulldrive II, TRI AC by Sans Amp, and a couple of Boss things. I had the Sans Amp stashed away and in desperation I pulled it out. My search was over!!!

It has a million posibilities ( per the few bad reviews that keep calling it a toy ,It`s not a stomp box dude ,it`s a direct amp simulater for recording,allthough it works great as a stomp box for me.It turn solid state amps into monsters.)I dont under stand why the little switchs are so small but I just use a pick to change them.The manual is not real helpful but this thing is designed for tweekers and not for people who need to be told "this is a black face sound,or this is a twwed sound " with this you just find your own sound.

I`ve had this for 4 years now and the longer I have it the more I apreciate this thing I plug it into my four track and play away when my wife is a sleep.I have a zoom 505 that had been collecting dust for awhile and it sounds great direct using the sans amp for distortion.I dont even bother with my Alesis wedge.Its a poor mans POD .I could have bought a used Pod for $150 but I really like the sans amp.

I bought mine used had it for years and it still works fine.

Thay could have a really cool web site but they dont.I called them for a manual and they sent me one.

I.d pay up to $150 to replace this (used).I use this along with a C Tech sonny boy for vintage sounds and I`m real happy with the sounds I get. I made a battery powered amp out of a Radio Shack powered speaker and an old Yamaha pratice amp and it sounds unbeleivable. Six C batteries and its as loud as a champ and with the Sansanp it just screams.I play alot with headphones and this and the sonny boy make it a lot more fun.There going to have to make somthing alot better sounding than the Pod or the millenium for me to stop using this.

Bad user interface uses little random switches and "mystery functions" - totally unclear

1 - I tried one of these they really sound like crap conpared to real gear. People who like them are certainly deaf or running them through a bunch of other shit to make them at least passable - perhaps going into a tube amp or reverb or whatever. It does sound better than some pedals, but pedals as a rule sound like shit anyway - unless going throug something else after.

I wouldn't try stomping this thing around - little switches can fill with dirt and the knobs are the weak aluminum shaft type.

who cares

Piece of crap - a toy. Get a boss pedal or something they sound about the same and are cheaper.

I am running a Fender Standard Strat through an Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9 (only for a small boost to cut through the mix while improvising)into the Tech 10 with a Boss DD-3 digital delay in the effects loop. I play Blues, Funk, Blues-Rock and borrow what I can from Jazz. This amp covers all the bases. Whether it's warm clean Jazz tones or molasses thick overdrive, it's all here. However, it is more than just some "all the amps in existance emulator". I has it's own personality, not exactly tube, definately not solid state, warmer than digital emulation. It may be a new sound all of it's own and that is the true treasure of this little amp. I gives you the flexibility to create a new sound, one of your own. But with all the character, nuance, harmonics and presence to please the ear as tubes have from their first use to amplify a signal. Don't expect an exact tube sound, keep an open ear and you can very well fall in love with this thing. I plan on buying another (to run in stereo mainly), but also because I am certain that in the future you'll have recording engineers talking about this amp like they do about original Bassman, Twins, Marshalls, Voxes, Mesa-Boogies etc.

The features hae been covered well in other reviews. I will just add that features to price ratio is beyond anything else you will find in this price range.

The quality of contruction and overal look give the impression that it will last as long as you wish it to. It's purpose is mainly for recording and practice and in the environments that both these usually occur in lead me to believe that it will last my life time and that of any lucky heir that may inherit it.

I have not had the pleasure to deal with Tech 21, but it's apparent that they listen to their customers. Several years ago when I purchased the original Sanamp, I suggested on the warranty card that they build a combo amp with the same capabilities, and well now we have the Tech 60 and Tech 21. Of course, it wasn't at my request that they build these amps, but my suggestion along with that of others were listened too.

I have been playing now off and on for the last 13 years. I have tried alot of equipment form all the major manufacturers. All I can say is that when I bought the original Sansamp I did somewhat skeptical of the hype, but now with the 20/20 vision that hindsight affords, I can say believe the hype and go buy yourself a Tech 10!

The most cryptic EQ and gain interface on earth. You must use these tiny DIP switches to control these things, and the levels of these parameters are preset - not variable.

This produce, though it gets good reviews from deaf guitarists and such, has serious sonic flaws. It absolutely DOES NOT sound like a tube amp! It has a sort of "FM interstation noise" background hash to everything distorted you can do with it. It permiates everything. Also, the distortion is extreemely compressed and lifeless compared to a tube setup. It is unacceptable for commercial level guitar distortion by itself. The clean sounds have a false quality to them, not "warm" but "bubbly" in quality - if that makes sense - again, this unit DOES NOT sound like tubes - unless your hearing is already gone, in which case the audience will still know the difference between good tone and joke tone :-) This unit is good for practice perhaps, nothing more - or maybe processing industrial vocals or some kind of experimental music like Beck, who uses these on voices so they say.

Who cares. Don't buy it in the first place :)

Who cares. Buying this thing is a waste of time if you are looking for real tone or any sort of high quality guitar sound.

Tech 21 products are toys. They are not serious products. You may be able to get a few interesting sounds out of them, but it is NOTHING compared to tubes. Believe me I have tried lots of digital and transistor devices hoping to "escape" the necessity for tubes. Nothing but tubes will do. That's just how it is. Maybe some day some company will devote the necessary financial resources to design a computer program to exactly emulate the subtle quality of many tube sounds, but that day has not come yet. I've even tried software - it's all a joke. Get some tubes baby! :-)

seems daunting at first, but with a bit of tweaking, you can get pretty good results. it helps if know what you're looking for.

i use a fender floyd rose strat either into my pc soundcard or a fender bassman silverface head. the pc sound is excellent.esp for a direct sound. with the amp, a little more tweaking was required. i found if switces 5 and 7 are on, you get the best results.

i've dropped it 5 or 6 times.....no damage....toch wood.

never dealt with em.

my uncle's friend gave it to me......so i was kinda lucky.
i also use a korg pandora px2 with it for effects.
if it were lost or stolen.......i'd probably buy another one used.

This pedal could not be easier to work with, manuel is a small help but not really needed. I have used it for two years now, but I have to say I have it set to do just one killer lead sound, and run it though the effects loop of my GX700. The sound I find is not too distorted for a lead tone even on full boost, so the tone of the guitar is always present. I tried the rack version that Tech21 makes and didn't like it, couldn't get the same sound no matter what I did to it.

Sound quality is very good and not noisy at all. I use it with a Strat and GX700 direct to the p.a.

Perfect, no probs.

n/a

I have been playing since age ten. I'm now forty one and have been pro for twenty five years doing assorted session/live work.

It is easy enough to use, the controls are straight forword, I would have liked a few more starting points or suggested settings to get started. After spending some time with it and writing down every subtle change I was able to contour my sound to my liking.

The sound is great, I have played it through Bass amps, PAs, Guitar amps and car even a radio. it always adds presence. I wish they would add an EQ and Reverb, It would be the best stand alone battery operated effect on the planet.

Its never failed, no memory presets to lose, I just do a sound check tape down the knobs and its good to go. I usually just turn it on and leave it on. I feel very comfortable with it. I keep a distortion pedal around just in case but have never had to use it.

If you need to travel light, its my number one pick, Ive done many shows with the sans amp and a Wah Wah pedal and a Guitar chard. Thats all you need. And the house PA of course. As I mentioned before if it had reverb I wouldnt need an Amp at all any more. I have been playing through a Crate Taxi and thats all that is missing from both pieces of equipment that I wish I had.

Pretty easy to get some kewllll sounds out of this little black box. However, the little (you have to see them in person to understand how small we're talking here) slider switches are nearly impossible to move individually with your fingers. You'll need to fashion a tool.

Wheweee, I love this thing! This is seriously my dream distortion pedal. Raunchy, tube amp distortion goodness ABOUNDS! Good for grunge (I hate that word but only way I can describe it) like Bush and Nirvana (Kurt had one of these). I've also own a Boss DS-1, which sounds damn good, but after using the Sansamp it sounds so...umm...fake sounding I guess. Even my sonically retarded roommate liked the Sansamp better than the DS-1 in a blind folded (ok, eyes shut) listen test.

I bought mine used and it's one of the early ones because it was made before they started labeling them "Classic". It looks like it's had it's share of usage in it's time but it still works perfectly. Fairly well built but as always not as well as a Boss. I wish the stomp button was located further away form the knobs because I'm afraid I'll rack them during a blind stomp. I can't believe the sliders are reliable as they have been. They seem to be the most tender part of the peadal.

Nope, never dealt with them. I've heard Tech 21 rocks though.

This thing rocks. Wonderful sounds, versatile (you can do straight recording with these, no need for mic'd amps), and that cool lettering in civil defense yellow and black (looks like a Geiger Counter). Just shut up, stop reading this, and get on the trail of finding one of these!