Tech 21 SansAmp Rackmount

This is pretty much the same as the PSA-1, but with no presets and not programable. That makes it easier to me. All the supposed "models" on the PSA-1 are just different knob settings. All controls are the same as the PSA-1.

It is just one very flexible amp model. My problem with the psa-1 is the digital encoders (knobs) would "drift" at random and the value of that parameter would just change while i was playing. Also you never knew where the perameter were set unil you turned eack knob which confused things. This model just uses normal pots instead of digital encoders.

It is pretty easy to use but the parameters are so highly interactive that you can end up tweaking for a long time.

I used to have a psa-1 but sold it and latter picked up this unit. They sound pretty close, but I prefer this one slightly. I think it sounds a bit more "alive" which may be do to some component differences, but it's the same basic sound.

I have to completely disagree with the review that says the unit is bright sounding. Mine is the opposite. It is a little too dark sounding. He is probably not monitoring it through hi-fi studio monitors, or it may be a different generation of the unit than mine. (mine has a hard wired cord. I have seen some with a wall wart)

Another point I disagree on: It certianly DOES have speaker emulation. Adding a second speaker emulator as the reviewer suggests is just going to turn the sound to mud. If you think it's bright try pushing in the button on back that says "live" it gets a bit wider and even darker sounding.

Don't think of this as an amp emulator. Think of it as an amp in it's own right. It sounds like a sansamp and has a signature tone of its own just like a mesa, marshall, fender etc...It doesn't sound like anything else.

There are many good medium to high gain tones. Rather limited clean tones, but the cleans do sound good when you figure out how to create them. Low gain crunch tones do not exist in my opinion because it gets too fizzy in those gain ranges for my tastes.

This is an awesome tool for creating direct guitar tones. Probably still the best unit around if you don't want to sound small, plastic and digital.

This thing is getting into the vintage realm, but it's pretty much a glorified stomp box. I'm sure it will still work (and be worth something) when all the pod xt's have died.

Awesome direct recording preamp. The original and still the best. Much better than the sansamp pedals or the new digital modelers. I also like my jd-10, sonny boy, drp-1 and v-stack but after a/b comparison this unit has a bit more depth and realism to the sound. between the 4 of them I have a good variety of good sounding analog direct tones for when i can't mic up, but if i could only keep one it would be the sansamp.

Regular knobs- pretty easy to manage. Its roughly equivalent to using an EQ in front of a regular amp.

The manual (like all the Tech 21 products) is very good and comes with some sample settings to get you in the ballpark of various sounds.

For rackmount gear, this is very easy to use.

I've been using my Samick RL/3 semi-hollowbody guitar with the output into a digital effects unit for reverb and then into headphones. My intended use for this is recording, so this isn't as unusual a configuration as it might initially sound.

In terms of noisiness, this is no more noisy than a tube amp set for the same amount of gain.

Rating the quality of the sound is tough because running it direct as they recommend sounds very bright and somewhat harsh. You can turn the treble down but it still sounds like you're running without a cabinet. I don't care what the sansamp materials indicate- this unit does not have speaker simulation, unless its simulating hi-fi speakers. In its defense, the sansamp doesn't do terribly worse than other devices. They are always too bright or too washed out and dark and this is no exception. They never sound like a real amp.

On the other hand, feeding this into an external speaker simulator (in my case, my Genesis-3 with the amp modelling bypassed) is a whole different world. The device sounds much more realistic in this manner than it does on its own, retaining a liveliness that other devices miss. It sounds so much better with a speaker sim, its like another device.

This has way more gain than you can realistically use and it can be adjusted in 4 different places. You have a pre gain and post gain which are fairly easy to understand, but you also have 3 other controls which are like frequency-limited gains. buzz makes the lows drive harder, punch makes the mids drive harder and crunch makes the highs drive harder. This makes it very flexible because a slight adjustment of any of these changes the character of the distortion.

Distortion sound a little farty? dial the buzz control back a little. Want a little more edge but the treble control just isn't getting there? ease up the crunch control just a tad. All of these controls are very sensitive, so you need adjust only a little.

I have come to the conclusion that every guitar amp sound is in here. There is so much control in this unit it is incredible.

I'm still giving this a 9, even though it needs an external speaker sim. Adding a redbox or something is a small price to pay for something that sounds like this.

not known.

Tech 21 has been very responsive to my emails.

These are long since discontinued, but you can still find them used.

I've been playing various types of rock music for about 20 years. I've owned piles and piles of gear over that period, from digital rack and floor stuff to tube preamps and finally (with the advent of ax84.com) regular all-tube amps. I don't generally use a lot of effects, preferring instead to just use a good solid tone to begin with. When combined with an external speaker simulator, this is the best sounding direct rig I've ever heard.

I've recently been buying all kinds of toys to play with for a while and then selling them back when the interest wanes. I've got a sansamp tri-a.c. which has a good chunk of the capability of this unit, but not as much tonal flexibility. The Behringer GDI24 *looks* like a sansamp GT2, but it sounds *nothing* like either of my other sansamps. I've tried the Line 6 GuitarPort which is interesting but I just don't dig the POD sound.

If this were lost and stolen, I'd probably try to find another one if the price was managable. This has the best mix of features of all the sansamp devices. The only thing it lacks is the ability to save presets. The Tri-A.C. has a little taste of the power of this unit and can save 3 presets while the PSA-1 is very similar to this unit but with the addition of MIDI presets, but is evidently not identical since the sample settings for one don't sound the same on the other.

It is just amazing to me how many sounds are in here. Its not *exactly* like a tube amp, but its damned close to a truckload of amp sounds. From a bright, biting jangly clean sound that breaks up (and doesn't fart out) when you dig in, to scooped modern sounds, they are all in here.

This gear is very easy to get used to,it contains lots of Amp sounds up to your settings. You can improve and create the sounds by turning the knobs.I've own it for the last 10 years and still loving it.

I m using a 1989 Fender Setneck Floydrose with EMG pickups. My setup is ver simple: Cry Baby Wah > Sansamp > Boss CE-1 pedal > Boss Pitch Shifter Delay Pedal> Fender Twin Reverbs.This thing can really rock the house!!!! you can twist the knobs to get souns of Blues, Jazz, Rock out of it. I got a few gigs including at Hard Rock Cafe Bangkok, I do lots of cover songs like Van Helen,Gary Moore,Bon Jovi,Hendrix ect. I wounldn'l use anything else.

it's very dependable. i sure would use it without any muti effect backups.

so far so good++

i've owned it for 10 years now.it's damn good and i sure would buy one again if it got stolen or broken.

i use the sansamp with a ibanez universe uv7bk from 1990 and a few charvel guitars and other ibanez ones with emgs and without.

I play brutal progressive death metal, and the kindof sound i have is basically a real ott van halen esque sound. I like a sound with lots of middle (not a totally scooped sound like the sound the psa 1 provides) and this gives me exactly what i want!

its got an incredible amount of gain but i never go over half way with the preamp control, its got that much gain! The best thing about this amp is the incredible clarity of the sound even with super fast picking and low tunings its clear at 400watts through 2 4 x 12's! i used to have an ada mp1, but this totally kills it.

i use the same sound for solos and rhythm as its such a cool sound, i have rack fx that deal with boosts etc.

the live switch bascially shapes the tone into a really dark realm, its great. in the manual it suggests its use as a speaker emulation when recording direct, but i use it all the time, and i can go direct into ANY speaker set up (guitar or pa speakers) and it sounds great. u can just record the direct line out and wit a bit of eq, it still sounds amazing.

u can use this amp to get any sound , the manual boasts roland 120 through every amp to hod rodded marshall (this sounds far better than any marshall i ever played and far more reliable) and its true as far as i can tell

original sansamp 1 unit rack preamp from early-mid 90's.

can be used for ANY style of music

one channel + footswitchable bypass loop. inputs on front and rear (line/instrument input on rear)

I wish it has some saveable midi patches (and i know about the sans amp psa 1 but it sounds crap compared to this baby!)

features "live switch" which is similar to speaker emulation

mono outs on 1/4 and xlr

never broken down ever. i used it on tour without any backup and it was fine. its remarkably simple in terms of construction inside (i am an electronics engineer) and so far no problems at all!

no idea as i got it 2nd hand and only know of 1 other unit existing!

id have to aquire another one of these amps if i could, if it was stolen id have go down on bended knee to my friend who owns one to get him to sell me his!

as far as "similar" amps go, i think for my sound it outdoes the dual rectifier, the 5150 and any marshall anywhere!

i just wish it had more channels!

This is the earlier version of the PSA-1 it's not programmable but it the same thing. A little hard at first because this rack contain a lot of sound in itself. I got tech21 to send me the manual for it I got it air mail three days later.

Excellent I tried it as a preamp with a 800 watts PA system (What a rush!!) and it sound great. It's a little more noisy than my Peavey Rockmaster and it`s not tube so compare side by side with a tube preamp you can see the difference but hey for recording it's be best I've encounter so far

So far so good.

Like I mention earlier got the book for it three days later by airmail. I dealt with Tech21 on different occasion before and I even call then before I bought this unit to ask then about it. They told me that it is the same thing as the psa-1 (except that it`s not programmable) but for some reason apparently this unit have more drive than the psa-1 and for the price that it was offer to me I should get it.

I`ve been playing for 20 years and I own a lot of effect, distortion and guitar. And this is a great unit FOR RECORDING. I wouldn't buy it again because it`s not programmable so if you planning sound change in a middle of a song you have two choice. Use a clean setting and provide your own distortion or punch it in. But it work very good with a clean setting. Well ??? I guess I would buy it again. And yes I would trade it for a psa-1 that is programmable