Tech 21 SansAmp PSA-1 Preamp

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!

My setup (like you care) is Ibanez, ESP, and Epiphone guitars to PSA-1 to G-Major effects to Randall RT2/50 tube power amp (amazing amp and I'm surprised there are NO reviews of it here). I mostly used the presets, but also filled up about half the user locations with original sounds as well. The tone was great yet not great.

Someone down the page said every tone it made sounded like it came from behind a wall and I agree. I had to constantly crank the presence to the maximum on the Randall and usually turn up the "high" control on the PSA-1 to get a non-muffled sound. This was a bit disappointing, but no big deal.

I disagree with those who said that this sounds bad for mildly overdriven tones, but wholeheartedly agree with the ones who say the clean and fully distorted sounds are incredible. That they are. This made a "rectifier" sound better than my rectifier and the Marshall sounds were much more interesting than any of the countless other boring Marshalls I've owned in the past. I also agree that it has its own tone and though the sounds are close to the amps they're trying to be, they're not exactly the same.

Not sure of the year since I bought it used. This is easily one of the coolest preamps to ever be created. It has no "channels," but it does have 49 factory and 49 user presets. And may I add, this preamp should win an award for being the first piece of electronic gear ever created to have presets so good you never need to use anything else (while at the same time being extremely "tweakable" to appease those people too).

It's got an effects loop I don't use, and I've never tried the direct record outs, but I wouldn't do that anyway. It's, as said before, a solid state device which sounds almost eerily like actual tubes.

No problems in just shy of a year of owning it, don't plan on having any problems since I actually take care of my gear.

I've emailed them about five times and each time the reply came before the day was done, sometimes within an hour. To me, that's good support.

This is an incredibly good preamp. Rocktron, Digitech, Line 6, throw them all in the trash, they don't hold a candle. The only preamp which beats out the PSA-1 (and this is my opinion, remember) is the TriAxis, but this comes from a die-hard Boogie fan. The PSA-1 makes remarkably good Boogie tones, but not quite as focused as I like them. Still, the PSA-1 is a VERY close second and will be remaining in my rack as a backup.

I play in a top 40 bar band, so i need a wide variety of tones at my fingertips. The PSA1 delivers! I play a 1998 Ibanez RG 570, a 1980 Ibanez Artist, and a early 90's Fender American strat. These run into the PSA 1 with a T.C. Electronics G-Major in the loop. I use a Rocktron Velocity 150 (150w) solid state Power amp into 2 Rocktron Velocity S112 (1x12)75w speakers cabs. I do not run stereo live. I have a Bradshaw switching system to handle the midi functions. The amp and speaker combo is very important. The PSA 1 needs a Clean pwr amp, like you would use for a PA system, and full range speakers, again like that of a PA system. Your traditional 4x12 marshall cab will work but you will get far better results from full range speakers.
The cleans on the PSA1 are amazing even fully cranked, the fender styles are damn near dead on, I even tricked a few people into thinking I was playing an acoustic, when I was using the RG 570 stock!(NO Piezio pickup!) the Marshalls, and Boogies get noisey on the high gain settings....just like the real amps. No complaints here either, a basic noise gate covers that. I get tones for AC/DC, to Metallica and INXS to Simple Minds so it really is the most versatile system I've used.

I rate this an 8, because quite frankly it aint supposed to have a tone of features. It's a straight forward Pre Amp. It has all the basic things you need. 2 in's, stereo outs, effects loop with 50/50 switch(depending on your set up this can be very handy). The knobs on the face are very simillar to that of a traditional tube amp, and are labeled acording to what they do. No nonsense here. The Buzz adds Buzz etc. etc. The only thing I wish it had was more MIDI versitility. E.G. make some or all of the face knobs controlable via midi expression pedal. It would be very cool to be able to vary the "Preamp" or "Drive" with your foot on the fly!

Never Had a problem. I gig regularly with out a back up. I do take good care of my gear though. Shock mount rack etc. etc.

Again the unit seems to be solid but I did talk to the teck support guys before buying. Lloyd was awesome, very helpful.

I've been playing 20 years in all sorts of bands. I used to manage a Guitar Center. I have played with all the toys. I did a lot of research before going solid state. This seemed like the best thing going, and I beleive it is. To give you and Idea of just how great I think it sounds. I just sold my Mid 80's Marshall JCM 800, I have no need for it anymore. If it was stolen, I'd replace it in a heartbeat!

I also have a Digitech 2101. Sansamp blow digitech in terms of versatile and distortion. Some people say that this preamp is not good for recording or playing live. Also, tech 21 recommends to use a solid state power amp on it, avoiding tube power amp. I tried one time plugging sansamp in a Carvin power amp (tube power amp), sound was far worst comparing with my valvestate power amp. So I am not totally comfortable with this product It is why I am giving a 9 to this. But tried and you will not be disappointed with this produtct. It is an excelllent machine.

I use Sansamp plus G Major plus BBE 462 and plug into my Marshall Valvestate return plug in. I have 3 ibanez (jem, rg and PGM model). I play all styles of music (jazz, blues, rock, mpb and metal). Sansamp is very versatile -> some clean sounds (fender simulation) makes my ibanez sound as a fender, and some heavy sounds (mesa boogie simulation) makes my sound get very closer to mesa distortion.

I never had any problem with it

no problems

Excellent product. Tried first and compare to other pre amps (triaxxis, digitech 2101, jmp-1, rocktron voodu valve). You will see that Sansamp will kick many of the products mentioned above, however, it depends on what kind of tone and sound you want

Ok, First of all I tried hooking this up to my Carvin DCM150 power amp and a Genz-Benz Flex 2x12 cab. It wasn't very impressive. It was dull and all the metal/hard settings sounded too much alike. My Tubeworks Real Tube 9002 reissue is half the price and was way more musical aka not cold. I also tried the PSA-1 thru a combo amp's front end as well as driving it through the return loop with the same results. Yes, I've switched the vol/line setting buttons to experiment. I got online to check out the other reviews to see if there was something I wasn't doing right. Anyhow, the last review written here was the answer. FULL RANGE SPEAKERS! It sounded 90% better. I'm still tinkering with it. The speakers I ended up running it through are cheap so I can only imagine what real PA speakers will sound like. With that said I am still not tripping my balls off with the sounds I can get out of it now. I'm still tweaking and will leave a follow up review.

Alot of features. If you are looking to get one you are aware of them.

Things I like: no power off button(I always turn all preamps, effects,etc BEFORE I turn the Power amp on. It's one less switch to flip. I love how you can hold the up or down button to go thru the presets(speeds up after you hold it in over a second so it's faster than just tapping it one preset at a time). The enclosure is great and looks nice.

The things I don't like: When you power off it doesn't keep the last preset you were at. You can't name your patches. The knobs are plastic.

USE FULL RANGE SPEAKERS! This solves many problems. I was using a 300 watt 4x12 cab with celestion gt100s with a solid state pre and I just wasn't cutting through the mix in a band setting. The clean sounds were OK. The high gain sounds were there, but they were undefined and not cutting through the mix. I simply could not coax a good medium to low gain growl out of this setup. Then, after fucking around with this setup for 3 years, I tried sending the Sansamp through the input of an old Roland JC-120 2x12 and *BOOM* - there's the tone! JMP growl, Mesa Rectifier, Fender Twin. It really is in there!

So here's my advice everyone - Use full range speakers with this preamp. Do not expect your typical celstion 4x12 to cut it.

I have already reviewed this product. This is a second review. Features are great. There's nothing extra that I need other than a tone knob for the mids. And maybe also a presence knob.

awesome. lloyd rocks.

I have an Ibanez RG570 with a seymour custom5 in the bridge position, and a Strat fitted with EMG SA set. The guitars go into the PSA1, the PSA1 to my Digitech GSP2101, then a Digitech-Hafler G150 mosfet poweramp that drives two selfmade 2x12 cabs fitted with Celestion Classic Lead 80s.
Wanna get the Gilmour sound? No problem. Wanna play Dream Theater? No problem.
Finally I have an amp that has a very tight and clear bottom-end.
The distortion is brutal, but crystal-clear at the same time (just like in Fates Warning - that was the sound I'd been looking for)...incredilbe.
When I let it ring I feel like a baby in his mother's arms...Warm, clear and round.
I had a Fender RocPro1000 and an ADA MP1 before, but none of that could get close to this baby.
There's no question why does Jim Matheos (Fates Warning), Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings), or Joe Satriani use this stuff.
I showed it to one of my friends today. He didn't belive that this is a full solid state amp. It made him thinking of buying one of these babes instead of a Mesa Triaxis...
I LOVE this stuff!:-)

I got this preamp secondhand on ebay in Germany. Perfect condition.
If your looking for a GREAT pre, and you're not a tube-fan this unit is for you. I play almost every style from blues, to metal, and this baby can handle everything!
The stuff is simple: it has 3 pre (distortion) EQ, 2 postEQ, input level, drive and master volume KNOBS, program-select UP and Down buttons. No more button-pushes to get the sound I want!:-)
Midiable, 49 user and 49 factory programs.
It has a BEAUTIFUL metal case.
Headphones-out, 2 line outputs, stereo fx-loop. The fx-mix is simple, global off or 50-50. It would be better to control the mix with one more knob and save the setting in every program...(-1point)
Wish it had an ON-OFF switch (-1 point)

I only got it for a mounth now...
What can I say? Like others before me: Built like a tank!

I'we asked them one thing in email, and they replyed next day.

I play for 10 years, I had a Marshall Valvestate 8240, a Fender RocPro1000, an ADA MP1 before. None of that could reach this thing in sound. Small, light, great sounding...what else do you need?
If it were stolen or lost (how could I lost my gear??) I'd buy another one immediately.

I have to admit that the Fender Twin is tricky. It "treble pings" at max volume with the MFG preset values. The ping can be dialed out by turning the crunch down to just a smidget beyond midnight, adding 25% punch and turning the Master Vol up to 100 percent. Otherwise, the output levels are too low, and unity gain off-matched to the adjacent high gain patches.

I have played all the REAL high gain amp HEADs modeled on the MFG list. Man this thing really rocks, and sounds smoother than the real McCoys w/o the volume, weight, noise, tubes, and other baggage ... Rectos, Plexis, 5150s etc. I'm stunned. I'm not sure what exactly the Hiwatt and Tele Simulator are. Didn't lik'em at all. Didn't even bother with the MXR Bigg Muff etc. Never liked that crap mush anyway.

I didn't like the Bluesbreaker, but then I don't like anybody's bluesbreaker modeler either. This is the only amp that nobody on this planet has been able to model. The AC30 is close.

Bottom-line, a single performance bank of of good Marshall & Mesa crunch and lead sounds covers a lot of rock genre territory. Line 6 does not even appear on the sonic radar compared to this single-rack device.

The Marshall patches have a more aggressive character than the JMP-1, even with brand new Jan Phillips in V1 and JJ/ECC83S in V2, and I loved my JMP-1 ... and that was MFG'd by Marshall go figure ... nuff said

I owned a GT2 for 10 years that I used for bass in the studio but it used to feedback like hell live on guitar. That little sumbich made any bass amp head or bass guitar sound better: Punchy and in-your-face bass. I am sure the PSA-1 on bass will sound even better.

This is not your jazz music teacher's preamp. This is a solid state aggressive guitar rock machine covering Classic, Hard, Prog, Metal, NuCrap, etc -

Notwithsatnding the really cheesy patches mentioned above, this puppy gets a solid 10 for solid aggressive monster rock tone. I surmise that all MFGs (Lexicon, Eventide, Digitech, etc) always inlcude bullshit patches to prove that their staffs get stoned often are not infallible nor perfect lol

I read this guy's review below who is turning this knob down and that knob down and comparing to a tube head "checking the buzz factor"? What a tweed-head brainwashed moron. Welcome to the 21st century moron ... if you don't and can't understand the technology ... then you just don't get it huh? It is a rock machine, not a blues club panacea to not buying a Victoria Combo. Go buy a fucking hand-built Victoria for $2200.00 with original bassman specs, Weber Q10s, resistors to tolerance, etc etc etc ad nauseum. When you blow a tube in your bedroom or douchebag open-mic talent show in NY or NJ and it fails, I'll be rocking an arena in Europe somewhere with my $399.00 PSA-1 and getting paid for it you fucking loser. Get a life ...

Salut Montreal Bob ... enchante ... I concur with Bob Guido's review below. The PSA-1 rackmount is an ingenious tools that rocks for both performing and recording. I picked one up from a cat in CA this week on eBay for $399 including MidiMouse and cable in A++++ shape to replace my beloved JMP-1. This device is definitely straight as forward in-your-face and idiot proof to use as it gets.

Before it arrived, I went to the tech-21 website and downloaded a page (front-back) on each amp type preset values plus the miscellaneous page. Without the manual I created a performance bank (51-60) including:

51 TWIN
52 SRV
53 PLEXI 50
54 PLEXI 100
55 EVH CRUNCH
56 SCHENKER LEAD
57 SANTANA LEAD
58 METALLICA
59 PANTERA
60 MESA LEAD

It took all of 10 minutes. The catch is setting unity gain on all patches to match in real time.

I loved my JMP-1, however, it is utterly incapable of programming Mesa or Fender patches.

The device runs thru a HUSH IIC, into a wet/dry/wet configuration, Left output dualled out into BBE 462 into MOSVALVE MV-462, and right output dualled out into delay+chorus thru another BBE462 into a separate MOSVALVE MV-462. Single 4x12 cab with four inputs one per speaker, G12H80s top, Altec Lansing D120Fs bottom.

I never liked tube power amps, and on the MFG's recommendation to use a solid sate power amp the MOSVALVES are perfect (warm, do not affect the tone, and are solid state). The PSA-1 and BK Butler's MOSVALVES are a perfect match.

This is not my primary performance preamp, although it could easily become one. I also use a Real Tube II preamp, however, my primary rig is rackmounted Mark IV Mesa Boogies. All preamps go thru a rack mixer.

The PSA-1 fills my tone gaps for live and session work where the Mark IV Blues-Rock leaves off. Now I have the best of all worlds.

One thing I didn't like was that the Master Volume is "saved" with the patch. I would have preferred a dynamic global master volume in "real time" depending on venue, and a patch volume saved with the patch that readjusts itself on all patches when the master volume is changed in real time. Oh well ... I give a 7 here, because this is a critical performance feature bout not a critical studio feature. Huge bang for the buck otherwise!

Based on other reviewers -- built like a tank.

Based on other reviewers -- solid NY MFG that stands behind their product.

This is truly a wondeful piece of technology. When I get back in a few months, I plan to try it in the studio and experiment with fattening/crunching guitar/bass tracks, and who knows, maybe it has utility on other instruments including vocals?

Would I buy again? Sure, if another deal like this came along. Way too expensive at regular retail prices. eBay has levelled the playing field in that regard. I am past paying retail for anything anymore. You buy a new piece of gear at any music store then its worth 25 cents on the dollar when you try to sell it back later. My sentiment to the music stores and their ignorant non-player lizard sales staffs: Go fuck yourselves ...

The operation, editing and storing of user programs in the PSA-1 is very easy. The manual is very informitive and outlines the history of SansAmp technology and thier approach to emulation of tube amplifiers using FET analog circuits.

Recently for a project, my client wanted the best possible clean but tube driven sound. Basically, clean with a bit of that tube compression kind of tone. I ran some extensive tests using a ProTools Recording system with Apogee I/O and A/D convertors before we got started. The front end was a Sure SM57 microphone into a Neve 1073 mic preamp into the Apogee A/D and direct to disk.

This was what we had at hand:

Fender Vibro King custom shop Class A guitar amplifier (fender's most expensive amp)
Fender Deluxe Reverb vintage
Vox AC 30 Top Boost vintage
Vox AC 15
Matchless DC30
Fender Super reverb 1960's model
Fender Bassman vintage
Line 6 POD pro on Vox and Fender Bassman settings
Sansamp PSA-1 Plug-in in ProTools.

I DIDN'T OWN THE REAL PSA-1 RACKMOUNT YET.

I Recorded a guitar track direct through the Neve to ProTools and re-amped it through all of these amps and the POD. All amps had the EQ and volume set to produce the best clean sound. I also set the amps tone controls and levels so that no amp was particularly brighter or bassier than another. Sameness in tone would keep the listener from percieveing more treble or bass as "better tone". They were all miked the same with a shure SM57 on axis pointing at the seam between the speaker cone and the dust cap centre. Standard stuff. So I did all the re-amping and recorded all these amps and the Pod simulations. I listened to the results for a long time. Afterwards for fun I put the SansAmp PSA-1 Plug-in that was in the ProTools system I am using on the original direct NEVE guitar track and holy #$%^! I thought it sounded way better than any of the Amps miked up and the POD. So I wondered...is there something wrong with my ears? Maybe it's getting late and I should get some sleep and listen to it tomorrow. So I invited several musical people over for a little beer and listening party. I gave them each a piece of paper and asked them to write down after I soloed each track whether it was a real amp or a simulator (POD, SansAmp plug-in). They were not able to see my ProTools session as I was in front of the monitor.

Here are the results: Many people confused the POD with the the real amps. But EVERYONE said that their favorite sound was the first one. It was the Sansamp PSA-1 plug-in by Bombfactory on the direct NEVE guitar track. Not one person hesitated to say "what was the first one? It sounded so much better than the rest." It was exactly what I said to myself the day before. I was not alone. The SansAmp Plug-in was the most digital thing out of the bunch but it had the most defined warm tube tone and tightest bottom end as well as a nice round and bell like top end. It was not mushy or muddy, the way a lot of the Amps were. The POD on the VOX setting was thier second choice but it too had a muddy bottom end. So here is what I wanted to know: Does the Sansamp PSA-1 Plug-in sound anything like the real rackmount unit? Is it close or is the Rackmount better? If the Rackmount is better than this plug-in then I have to have it because my clients and friends think the Plug-in has the most real and best tube amp sound even going up against the real thing recorded through a Neve! If the hardware is better than the software version then it will blow them away.

I sent this letter to Lloyd at Tech 21 and he encouraged me to try the real SansAmp PSA-1. I bought one and I have since tested it up against all of my amps, the POD pro and the SansAmp PSA-1 Bombfactory Plug-In.

Conclusion:

The PSA-1 Plug-in blew me away. It sounded better than the POD and any real amp with a SM57 on it. The real PSA-1 goes a step further than any of these. It sounds larger, more in your face, wider and deeper than it's Plug-n emulation and the POD and all of the real amps with a Shure SM57 on them. It has a sound that goes beyond any Amp or simulator. It sounds tighter in the bottom end than a real amp. It is also punchier. When you let n

This rack is built to withstand nuclear fallout and has wonderful metal handles on the front that make it oh so easy to install into a rack case or a producer's desk in a studio without scratching any of your other precious outboard gear above or below the home you have made for your new PSA-1.

Tech 21 has the best customer support of any music product manufacturer. They are even better than Eventide who are extremely helpful.

Let me just say that Lloyd at Tech 21 goes out of his way to maintain Tech 21's mission: to make the best professional guitar and bass preamps for the stage and the studio and not flavor of the month products like bright red kidney beans, purple blue and green Droids.

I am a professional recording engineer/record producer in Canada. This preamp is providing me with an extended sound palette of guitar color that goes beyond what tube amplifiers and the Line 6 POD will provide.

Other devices that are designed to perform the same function as the SansAmp PSA-1 that I have owned and used are:

Line 6 POD pro
Line 6 POD xt
Hughes & Kettner Tubeman Plus
Rocktron RepliTone and Chameleon
Hughes & Kettner Red Box
Marshall JMP-1
ADA MP-1
Johnson Millenium Modeling Amplifier
Yamaha DG-Stomp
SansAmp GT2 and SansAmp Classic
ZOOM 9002
Voodoo Lab Preamp

The SansAmp is unlike any real amplifier or other digital, analog or tube amp simulator/modeller and allows you to carve your own personal sound with it's unique tone controls. It sounds larger, wider and taller than any real amp does with regular micing technique.

I don't say this lightly - sonic quality is a solid 10. Please understand, I am a loyal tube fan, and I *LOVE* my solid state PSA-1.
I use the PSA1 as an easy way to get lots of tones in a simple rig. I use a speaker simulator and F/X in the loop of the PSA-1, and run the PSA-1 through a rackmount 15 band EQ, then into a variety of small combo amps (depending on how big the room is). This requires some care (my EQ on the combo amps is usually pretty radical), but is dirt-simple and works great.

To me, the acid test of any rig is how it sounds when it's barely dirty - the PSA-1 does slightly gritty tones VERY well ! I can get nice Vox (TB and non-TB) and Marshall Bluesbreaker tones, warm semi-clean and semi-dirty Marshall tones, big ringing HiWatt tones, growly Fender tones, and a variety of high gain tones (just for fun, really - I don't use high gain tones with the guys I play with). Eventually I'll develop some more settings (Tweed, etc), but for now I'm having more fun playing than tweaking.

I use a 57RI Strat with Duncan lil 59'er mini-humbuckers - these are midway between single coil and HB in output. I play alt-country, classic rock, and eclectic styles.

Rated 9 because some minor improvements could be made. This is the "tone generator" portion of a rack guitar system. It uses a total of 5 gain controls to change how the tone is created/shaped. The Preamp and Drive controls are like the Preamp and Master controls on a 'regular' amp, while the Buzz,Punch and Crunch adjust the gain for low, mid or high frequencies through the preamp - these 3 knobs control whether the voice you create sounds like Fender, Marshall, Vox or Mesa. There is a Level control that controls the overall output from the unit, as well as a Bass and Treble control.

The output section is VERY flexible, including two stereo F/X loop options. Very sturdy construction, and good rugged feeling jacks.

Learning the "secret" behind the knobs takes a few minutes to get comfortable with, but you don't have to be a genius to make this unit sound good - it simulates a "real" amp, and you have to adjust it like one.

Occasionally on power-up, there will be very low output from the unit (perhaps 1 time out of 200+ times). Turning the rack off and back on solves the issue - it has never been a regular problem, and has never happened other than right at power-on. It's a low noise unit - when I play bass with this preamp (clean only) I'm using about 700W through a Crown amp - it's dead silent, no hum, no hiss, no junk. Hi gain guitar tones will hum or hiss some, but not too bad. There is never any of the crackle or thump noise I often get from preamp tubes in other gear.

No experience with them.

I got this during the final clearance sales when Mars Music went bankrupt - $200.00 for this is a STEAL - I lucked out. I probably never would have purchased this at the regular retail price - but I would have missed out.

This unit has essentially solved most of my tone issues when playing a variety of guitar styles. Total tone purists might not be happy with it, but I think a *lot* of players would be. I think that the quality of tones I've heard from it are significantly better than the Johnson, Line6 and Behringer digital units I've played. This unit is a modeler, but it's an *analog* modeler, not a digital one - it's a lot less compressed and artificial sounding than the digital types (BTW, I own and enjoy a Behringer modeler).

First I want to qualify my review by saying that I was using headphones and no power amp with the PSA-1, using my Zoom PS02 as the headphone amplifier. According to the manual, the outputs are suitable for direct recording or as the input to a power amp and cabinet, so my setup should have been usable. That said, the cleans were good, the heavily distorted sounds were okay, and the mildly distorted sounds were poor. As others have mentioned, the breakup characteristics of the FETs do sound like a broken kazoo. This is masked in the high distortion patches by the overdrive, but just after breakup it is unpleasant to my ears. And, while you can't hear the kazoo sound on high gain settings, they are a bit harsh though headphones so I can't give them a high score either. I will grant that the PSA-1 probably does sound a lot better through a power amp and a cabinet, but for direct recording or monitoring with headphones it just doesn't cut it. The cleans were nice but not very warm so I give it a 9 for cleans, a 6 for heavy distortion, and a 2 for mild distortion--average 6.

They've been covered below. Lots of knobs--maybe more than necessary but I never complain about that. MIDI support was my main concern and it does that well enough--you can recall saved patches but can't modify any paramaters using a MIDI controller. My only complaint was the knobs being out of sync after a preset recall--this can cause problems if a knob is set to a really high value and then a patch is recalled with it in a low value. If you then move the knob the value changes instantly to where the physical knob is, perhaps greatly overloading the next item in the signal chain (I severly overloaded the input stage on my G-Major once). To be fair, the only other way to do it using pots (instead of encoders which are much more expensive) would be to have the knob not do anything until it matches the patch value, which I would have preferred (and which wouldn't be that hard to do).

Seemed well built, but I didn't have it long enough to get a real opinion.

Pretty good. I emailed them for the PDF users manual and they quickly responded and emailed me one.

I hoped this would be the preamp solution to my MIDI-controlled rack system, but it wasn't. I'm sure it sounds better through a power amp and cab, but I live in an apartment and the whole focus of my rack system was that it had to be silent, which means headphones. I don't recommend this unit for headphone use--only the cleans sounded good to my ears. The basic distortion sound is poor unless you have the gain cranked, and I play blues and classic rock--not metal--so I need a nice mild distortion I can build on. I returned the PSA-1 after about a week of trying to make it work for me, and I decided that tubes were the only way to go. I have since purchased an Egnater M4 preamp which soundwise is exactly what I was looking for (admittedly at a much higher price), but lacks the MIDI control of the PSA-1. Oh well, I can live with the lack of MIDI control on the M4, but I couldn't live with the sound of the PSA-1. For other people with different setups this may be a good product (it must be, given the high ratings some people have given it) but it wasn't what I was looking for.

Impressive, impressive, impressive. I can say this can be used for more than just guitar and create satisfactory results.

Preamp is only as good as the match of its power amp, but this preamp makes up for lacks in many amps. Well, unless the power amp has poor or no tube design. Then this is not a good match, but besides that... super impressive for a tubeless preamp!! It is for begining users as well as advanced, but the on the fly features need to be mastered, once you get a grip on settings, its just as good, if not, better than anything in the sub $1g class.

HAH, I dropped this thing TWICE. Nobody can tell, it wont die.

never needed customer support.

I also own a MB Triaxis and this. I would be crazy to say psa-1 is better than the MB, but I think in a lot of aspects, it IS better. But the flexibility of the psa-1 I think is much better. Of course overall I would rather keep the triaxis of the two, but im not getting rid of my psa-1 anytime soon, it is a bargain preamp, and Im very very very pleased. I am a music teacher at a local HS, and the kids have no problem using this for guitar or keyboards. Along with adults who are serious that play on the side with me. I can honestly say that I can recomend this pre-amp. I cant wait until tech21 makes a next generation amp with every feature this amp has and utilizes tube support. Then I will most likely get rid of my triaxis! That is how confidant I am.

i got this unit about 4years ago,
at first sight, it looks very easy to use,
but it was not that easy..
about a years ago, i got GX-700 for additional cabinet simulation.
now, it's really easy to get a good direct tone..
hear my direct recording samples at
==> http://fender.co.kr/mule.html
fender.co.kr is my url but another guys use it for test their page
soon i'll make my own

i got this unit for direct recording
with this unit, you can't get real direct tone.
use this with speaker simulations and EQ.
Boss GX-700'll perfect
my gx-700 settin'
EQ : low +5 Mid 250hz -10 1(q) high +5
Speaker Simulation : middle, mic 5, mic 100, direct 0
great direct tone i ever heard
i use G-major for digital effectin'
i play for 10 years and i think direct recording need some
secret knowhows.. i think GX-700 + PSA-1 is good start point
to go direct

i drop it at top of the subway stair... it falls 50m down
but it's ok work well no problem

i asked them several time
about cabs, power amps and so on
they are very kind

very good preamp for direct recording
if used with good eq and speaker simulation device

I play Blues,Rock,Metal.It suits very well with my playing and the factory presets includes FENDER MESA-BOOGIE MARSHALL MXR dist+ VOX VAN HALEN PANTERA SANTANA and many others sounds which i can say are very good.

Made in 2000. You can get thousands of very good sounds with this. I play Blues,Rock,Metal.It`s Midi so you can save many presets. It has an effects-loop, and you can choose to pass only 50% or full signal to the loop. It`s something like a parametric distortion device. It has preamp buzz punch crunch and drive knobs which sets the type of distortion you want plus high bass and level (volume) knobs.It`s totally analogic and the Sansamp technology make it sound like tube.

More reliable than tube-preamps thats for sure.

When i asked something about this device, Tech21 replied me few hours later...Very good

I play Blues,Rock,Metal. I hope this will last forever. If don`t i will buy another one. I hate the fact i haven`t bought this before.I LOVE ITS TONE. Haven`t yet heard something similar at this price.
Hope it helps.

So, I'd read that it had good low end and delivered great distortion and all that stuff, but never got a chance to actually try it out before purchasing so I just bought it online @ MusiciansFriend, knowing I could return it if I was unsatisfied, which I was. I ran my ESP MV-200 with Duncan pickups to the SansAmp, and tried my effects processors, G-Major and Digitech 256XL (Digitech = piece of crap) in the effects loop and afterwards in serial, not happy with the end result. Well, initially I just worked on the SansAmp by itself, running it to my Mesa 2:100 and then to 2 Marshall 1960B cabs, and just couldn't get the right tone. I wanted a very deep, distorted, almost thunder of a tone, with lots of good delay a reverb (think Stef Carpenter's tone on White Pony, very similar to that). All of the levels seemed good, and I even tried running it through a 31 band EQ that I had, but it just always seemed that whatever my end result was, whether it was heavy distortion or clean and bright, it just sounded like it was all coming from behind a wall. None of it stood out, none of the tone was powerful... no balls! So, after working with it for and estimated accumulation of about 20 hours, I sent it back, and got a Mesa Formula preamp, which has more energy and fortitude than anything I've heard, and I had up and running with the right tone in 15 minutes.

Pretty good parameter features... as mentioned before the "crunch" "punch" and "drive" knobs are alittle difficult to work with, but not too terrible. The patch work i.e. saving and changing is very good. It sometimes get's alittle confusing when you're trying to get into a particular menu due to the fact that it's all displayed via one screen with only numbers on it. For instance to get to the MIDI channel select screen you gotta go to patch 00 and then click the save button once, then select 04 (I think) then click save then dial in the channel number and then double click the save save button, keeping in mind you have no clue whether or not you're doing it correctly because there's no display telling you what menu you're in or what you've selected, all you see is a number. Basically, it's hard to keep track of what you're doing, but not impossible.

Never got to test it's reliability really, but I did have alittle trouble starting like the 3rd day I had it. This was no doubt due to the fact that I had it in my jam space, which that particular day was about 0 degrees, so it doesn't seem to like the cold.

Never dealt with 'em, probably never will. Besides this unit, which I will undoubtly never purchase again, I can't think of anything from Tech21 that I'd be interested in.

Plain and simple reason why I ditched this unit: I couldn't get the right tone out of it. Now maybe if I toyed with it for months and supplemented it with lots of other pieces of equipment, maybe it could have sounded good. But, I'm not about to do that, so instead I got a Mesa Formula, used for $300, that took me 15 minutes to get in tone heaven.

The knobs are great and make this easier to use than many other pres out there. Editing patches and saving them is a breeze. Just dial in the tone you want and save it by clicking twice. That's about as easy as it gets. The only confusing part is that there are buzz, crunch and punch (or something like that) knobs which control the amount of "break up" at different frequencies. Cool idea, but not as straightforward as a normal amp. I'd prefer more good tone and fewer options.

I use this with a celestion equipped 4x12 and a solid state power amp (per Tech 21's suggestion). I play Gibson Les Pauls and rarely use effects. At first, I loved this pre - I was playing by myself in my house, and it sounded great. But when I use the PSA-1 in a band setting, there is too much gain and not enough definition. Nobody else can hear what the hell I'm playing. So, what do I do? I back off the pre amp gain and/or the power amp gain to clean things up. Makes sense, no? But that's when the Sansamp starts to sound shitty. There is a true "Sansamp" tone underneath all the gain, and it's garbage. I think the other reviewers hit the nail on the head when they complained about the "decay". I don't know exactly what decay is, but I can say for sure that the tone gets crappy. No matter how much I tweak this thing, I can't get a convincing tube tone without pouring on the gain. It doesn't matter if I start out with a factory preset that is of the Marshall variety or the Mesa variety - I just back of the pre and then I'm stuck with the shitty Sansamp tone and it isn't pretty or harmonic or musical. The Sansamp has its own unique sound, and that sound sucks. The only way the Sansamp sounds good is ultra clean or ultra cruncy. Don't expect to get any good overdriven "breakup" type sounds out of this thing.

Don't get me wrong, this thing kicks ass when you want gobs of gain. But I guess that ain't my style anymore.

Very reliable. Never had a problem. I'd use it without a backup.

Excellent support. Better than 99% out there. I've called and shot the shit with these guys on a number of occassions and they are dedicated and knowledgable.

Overall, it's a nice pre. It worked well for me at first, but I find myself wanting a rocking sound that isn't so damned gainy, saturated and undefined. I want people to hear what the hell I'm playing.

This amp is great for gain-mongers. If you like more classic rock, british, and overdriven tones, get something else, like a tube head. I've tried to go SS for years now, and I'm done with it. Tubes are the way to go, guys. I hate saying it because I wanted to believe.

I love that you can change patches with a midi footswitch. If it were stolen, I'd get something else.

I bought this preamp on a whim...just walked into Mars Music and they had a deal on it I couldn't refuse. After playing it for 10 minutes, I bought it. Thats not the usual way I buy gear, but I really liked this thing from the start. I'm using this with a Tech 21 2x12, a G-Major, Mosvalve 1160, and Furman for the power. This is the ideal setup IMHO. At first I used the PSA-1 through a 5150 cab, and I've never heard tone so bad in my life (except maybe my first amp...a 10 watt Squier). Then I got a Tech 21 cab...the difference is so dramatic that you wouldn't believe its the same amp! The PSA-1 is AMAZING through the right gear. I see alot of people on here rave about how good it is through a regular guitar cab. If they think thats good, try it through a Tech 21 cab! The Tech 21 cab actually is loaded with full range speakers, instead of normal guitar speakers which cut certain frequencies. The cleans on the PSA-1 do not bounce like a tube amp, but with the right guitar and pickups, and a little reverb/chorus, you've got GREAT clean tone, and its very very usable. The mildly broken up tones are done suprisingly well on this preamp. SS amps usually fail in this area, but the PSA-1 pulls it off better than any SS amp I've heard. There is a little buzz when the notes trail off, but it is still very usable. The high gain stuff is where this unit shines. It just amazing how much grind this thing generates. And the best part is that it stays very very tight even in hi gain situations. Flip to the neck pickup for some smooth soloing, and to the bridge for crushing rhythm with great bite. Of the stock presets, 26 is my favorite...though I've come up with even better ones. In short, this preamp is amazing, and it can't be judged by plugging in through some shitty power amp and then into a guitar cab. Thats not the way it was meant to be used. Try it with a Mosvalve 1160 through a Tech 21 cab, and prepare to be blown away by how good SS can sound!

Really unique features on this preamp...specially the way that you can EQ the gain structure. Very cool, and very versatile. The PSA-1 switches by MIDI command, and does so 100% seamlessly with no delays or dropouts.

This thing is solid, and I can't see it breaking. Nothing is perfect though so I give it a 9.

Well, I emailed them a few times about the cab (before I bought it), and got no response.

This thing is a great piece of gear. With some good effects, the right cab, and the right power amp, you will have tone that is sure to impress. This rig replaced a Egnater MICA TOL 100...yes its that good.

The only complaint that I have is the way to save your presets. I'm a bass player and I have to keep a pick around just so I can save any changes. Other then that, just a quick flip of the manual and I used up almost all my user banks.

All I use is the PSA-1 through a power amp and my bass gets any tone I want. Its not just for guitars. Sweet tube over drive sound, perfect grinding distortion and smoooooooooooooth jazz tones.

You could throw it againt the wall and it'll still work

Haven't had to deal with them yet

I'm always experimenting with my tone and this is the only pre amp i've owned thats been able to not only keep up with me but raises the bar on what a good pre amp should sound like. I can't imagine why someone wouldn't like this thing.

Difficult to program on the fly live. In order to see what the preset parameter was you have to turn the knob till the little dots tell you. Meanwhile you have the last parameter the knob was turned to when you begin to move it. Saving is a hassle because the button is recessed and you need a pick to actually press it. I guess it was a good idea on paper but for those of us who have been using programmable gear, it's kind of an insult to our intelligence. Just give us a regular button. We'll be careful.

Manual is good, explains everything.

My setup is an Ibanez 3120 (loaded with Bill Lawrence L500XL and L500R pickups)- PSA - Korg A1 - Marshall 9100 power amp - Marshall 1960 Vintage 4/12 slant.

It's reasonably quiet unless you crank the gain. No more noisy than most others I have owned.

This unit is clearly made for shred. Many on this review page have given it rave reviews, and think that this accurately reproduces any amp. The FET distortion has it's own quality that is present in every patch, and due to this quality, it is unuseable for the cleaner/bluesier sounds. To explain, one of the tests I use for distortion quality is simple. Back the gains off on the device till you get the equivalent of a light blues patch with a clean breakup (unless they already have a preset)and with the guitar wide open hit a chord and let the sound decay away. A good distortion will fade out smoothly. This unit will decay with a crackling noise that sounds like a broken diaphragm in a kazoo. That is the overdrive characteristic intrinsic to the device. Now when you open up all of the gain knobs, preamp-buzz-punch-crunch and drive knob that emulates the breakup of a tube output stage, there are so many cascades, that the decay is smoother so you don't notice the crackle. Unfortunately that thin buzzy crackle will begin to get on your nerves because that is the basic building block of the unit's tone and all of the EQ shaping in the world can't remove it. Unfortunately, that's solid state.

If you try this unit, do this test just so you are aware and see if you can live with that sound it. Some folks don't care, and actually like it. To each his/her own.

As far as getting my favorie artist sounds, Most of the bluesier patches have more OD to cover up the crackle. when you back off the gain to approximate the artists tone, it gets ugly. The Petrucci style tone as well as the death metal stuff can be gotten on this unit easily, but as far as cleaner OD, forget it.

I play all styles of music, live and studio. This unit is flexible in shaping the basic tone of the FET's, but for my ears and needs, limited in actual function(see above).

I have been playing for 20 years.

In all fairness Tech-21 suggests a SS power amp, so I have also ordered a Mosvalve and will try it out with that instead of my 9100, but the crackle is there when you use headphones, so I don't expect there to be much improvement. If the Mosvalve sounds as good or better than the 9100, I'll keep it and replace it in my rack to save my back.

it takes some experimenting to really know how to use this correctly. I think a lot of the people who bash this thing, really just don't know how to use it correctly. READ THE MANUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought this on the reccomendation of someone at guitar center. I was going to buy a pod pro, but the salesman told me that the PSA-1 sounds more "real", more "organic". Well, I really liked how the pod pro sounded, but I LOVED the way the PSA-1 sounded! It's just straight up tone, no efects or bells and wistles, just awesome tone!

it's solid state, so I can't imagine it would be too problematic.

I still cannot believe this is sold state!!! It really does sound much more "real", than the line 6 stuff, which can sound kind of artificial. It really does sound like a tube amp. In fact, the rectifier setting on this sounds better to me than my old rectoverb. This is just my opinion, so check it out for yourself.

Only 8 knobs.. all are straight forward... the only thing that sucks is the save button being recessed into the console, but hey it's still easy to use. Another thing that does suck is scrolling through presets one at a time until you arrive at your custom one.. but nothing a midi footcontroller cant solve

I use a modified Ibanez RG w/ DiMarzio Evolution and Air Norton pickups, as well as a Standard Fender Stratocaster... I also connect this badboy to an Alesis Midiverb 4 going into a Fender Deluxe Hot Rod amp... all i can say is WOW. The sounds are amazing. There is so much gain- enough to make Pantera turn their heads! The versatility is also excellent... from lush blusey sounds to hard rock, this thing does it all. Manual says it sounds too compressed going through a tube, but sounds great to me!! Gotta get a cab soon and try it out that way.. if it sounds good now, imagine how great it'd be w/ a full setup!

built like a tank

I emailed them because I got this unit at a closeout sale, without a manual or warranty card, etc. They quickly got back to me w/ all the info- manual, how to get the warranty, etc. Even suggested setups on how to use Midi with it and how to use it live! Very nice!

I play mostly progressive and instrumental rock, so tone for me is CRITICAL- listen to guys like Vai, Satch, Petrucci, and Eric Johnson.. I get very close to these guys' tones, and have my own special tone... very well made preamp, and I'd have to get another one if it were gone!