Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 Preamp

My set up is: Yamaha guitar model RGXTT, and RGX820Z, both with Seymor dunkan Pickups, Chameleon 2000 for perfect efects and POD XT PRO for some effects. I love this pre-amp I tried with others Pre-amps: Line6 PODXT PRO, V-amp PRO, Marshall JMP-1, ADA MP1&MP-2, and the best is PSA-1, maybe Tri-axis Mesabooguie is good, Voodo Labs is very good, Prophesy also good, piranha is good, but PSA-1 is more versatyle and the Distortion is vERY VERY BRUTAL...I'm play the guitar in a Fusion Band: Heavy Progressive,Metal Fusion, Funk, some Blues,ETC and PSA-1 is the winner. I tried record direct with PSA-1 and is very Brutal Pre, I'm session music, not POD XT is a TOY, NOT V-AMP, is a cheap TOY, Maybe JMP-1 is decent, Triaxis very Expensive, Vodoo Labs Expensive, try with PSA-1 is the best.

This Pre-amp is for professional users or medium users becose it function is different to multieffects. Works with various frecuency and differents controls in the panel.

All OK

Very well, I lost my owner manual and LLoyd send my the manual the next day, perfect.

PSA-1 is a versatile pre in comparition with others preamps, brutal distortion, clean very well, is a PROFESIONAL PRE. For direct perfect, in studio perfect, Exellent Quality, Exellent Sound, Exellent price, I love it.

Clean tone is a little generic, but add a little overdrive and badabing, its sounds good. This thing is also great for bass. The only problem with the unit is that it sounds like the back of my ass when put through a tube amp. You must use a solid state amp for this unit to have it sound good. It has nice thick distortion ( a little noisy) that doesn't sound aat all solid state.

Powerfull simlicity. This thing has 3 buttons, a couple pots, and an array of I/O. Everybody else has explained its features so no use. This is probably one of the best solid state guitar/bass preamps ever made. I give it a nine because I own three of them and they can be a little quirky.

Has some problems everyonce in a while with its pot recal. The blinking lights sometimes don't seem to guide you in the right dsirection, but works eventually with a little patience.

Good unit but not the best thing to buy for ditortion.

I play this unit throuhg a Behringer 412s box, on my ibanez rg with seymour duncan hotrails.
This preamp is great. for all you who doesnt like it i suggest trying it out with the correcte equipment. full range speakers and a clean power amp. i can get all kinds of sounds of of this little unit. i have tried some other ams, like the peavey 5150 (way too much fuzz) and som mesa stuff (can be emulated =)

Excessive distorsion tweaks, no more no less

never fails. i have gigged on it without a backup and i still will!

well they are very nice to help with manuals and questions but thats all i've tried

if it got stolen i would fetch my rifle.
i got this special model with red front and a real signature. made in 100-ish units throughout europe.
i just love it!

Ok. I use PRS CE-22's and McCarty model guitars. THe current setup in the rack is as follows: Carvin UHF Wireless > PSA-1 > TC Gmajor in FX loop > Mesa 50/50 > 2 2x12 Mesa recto cabs. I am a guns for hire guitarist (and sound engineer) so I need to have versatility in my sound. I play all types of rock, blues, jazz, funk styles. It depends who's hiring me for the session/live show. My own project is a mix of progressive rock and blues. This thing nails it all with the live setup. What really blew me away was the ability to take the direct signal and a signal from a mic'ed amp/cab and mix them live and in the studio. Whoa. I was half mast the whole time.

Cleans are impressive and full, moreso than any other direct preamp I've heard, and nicer than some boutique amps I own. I disagree with other posts here about the slight-breakup settings. I find them very workable, and mixed with the signal from the power amp are great. The heavy distortions will kick yoru ass across the room. Tight low end, aggressive punch, and clear definition. It reacts very well to picking dynamics and hands down is the easiest to pull useable on key feedback in all the high gain settings of all preamps I've used.

I've put this up agains my Triaxis, and it held it's own. I'd say it was 98% as good as the triaxis preamp, and some settings were nicer.

As a sound engineer, nothing's a 10 on tone, but it's a very solid 9.

I bought the preamp for a rack setup for live shows in 2002. Features are standard, really for this type of preamp, except it doesn't do an fx. That's fine with me, I only wanted core tone from my preamp anyway. The place where this unit shines is versatility in tone, and the ability to take a signal to the board with the XLR outs, as well as drive a power amp and speaker with the 1/4" outs. Stereo FX loop is nice.

I've roaded this live for over 2 years, and it's seen every type of situation from studio work to shit bars and larger venues. I stopped bringing a backup after 6 months. It's solid state, and it's a tank.

I'd say 10 on reliability.

Lloyd is an excellent technician to deal with, and is not only prompt but extremely knowledgeable. He answered all my questions and then sugested settings and gear to work with it. Good form, Tech 21!

It's a 10 folks. If you can't get it to sound good, you're doing something wrong. Check the surrounding gear or try it direct.

Overall, I give it a 10.

The Sansamp PSA 1 is a very special and serious preamp. It has something for almost everyone which is saying a lot. It is arguably the best professional preamp in its class and also better in some aspects than preamplifiers that cost twice as much.. My experience has been that certain trends in popular gear that tries to cover a lot of sonic ground tends to spread itself too thin and as a result gets passed over by serious musicians. Not so with the Sansamp PSA 1. This unit is setup to be used right out of the box with Presets that are emulations of popular amplifiers or ?signature? tones of famous musicians. The Presets differ from many other companies Presets in the sense that these are not voiced just to sound good in the demo rooms and consequently make a sale based on the showcasing ability of the unit; Rather the Presets are carefully tweaked emulations that are authentic sounding and will have real world use.

The easiest way to get started is to dial in a Preset that you like and tweak the sound using the knobs to adjust gain, treble, bass etc. For someone who would like to dive in deep this unit has plenty to offer too. This unit has control pots that are actually digital rotary encoders with 256 increments each. Multiply that to the number of knobs and you can imagine how many possible combinations one can get with this unit. The great part of this part of the interface being digital is that you can store near infinite combinations to memory of which there are 50 banks. Plus you will not have the usual wear and scratchy pots syndrome with these encoders (Controls)
To create your own sounds that are based on real amplifiers, I?d suggest reading the manual to understand the function of each control. The controls are very precise and fast acting, if you are used to dialling in with a lot of movement you may overcompensate! The manual states which controls emulate poweramp distortion etc. Along with the standard EQ which is in the form of treble & bass, you have parametric distortion/tone EQ in which each knob affects a specific frequency of a dialled in tone The rest of the preamp is pure FET based analogue circuitry. I will not go into the authenticity of the tones in this review as I feel that aspect has been covered by earlier reviews and forums instead I?d focus on a few other aspects.
Do not confuse this Preamp with the Physical modelling toys that masquerade as preamps. The Sansamp is a REAL preamp. I do not have anything against digital (in fact I love digital technology) but most of the Physical modelling amplifiers barring a select few just don?t cut it like a real amplifier. The problems lie with dealing with the non linearity?s of physics, optimising and economising algorithms for DSP and the very quality of the software code being written to emulate real amplifiers and effects. A good virgin vinyl record played on a reference grade gear has a bandwidth of 100Khz and a top flight tweaked spool tape recorder around 400Khz! When some folks complain that the CD did not sound as sweet as vinyl they were not kidding! One might argue that since the average hearing is around 20Hz to 20Khz what?s the point in having bandwidth above/below that. The fact is some people do hear above 20 Khz and energy can be felt at lower Hertz. Just because you can?t hear it audibly does not mean its not there! Ignoring the fact that there is non linear physics at work is why we probably have models of 400W power amps in jelly bean plastic boxes that run on 9volts and sound caricaturish! If it were possible to digitally clone a Class A tube amp like a Trainwreck or Boogie or Matchless DC 30 or the likes for $ 200 then they?d be out of business faster than you could say ?Yikes!?. In the studio I recorded a clean guitar part and played the same lick using Amp emulation plug-ins and Sansamp in the loop. Although both sounds were good, nearly everyone said the Sansamp had more ?bloom? and ?definition?. That?s what you get wit

This preamp works best with Solid state power amps although there are some who may disagree. I heard this with a Mesa Tube power section where I liked the sounds of the distorted Presets but I am not so convinced that the clean sounds are that good. When the power amp was switched to a Bryston 300W Power amp with enormous headroom the entire rig came alive. Distortions were powerful and low ends taut, cleans were sparkly and chime like and overdrives were articulate and had nuance. As with any gear synergy is paramount. Solid state seems better suited to this preamp. Do not use this with Celestion vintage 30s or other wonderful typical guitar cabs. It is designed to be used with full range cabinets which are available from Tech 21 and you can also find others. I use fender US deluxe guitars and Les Paul custom through the Sansamp. Of course you have to change the gain levels while using the same Presets while switching guitars. The Sansamp PSA 1 is a very quiet preamp, even on extreme settings it is much quieter than a Marshall JMP-1 which constantly buzzes and hums at extreme settings. The mesa boogie triaxis too is also pretty quiet. In any case, most of us use noise gates at some stage. Since I use this in a home studio setting, my output is through monitors. I think this preamp sounds best using the FX loop instead of taking a signal output from the Sansamp to a DSP and then to power amp. The serial connections destroy the tone. I suspect that happens when your signal hits the D/A converter of your FX unit. A 50/50 mix sounds good to my ears and there is a neat little switch at the back that allows for this.I will give it a 9.

The Unit seems very reliable and I think it should perform well under any normal circumstance provided it is not abused. I think that it does not tolerate voltage fluctuations very well. Sometimes, I have noticed that strange things happen like Blinking lights or non responsive controls which are remedied by restarting the unit. Use a UPS or Line stabiliser like furman.

I did get in touch with the company when I first bought the unit in relation to some voltage conversion queries and power amp that I had, since I live in a country where we have 220 VAC. Tech 21 customer support exemplifies what a good company should be. Lloyd , the Product manager is prompt, courteous, informative and goes a long way to solve your issues even if they are not immediately related to their product. Fantastic company. Morley is another company I think stand out in terms of customer service. I will always buy newer products from such companies because they offer much more than advice and support. I have faith in their vision. I say this because I have gear from Alesis ,Roland, Boss, Yamaha?Worst service ever. Some did not even bother to reply even when I said I had some defunct units that need immediate attention. I guess that is how it is with some Mega corporations.

My favourite guitarists are Allan Holdsworth, Scott Henderson, Morse, Abercrombie, SRV, Scofield and David Gilmour of the Crazy saints. I tend to like progressive and blues and the jazz masters. This unit can cover a lot of the tones I hear on the Cds. As a preamp it covers a lot of sonic territory and covers them well. It definitely is not one pointed and is very broad in tonal range although I am sure it cannot please everyone. Check with your sonic goals first. I?ve been playing since I was 16 and am 32 now. I have some vintage pedals and racks, and I am saving up to buy a lexicon PCM 81 or maybe a Lexicon MPX 1 if I can?t save enough!

If it were stolen, I?d become a monk. Learn Shaolin Kung Fu so as not to be violent with the perpetrator of the crime but demonstrate to him how lucky he was not born a brick and buy another unit! This one is a design classic. One point I?d like to make: I hope some companies like Tech 21 never stop making rugged all steel chassis and knobs and gear with that solid feel. It infuriates me to see gear (even expensive ones) nowadays that are made for fairies from lala-land. All those yucky plastic knobs and super soft membrane keys look ok on a Casio calculator. Professional audio gear should have none of that. If the customer pays good money for gear he/she should in no way be part of this ?planned obsolescence? corporate jig where the components are known to fail within a certain period. Some of the footcontrollers I have seen are actually made for gnomes.

I compared it with A Mesa boogie Triaxis and Marshall JMP 1 as I was considering only preamps. The triaxis is one of the best there is but I did not like all the distortion sounds, I detected a mid range that was not very pleasing to me plus it is quite expensive. The JMP-1 was great on distortion but hisses too much. The JMP?s cleans were not to my liking. The PSA 1 was a no brainer. Best choice for me.

Anything I wish It had:
It is very difficult to critique this unit as it is so good. Anyway here are my suggestions:

1. A mid range knob would be nice. In all fairness I think that?s not possible because of the lack of real estate on the front faceplate.
2. The PSA 1 really shines on distorted and clean settings, The overdrive is not as spectacular especially the decays. This is only relative though.
3. I wish the unit remembered the patch last used while powering down. If this means the addition of an onboard battery then I can live without the feature as I would not like to live with the worry that the battery has to be replaced every year as most onboard memory batteries are not user changeable.
4. A power on/off switch would be nice. If tech 21 feels real estate is a problem they could make it at the back of the rack like some other units.
5. The Power cord: This one I have a real gripe with. I wish they did not make it connected direct to the unit as power cords often get caught on something or can just get frayed from use. It cannot be easily changed. It would make sense just to have a female socket on board wherein the cord would just need to be replaced. If the size of the rack is a constraint, tech 21 can increase the depth of the unit to accommodate the female socket.
6. I wish the top and sides and screws were aluminium/stainless instead of steel. This unit is a keeper. It should definitely look good for years and not rust as it does. Often screws rust and get locked in and are difficult to remove while servicing.
7. I wish the manual stated the process used to arrive at the tones they programmed. Trial and error iterative process can take up a lot of your time in nailing new sounds.

All these are very minor to say the least, some might say I?m being overtly critical, but hey! You asked for my opinion!

For those who want a summary the PSA 1 has more answers than questions to its credit. Sure it?s not perfect but it is one of those units that you will have longer than most. I dont know of any other unit that does what it doe

I play primarily PRS Standards and Customs, with the occasional Strat, Les Paul or Parker thrown into the mix. VHT power amps, Mesa Rectifier cabs, TC Electronic signal processing, Electrix Filters, Adrenalinn, custom boutique stompboxes, Axess Electronics loop switcher for all pedal effects, balanced monster cabling throughout the rack, impedance buffering, power conditioning, etc etc. My signal is clean and strong, and anything not being used in a given preset gets automatically switched out of the signal path for ultimate clarity and tone. I'm a programming FREAK with all my gear and an audio engineer as well... spent four years studying how all this shit works and spent way too much time comparing gear in an objective setting to determine it's real capabilities. I'll break this rating section down into two categories:

1. Recording/Direct into PA:
For recording direct or playing live into a PA, this preamp gets a solid 10. Fantastic high gain capabilities, tight low end, brutal aggressive distortion... for metal and hard rock guys this will do the modern rectifier sound better than any preamp I've tried yet in the studio, and also allows you alot more control and versatility than the real thing. Also does lovely spanky or pristine cleans and very good medium overdriven/Fender w/Tubescreamer type of tones. I'm an engineer and a producer and also use the POD in the studio constantly (like everyone else, believe it or not) but this box gets a comparable direct tone with a much more in-your-face aggressive edge to it (and more definition at high gain settings) than the POD can manage. Not quite as "polished" a sound as the POD, which is usually ready to sit in a mix with no tweaking, but definitely in the same playing field. However, this same "polished" hi-fi tonal characteristic of the POD is also what makes it suck so much ass in a live setting, whereas the PSA-1 can actually make a go of it on stage and in the rehearsal studio.

2. Live through a rack setup w/VHT Tube power amp and MESA 4x12 guitar cab (V30s)
I used this preamp exclusively for a while in my live setup and I was very happy with the tight low end, brutal yet defined high gain, and lovely cleans. Cleans arene't quite on the level of a Triaxis or Egnater, but the high gain stuff kills those two all-tube boxes that cost about 3x as much. However, I did find that in a band setting I never could quite get the PSA-1 to really cut through the mix without upping the High setting, which is very sensitive and very quickly goes into "buzzy ice-pick" territory and gives the sound a very "hard" thin quality. And believe me I tweaked this box for many long nights and used a variety of different amps and cabs. Attempts at running an outboard EQ or using the Presence and Gain controls on the Power Amp were not successful, as you can't add in frequency that's not there with some amplitude to begin with without getting all kinds of phase artifacts and noise. There is also this slightly buzzy quality to the distortion, similar to the Mesa REctifier but not NEARLY as bad or pronounced... it's not something that jumps out at you right away but a timbre that wears at your ear after a while and begins to get annoying. What I discovered is this: the main problem with this box is it is really lacking in the all-important mids/upper-mids frequency range, which is where the guitar is strongest and finds its place in a typical bass-drums scenario. So while the preamp sounds great by itself through a power amp/cab setup due to the tight low end and high gain clarity, it really gets lost once your low end gets dominated by the kick and bass and you're left with a very skimpy midrange and a high end that has no punch or cut and which you end up boosting to try to cut through the mix... this is what leads to this overly bright and hard sound. However, this box has proven so reliable, so easy to program, and such a godsend for the

I bought this off of Ebay for about $300 several years ago and have used it extensively on stages/clubs of all sizes and in various recording studios. This has all the features I need or want in a preamp for my live rack setup (where I don't need effects loops and the like in your preamp because I'm using loop switchers for the stompboxes and running the preamp outs through my signal processors anyway). I like my preamps to do one job and do it well... function as the TONE generator for my system. I don't need or desire these preamp-with-FX boxes that try to do it all... I use high-end outboard gear for FX, noise gating, etc. At any rate, the PSA-1 is VERY easy to program, very simple layout, great design in terms of the recessed save button and MIDI memory protect features, switches presets instantly and noiselessly, and fulfills its purpose as a straight-ahead tone-generator flawlessly with no scrolling menus (digital crap!) or endless button pushing (Triaxis!).

Been running this thing for up to 6 hours every day for the last 3 years (and I bought it used), dragging it all over the East coast for touring and recording, and it's never crapped out on me. Every now and then after LONG sessions the LCDs might start bugging out a little when programming tones, but this is quickly rectified by switching presets and then switching back. Never had ANY problems live whatsoever.

Not too sure about this one, but they've been pretty informative the couple times I've called with questions. They're a small NYC outfit, so I gotta give the home team props.

Purely in terms of value (i.e. - bang for the buck) this preamp absolutely destroys every other preamp I've tried, and that's almost everything out there under $2000. I've owned, tweaked and extensively tested the Mesa Triaxis, Mesa Studio, Rocktron Prophesy, Voodoo Valve, Piranha, Hafler Triple Giant, Egnater IE4, Voodoo Lab Preamp, POD Pro, and a whole host of various Digitech, ADA, and other related crap that I don't care to remember the names of.... not to mention a ridiculously long line of Marshall, VHT, Mesa and many other amps. I've spent countless hours running preamps through line-switchers through identical setups side-by-side for accurate comparison through a bevy of VHT and MESA poweramps and cabinets. My conclusions: If you're into tight, heavy, high gain guitar tones there's nothing out there that does this sound better than the PSA-1 IMHO, and it's clean and medium overdrive tones are very good and useable as well. Great sounds for direct recording, great sounds for live performance (especially if you go direct to the board), and very good sounds through a power amp/cabinet setup. Like I said before, every piece of gear has it's own tone and distortion characteristics, and this box DOES have a "Sound" that you can never really dial out... if you like this type of distortion then you're all set. If not, then keep looking. The PSA-1 is a bit lacking in the punchy mids and smooth low gain overdrive tones that a high-end all-tube preamp will excel in, but at this price with this many great tones it just doesn't get any better. This one's a keeper!

Uma gama enorme de sons, com presets bem feitos, atente so a sua guita. Uma telecaster n?o soa como uma Kramer!
excelente para sons limpos e drives para blues e rock'n'roll. Agora pra metal ( que eu toco), deixa a desejar, dependendo do punc q vc espera, n?o rola perfeito n?o, mas como e um emulador de amplis, qual assim soa?

Os controles est?o todos la. Com nomes subjetivos como, buzz?? punch! etc.
fica faltando um controle de medio, ate um medio grave e outro medio agudo poderiam dar mais respaldo a busca do som. Com paciencia vc chega onde quer.
50 bancos para salvar seus ampplis e mutio pouco. ( comece a explorar e vera - jah tive que me desfazer de varios)

A assistencia tecnica em osasco e excelente (perto da prefeitura). Comprei uasdo, mandei dar uma revis?o e ta tudo ok

!!

pelo preco e as opc?es, este e o cara! n?o emula microfones como o Pod e o V-amp, mas pra ligar direto no ampli e o melhor. Da pau facil no JMP 1 da marshall

The PSA-1 is very simple to use. Plug it in and let it rip! Some people have said it lacks mid settings, some say it acts randomly...I say boloney! I have been a recording artist for 10 years and find the PSA-1 without flaw. If you know what you're doing, this piece is amazing, if not, then you are an amateur and need not buy this product.

Absolutely quiet. I have read here that some people say it is a bit noisy, I don't see how it oculd be. I have used POD Pro, XT, Digitech 2112, 2120 and this piece is the most quiet. (Note to those who say it is noisey: Check your cables, connections, and other hardware.) I'm using the PSA-1 in my rig with Furman Rackrider, DOD EQ, Digitech 2112, Ultrafex, and a compressor. Amplification: Marshall SL-X JCM900 head, 2 1960B cabs, Crate GX-900h head, 2 crate 4x12 cabs. The PSA-1 blows the POD and digitech products out of the water. Don't waste your money on BS, get the PSA-1.

Dependable to the max. Very durable. Rugged; made for touring. Enough said.

Haven't dealt with.

I perform industrial music and the PSA-1 with my custom ESP guitars and EMG 81 pickups that cuts through any mix with an apocalyptic twisted metal sound. I love my PSA-1. I no longer use my Digitech or Line 6 products as my front runner, they are now secondary units. Direct recording with the PSA-1 is unreal. I CAN SUM THIS PRODUCT UP IN TWO WORDS: SIMPLY AMAZING.

While non-standard for a guitar amp, editing controls are easy to understand and very effective. Unfortunately, there are not infinite-rotary pots, so values abruplty jump from the current to the memorized one. Master volume is stored with each preset, and changes when switching from one preset to the other. No power on switch. Someone could find the latters not so important, but for me they are major shortcomings.

The sound quality is simply stunning. Devastating distortions, autoritative cleans, loud and incisive bass settings. A different color than my JCM800, but exactly the sound(s) I was looking for for certain pieces.
As for audio quality, it is great. I go direct to the digital recorder, and I've plenty of volume and punch, with the greatest definition.

Pots are of the cheapest kind, and the software is buggy (for example, sometimes you turn a pot counter-clockwise, and the "down" value dot indicates this change; but when turning it clock-wise, the original value cannot be restored). The (older) PSA-1 of one of my friends behaves rather randomly. I'm not too confident it can last forever.

They were very helpful before purchase, but I could not receive answers to the two emails I sent them _after_ purchase. Maybe they simply went lost...

I play mostly deranged variants of metal. The PSA-1 fits them perfectly. With higher dynamics and much better definition than the POD or the V-Amp, it can be used shamelessly in studio. If broken or lost, I would certainly buy another one, but I'm unhappy of the build quality and lack of essential ergonomic features. However, since I got it I'm started composing a lot. This should be a good testament onm its true qualities.

Just migrated from a Line6 POD to the PSA-1, and I've been wanting one for a while. The PSA-1's controls are a little different to the norm, hence the score. The POD's are like amp - if you can't work them you shouldn't be playing electric guitar. The PSA-1 for one doesn't have a midrange control, which takes you by surprise if you're expecting one! The PSA-1 can do it all, though, and one read through the manual will have you all sorted. Also give it an 8 for that sad power cord, it really couldn't have been so hard to give it a standard, kettle-cord type plug socket to make it easier to standardise one's rack. Useablility issue you ask? Yes, I need to use it in my rack, and that power cord is irritating. It could use a power button as well. Minor design gripes, but they need to be mentioned. At the price these go for new, these should be standard issue in the design. A good number of user banks are available, though, unlike the POD.

Okay, this is what's all about. I'm playing a 1994 PRS Custom 22 into the PSA-1 as a preamp, straight into the 'effects return' jack of a Marshall JCM900 with a 1960B 4x12 cab. The PSA-1 is DEVASTATING. I haven't played a POD XT yet, but I've owned a POD and recorded with a POD Pro, and the PSA-1 kicks the POD out of the picture - there can be no comparison.

I need everything from clean U2 tones to nu-school metal crunch, and the PSA-1 nails everything - and gorgeously I might add. Playing it is like playing any tube amp, it responds to pick dynamics, pick-up type, you name it. I loved it when I played it in the shop, and after I'd taken it home and the novelty had worn off, it was even better! This pre-amp is NOT over-rated.

I particularly like the tight bottom end on the Boogie-esque tones, I found the POD's bottom end to alway get 'flubby' on the Rec setting unless I played a scooped setting. Clean tones are beautiful, and I also disagrre with some reviewers here - the slightly distorted tones are lovely. But that could be pick-ups, I haven't played a Strat into one yet, just my PRS.

The reason I give it a 9 and not a 10 is because the best clean tone I ever heard was from an old Boogie .50 Caliber, and the PSA-1 hasn't quite got me AS excited as I was on that day. It's gets me very close though. And that .50 Caliber could do half the other things this does. Great Fender tones, great Marshall tones, great Boogie tones, and all in one rack-space - with no tubes to crack, blow or be biased. Schweet!

It is a little noisy on the high-gain settings as some have commented, but no more than the quality amps it's emulating. Just need to get a decent 'gate and I'll be fine. I play without one at the moment and it still rocks, the noise doesn't get intrusive if you know your rig and how to control it.

Yes I can depend on it, look really solid. Just don't like that power cable. Would I gig without a back-up? Yes, because I can't afford a back-up! :)

I stay in Cape Town, South Africa. Yeh, that gives this context. there isn't a dealer here, so I had to e-mail to get a manual since I had bought mine 2nd hand. Requested a PDF manual, and got a response the next day. Very friendly, very prompt and very helpful. I had some e-mail hassles, and Maureen made sure i got what I needed. Kudos to Tech 21

I listen to, love and play just about everything rock. From pop-rock to nu-metal. Been playing for about 8 years. I play everything from teeny clubs to open-air festivals, and I can't afford a back-up rig, so my rig has to be flexible & rugged. The PSA-1 is as good as it gets as far as I'm concerned. If it were stolen I'd first dish out some vigilante justice and get it back, or failing that find another one ASAP. I would not consider anything else. I can't wait to take this into studio when we record soon!