Tech 21 Tri-A.C.

Yes, it's easy. Remember the eqs are active.

This is great. Especially the tweed and the british chanel. I dont really use the calif chanel so much, guess I'm not a Mesa man. The british chanel is just great with standard live volumes. Nice feedback and it's very good when you push it a little with od or dist unit. The tweed chanel has a good clean sound, but it sounds very bad if try to push it with an overdrive. I have used this thing a year now, so I know what I'm talking about.

Yep, I depend on it 100%.

Have not needed them.

I play all kinds of rock music and this is a perfect tool for me. The programmability is fantastic. So easy and so versatile. I would not even compare this to PODs or such things, since this is all analog sound. No matter how many features those digital sound modules have, they still sound weak and lifeless and like a piece of shit. Some may like the digital processors, but I hate them, because I have tried them.

It is very easy to get a great sound of this thing. It replicates three legendary amps. Replicates. Not simulates. It sounds great. Ths manual is pretty stinking awesome. it tells you the basics of what happens with the sansamp and presents it vividly. plus, in the back of the manual there are diagrams of settings you can make for the sansamp such as pantera, fender, marshall, EVH, mesa, metallica, bluesy. And it has a few blank diagrams to allow you to pencil in your own custom settings.

I'm running it through the FX loop of a Marshall AVT-150H Halfstack. I use it currently only as a support pre-amp. IT IS GREAT. I play a Gibson Epiphone Les Paul Custom Black Beauty. I'm hoping however to add a Tele to this setup soon. I've used it by itself many times through PA systems and it stills surpasses my expectations. The effects are awesome when run with my half stack. however there is a certain gain/ volume ratio that when breached can produce loads of feedback on overdrive settings. but that's just something that you need to monitor. I play jazz, big band, swing, rock, roll, nu-metal, but mainly christian. This unit allows to me to very closely resemble the effects of artists like Tomlin, Crowder, audioa, thirdday, and many more. Yet at the same time i can put my own twist of flavor on it that makes it my own sound. The three amps, Marshall, Fender, Mesa, are great. the dynamics of those amps are completely captured in this unit. you can adjust the gain level to make them clean or raging with the twist of that knob. The only amp i rarely use is the Mesa due to it's milky/bassy nature. the marshall and fender amps are great and i use those a whole lot because of their flexibility.

Thus far the construction and quality of this unit has been untarnished. The battery conservation of this unit isn't the best in the world, but it doesn't suck the life out of every 9V you put in there. I can live with it. I currently use it every weekend and throughout each week without a backup and i love it. the only backup i bring is a spare 9V.

Haven't had to! that's the way it should be.

I've already listed a few of my influences. I'll list them in their entirity. Dc talk, david crowder, lots of counrty such as Alabama, tim mcgraw, joe nichols, kenny chesney, alan jackson,j. buffet, and others, Chris tomlin, matt redman, hillsong, audio a, third day, ten shekel shirt, anberlin, creed, montgomery gentry, jars of clay, delirious, switchfoot, newsboys, a little bit of Jet, three doors down. Basically Jazz, blues, blues rock, country, christian alt., christian p&w, pop, mod. rock, class. rock, soft rock, big band, swing, christian pop. I've been playing guitar for nearly 4 years. I own a Epi Les Paul Custom Black Beauty, Jackson DX-10D dinky reverse(discon. 2001), a Sigma Acoustic, Marshall AVT-150H 1/2 stack, Zoom II, Behringer V-Amp2, Rogue 30W.
if i this thing were stolen i'd call the police quickly and report an assault w/ waterpistol. I'd totally smack the person who took it. I would certainly buy another one. I love the tone finder setting(as you get closer to your set level , bass for instance, the l.e.d flashes quicker as you get closer to stored level then stays on a constant signal when you've reached your level.) i was looking for a tube overdrive sound pedal to enhance my marshall at the time and this was way better than alternatives. I wish that it had a built-in pizza oven but one can't have everything. it most certainly helps me make the music i am privileged to play for Jesus Christ. excellent investment if you can get it for less than $150. I'm a student and i was willing to save up enough from my 12hr.-week job to pay for this baby.

N?o e t?o facil de usar como um pedalzinho comum, mas tambem e bem mais facil de usar do que aquelas pedaleiras digitais emormes. Fazer a edic?o das programac?es e simples, n?o tem misterio.

A minha experiencia fez aparecer 2 TriAC na minha frente. Ligando a guitarra direto no TriAC eu achei o som um pouco fraco. Dai tive a ideia de ligar a guitarra em meu TubeScreammer TS-5 Mod 808. Percebi que este e um dos sons mais legais de Overdrive que ja ouvi na vida. Guitarra + TS-808 + TriAC + Amplificador. A simulac?o TWEED (Fender) e simplesmente fantastica, tanto limpa quanto combinada com o TS-808. A simulac?o BRIT (Marshall) aditivda pelo TS-808 produz uma distorc?o fantastica !!! A simulac?o CALIF (Mesa-Boogie) achei forte demais, mas e legal tambem.

E pau pra toda obra. Hard Rock.

Nunca tive problemas. Tks.

Ja entrou pra ficar na minha pedaleira.

Okay here is my experience with the Tri-A.C. so far. Is it easy to get a good sound out of this pedal, well yes and no. The controls are familiar, but in my experience these solid-state modeling devices sometimes have to be set in very odd ways to get the tone you are after. The tone you want is probably in there, you just don't get there setting the controls the way you are used to. That is fine. What other device that is capable of so many different sounds could do this with with so few controls? I give it a five to caution new users to dig in and find their tone because it is probably in there.

While the sans-amp stuff is the only thing that I have found to substitute for a real tube amp let me caution potential buyers and new users that the Tri-A.C. is capable of some very non-tube like bad tones. Its not the fault of this product. As I state above, when you get flexability you give up good tone right out of the box. Your good tone is another mans nails on a chalkboard. Don't be lazy and find your sound. Get to know each model, its inherent characteristics etc, understand what the controls do at extreams as I have found many of the best sounds for me by sometimes minimizing as many as two of the five knobs and maxing out others. These are probably not settings you would think to use right away. When I first plugged it in I was dissapointed, now I LOVE this thing! Its worth the work so sit down and spend a few hours really getting to know this device.

I love the sounds I've found but I have to explain my somewhat unique approach. A must for using these devices (for me and IMHO) is using a seperate cabinet modeler when going direct, I used a very cheap one from behringer called the ultra-g. I really don't think this or any other solid-state modeling device I've heard so far sounds convincing without one, it gets a 9 because of this. This is because the speaker model that they put on the output of these devices is designed to work when run though actual guitar speakers, so it is really hi-fi so as to not sound like a speaker run though a speaker. While the idea is a good one, for me it is too ambitious. They should just sell a seperate speaker emulator, or have a switch. Guitar amps don't sound hi-fi to me and by running the Tri-A.C. either though a seperate speaker cab emulator or though an actual guitar cab via a power amp the sound is amazing.

This thing really feels so much like the tube amps I've played over the years, but its so much more flexiable in sound. Even though there are only three models on this thing because the tone controls are so powerful you can get what feels like an infinite number of different tones. Remember, you have to really dig for them. Everyone says the clean tone is just okay, and the the slight breakup is no good. Maybe without a speaker model run after it, but with it I think it sounds great. There is something very Vox AC30 ish to me about it (even though it is modeled on a fender), which is good as I like the AC30 tone. I can't tell you what a difference playing this is versus playing a regular solid-state amp in feel is. It, like the better digital modelers, somehow captures the feel of a tube amp as well as the sound. What I never liked about the digital modelers is when I tried to take them out live there was this high-end digital harshness that I could not get rid of, even when run though the power-amp section of a real tube amp. I have seen other bands playing with digital amps and experienced this same quality in the sound. The Tri-A.C. does not exhibit that same quality. I think analog has just the right roll-off if you will.

Does it sound exactly like tubes? I don't know and don't care, it sounds good. Forget for a moment that tubes exist, and forget about the amps this thing is supposed to ape, and see if you can find your tones in it. That is what I did and I have found so far I can. Besides, the price is no comparison and you can plug this into any cheap tranny power-amp and speaker cab and be ready to go, again if you are going to run direct to a PA use a speaker emulater after it for a more realistic tone. The price/performance ratio is just amazing. You can buy these for the price of re-tubing your tube amp, something you will have the pleasure of doing every 6 to 12 months if you are playing regularly.

Right now my signal chain runs like this: boss TU-2 (Tuner)->Sans-Amp Tri-A.C. (preamp/distortions)->Wasabi Chorus-Trem (modulation FX)->Boss DD-20 (delays)->Boss RV-5 (reverbs)->Power Amp section of B-52 200LGA w/B-52 4x12 cabinet.

Its surprisingly lightweight but seems sturdy enough.

Have not had the pleasure

I have been playing for almost 20 years. If you are like me and started playing in the 80s you are just in amazement at what is available for musicians today. I've had this idea recently of getting a rig together that would combine the power of what was until recently only available in racks or in muti-fx pedalboards - like programability and multiple effects in one unit - with the convinience, modularity, and flexability of stomp-boxes, my own custom multi-fx pedalboard if you will. This pedal is the only one I know of that does what it does. It is an analog preamp (plenty of digital ones around today) but it has multiple memories and it is a pedal. This means that I can run my signal chain the way it is meant to be run right from my guitar into my pedals and into my amp, no effects loops necessary. I can easily run my delays, reverbs and modulation devices after my gain stage because they all sit on the floor. I think this pedal and the sans-amp technology is going to change my whole approach to equipment as now I am looking to buy a power-engine 60 to replace my reverend hellhound. It just makes so much sense, and Tri-A.C. does not try to do everything like the digital pre-amps do. I use the effects that I like but get to use three different gain stages that all sound and feel great. I can also still use any distortion boxes with the Tri A.C. because it sounds good being pushed, just like a valve amp would. I think you get the most out of this technology if you approach it on its own instead of as a model of anything and just see if it is useful for getting the sounds you want.

Very easy to create a good sound. You have basically a hi-gain Marshall, hi-gain Mesa, and a Fender sound stuffed into this box. Very easy to store settings but make sure you memorize where the settings are.

The sound is very good. I suggest running some kind of EQ behind it to have more control over the tone but played through a decent PA, it sounds wonderful! The Fender clean is a little boomy but I like to turn the mids and drive up more anyways to get a good CCR/Fogerty sound. The Marshall settings are convincing with less drive and more volume and the Mesa sounds are great all around.

For the bass players looking into this, I suggest the RBI pedal instead. This will work OK if you're on a tight budget but the Bass pedal works MUCH better for the fat-string players.

Very reliable for the 6 months I've had it. I've never heard of Tech 21 products breaking down unless you're putting too much current through it (aka get a power adapter with the correct mA rating).

Nice website and I've always gotten a quick response for any of my inquiries.

Very good product and well worth the money. A great improvement to the tone of this box would be to add an EQ to the signal but very good on its own. I wish it had the DI output the RBI and direct boxes have but other than that, excellent.

I had to add an addendum to my review which appears below. I was being an idiot when I said I wished this box had an effects loop. The way this works as a stompbox preamp, whatever you put between it and the power amp you're using is essentialling "in the effects loop". An effects loop is post-preamp/pre-power-amp, to the best of my knowledge. So with this box, you put distortion and the like in front (my Russian Big Muff goes first) and modulation f/x after (a Rocktron Short Timer will soon be my delay, coming right after the Tri AC). In my set up, my pedal board has an Ernie Ball volume pedal, a Big Muff, the Tri AC, and as mentioned, soon a delay. This goes to a mixer, into a Hafler P3000 power amp (150w/channel) which feeds a Raezer's Edge bass cab and a GK bass cab. Boiling it down, the Short Timer delay will go between the Tri AC and the power amp. This is like putting it in the effects loop of a combo or head.

I found it in the second hand section of a small guitar shop, and I knew it was cheap for what it was. I already had a GTII and liked the look of three stomp options.
Took me half an hour to figure out whether it worked or not and the guy in the shop was clueless. With no instructions to go by, the wild guess of hitting the button twice to record a tone was just plain lucky.
After that I bought it and have never had any trouble other than flat batteries.
Oh, ease of use? This can sound as good as three amps that would weigh in at 150lbs, yet it's pocketable.

People who put this into a guitar amp just don't understand the concept and haven't learned French.
My slight regret is that I had heard a SansAmp *before* I spent thousands of pounds and some years looking for the perfect amp and didn't buy one *then*. I guess it was a necessary process and I love my amps anyway.
Sometimes, when I want to change my TriAC settings, I sit down with my Univalve and an AB pedal and I tweak the TriAC thru an acoustic amp till it sounds close. So side by side, next to a good valve amp I find it's not quite there, not quite as good, or I haven't found that tone in it. But that's a helluva a valve head I'm using and the pedal gets close enough that another instrument sounding behind it would make the difference academic.

Worked fine when bought second hand, and never a problem so far apart from erratic behaviour on low batteries. Carry spares, or use a PSU, and it's great. It's meant for standing on.

No idea.

I do sort of jazzy bluesy sort of noodling, and build layers on a looper live. I start clean and as the layers build I use more drive until I do my best impression of a meltdown.

I'm quite simple with pedals, and am only just starting to understand modulation. I take a sort of blues approach, guitar, lead, amp, play: the TriAC is fantastic for this. I assume it would be as good with effects too.

I've been playing over a quarter of a century, and I have a 20 watt Boogie Studio Caliber, a THD Univalve, an old Sundown 100W head, a Fender hot rod Deluxe, and a Laney LC15R; With the TriAC I'd use my AER acoustic amp if a PA's not available.
I tend to play with a Spirit Steinberger, though sometimes with my MusicMan Axis Sport or my Variax. I have an 70s Epiphone too... which needs dusting.

I think the pedal's near perfect, is better than a Boogie, really - or least better than the little Boogie I have, since the TriAC's clean sounds are better, but it can still scream. Moreover one can't carry an amp in the gigbag pocket: If there's a PA available this is soooooo handy.

I found it a tad difficult. I suspect that some of the folks who reviewed it badly did not fully understand how to "tweak" it and/or did not have a manual. It is not straitforward at all. The difficulty I think is that the programming is digital but the knobs are analog. So when you switch to a different patch, it might have some gain/volume/EQ settings which are not stored in the knobs--they're stored digitally. Also, the pots are all extremely sensitive--we're talking Boogie sensitive--and behave differently depending on the cabinet simulation. After playing with it for half an hour, I found I could get a HUGE range of sounds, and many excellent clean sounds, which is great for me. Any failure to get a sound you want from this box is a failure in understanding the programming and/or in realizing that it will take some time to get what you're looking for, as there are many variables. I use this into a mixer which feeds a Hafler P300 (150w/channel) which feeds two nice bass cabs. What you feed this into is another of many variables. Not the easiest stompbox to figure out.

See set-up above. Using it with a Squier Tele with Fender noiseless pups. Sounds supremely pristine. Can get fat, bouncy clean tones to tight, crunchy overdrive. I tried numerous preamps before this one, everything from a Rane acoustic preamp to a Carvin Quad X, a Digitech GSP5, a Digitech Twin Tube, a Crate, and several others others. This is far and away, heads above the rest, the nicest one I've tried. Really classy. Sexy you might say. Though it's not the easiest thing to figure out, it's still simple as could be, 3 sturdy buttons to choose from 3 sounds--which can all be completely and totally different from each other. Really pro sound, really hi-fi.

I would imagine no problems with this at all. It's built sturdy enough for accident-prone people like me %-) Solid metal casing, big old-school knobs, heavy-duty stomp buttons. Of course I can't say for sure. Hard to say not knowing.

I contacted Tech 21 once when I bought a MIDI Mouse, on which I broke the battery cover within minutes of opening the box. I called...and got a real person right away, a person who was totally accomodating, and even admitted the design of those particular battery cover was bad, and sent me a knew one the same day. That's a working musician's kind of service.

I play jazz, blues, rock, jazz rock, funk, yada yada. No metal, hardcore, whatever. This thing is too good to be true as far as I'm concerned. Like having 24 amps in your briefcase, and it sounds analog too, nice and warm. Bouncy, with balls. Yes. As noted, this is the nicest guitar pre I've ever tried, and I've owned many. I've been playing for more than 20 years. I mostly play bass, and was looking for a simple box to plug my Squier Affinity-Series Tele (a really nice axe) into. Right on the money. The only thing I wouldn't mind seeing on it is an effects loop. But then, with my set up, I can put effects in the insert of the channel the Tri AC is on, and also it wouldn't be as simple with a loop. Simple is good. Wouldn't want it to be easier to program because then you wouldn't be able to get the HUGE array of tones you can get from it.

This is more easy to use than other Sans Amp pedals I've tried since it's operable from a toe-tap, but it would be easier to use if the knobs would automatically relocate to their proper levels when toe-tapping to different saved configurations.

I love it. Definitely preferable to the GT2 which sounds flat to me. Worlds better than the Pod. And, yes, you can use this thing with headphones.

On the downside, the Marshall setting is a little noisy for certain configurations, while the Fender setting easily overloads in other configurations.

working fine.

Lloyd has always been available to answer questions.

I like it. Great value.

The Tri-A.C is very easy to use. It's as simple as setting the amp type, level, gain and EQ. Moving any setting does result in some major changes in sound. Saving a program couldn?t be easier, just double click the switch and your settings are saved. There are basically three independent channels. Tech 21 also found a clever way to determine the value of any pot. Just turn a pot and an LED indicator lets you know you are getting closer to the original setting by flashing faster. When you hit the exact location the LED becomes solid.

I'm not sure why some many reviewers are saying it takes a considerable amount of time to develop really good sounds. I had this thing producting great sound in a few minutes. My guess is that other people are not using the stomp box as intended. It is not your everyday distortion pedal. Thinking of this stomp box as a distortion pedal will get you nowhere and just slapping this in front of an amp/combo will probably not satisfying. Plug it directly into a recording console, full range PA or a Tech 21 Power Engine (this is what I use) and prepare to be blown away.

I have at least a dozen electric guitar and to my surprise, after find a settings I like for a strat, I went and tried a couple of other guitars and everyone of them sounded great and it did not require much tweaking. It really brought to life some guitars that I had in my ?just okay? collection. I just can?t believe this stomp box has such a usable range. I?ve gone from a ES175, Parker Fly, Joe Pass Epiphone, Strat and a few $300 dollar Korean guitars and this box makes all of them sound good.

I own a number of modelers including the original pod, a few Zoom processors, and a VOX Tone Lab. I also have a number of software modelers including Amplitude and Isotope Trash. For ease of use and sound, the Tri A.C. was either on par or much better then the aforementioned devices.

The Fender sound with clean setting is just beautiful. It is clear, well balanced, punchy and well defined. The Marshall sounds are just plain inspiring and fun. The Mesa is just that, a thick wall of sound with infinite sustain. All three amps have great presence and really cut through a mix when required.

There is minimal noise from the device; my fenders that hum at high gain still hum. I typically utilize a noise gate anyway.

Looks solid. I have a GT2 and have never had a problem.

I've not used them.

I?ve also owned a number of amps in my time, Marshall, Peavy, Polytone, Fenders, Sun and I would have gladly given them up for the configuration I?m running now.

I would like to qualify that I currently running the Tri A.C. with a Power Engine 60. I can?t recommend enough the PE60. Just make sure you understand that it requires that you provide a preamp such as the Tri A.C.


I love this setup, I?ve been playing for over thirty years, it is a good time to be alive, this technology is unbelievable.