Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 Preamp

I posted the review just below this one and this is just a follow up. The follow up concerns the repair side of the service and how they are very very rude and nonservice oriented. buyer beware when it comes to repair.

I had it for five months and it crapped out. Turns out it was the internal clock and was covered by warranty...or so I thought.

I have had a change to deal with they product manager and the secretary there. One thing about this place is make sure you call between 9-5 Eastern time...they have no hours posted on their answering machine so you dont' know exactly when they are in. But I got a hold of them at 3 so that seems to be a good time.
I sent the unit out for a malfuntion and payed $50 bucks to have it shippped there for warranty work. I get a call three weeks later that is is ready but I have to pay $30 bucks. That was about enough to make me flip out but I took a breath and sent them the e-mail receipt that musiciansfriend sent to me(I lost the paper one long ago). I fax this document to them and they call me back to tell me that this is not enough. Well, why isn't it enough? She tells me I need to call Musiciansfriend and have them fax me an "official" receipt to them. At this point I tell them to just keep it...I am completely fed up with warranty crap. I have a Brian Moore go in for a 2 Month repair job(they picked up the shipping and all repairs too) and a Fender Twin for a complete fucking year didn't work. So, I get turned over to the Plant manager or the coffee boy one and he assures me that all I have to do is tell Musiciansfriend to fax them a receipt. Why should they have to get involved? He says he needs an official receipt. I tell him I got this one of their website(because they have a accounts area you can check and print out your past orders). Then he says that the document proves that I bought it there and that it is covered by the warranty I STILL need to have an official invoice. I thanked him for the information and told him to enjoy his new PSA-1. So, just remember that if your unit breaks and it probably will that have some money set aside(at least 100 bucks) so that you can get your eqipment working again. I am through with their products for this one aspect of their business. Since Fender And Brian Moore stood behind their products and incurred the charge I will be faithful to their product line. To hold a 600 dollar piece of equipment in leu of $30 repair bill is just stupid and they can keep it.

They have lost a repeat buyer. The sound was good through a Fender Twin or direct into a recorder but since they have no trust in their customers and are so cheap in their customer service\repair department I won't buy again. I was actually looking at dropping another 400 dollars on their stuff( wanted the Acoustic DI and the Tri A.C.) but will find something else with better reviews. It just goes to show that a product is only as good as the people that stand behind it and the amount they care for the purchaser.

I run a Brian Moore i.2 or a strat into this unit and both come out sounding great. I then run the sansamp into a Fender Twin amp. It can get a bit noisy in some of the metal settings but this can be taken care of by setting the output to -10db on the back panel. Brutal...I think as brutal as you could ever possibly want and the best thing is that in a push of a button you can get the cleanest clean....and all solid state at that!!!!!

This amp is very very impressive. I play many styles from originals to covers to metal. This unit covers it all. Yes it does take some time to tweak it out and make it sound good but all and all darn cool. I wish it had an off button up front but oh well.

Here is why I am writting this review, though I have wanted to write one for a while. I have owned the unit for about 8 months. I had my twin in the shop being serviced and recently bought a new amp. When I plugged my sansamp in and got ready to play is came up with the letter 'A' and no sound. I got in contact with Tech 21 and they are going to fix it. It makes me wonder how reliable this unit is. I will get it fixed and see if it makes it a year and repost.

Now they do rock in this area. I had some questions early on about midi controllers and they were very quick and very knowledgable about the ins and outs of this unit. They even told me how to get the best sound out of the unit when playing it on a combo amp such as the twin. For the repait they are going to take care of it all I have to do is send it to them. They said it sounds like a microprocessor went bad so hopefully I will have it back in a few days.

I have been playing for 15 years and this is the only distortion that I will use. I am going to purchase the Sansamp TRI A.C. just because it would be easier to carry around for small little jam sessions and what not. I am actually considering have the sansamp set inside my Twin so that it is always with me!!!!!!! Just an awesome piece of equipment for anyone who plays a lot of styles. Hopefully when it is repaired it will never break again but electronics can be very unreliable. Always do your best to play something like this though because everyone is just a little different and like different things.

I play a Fender Standard Stratocaster's bridge pickup into this fucker. I play thrash/death/black metal and am going for a fat, cutting, clear, defined, articulate, percussive, tight, and punchy distortion sorta like a dimed Plexi meets a JCM 800. Think Slayer but less boutique-ey, if you understand what I'm saying. It sounds absolutly wonderful even on tape, but it doesn't cut as much as I hoped, but I should've remembered to back up on the gain a step and add more mids and treble to the guitar tracks. As for clean, that isn't perfect, but I think a tad bit more treble and mids in the mix would make it cut more and less gain.

This is a totally solid state MIDI controlled preamp. This preamp doesn't have channels, it has presets. I wish that it had a dedicated headphone jack and a post-gain mid knob.

Listen, it's made in NYC. Do you want to fuck with that? No tubes so very little to worry about.

Never dealt.

If it were stolen, I'd buy it again instantly. I seriously wish it had a post-gain mid knob and that the knobs were aligned better (they're half a step to a whole step off).

It Is pretty hard to use...You have to Dial each aspect in precisely to get what you want!

The cleans were too high and most other sounds were sounding like they came out of a tin can! Slim! But I was using it for direct recording! I don't know what it sounds like through a good poweramp?? It must sound better considering all the good reviews?

Not good for direct recording, but maybe it's better with a full setup? I have been playing for 15 years, and am into bands like Dimmu Borgir/Soilwork/Iced Earth/etc. I have the Rocktron Voodu Valve Online which I like a hell of a lot better! And I hear the Piranha is better than that? JMP-1=Junk I heard the new Rectorecording preamp is Phat...we will see?

The PSA-1 smoked before, and although I thought it impossible, it sounds even better now! I am playing a Jackson DKMGT Guitar into the PSA-1, through a Mosvalve MV-962 and then into a Marshall 1960 4x12. The sound I get is absoulutely amazing and is huge! My band plays Metallica's cover of "The Small Hours" at gigs and when I am hitting solid drop-D in that song it sounds "none more black" - Spinal Tap

This is just an update as I have had the PSA-1 for several months now. My previous review was based soley on how it performed recording direct. I was previously playing the PSA-1 direct into a P.A. but now have upgraded my gear....read below.

No problems ever. Won't have any.

Everytime I email these guys they get back to me within a day. It is unreal. They help me with extra things like what type of fuse to get if the PSA-1 ever blew, etc. Always helpful.

I try not to be too critical of people, but when I read some of the reviews below it amazes me. It is almost like we were not playing the same gear. I agree with a guy below about the importance of additional equipment, etc. Everything along the chain has to be good. One piece (pickups, bad cord, sorry power amp, etc.) and you won't have it. Just a sidenote, I played through headphones once with the PSA-1 and hated it. Trust me, when you are going into a recording studio, etc. it sounds awesome.

I bought this for the distortion. It's BRUTAL! I play a PRS from the late 80's and a Jackson custom shop soloist. Let me emphasize something: THIS UNIT NEEDS TO BE HOOKED UP TO A GOOD POWER AMP AND A GOOD CABINET!! If you use a shitty gear with it, you will not get a good tone. That goes for any preamp. I have a Mesa 50/50 and a mesa recto 4x12 and a marshall jcm800 4x12. Quality gear= quality tone. It's a very simple concept.

I just tweak the presets and I can pretty much find any type of tone I need. the controls are very sensistive, so take it easy. It's easy to get a bad sound out of this if you don't know what you're doing. Just read the manual and the descriptions of each control. Start with a preset you like and tweak away. You'll find your sound in no time.

no problems

it's rocks......Case closed

Ok, this unit has recieved some bad reviews(probobly from a disgruntled guy who bought this and didn't know how to really utilize it; I think he even left multiple bad reviews) and I'm here to tell you that this thing rules! I use this with my mesa 2:90 power amp, my recto 4x12 and a sonic maximizer in the effects loop. My sound is HUGE!! You can get so many incredible sounds from this, you just need to match it up with the right poweramp/cab combo and a sonic maximizer for extra balls. I'm a very picky guy when it comes to my tone and I'm very happy with my setup.

I get every sound I need from this, from clean to nu metal

No problems to report

n/a

I love this unit, it's all I ever asked for. I can get all my super heavy sounds and some nice clean sounds.

It's very easy to use,just turn knobs.

I use a Les Paul Studio with stock pick ups[excellent],PSA-1 of course,Marshall power amp,and a marshall jcm 900 1960b cab.Perfect tone.I don't know what those two tube geeks below this review are talking about.I've got great tone.Very very unique and original.I've noticed tube lovers are picky as hell.Every tone I've ever thought of,I can get out of this.I'm finally happy.

I've had it for a year,no prblems.

The dude I talked to was pretty cool and helpful.

I play with a Faith No More,Primus,Pink Floydish,Mr.Bungle type feel.I'm also a huge Beatles,Doors,Frank Zappa fan.This unit is so versitle that it has inspired me in a whole new way.I've been playing for a few years and I've never been happier.Remember though,it's all a matter of opinion.

I felt the PSA-1 was OK for shredding and thrash but that I could never dial in a softer distortion or overdrive, and I spent probably at least 40 hours trying. It was always noisy/hissy and its decrescendoing sound as it would fade out would kind of crackle and sound rather solid state to my ears. Keep in mind I ONLY ever tried it via headphones, and NEVER through a cabinet -- since I was mainly interested in it for recording purposes. So while it has plenty of controls that you'd think would allow plenty of versatility I could never get a punchy sound without excess noise/hiss/crackle. As I recall, though, it's cleans weren't too bad, and the cabinet simulation was decent.

Some comparisons (all through headphones): Rockman Sustainor or XPR distortions were much smoother, less noisy and no crackle -- much more akin to what I wanted (although Rockman units have proven to be a bit bright and presence heavy for me compared to my current love the VOX Valvetronix AD120VT). POD Pro 2.0: Smoother distortions and much more flexible (but I found the POD Pro to have too much of a "veiled" sound, like putting your hand in front of your mouth when talking, and like others say it didn't feel like a tube amp to me). VOX Valvetronix (again, ONLY through headphones at this point): Creamy, versatile, smooth, tubey. It *can* do shred pretty well, but it can also do smooth OD or pop-rock, etc., and it also contains a decent set of programmable modelled effects. Granted, I changed the tubes to NOS Mullards right away but even stock this amp (through headphones) sounded great and I was able to quickly dial in very good sounds.

Solid metal chassis, plastic(?) knobs seemed quite sturdy, rack-mountable so should be pretty reliable. Always worked fine. But my experience is too limited to be of great use.

I kinda feel this unit is a two-trick pony: Noisy shred or metal and reasonable cleans. It's definitely heavy and ballsy, but IMHO pretty noisy. But even if those are the two ponies you want to ride you still might test out a different unit (like the POD Pro). Or, if you need an amplifier that can double as a direct recording device check out a VOX AD120VT or its 30W little bro' the AD60VT.

The previous review captures my exact opinion of this preamp "Still has a screechy solid state sound to it"! The distortion sounds very cheesy and you can dial everything out except the cheese. I would compare this closely to the Boss MetalZone MT2 in pedal form. Loads and gobs of distortion but always a hair off from what your ears want to hear. Sounds OK at frist but eventually you get a headache from it. I have not heard anything from this preamp that I would call good. If you like PODs and the MT2 then you probably will like this but if you like tube distortion, forget about it. Go back to the ADA MP1 because this doesn't hold a candle to it! I have played bass and guitar through this preamp and with several speaker combos to no avail.

You can do lots with this preamp, it is very versatile with many ways to connect it for playing, recording, etc.

Seems reliable but I've only had it a couple months.

Don't know..

Flat, solid state sound to screechy solid state sound. Nothing else matters. A million ways to use flat tone is still just flat tone. My solid state Crate G60 from 15 years ago actually sounds better in my opinion.