Tech 21 Tri-A.C.

Verry easy to use and get a good sound
Manual is good. Active controls (cut or boost)

Verry real, analog sound! Fender, marshalls are super.
But you have to amplify them the way its ment to be.
Home recording/ hifi speakers= verry good.
But I own a tech 21 power engine 60. And that's the keyword for me.
I'm going to by another one so I have 120 watt. 60 watt (one power engine 60) is okay but the clean headroom is not that much.
With 120 watt is sounds awesome!
Buy them!

I think so.
I have the unit for only 6 weeks

It's the best there is.
Send them an e-mail.
The next day you have all the answers.

Tech 21 rules!

The tri-a.c. is *extremely* easy to use *if* you go along with it's intended purpose. like all sansamps it is designed to recreate the sound of a complete signal path. it is *not* a distortion/overdrive pedal, and that means that it works best when run thru a full range system, not in front of a tube amp. that doesn't mean it's the only way you can use it, but to get the best results the fastest, use a very clean amp (like a roland jc120 for example), one of tech 21's power engines, or a similar power amp/speaker set up. i have also had luck running to the FX loop return on a few tube amps.

editing couldn't be easier, this has already been covered a million times - dial in a sound, double click the switches, done.

i've been using the Tri-ac in a tech21 oriented direct system for a year or so. for the most part my signal goes directly to the house sound system without any amp on stage. i also use their GT2. a boss line selector is utilized to switch between the two pedals. the Tri-ac provides my main clean and lead tones, while the GT2 is my rhythm sound.

there are 3 Amp choices in the Tri-ac, Tweed (fender), British (Marshall) and California (mesa-boogie). i've a point off here for the California setting, which has way too much low end, in my opinion. the gain range is also not what i'd like to see... it's pretty geared towards "classic" tones. not that there's anything wrong with that, i just don't see a point in limiting the sound. this is not my only tech 21 product so i know they are capable of more gain... they just chose not to, in this case.

the Tweed setting is *very* good. i use this for all of my clean tones. it also *kills* for the "edge of breakup" overdrive sound that so many of tech 21's digital counterparts fail at.

i use the British set for my lead tones, with lots of gain, mids, and treble. with a little chorus and delay i'm set and will play until no one else cares to listen to me. it's the kind of sound that *inspires* you to keep going, and at the end of the day, that's what matters.

the tri-ac also takes pedals *very* well, i'll use fuzz pedals before it and also put modulation & delay pedals after, and i've never had a single issue.

i have never had a single problem with this pedal. ever. it's one of the reasons why i continue to use this setup - it consistently provides me with the sound i want to hear at every show, every time.

there is no better customer support than tech 21. they always respond to emails, generally within a few hours. i've even just shot the shit with them a few times. if you have a question about any one of their products, don't hesitate to email them.

the tri-ac is an integral part of my setup. it sounds good on stage and in the studio. if it were stolen or lost i would absolutely buy another.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?

Super Easy.
The builting presets give you enough hint about this box's capabilities.
You need to remember few points while dialling in a "good" tone. (Though, that in itself is debatable) ;)

1. The amps have inbuilt voicings that you need to respect.

2. You cannot make a tweed amp sound like a marshall or vice-versa. And neither should you try doing that on Tri-AC

3. The tweed channel is more bass and treble heavy. So be a little frugal with those. Boost mids, cut bass and treble for better tones outta Tweed.

4. British channel is very trebly. Just like the tweed it is modelled after. You need to cut down treble to get a smooth tone. You want jangly-twangy tone? Keep treble higher. Sounds very much like the Marshall Plexi.
Boost the mids and bass and cut treble to get a "nice" tone.

5. California channel is uber-bassy and very low on treble. Try to curtail bass and please boost the treble to get sweet overdriven tone of the Mesa-Boogies.

6. The EQs are active. That means above 12 o clock means boosting a frequency. Usual amps and stomp boxes have passive EQ.
Wanna get the same feel? Donot tweak any EQ knob beyond 12 o clock.

Apparantly, the voicings of these channels match the orginal amps pretty well. Ppl who crib about British being too bright or California being too dull should go and check out the original amps too.



How about Editing patches?

Again very easy.
Just play around with knobs and "double click" on any channel. The setting gets stored there.



How is the manual for it (if there is one)?

Manual is super. Infact it gives you tips to get good tones out of the box. Something that I have NEVER EVER seen in any product manual!



Do you know the firmware revision number? Has your unit been upgraded?

Now what is this thing?

Awesome.

Tweed = Fender "tweed" amps
Brisish = Marshall "Plexi" amps
California = Mesa/Boogie Mark-I amps

Thats the key.
This unit is moderate gain one.
You cannot get metal tone out of it simply because none of those amps are meant for metal tones.

You need to put a boost in front to drive the amps harder. The same you need to do here to get more "metal-friendly" tone.


Tweed sounds perfect for slightly overdriven tones. Slight haze/fuzz and it sounds cool.
British also sounds cool in this regime. Infact, for certain jobs it sounds better, due to the characteristic "ovedriven + clean" tone coming out of it.
California sound better in the moderate gain - high gain regime IMO.
At low gain settings it sounds just too muffled for my liking.


The British channel has a wonderful feature (wich existed on the original Marshall Plexi too): the gain kobs also affects the tone. :)
Higher the gain, more thick the tone; lesser the gain, more trebly/bright/jangly the tone.

That means you set and EQ for low gain (rhythm) patch and be assured that the same EQ with higher gain will sound excellent for leads.

+ The fact that British channel is awesomely responsive to picking dynamics as well as guitar volume pot.


The California channel is not that responsive. :(
However, it makes up by giving a sweet Santana-ish overdrive.


This pedal is great for playing blues and hard-rock.


One of the beast features of this pedals is that it sounds fabulous even at max gain (something that even amps fail to do).

However, what I would've actually liked from this pedal is: more gain range.


And hey, this baby does the direct-in job really pretty well. Dunno what is the problem with ppl who said it sounds like shit when plugged direct. Most probably they dont have any idea about how to tweak and get the desired tone.




I can get Stevie Ray Vaugh and BB king's tone (somewhat similar).
Eddie Van Halen's (almost), AC/DC (spot on!), Lynyrd Skynrd (kinda spot on!), Santana (amlost spot-on!), Jimy Page (almost) .........

You get the picture. These are/were the artists using the same Fender Tweed or Marshall Plexi or Mesa/Boogie Mark-I amps in real.


The reason why am giving it 9 instead of 10 is because if you listen to the samples of Tech21 PSA-1 on their website, you realize that PSA-1 can deliver even more superior tones than TRI-AC
x-(

:((

Solidly Built.

However, I haven't had much issues till now + its been only one/two months.

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?


Very much. I mailed them and they replied promplty all my queries.
Infact the person told me specifically how GT2, TRI-OD and TRI-AC are different (tonal, voicing, etc wise)

GT2 and TRI-OD are better for more modern tones.
TRI-AC is better for classic rock kind of tones.

I play Blues, Classic Rock, Rock'n'Roll, Hair Metal, Thrash metal.
Except thrash, this pedals covers everythign else pretty well.

I have one KORG AX100G too. Whcih I now use as FX bank :)


I did a comparison with few other products like:
Tech21 TRI-OD
AMT Distortion Machine
Rocktron Silver Dragon
Toadworks Deathrattle
etc

Ultimately it was combination of features + availability that prevailed.


Actually I wished initially that it should have more gain.
But then the purpose is lost!

This pedal is meant for more laid-back classic tones.

You want more hi-gain stuff?
Buy GT2 or TRI-OD or AMT distortion Machine.

Depending on your setup, it can take some moving around in your setup to get something that sounds good. I'm running into a 50 watt EL84 driven amp. i settled on running it direct in line with Compression, EQ, and Wah in front of it and Delays and Modulation after it.

Programming one of the switches couldn't be easier...tweak the pots and double click...done.

be careful how you run power into it...i daisy cahined it and it wasn't getting enough power...so i run a dedicated Power Supply.

i don't use it for nor would recommend using it as a DI.

I like the quality of the 'Tweed' and 'Brit' sounds. the 'cali' sound does not work through my set up...too muddy.

I would say if you are depending on this or any 'distortion'pedal for your main tone, then you will be unhappy. leave that up to the Amp.

'tweed' - i use this setting for a slightly driven sound. almost clean. one of it's better sounds

'brit' - i have the other two buttons on this setting. One is for my open chord/arpeggio sound. this sounds great. The other is a palm muting power chord sound...sounds good, i don't hit that much. i use my lead channel on the amp for that....

add the clean channel and this pedal is a great way to add three sounds to your setup.

be patient and tweak it slowly. i'm very impressed with the quality of the pots and a little goes a long way. I'll admit that i was a bit unhappy when i took it out of the box and plugged it in for the first time....i spent an hour really tweaking it with my amp and found some tones i'm happy with.

Very simple design
it's got a choice spot on the pedal board

I play a wide variety of music on electric guitar. i was looking for a way to add several more lead sounds to my rig with one pedal. this looked like the best bang for the buck and i think it still is. Its three pedals for the price of one.

it does what i wanted - light warm distortion and bright open chord distortion....the metal sounds are not very good with this pedal.

You can't get much easier. Almost any setting can provide a usable tone, and the controls are calibrated nicely, not too sensitive but offering plenty of range. Aside from an occasional difficulty with volume control, I rarely find myself adjusting knobs hair by hair.

Speaking of volume, the one "problem" is that changing any of the controls requires adjusting the level to match volume. It would be nice if the device could autolevel. Yes, I know that's borderline impossible, but I'll knock off a point for it anyway.

The three-patch memory system is bee-yoo-tiful. It's a lot nicer than constantly fiddling with knobs, or sacrificing analog tone to have the memory of a digital modeler. Still, it doesn't have the nigh-unlimited memory of its big brother, the PSA-1, so I'll knock off another point.

The sound is great, all-analog stuff: rich, organic, and responsive. It really does wonders for even clean tones, adding subtle warmth and size without turning the sound muddy. The distortions are rich and full, and are flexible enough to find a home in any genre of music. However, unless they've got super-hot guitars, metalheads will find this to be a poor primary distortion (too weak), but a wonderful preamp/boost/coloring unit. Also, jazz/blues people may find it too harsh to use as a DI (though it may go beautifully with an amp).

That said, it doesn't sound a whole lot like the amps it supposedly models. It's got a very unique flavor to it, so if you're looking to imitate someone else's tone, you're probably out of luck.

A quick note on which speakers/amps to use: the TriAC softens tone and adds color, so those with muddier guitars and amps may find that they need to swap their amp for hi-fi speakers. In my case, I alternate between hi-fi speakers and my amp, depending on what kind of tone I'm aiming for.

Here's my typical signal path (I got tired of complexity): Kramer Focus guitar or Ibanez BTB505 bass -> TriAC -> Sansamp Programmable Bass Driver -> KRK V4 nearfield monitors and Fender Frontman 25B bass amp. I've found that the Bass Driver can add great oomph and bite on occasion, a discovery fomented by the fact that I'm primarily a bass player.

To explain the Focus and the Frontman, I got very lucky with both and got the best of both models. I've yet to find a guitar under $500 that sounds better than my Focus (quieter and easier to play, sure, but not better-sounding) and an amp for guitar or bass under $1000 that sounds better than my Frontman (louder and more fully-featured yes, but not better-sounding). Yes, I've looked. I'm recovering from an absolutely ghastly case of GAS.

It's surprisingly light, but it seems rock solid. I'd definitely gig without backup, but I'm pretty easy on my gear so YMMV.

Never used 'em.

IMO, there are basically only two excuses not to own one of these: the Sansamp PSA-1, or a $1000+ of boutique distortion pedals. I mean, what's not to like? The TriAC is as easy to use as your average Boss stompbox, is flexible and programmable like a digital unit, and yet has pure, analog tone that sounds as good or better than any boutique distortion pedal in the same price range.

It's not perfect, sure, but it's pretty darn close.

The preset sounds are pretty good already. Depending on your guitar the sound can be a bit crisp, but this can be fixed with the equalizer. I got fantastic sound out of this box after 20 Minutes of editing. I have been using a Zoom GFX-5 and i wanted to simplify my sounds (I tend to overdo on the various effect options these multieffects have. This device is doing exactly what i expected.
Editing is straight forward
Manual is also straight forward

Set up: Gibson Nighthawk - Tuner Rocktron - TriAC - Digitech Jamman - Efx Return of a Laney Tube Combo

Low noise

All 3 amp models are great and can be used to produce a variety of really good convincing sounds.

Laney Pro Tube (only the poweramp section)

I play alternative cover rock and i'm using an clean fender sound, a crunch marshall, and a high gain mesa sound, this covers basically all i need.

its new, but it seems stable

didnt try

I'm really happy, i got what i expected and its even better.
Especially when you get lost in multieffect pedals try the TRI

Well it's pretty simple.

Take it out of the box, plug it in and be dissatisfied. Wonder what you're doing wrong and why you're getting such pathetic sound. Read the manual, try again. Re-read the manual. Mutter profanity. Try every possible combination of using with or without a DI Box, before and after an effects board, EQing the living hell out of it, compressing it, recording it and EQing it after along with compressing it, changing patch chords, and finally eliminating all links except tri-ac. Re-read manual and retry settings. Change battery and DC adapter. Realize it's a piece of crap.

Like I said, pretty simple.

This is a horrible muddy piece of poo. DO NOT believe the sound samples they have on their site, this thing sounds nothing like them. If you like cruddy distortion awash with slurred bottom end and indiscernable notes and chords, then this is the pedal for you. If not, don't waste your precious time.

Sure you can depend on it... to hold your loose papers down in a mild breeze, but that's about all this thing's good for. I wish there was a rating as such:

0-Don't think it ever worked.

Frankly a 1 seems too gracious for this abomination.

Jury is out on this one. I'll be emailing them tomorrow and sending them some sound samples of what I'm pulling out of this two hundred dollar turd. If they send me my money back or tell me it is without a doubt malfunctioning then this section might get high marks (although the marks for the reliability section are bound to suffer).

I was looking for a good tube amp simulator that could give me crunchy distortion with some bottom end. Instead I got mud, with a little mud with some more mud on top.

Oh, and a side order of mud with mud to go.

I cannot express my complete and utter disappointment with this product. I really believed it was going to give me some semblance of the tones available on the Tech 21 site. I'll never buy one of their products again. I feel cheated, ripped off and sort of dirty (not in a nice way, more like I've been subjected to a prison gang-rape only without the tender foreplay).

Where the hell did the positive reviews come from? Tech 21 employees in search of job security? Low-paid street people who are tired of selling blood and semen? Scientologists?

I was a little confused in the beginning, but caught up to it soon after. The "lazy" pots (pots react slowly after channels are switched) threw me off, but after reading the manual, I thought the idea and intent were plausible. Not sure they are practical for real life application though. No big deal really. To program channels, you click the swith twice real quick.

One thing I learned over the years by trying out all these modeling amps, processors, such as POD, Valvetronix, Zoom, etc., they are not as good as what the manufacterers want you to believe. None of the pedals quite live up to the marketing hypes that companies put out. If you go out and buy one these modeling processors thinking it will replace your vintage rigs. well.. think again. The truth is you sacrifice your tone for convenience and cost-savings. The fact of the matter is, though, sacrifices are inevitable under extenuating circumstances even if you hate to down grade your tone and musicality. For example, it's just not practical hauling 100+ lbs 100W amp rig for quick 4-5 song hit/run gigs, or for stages that require absolute volume control. ---- As in other modeling processors, Sansamp Tri AC's don't quite have the same dynamics and responsiveness to pick attack as on real tube amps. Also, sound/feel out of this pedal is a bit too compressed and grainy. Having said this, I must say Tech21 did a fair good job at emulating three very classic guitar amp tones, such as pushed tweed, marshall and recto. I actually prefer this pedal to Pod, Valvetronix, etc, for sound, convenience and cost. To me, Pod/Valvetronix/etc are like swiss army knives.. very handy with bunch of gadgets, but they are difficult to use sometimes and none of them can do the real heavy duty job. Tube amp modeling technologies still have a long long way to go, but this pedal should sound as good as other emulators if not better.

N/A

N/A

I'm happy with my purchase. This pedal by no means takes you anywhere close to the real tube amp realm, but I like this pedal for the ease of use, low cost, seemingly durability, sturdy construction and... also for fairly good tones. I do have a real tube amp live setup, which I've nearly perfected over the years, but I needed something simple/durable for quick fill-in & hit-&-run gigs and also as a backup for disastors. You really don't need 10+ amp tones folks for 95% of any gig situations.. You just need 3-4 good usable tones (dirty/solo/clean/et combined).. This pedal does just that.

Let's see... 3-band eq, drive and level control. Double click to save a preset. Couldn't be easier to use. I ordered this via internet, got the wrong manual, but that's no problem. It took some time to adjust it to my likes (in my setup) though.

This was my choice, because I wanted to get more analogish sound and I couldn't afford a real tube amp (like Mesa Rectifier). The major difference between this and MT2 I discovered at band reheasals. With Metal Zone I had to put a lot of middle frequency to the tone so that I could hear the guitar well with the other instruments. It was quite brutal to listen, especially when it was that loud. With Tri-AC my sound has enough presence (with reasonable EQ), and I can listen to it in rehearsals even without any isolation in my ears (can't find the word...). I think it hasn't got enough distortion for heavy sounds, but it's no problem if you have a booster. I use my Metal Zone for that (yeah, it's not an OD, but it works).

I use this only for distorted tones, and I like the Californian model the best. Not only because some of my idols (like John Petrucci, Die) use mainly Mesa/Boogie amps, but I personally like the tone too.

For clean and other tones I have split my signal chain. It could be confusing to explain that, so here's a diagram:
http://files.mikseri.net/pics/78914.jpg

It's metal so you can depend on it. Use it well and it shall serve you for long time. I myself have used it only for couple of weeks now, but haven't found any glitches or whatnot.

I haven't actually dealt with the company, but when I e-mailed the store where I ordered this, I got a reply in a couple of hours.

I play mainly rock and metal and for heavy sounds this matches my likes. I like to combine different elements and sounds in my music, but I use mainly this for hi-gain sounds. As I said, for alternative sounds (like clean) I have other gadgets.

This thing is easy to set up and program.Two clicks on any button and it's saved!

My setup is G&L Classic Asat > TRI-AC >Kustom KBA16 > Boss RRV-10 reverb unit > Weber C10N speaker. Clean sound all the way through.
This thing gives me any amp I want.The Fender sound I use with my bridge pickup.The Mesa sound I use with the neck pickup and man does this thing spank!I'm telling you the harmonics are just unbelievable.
If you set it up right it's gets the all tube sound you want.Then for distortion I use the Marshall and Mesa sound. Some people say that they may hear a pop when channel switching but I did and found out what the situation was. When you use the British channel for clean it is so high gain that going from Fender to British it happens. But if you use the British channel for distortion no problem. But many say they don't have any pops at all.
I guess it all in how you set it up. I called Tech21 and spoke with Lloyd who took the time out to speak with me and helped with all my questions. We even talked guitar shop for awhile.Where can you get that kind of service? Tech21 has it together for products and Excellent Customer Service!I mean yes there are great tube amps but I don't have the money to try them all out but this gives an old guitar player with a bunch of kids a chance to get some of those amps or close to those amps as I can.

Built like a tank. I would like to have another as a back-up.

Thank you Lloyd - great product!

I play mostly blues and rock.Great 60's sounds attainable with this unit.Love the memory leds and how if you move a knob all you do is turn them till they stop blinking-idiot proof!So if you try any amp sound you can always go back to your setting for that particular amp.
Been playing 20 yrs. If I lost or someone stole it I would replace it.This unit is fun to use and great for recording.