Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 Preamp

I think the previous paragraph answers this question. Yes, it does sound awesome. The only other preamp I've played that can compare to this one is the Triaxis. But for what you pay for a Triaxis, there better be sex involved!!

This is all I will ever need as far as versatile tone goes. I put a BBE sonic maximizer in the effects loop and it sounds amazing! I was weary at first, because I've been brainwashed into thinking that if it doesn't have tubes, it won't cut the mustard. Well, maybe the guys at Tech21 have made a pact with satan, because this is a solid state preamp that sounds and behaves like a tube preamp. The controls on this thing will allow you to get pretty much any sound you need. The only sound I am not able to get is a super scooped death metal type sound, but in all fairness to this unit, I don't know of any amp or preamp that can provide this sound without an outboard EQ. So, I run an EQ in my rack and now I have that death metal tone, if I want it.

It's solid state, so already it's more reliable than something with tubes in it. A tube amp (or preamp) requires constant maintainence, and I just don't have the patience for it. Not only that, all kinds of things pop up unexpectedly with tube amps. I don't need the hassle. Solid state= hassle free.

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The only reason I don't give it a 10, is because nothing is perfect. This thing comes pretty close though.

This thing really kicks butt! I still like it.

This is an update to my previous review. I just have a few words about reliability:

Basically, I started having a bit of trouble with the PSA-1 not switching to new presets from ones I was currently editing. In other words, go to a preset, twist a knob, switch to another preset. What the PSA-1 should do in this case is ignore your edits, and switch to the new preset. However, mine was keeping the same settings, and then blinking its "editing dots" at me to tell me I hadn't saved my edits. Saving the preset didn't help, nor did power-cycling the unit. It was acting hosed.

I e-mailed tech support, and was told that sometimes the knobs rub against the faceplate and should be pulled out slightly to make sure they don't make weird grounding problems which might cause the unit to act up. Worst case, I was told, I'd have to back up my presets, do a full reset, and load them back in. I didn't bother, since the problem seemed to disappear the next day.

Last Friday, it reappeared, and was really getting on my nerves, because I was in the middle of recording. I decided to backup, reset, and reload my presets, and follow the suggestion of pulling the knobs out slightly. I started at the right, pulling gently on the knobs. At the 2nd knob from the right, I heard a "click" sound, and the stem of the pot came out in my hand! Doh! I was screwed. No way to get it back in, it's 11:00pm, and no Radio Shack open in the area. I opened the unit up, took the faceplate off, disassembled the pot, put the stem back in, buttoned everything back up, reset the unit, and it's working great.

A point: Beware, the pots in this thing might not be all that durable. I did NOT pull on the knobs with much force, and I wouldn't expect to have a pot fall apart like that. On the other hand, Pulling on them is kind of a weird thing to do, I admit that!

Another point: The PSA-1 was on while I was doing this, and worked fine, even with a knob shaft missing. That's pretty impressive, I reckon.

Another: Tech support was pretty helpful in a way, because the full reset solved the original problem. Plus, they're sending me a new pot. They seem pretty cool.

One more: This thing is a MOTHER to reassemble. If you decide to take it apart, have a short, fat screwdriver on hand with a u-joint and a magnet on it. Dang...

Well, I have to take a point or two off here, because "10" would mean it's totally reliable, and anything electronic fails on that score.

They're great!

I'd go out and buy another one of these if this one got lost or stolen, or, God forbid, I pulled the knobs off the front and couldn't get them back in.

Its as easy as it gets to use.......the large knobs give you amp-like control of all the parameters,making it easy to use and tweaking patches whist playing is a possibility (unlike some of its competetors-Marshall JMP-1).Patch editing is also really simple, you just set your sound like you would on an amp an press the save button!

I play an ESP LTD M-350 and a Gibson les-paul,through a rack set-up- PSA-1->>A big fat old analogue delay unit(for some silly noise!!!)-->>Marshall 100watt power amp,all into a Laney i use for my effects an electro haronix Q-Tron+ a small stone,Jim Dunlop Cry baby,Korg Ax1000g "cheap but surprisingly good" multiFX.I play in Rock/Grunge pearl jam like band i like nice warm tone with a really big ballsy sound with nice solo/clean/rythm sounds. I also play in a NU-Metal and a Hardcore band(...not my main bands but like need different sounds for all of them).Basically i need to be able to get all different modern rock sounds, which i get from the PSA-1 without a second thought...as far as tone,sound and gain goes i never want more,i feel i could get an amp sound to suit any sort of music.Also as it is a dedicated pre amp you are able to get as extreme sounds as you want, so dont worry if you want to go from light blues drive to extreme rectified madness or even beyond.

Reliablity never comes into the question.....it always does what you want it to.Spose of you dont put it in a rack it would break??!!!You wont need a back up.....unless you are planning on attacking your amp with a chainsaw as part of a solo.

Havent needed it....hasnt broken....manual explains everything you need to know even though you can work it out without the manual. However as i am in England Tech 21 are not a large make so i dont know what would happen if i tried to sort anything out......but i havent tried and i presume they have a UK helpline or distributor so i am probably talking crap!I am giving it 10 for this one cos i love it so much!

I bought this pre-amp when looking at the Marshall JMP-1, the Tech 21 PSA-1 crapped on the JMP-1, you wouldnt know it wasnt a valve powered preamp.I cant stress more, this preamp does everything! Guitar sounds that i get are like those of Stephen Carpenter(Deftones),Mike McReady(Pearl Jam)but you could literally play anything else you wanted.All i have to say now is DONT BUY THE MARSHALL JMP-1 BUY THE SANSAMP PSA-1.(PLEASE)

First off, when A/B'ed with the POD, thie PSA-1 kicks the POD's ass. Also, A/B'ed with the Roland COSM simulators. IMHO, the PSA-1 is better.

Second, the PSA-1 does a great job of emulating a variety of amps, from Fender to Marshall to Mesa/Boogie.

Third, the PSA-1 is a bit noisey on the higher gain settings (as with most decent guitar amps).

Nice wide range of tones. RTFM. I.e., learn how the knobs affect your tone. Use the presets as a foundation, and you can get killer tones.

Also, the effects loop rocks. Contrary to some opinions, it is not just 100% on or 50% on.

The 100% setting acts as an insert function for insert-style effects (like a wah) or where the blend is adjusted in the external effects processor.

The 50% setting acts as a blend function where the output of the effect is adjusted to adjust the amount of blend of the effect. For example, setting the effect output level to zero blends no effect, setting the effect output to 10 blends 50% effect and 50% dry. Thus, the PSA-1 preserves the signal quality of the dry signal. Good setting for delays, chorus, reverb, etc.

Purchased it used, dirt cheap. Got one that was really abused on the road. Some of the LED's aren't working. However, it sounds great and I have not clue what actual abuse was inflicted. Therefore I won't submit a rating.

I have e-mailed and telephoned Tech-21. Excellent support. They quickly mailed me a replacement owners manual at no charge.

I've been playing for over 20 years and have owned Mesa/Boogies, Fenders, DigiTechs, an ART, BOSSs, a PigNose, Peaveys, and other guitar amps. The PSA-1 rocks when compared to all previous amps.

I would definiteley replace my PSA-1 if lost or stolen, even if I had to get one for $600 new.

This is by far the best investment I've ever made. I needed something that was versatile. I was going to get a Mesa Recto, but the recto amps are strictly for metal type sounds. Nothing wrong with that, it's actually perfect for the style I play, but I also sit in with some jazz guys and do acoustic stuff too and I needed an amp that would be able to go from nice and clean to way too much distortion(there's actually a mesa boogie setting on the PSA-1 titled "too much gain"!). My first test was to compare the mesa sounds with the real mesa amps(this is a wonderful way to piss off the salesman at your local music store). To my surprise, they were about equal, give or take a little. I actually prefered the mesa rectifier sound on the PSA-1 to the actual mesa amp itself! So, that sold me right away. I then compared the marshall settings to a real jcm900 and the fender settings... you get the picture? Anyway, after comparing for almost an hour and pissing off this surly salesman, I decided to take it home with me. When I got this home and mtched it up with my solid state power amp (strictly for P.A use), it actually sounded better than with the tube power amp in the store! I guess this makes sense, match up a solid state preamp with a solid state power amp, right? Anyway, it sounded better; to me anyway. Now I need to get me a good solid state power amp!! I was on a roll, so I hooked up my bass players sonic maximizer in the effects loop and I almost wet myself! I didn't think this thing could get any better, but the sonic maximizer did just that. Now I have to get a sonic maximizer! So, the bottom line is this: It sounds awesome!!

This thing is cool! I can't believe it's solid state. If you read the manual and learn which knobs(yes, knobs!) do what, it's a piece of cake.

no problems here

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Yes, I know nothing is perfect, but I don't ever remember being so fully impressed by a piece of gear before!!

Lots of big-name people use this for everything from guitar to drums to vocals to flutes, but I've only used it on guitar and bass.

I also have a Rocktron Piranha, which is similar to the PSA-1 in intent and form factor: Both units are 1U analog preamps with MIDI control. However, the Piranha is a simple high-gain tube preamp with a speaker simulator, where the PSA-1 is solid-state, and goes a lot farther than just simple preamp activity. It's not a bogus/pretentious "amp modeller" however; It's a distortion box that gives the highest possible level of control over the content of your distortion tone, with a user interface that even a guitar player can understand(hee hee).

As far as sound goes: I record direct, with this running in the FX loop of a GX-700. I like the Piranha's ability to get a good, agressive distortion tone in this setting. However, that's all I could ever get the Piranha to do. I didn't care much for it's clean sounds, so I never used them. And believe me, I tweak and tweak. The Pirahna didn't strike me as being particularly versatile as a result. I was hoping the PSA-1 could get better clean tones, and I wasn't disappointed. They're great! It has a lot more teeth than the Piranha too. The distortion tones can get as fuzzed out as you want them, but you can still hear every note. You can get really thick-sounding tones from this solid-state preamp, thus forever putting to rest (for me) the idea that you have to have tubes to get the tone you want. You don't! The EQ on the PSA-1 is simple very effective. I can dial in vocal-sounding lead tones, colon-loosening low end, and sparkly-sounding highs. Of course, it's possible to get a horrible sound, but that's what you get with this much flexibility. The presets are okay, but can be improved upon.

I've been playing for 23 years, and have used/owned every non custom-made preamp out there, and this one is the most flexible. I love Tech 21 gear. It sounds great, and is very practical to use. I'll give it a 9 instead of a 10 because I haven't had it for that long yet, and, let's face it: it's just a preamp.

For bass, same story. I can get my favorite bass sound out of it: The 9-foot-tall-500-lb.-Geddy-Lee sound. Plus a lot of others. And that's with a set of strings that's almost a year old!

Not too many features. It just does one thing: generate distortion tones. It has all of the appropriate inputs and outputs, FX loop, etc. that you would expect a full-featured preamp to have. It does NOT have a cheap-sounding chorus, delay, reverb, flanger, "vocalizer", pitch shifter, or any pretentious modelling amp junk on it. It's simple. Simplicity breeds versatility.

I would say I could depend on it. I also own a Trademark 60 and a GT2 from Tech 21, and their stuff has been very reliable for me. I would gig without a backup, because I'm just a careless kind of guy, and I don't make a living gigging.

I've e-mailed them with questions, and they always responded within a day or so. I e-mailed them and asked for the online version of the PSA-1 manual. I got back a bunch of JPGs of the manual scanned in sideways, which I thought was kind of useless. I e-mailed them back and suggested they put the manual on the site in HTML format so people could read it, and the guy was really receptive to the idea. So at least they're not jerks! They get an 8, because a 10 seems like something you should give them only if they drive to your house to help you play your guitar through a piece of their gear or something.

Overall, I think this thing rules! It's cool looking, well-built, easy to use, sounds great, and plays well with my rack. One other thing I forgot to mention, it has a good FEEL. I like the way a good tube amp responds to playing dynamics. This doesn't respond like that, but it has a good feel nonetheless. For the record, I really despise the way modelling amps respond. They're like playing a recording of a guitar amp on a specific setting. Not this one. It's a little pricey (even used), so I can't give it a 10. It's really cool though.

I can't believe the sounds I can get out of this thing, simply amazing. For the first time in my life, I am completely satisfied with my tone. No complaints here!!

Pretty straight forward. No frills, no extras, just straight up tone and lot's of it!

no problems yet

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I love this thing. I was looking for a versatile preamp with major crunch capabilities and that's what I got. I play mostly hardcore and punk and it was essential that my preamp provide me with an aggressive, heavy, full sound. All I had to do was tweak the factory presets a bit to choose one! Yes, I had the luxury of choosing between full blown heavy ass Marshall or Mesa Boogie tones!! Not to mention nice clean Fender, classic Vox, Hiwatt...You get the picture? I think it's only a matter of time before the word is out and everyone with a penchant for tone will want one. Get one now, while the price is still good.

It's very easy to use IF YOU SPEND SOME TIME WITH IT. At first it takes awhile to get used to the "parametric distortion", the Buzz, Punch and Crunch knobs. These three knobs are what sets this preamp apart from any other preamp. They are distortion knobs for low, middle, and high frequencies, allowing you to tailor your distortion sound to your exact specifications. If you don't take some time to discover how these knobs interact with one another, then you'll have some problems getting the sound you want, but with a little experimentation you'll soon be getting the best and most varied sounds you've ever heard from ANY amp or preamp

this is simply the best preamp or amp I've ever heard. I use it not only for guitar but also for bass, organ, harmonica, and even sax (distorted sax is a unique sound). You can nail any tone in existence, as well as any tone you can dream up.

no problems here

I asked them some questions via e-mail and had a response within 20 min!

why are you still reading this? go out and but one! I don't work for this company, but I wish I did! The only way this could be any better is if it came in a head w/ power amp and built in reverb and chorus

Well, it's pretty darn easy. Especially compared to modeling amps and boxes like Pod and the J-Station. It may take a while to actually get the best results, but the path to your is nothing but easy... just turn the knob!

Thank you to all of you who have posted reviews on this box. I bought it on faith mostly from YOUR reviews and I have not been disappointed! This unit certainly has lived up to it's billing. I've had mine less than 24 hours, yet I have been going crazy playing with this thing! It has all the smooth even-order harmonics you could ask for. I'm certain that with a small amount of time I can get many good personal sounds from this unit. It certainly is the nicest sounding "distortion box", or "amp emulator" I've heard. It doesn't have a perfect sound, because perfect would almost imply that nothing else (that is imperfect) would sound as good. At least with guitar. As far as I can tell, as a bass preamp this thing is superior to ANYTHING I have tried... and I have been looking for that sound for quite a while!

I only do direct recording, and I have been using a Johnson Millenium for almost all of my guitar parts over the last two years. I have been able to get some VERY impressive sounds out of that unit. Of course, that is a fairly complicated unit to learn to get the most out of! While I have no doubt that the PSA-1 acts much more like a real amp in that the sound is created along the signal path like a real amplifier, hence it is more sensitive to attack, pickup type, and other variables, the fact is that there are some situations (in my material, anyway) where it isn't necessarily the better choice.

First of all, this is much more of a compliment to the Millenium rather than a knock on the PSA-1. I'm only saying that there are different solutions to the same problem, and the PSA-1 is only one of them. But the PSA-1 is such a sweet sounding unit. It's really cool how many more tones I now have available to me. It seems to me that there are some overdriven situations that the Millenium has it's place. Maybe as I get better with the PSA-1 it will eventually displace my Millenium, but for now I just like the new variety of tones that are available to me.

So, for those who want to know what the differences are between this and amp modeling, I'll give it a shot. The PSA-1, as recounted on this page many times, is more of an amp emulator. What that means is that the signal travels through an analog path through the unit. It uses transistors (FETs) which are wired up in a similar fashion to class AB tube amplifiers, which is a push-pull configuration. Essentially, in an AB amplifier, one tube amplifies a signal in the positive direction, such that the tube is "on" half the time (50% duty cycle). As the signal swings back to the other side of 0 volts into the negative direction, the first tube turns off and the second tube turns on. When the switching occurs, it doesn't do so in a perfect manner... there is some inherent distortion during the crossover phase of the amplification process, and as the circuit is turned up and drives harder and harder, we hear the pleasing even-order harmormonics become prevalent, which is much (but not all) of the sound associated with a nice tube amp (hence, it's called "crossover distortion). Tech-21 has created a very innovative design which copies this process using transistors, or FETs, instead of tubes, but they have also designed in so many parameters to tweak the sound that it is literally possible for you to make many decisions about yor sound by tweaking a knob... decisions that Fender, Marshall, Mesa-Boogie, etc. were forced to hard-wire into their amp designs. FETs are soooo much cheaper than tubes and it's so much easier to work in the low-voltage domain that Tech-21 was laterally able to make all these parameters available to you for tweaking! And tweak you will.... this thing has a range of adjustability that is astonishing!

A modeling amp like the Johnson Millenium, (or "ugh" the Line 6 Pod) use a very different, but viable path to get to tube glory. These guys go out and buy a Marshall, a Mesa, a Fender, t

Best sounding tube amp I've heard for home studio purposes. Even though it has no tubes!

I play a lot of styles and so this is excellent for me. The Fender presets have the nice clean sounds, and the Mesa Boogie and Marshall presets bring tha noise. It is extremely easy to use, even a complete imbecile will enjoy it. The Best thing about it is how tweakable it is. Although it comes with 50 presets, you can fiddle with them and change them to your tastes. However, when setting presets, If you use too much gain, it gets noisy. Unfortunately my guitar sound still isnt brilliant, especially with distortion, as I am running the PSA-1 into a Marshall Valvestate. That's not the PSA-1's fault however. It is great to sit and fiddle with the presets until you find a really inspiring sound. I especially like the Fuzz Face and Big Muff Emulations, and the Tele preset. This is a good bit of musical equipment to have, I'd imagine session players would use these the most. It also has great bottom end. You can get huge low end sound.
I'm not used to that, having used a Marshall Valvestate that has absolutely no bottom.

This is basically a tube amp emulator, a handy DI device that can be used as a pre-amp. previous to this I had a Marshall Valvestate that sounded bad. Now I use the Sansamp as a pre-amp, into the Valvestate. The PSA-1 has fully tweakable controls, an effects loop, It is easy to use, It sounds good and I'm glad I bought it.

It hasnt broken yet and I bought it second-hand. Hopefully it'll keep on kicking.

I emailed Tech 21 to ask what power amps go well with the PSA-1. They very promptly emailed me back with tips and suggestions. Good customer service.

Basically I wanted amplification with the warm sound of tubes. The PSA-1 does this very well. I play a Fender Strat with EMG active single coils into it, and use a Marshall Valvestate as power amp and speaker. Because of this my sound still isnt totally killer but this is not the PSA-1's fault, Its the awful Valvestate. Kids, dont buy a Marshall Valvestate amp. I plan to get a good solid state power amp and put it in a rack with the PSA-1. Then I'm going to get a two by twelve speaker box to run it into. A quad box would just be too loud and overpowering, besides I dont think I could fit one in my car.
I love that it does sound warm and tube-like, without the hassle of tubes.