Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 Preamp

hm.....considering the ease of use i must admit that it lasted quite a while till i was able to get the sound i wanted, to be more precisely: i won this thing now for 2 years and i'm still searching and dialing.....the useful combinations of Buzz, Punch, Crunch, gain and preamp are just too much for me! (by the way: there are many combinations which sound really horrible)

my setup: Mesa 50/50, T.C Electronic G-Force, H&K 4x12 Cabinet and my Sansamp. through all this stuff, i play with my beloved universe (7-string from ibanez).
hm....what to say.....hm......well, first of all i want to disagre with most of the review submitters: it is NOT possible to create tubelike sounds, it is NOT possible to create a boogie or a fender by simply dialing around.......this unit has a great sound, but it's not a chameleon...
when you listen to it very intense you'll hear the unit's own sound..in every preset....it's not a tube base, it's transistor and you hear it! but that doesn't mean it's a bad sound. this unit has great distortion sounds, much pressure, from simply cruch till agressive heavy distortion. i don' really like the clean sounds...this unit simply lacks of compression.....considering the clean presets i would prefer a real tube preamp....but i seldom use clean presets so i don't mind. from all my friends and bands in my town i won the most powerful distortion sound.....combined with my mesa 50/50 it's a killer machine, designed to destroy everything on it's way! never heard so much pressure again! i do NOT agree with all the opinions to solid state amplification....my power amp is a tube amp and i'm happy about it....i tried out a solid state amp and the louder it gets, the more horrible it sounds...i don't really like solid state with high volumes and i give a shit to tech21 saying, i am to use a solid state unit for the PSA-1!
considering all the facts i would spend this unit an 8 because of the cool distortion sounds and, i have to admit, it IS quite good in imitating sounds.....very versatile.....but to hear something boogie like, you have to buy a boogie!

it's on night an day and never left me!
i think this thing is made for eternity....

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i play for 15 years and i am still willing to buy a TriAxis...but for the long years of waiting that i finally will be able to buy this unit it's the best choice for me! i think i won't ever sell it, because the direct recording possibilities are quite cool....it sounds really ok to me...cannot be compared with a mike-recording, but in my opinion it sounds ways better than a Line 6 POD!

If you know how the controls work, it's easy to get a great sound out of this unit. Just read the manual and experiment. The presets are a great reference point. Just mess around with the presets and you'll eventually figure this thing out. It also helps to read the manual, which is very easy to understand. Here's a tip: the controls are extremely sensitive. Turning a dial just a little will result in a whole new sound. Keep this in mind. Also, learn how the controls ineract with each other. Once you figure out which dial does what, you have arrived!

Ok, here's my setup: PSA-1 -furman PQ3 parametric eq(It's good enough for Dimebag!)-T.C electronics G Force- BBE sonic maximizer- Carvin 600 watt Solid state power amp (lots of headroom). I run my rig into an old measa boogie 4x12 with celestion greenbacks. This rig in my opinion is the be all end all. I play very heavy music (Snapcase, Pantera, Hatebreed) and I get that really heavy mega crunch that I need. My guitars are a Gibson Les Paul Studio and a DC studio both with Duncan JB's. The only other preamp that comes close to the PSA-1 is the Triaxis, but I refuse to drop a small fotune on just a preamp. The PSA-1 sounds great by itself, but with the Parametric eq scooping the mids, it sounds completely insane! Everytime I finish a gig, I'll always have some guy come up to me and compliment me on my sound. One guy described it as "really heavy, but in a crystal clean way". I think he just meant that the distortion isn't at all muddy. I really love this thing. Here's a perfect example of how versitile it is: I filled in for a buddy of mine who plays in a top 40 band. The set list consists of everything from Foo Fighters to the Beatles to The Ramones to The Monkees. I was able to program all the different guitar tones I needed (it took me all night to get them done!!) to make it through the gig. I was very proud of my PSA-1!

Never had a problem. I have my POD as a backup, but never had to use it.

never had to deal with them

I have nothing bad to say about this thing. Case closed.

I play a Jackson Soloist SH2 (Seymour Duncan's JB4 bridge & SH 1 '59 in the neck). I play covers in the styles of Satriani, Malmsteen, Gilbert, Petrucci and Vai. I tone model all of these players dead on with a Digitech RP 10 in the effects loop (bypass the pre amp). The EQ plays a vital role in dialing in the tones of each of these players. The pre amp offers the authentic AMPLIFIER tone of each player as a starting point when writing tone modeled patches with the RP unit.

If you are looking for vesatility in your pre amp, then this is an amazing piece of gear. I am a professional musician and require many different quality tones from my amp. The PSA 1 has all of the tones most sought after from some of the industries leading amplifiers. The Marshall High Gain lead tones, Marshall Classic and Fender Twin clean tones, and Mesa Rectifier all passed the A/B test out of the box. I recomend going to the Tech 21 site and listening to the pre sets that are available. The features that really sell this pre amp other than sounding truly authentic is the MIDI control and the stereo effects loop.

I have heard good things about the reliability of this pre amp. I have had no trouble with it.

The customer support is awesome. I Emailed for a manual and the next morning they ZIP filed a manual. Thanks Lloyd!

This is one piece of gear that will remain in my rig for a long time. I have been playing for a long time and have trial and errored many pieces of gear. This is by far the best pre amp I have had the priveledge of playing through. The amp is pretty expensive new, but for the quality and versatility it offers I think it is a super deal!

I use an Ibanez RG-470, a Kramer Baretta, and a Jackson Soloist through the pre-amp, which goes to a Carvin HT-150 power amp to a Marshall 4x12 Valvestate cabinet. I tend to play heavy stuff mainly, but sometimes use clean for ballads. The pre-amp has (by far) the best dirty sounds I've heard! If you get too crazy with the gain it can get a bit noisy though.(nothing worse than the ADA MP-1 I used to own though!)
I've owned about every Marshall and Mesa head made, and I feel that this pre-amp has them both beat sonically. It continues to amaze me how much more it sounds like a tube amp than an actual tube amp does! In the store the unit was run through a Mesa Boogie 50/50 tube power amp into a Crate stereo 4x12, so I thought when I got it home into a soild state power amp all of the sound would be lost, but it still sounded great. I also bought this unit for direct recording, and I run it directly into a Boss BR-8 digital 8 track. It sounds much better than anything I can get from miking up my live rig with. I was surprised, because everything else I've ever tried to direct record always sounded like a swarm of pissed off bees. (I sould note that a patch that sounds great live does not sound the same direct. You need to tweak the preamp a little to get your patches to sound the way you like direct. I have 2 different sets of patches, one for live playing, and another set for recording. I can say that I can get the same live sound direct with a little tweaking.)

Nothing I can say that hasn't already been posted for this unit. It's a straightforward solid state pre-amp. Has a supremely simple layout with rotary knobs for all adjustments. Has rear ins and outs with effects loop and MIDI footswitch jack. The only real complaint as far as features go, is that I wish they included a footswitch, and also built a power switch on the front panel to turn the unit on and off. Luckily, I have a rack mounted power supply, so this is no biggie for me, but it would be a little more convienent.

I would guess that this thing is pretty durable since it's solid state. The music store I tried it out at, had it mounted in a rack that was constantly plugged in.(And since this it has no power switch, it means it was on constantly day and night.) I have been to the store on and off over the past year, and they say the unit has never been turned off, so this is a pretty good testament to it's reliability.

I e-mailed these guys some pretty stupid questions a couple of times before I bought it, and I always recieved a response within 2 days. Their replies were very thorough and personal. Other than that I have yet to need anything further from them. (knock on wood:)

I have been playing for the last 15 years. I was away from music for the past 3 years.Marshalls were all that I owned. When I began shopping again for a new amp I immediately went to hear the new Marshalls, and was really dissapointed. They are still God-awful expensive, and the sound was horrible. I was very happy years ago with my JCM900 50 watt head, and mainly used it for the distortion. With the PSA-1, I can not only dial in the sound of the JCM900's, but I'm not stuck with just that sound. I also like the idea of never having to buy and replace tubes all the time. Oddly enough, I e-mailed Tech 21 before I bought the unit to ask what power amp they reccommend, and every one they listed was a solid state. They do specify that you check the frequency range of the power amp you choose and make sure it's within 20-20k, and also make sure you check the impedance rating of the amp and the speaker cabinet you use, because a mismatch will result in poor tone.
The only thing that I can find fault with, is the fact that this unit is pretty expensive for it just being a pre-amp. If it were'nt for the sound of this thing, I would have taken a pass on it based on it's price ($600!) A lot of guys looking for that "Marshall sound" can pick up an entire combo amp for that price! (Hence the 9 rating) As it was, I was not looking for a rack setup when I bought this thing, I mainly wanted head that had "the sound" I was looking for. As it turned out, to use this thing, I had to buy a rack ($80)and a power amp ($350)to use it, which puts me at the cost of a Marshall/Mesa head! I also would like to see them make a head out of this unit with a built in power supply for guys who don't want the hassles of a rack/power supply to mount this thing in.

I use a Ibanez RG 470 with stock pickups,a MosFet 50 power amp into a Marshall 4x12 cabinet, for gigs, and I also run this direct into a Boss BR-8 for recording. I must admit I am still stuck in the 80's/90's metal trap, therefore I still look for the Dokken, Yngwie, Pantera sound. This pre-amp has them all...and then some! It's hard to describe, but the unit not only sounds like a tube amp, but it sounds BETTER! It has a tube growl that I was only able to get from my old Marshall Artist head. (But the Marshall did'nt sound as good as this thing!) The unit comes with a list of preset styles, but I guarantee you'll make your own that sound a million times better. I played any and every amp being made currently at my local music store before buying, and this by far has the most flexability and best sonic qualities of anything I have ever owned. The unit sounded excellent in the store, and even better at home. The pre-amp can cover just about any tube amp sound you want. Since I don't play clean much, I really can't comment on the clean patches, but the distortion is almost too good to be true! I did notice that you need to be careful with getting too crazy with the distortion, because you get a good deal of hiss on high settings. The manual even warns about the noise.One thing that's been stated here before, and I must concur, is that you definitely need to use a quality power amp for this unit to really shine. I played the unit in the store through a Crate 50 watt solid state power amp, and then through a Mesa Boogie 50/50 tube power amp, and the difference was night and day! The solid state Crate power amp sounded thin and paper like, whereas the Mesa unit sounded like a wall of warm sound no matter what patch was being used. So, if you can donate a kidney or some gold fillings to afford one, try to get a decent tube power amp.

Digital/analog pre-map. Has 49 preset and 49 user programmable patches. Has some new and unique anolog style knobs for a pre-amp. I used to like an amp that had a million buttons and lights on it, but I really appreciate the simple and intuitive layout of the front panel. My only complaint here is that when switching patches, the knobs need to be turned down to reset them. It offers channel switching via MIDI port in back. Has a unique feature for input jacks. It has front and rear input jacks and ,per the manual, the front input jack is for guitar, and the rear is mainly for rack use. When using the front input it automatically bypasses the rear. There are enough reviews on this to really get the idea on functions, but it prides itself on being a 100% analog processor with digital programmability. This is only a pre-amp, with no other built in effects. Kudos to Tech 21 for not throwing in more crap than most people want or need. I have had other amps with built in effects (Line 6 & Johnson) And I always ended up getting an external effects rack anyway. The effects loop on the rear has a 50/50 switch for mixing effects. They claim you need to run your external effects 100% wet, and to control the amount of the effect with the effects output. My biggest complaint is that there is no on/off switch anywhere on the unit. You either connect it to a switchable power source, or enjoy it's glowing LED's forever.(or until you unplug it)

This is the first Tech 21 product I have ever owned so I can't say too much yet. I have only had the unit for about 5 months now. It's solid state, so I don't anticipate any problems.

I did give the folks at Tech 21 a call to ask some questions about the recommended MIDI pedal setup, and they were very friendly and courteous. If I ever needed help, I feel confident they would be there for me if I needed them.

I've been playing for 15 years now. I have owned Randalls, Peaveys, Johnson, Line 6 and a lot of Marshalls. When looking for a new amp after being away from music for the last 3 years, I made sure I played every amp at my local music store. I initially was hell-bent on getting a Marshall, and tried out the DSL 100 head, and I think Jim Marshall should be ashamed of himself for putting out such high priced pine box tube radios these days! The salesman at the music store said "these are meant to be played loud, that's when they sound the best..." So I turned that puppy all the way up and listened. It sounded like a really nasal, thin, buzzy amp with the volume turned all the way up! Right as I was getting my keys out to head for the door, the saleman mentioned that he had a rack mount pre-amp that had an excellent distortion, so I decided to give it a try. If you are looking for a warm and versatile sound, give this one a listen. The main benefit I have seen with this unit so far is that I have a tube sound better than any tube head I have had before, and I don't need to keep replacing tubes to get it to sound the way it did the day I took it out of the box! My only concern was that this unit is pretty expensive for a rack pre-amp, when compared to the cost of complete amplifiers. If it wasn't for the sound quality I would have taken a pass due to the price. (I guess you get what you pay for...:)

Very simple. I have owned a number of multi effects and the part I have always hated is programming them. I always tended to lean towards stomp boxs because they have knobs. So this is a real godsend for lazy people like me. The descriptions of the knobs are a bit weird but reading the manual puts you on the right track. You can also plug in a momentary footswitch (Keyboard sustain pedal) and you can loop through a number of presets. I think this is neat and keeps it simple.

In the past I have been a real tube head. I am getting back into playing after a 2 year break. I shopped around and tried a number of amps. I would run into the usual frustrations: The clean sounds great from a fender but the distortion sucks, love the ditortion on a marshall but hate the clean and so on. So what i have done is purchased a Yamaha EMX 660 PA and I plug the PSA-1 into that.

The advantage with this is that you are getting an accurate depiction of how it sounds. I also havwe the Sans Amp GT2 and I used to plug it into a tube amp. I found that becuse it is an amp emulator when plugging it into a real guitar amp it turns mushy. I also play bass so I can use this as a bass rig and it sounds really good.

I think it sound terific. To be honest when I am playing I only use 5 sounds. I like a unit that does one rthing and does it really well. I tried the POD and I thought the SANs sounded a lot better.

The distortion sounds are unbelievable and unlike other distortion units it interracts with how you play. If you back off your pick attack it responds if you lower the vol on the guitar it doesn't drive it as much. The presets are are great starting point but it is worth tweaking them to suit your gear. The clean are really nice. I used to own a Fender Twin reissue and this goes close. Close enough for my ears anyway.

Another thing which is good if you are playing in small venues it is easy to get a good solid sound. I have found in the past that while a fenser amp sounds OK on stage you can be killing people in the back of the room with volume. With the setup I use I know that what I am hearing is waht will be heard in the room.

So far so good

I purchased it S/h and sent tech 21 an email and they sent me back a scanned manual the next day. The really should put a manual in PDF format available for download. I was impressed with their prompt service and my questions aboute the footswitch.

as far as an amp emulator goes I think it kills everything else on the market. I have been playing for 17 years and have owned enough gear in that time to open a guitar shop. The only thing is in Australia our dollar is in a bad way and anything imported is expensive. I would buy another second hand, but new they are quite expensive. (I envy US buyers)

I am looking into a Tech 21 Midi mouse as a foot controller it looks really neat.

At the moment I am playing in a sequenced trio and playing stuff like stevie wonder, disco, blues,. I am also playing in a 3 piece rock band and it does the job in both cases. I would reccomend it to anyone.

I am using a music man axis and I play every thing from 70's to 2000 rock-n-roll, so I need a very versatile amp. I had a Peavey Rockmaster before and felt that I was playing John Cougar Hurt so good in Metallica mode, because I could not dial in classic tone on the fly. With this PSA-1, all I have to do is stomp on a MIDI pedal to change the sound. Let's get to the sound. Let just say awsome. All the characteristic of a tube amp, warm, dynamic, responsive, great harmonics. I couldn't get over it. I was using the Van Halen I setting last night and the sound it just like a heavy modified Marshall. A little bit of cream, metal, and thrash. There's a little bit of white noice when the gain is high, but a little hush should take care of that. It is still way quiet and a lot of tube amp. Definitely much quieter then a 5150 for the gain that this thing can crank out. I can go from fendery clean to megadeth distortion. I have one word that describe this preamp. AWSOME!

Recently purchased from Musician's friend after reading the reviews in Harmony central and doing a search for comments on the internet. I was trying to buy a Rocktron Piranha, but decided to get this instead because I noticed from doing my research that a lot of professional studios uses this unit to lay tracks, even major artist like Joe Satriani. WEll known major band are using it in live gigs. Mine was probably made in 1999 or 2000. I read a review from a user of this unit complaining that when he switched from one patch to the next the level is not the same. I have to agree, but don't think it is the unit. It has more to do with the guitar that is plugged in. The hot pickups has a lot to do with the level. Just do some minor adjustment to level of the patches that you want to use and you are set. This preamp is very easy to use. Knobs, and knobs and knobs, I prefer it over push button to adjust the sound. My previous set up was using a Peavey Rockmaster through Rocktron Intellefix, then to a Peavey Classic 50/50 stereo amplifier. I became unhappy with the Rockmaster after I changed tubes and it started to do a slow death. For some stupid reason, changing tubes made the overdrive level drop about 95 percent. I thought it was the Sovtek tubes at first, so I switch back to the original and the level drop is still the same. Since I have a gig in about a week. I decided not to fool around with the Rockmaster and drop $600+ dollars into the PSA-1. Now I am running the intellefix through the effects loop of the PSA-1, and it rocks!
No one in my band could tell that I am not using a tube preamp. Because it sounds just like a crank tube amp! It blew everyone away.

Don't know about reliability. I have a friend who had their products for years and it still work. So I am not worry at all. PLus the great thing is I don't have to change tubes. I may eventually replace my Peavey Classic 50/50 with a Mosvalve Solid state power amp.
I heard it sounds even better with a SS amp, plus I am tired of dealing with tubes. It's heavy to lug around for gigs. While in the middle of a gig, I am constantly worry that the tubes my die in the middle or go microphics on me. I just want my setup as compact as possible while sounding huge.
As far as reliable is concern, I am going to go with knowing someone with Tech21 products and they are very happy with it.

Have not use customer support yet.

I have been playing for about 15 years. I am not an impulse buyer. So I always do some research before buying it. I have thought about buying a Marshall JMP-1, but I heard the gain isn't that great and you would only sound like a Marshall. I need something more versatile. I looked at a Boogie Triaxis, but could not justify dropping $1500 for just a preamp, plus I like real knobs instead of buttons. My Rockmaster was good, but the PSA-1 is even better. I am extremely happy with this purchase. It is simple to operate and the tone is unreal!

This unit is great you can plug your guitar in turn it on and no matter what preset your on it sounds good. Editing patches isnt really hard just read the book. The manual is not long but theres not much to this unit besides turning knobs so how hard can it be.

I use a Parker nitefly and Parker deluxe I have a line 6 but i dont really use it much anymore I pretty much just use the preamp and my mossvalve power amp, sde-300 roland, 535q wah, and my pitch shifter pretty simple setup but its perfect for me. It gets a little noisy on the pantera and number 28 patches but you can eliminate that pretty easy. Its very transperant everything is really clear but i really dont use that many effects(so once you run more effects you might be able to tell a differance). I can get several sounds i can get a good john petrucci type sound without paying for his 6 mesa's. I can get good evh and plexi sounds. I would not recomend using distortion pedals with this there is no need to it adds very little and makes it very noisy. I play alot of fusion and progressive stuff dream theater, satch, vai, spocks beard, and all and all this unit sounds great.

I havent used it at a gig yet. But it looks really dependable i plan on using it next time we play.

The controls on this thing were a little foreign to me, but once I got used to them, I had a lot of fun creating all kinds of cool tones. If you want to learn how to use this thing, I mean really learn how, read the manual. It's pretty straight forward, easy to understand. If you just understand and learn what each knob does, you're all set. Have fun!!

I love the sounds I get from this thing! I play mostly Hardcore/metal and I can get all the insane sounds I need to get and then some. I'm using it with a Carvin solid state power amp(recomended by Tech21) and a Mesa Rectifier 4x12 cabinet. I can't believe this thing is solid state!! It sounds sooooo damn good! I also use a BBE Sonic Maximizer (don't leave home without one!) and an old Parametric EQ that I use to scoop the mids for that really heavy out of control sound. For the first time in my life, I am truly happy with my set up.

No problems here.

I've only dealt with them on the phone a few times and they were great. Very knowledgable, very friendly.

This thing is the future of guitar tone; in my opinion. Let's face it, you don't need tubes anymore to get a good raging guitar tone. I use this live and with my home studio for direct recording. I used to use a POD for recording, but the PSA-1 sounds much more organic. I can't see messing with tube amps anymore. I think I'm set for life with this thing. Thanks Tech21!!

You'll have to get used to it, but once you've figured out how to operate it (which isn't realy difficult) its easy to get any sound you wnt

Cool, Actually I use it as a Pre Amp for my Bass, but it sounds just great. Youn can get sound of a SVT or a Fender Bassman. Even the distiortion sounds are really good and don't kill the punch in your sound unless most other distortion effects.
But sometimes it is a little bit noisy.

Every Email gets answerd within a day

It's quite useful for Bass as well, especially when you use it as an editional effect unit within another amp