Tech 21 XXL

If you can plug in a guitar and turn a knob or two you should have no problems.

The XXL was originally marketed as an overdrive pedal. Mine was a 90's one, not the reissue, which might sound different. Even with the Drive knob all the way down it put out a ferocious distortion. You have to turn the guitar's volume well down to get it to clean up, which often results in a loss of highs. Its not an overdrive by any stretch of the imagination, and if you buy it as such you may well be disappointed. The Warp knob makes a difference but its very subtle and I would often find it sounded better in its neutral position anyway. The XXL's distortion is not half bad but for me the problem is this pedal is incredibly noisy. I though mine had a problem until I compared it with another one - just as bad. With a gate after it it could be used live but imho never ever for recording. The excessive, unsubtle distortion (for a supposed overdrive), lack of true bypass, and mad noise levels give it a low score for me. I put it back on ebay after about a month and replaced it with a Cmatmods Tube Slammer - a dead quiet, beautiful sounding real overdrive that costs about the same.

Decently built and should give no problems.

Never dealt

If this one had god stolen at a gig I'd regret the money loss but not the pedal itself. I bought it to sit in my rig before the EXH Little Big Muff, to provide a more subtle and controllable overdrive. It turned out to be as unsubtle as the LBM (which is an out and out fuzzbox and takes pride in its lack of subtlety) and more noisy.

It's fairly easy to use. The warp control appears to have a quasi-compressor-like effect, and requires some tweaking. Other than that, it's pretty basic.

I'll try to be as objective as possible here. As a stand-alone unit, the XXL sounds pretty good. My only complaint overall is that this unit doesn't have very much low end -- not what I would want in a distortion/fuzz. I play an '06 Clapton Strat through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with a Hot Rod Deluxe extension cabinet. Through a 4X12 it might sound perfect, but through the Fender it's not quite convincing.

That said, the real problem I found was that the XXL does not stack well. I run a Telenordia TA-100 Overdrive which is on nearly all the time (without question the best unit of it's kind I've ever heard, much less owned. Check one out.) The TA is set for natural overdrive when the guitar volume is maxed and cleans up beautifully when the guitar is dialed back. I've had very good results stacking a stock Boss Blues Driver on top of the TA for a very good blues sustain. My recent search has been for a unit which I could also stack on the TA, one that would yield a more ballsey-fuzz. The XXL is not the answer for me personally. Try as I might, I have not been able to balance the compression between the two pedals and as a result, I cannot get the XXL loud enough to cut through without dialing the Warp and Drive back so far that it's self-defeating sound-wise.

It seems like a very well-built unit. I have no reason to expect otherwise.

I have not dealt with them.

This is, of course, a very subjective review. It would not surprise me at all to learn that the XXL was not designed to be stacked with other drive pedals and that's fine. Alone, it doesn't sound bad at all, a little noisy with the drive past 1 o'clock, but not bad. It was just not what I was looking for.

Pretty simple to use if you have used pedals before. However I purchased it used and no box nor manual came with mine. The only thing is the warp. Not sure what it really does. I leave it at 10/11 o'clock

This is my holy grail. I run a 61 Reissue SG and a 52 reissue Tele though a Mesa Boogie Mark I. I get a lot of compliments on my tone. I get that old school Billy Gibbons / Los Lobos sound. Nice and FAT / WARM and Gnarly. Has the right amount of Fart Fuzz when needed, cleans up nicely when you back off on your picking and turn the guitar volume down. The tone when you use your fingers is just sick. I play in a few projects from blues to stoner rock / Sabbath type riffs. It is perfect. I had a big muff and found it too muddy and not clear enough. This pedal is clear as a bell with the right amount of mud. Nice amount of crisp pop when you need it and also nice balance of warm sustain. The thing I like the best is like others have pointed out it keeps YOUR sound. It does not compress or bastardize your tone. I suggest pairing this up with a booster pedal such as the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster. This will put your right on top for some nice nice leads. Keep in mind the pedal is not for everyone and tone is also in the hands of the player. If you are looking for anything I discribed above.. This is for you.

Not one problem with it. Battery changing is a pain in the ass when you are about to play.

Again....... A must have.. For single and humberbuck fans.

Try this bad boy out with P-90's and you will pretty much fall in love.

Easy to use: Level, Tone, Warp and Drive. The manual has a few patches to get you started with. You can't really get a good sound out of this pedal if it doesn't fit in well with the rest of your gear.

I've owned this pedal for 8 years and my equipment has changed a lot over time.

Back then, the main elements in my rig were: Humbucker pickups, XXL pedal, 150W Solid state amp. The XXL was exactly what I needed in tonality and drive for my setup. I used to never turn this pedal Off. It did wonders at adding warmth and depth to my tone, especially the warp knob which simulated a satured tube amp.

Nowadays, my rig consist of: Single coil pickups and a clean 30W tube amp. I find myself never using the XXL. It's too harsh for my setup. Level is noisy, Tone is flat and muddy. Warp adds absolutely nothing to the sound, i can't hear it, and Drive is always too heavy like a distortion. I can get a clean overdriven sound but i need to pick very, very, very softly on a string when drive is at 0 or else it just screeches.

Conclusion: this pedal is fine if you play though a solid state amp with enough balls, but it's a no no for tube amps.

This pedal is sturdy. I would rely on it.

On the guitar, I play rock, blues and surf. I tried recording with the XXL but it's just too compressed for serious stuff. I guess for some background rythm guitar it could do the job, but I'll try to find a pedal with a better tone, wider gain stages and more dynamics. For now i'm replacing it with a clean boost which gets the best out my tubes.

Easy to use but as mentioned in other reviews, the warp control is pretty unique to this pedal and may take some getting used to.

Most of the reviews here are people using tube amps, however I use an old Carvin SX200 with this pedal. It's a solid state amp without a lot of character but it's clean channel is VERY clean. I use an Ibanez SZ320 with stock humbuckers and gig several times a month with this rig...so...

First...I leave this pedal on at all times...everything at about 12 o'clock except the drive which is almost all the way down...

This setting gives me a warmer overall sound and I use my guitar volume to clean up the sound. I can roll the guitar volume back up and it has enough drive for my needs.

The point is: it cleans up great (unlike so many distortion pedals) and reacts to guitar volume and pick attack Very well...and gives my souless solid state amp some warmth.

Never had a problem with this one...I have two...I plugged a Boss power adaptor into the old one and it must have been some kind of mis-match because it did damage that pedal...it still works but has less gain for some reason...weird...but the fact that it still works says a lot...and I can still use it as a back up if the newer one goes out (which it doesn't seem inclined to do).

NA

The band I'm in plays a BUNCH of different styles of music...Temptatios, Tina Turner, Black Crowes, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top, Top 40, Country, Blues, Disco, light Jazz...pretty much everything except heavy rock.

This pedal works without much hassle...I work days and gig on the weekends...I don't have a bunch of time after work before a gig but I know I can set my amp next to the nearest outlet and plug this thing in and get my "bread and butter" sound...I like that...any other effects are just added spice (tremelo, chorus, wah).

ease of use:... takes some teaking but not a problem

sound ... i am running a vibro champ through a 4x12 the amp on it's own sounds big even though it's only 5/6 watts - it's point to point wired w/ a tube rectifier and can do a very nice fender clean sound - with NOS tubes pushed sounds awesome too - but I wanted a pedal that would give me the equiv of a gain channel - WITH THIS XXL I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER !! very complimentary !! i've tried others..., you know i have... the XXL dialed in right (with my rig), has plenty of balls, and still retains the vintage sound i love. nice with my jh-1(halo induct)wah too. sounds great with PAF's AND single coils!! (the hell you say) i know!!!!!

i hope so, don't know

don't know

gives me the equiv of a gain channel with my fender amp that i love - i'm seriously thinking of trying the original sansamp now (also made by tech 21) because of this pedal but as i said, i couldn't be happier with this XXL - i know EVERYTHING AINT FOR EVERYBODY, and this might not be right for you your style of music or amp , but if your situstion is similar to mine - nice fender clean need a mean overdrive to go with that - give it a shot, (it doesn't sound cheap (with my rig) AT ALL !! but it doesn't cost that much either)

yeah, was easy for me to get the sound i wanted outa this sucker.

this is one one the best sounding pedals i have ever owned, the main reason is it retains the complete tone of my guitar, other pedals 'hijack' the sound, that in itself aint a bad thing if thats what im after, but with this pedal sounds like the complete spectrum is intact.

well it did clap out, i do expect all my pedals to work forever under extreme rock n roll circumstances. tech 21 replaced the board, and been ok since. but it's the only pedal i have ever owned that had to be repaired. (think i own bout 11 pedals all up)

when i got it repaired the process went smooth.

overall it is the best pedal i own, people comment on the sound after gigs, i wanna get more xxl stuff.

This pedal is very simple to get working, no worries there but, I must say the knobs are somtimes a bit of a hassle. For me when switching on and off, because I'm often singing whilst doing this, sometimes if not %100 accurate, I will accidently knock the level knob out of whack and suddenly wonder why my gat's gone 100 times louder. Perhaps if they were a little more stiff or rigid this could have been avoided. But other than that no worries!

If memory serves me correctly, replacing the battery requires a screw driver, thats a bit of uneccessary hassle too!

This is the problem for me. At 1st I loved this pedal, the options for sounds was excellent. In my room and at practice and on recordings it sounded pretty mint. But live its becoming a real pain. For me it just doesn't cut through the mix very well, and after playing my TS-9 or hotcake for a few songs, when I kick in the XXL it sounds really thin and seems quiet because it just gets lost in cymbal noise and what not.

The other problem for me is that it causes a strange buzz. Not major, but definitely noticeable in a quiet situation. (not that I've ever noticed at a gig)Thats especially strange because I use battery for it and I'm reassured batteries can;t cause hum or buzz.

One great feature is the warp though, still love that option. Oh and the sustain on this pedal is amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Reliable as they come. No problems with it suddenly deciding its not going to work. The battery lasts for ages in it, unlike countless other pedals. I've been gigging with it for over a year now with no back up.

Overall its still a great pedal. THere are some really good features on it, like the Warp. But I've found myself using my hotcake for heaps more songs that in the past I used the XXL for. I'm gettin sick of its thin sound and not cutting through the mix is a real pain. If it were stolen, I would explore other options.

go d/l the manual instruction. got mines off of e-bay and e-mail tech 21, and they replied back no prob with infos and such.

now, the warp knob really is the key player here so don't let the drive overpower it if you're seeking the golden singing tone.

tone really is waaaaaay to subtle for my taste,but it does have its use

ofcourse despite what was said above, I've had this baby for a year now, and hm...basically most if not ALL the GREAT COMMENTS and alledged sounds this baby can make can hold true.(ofcourse, I don't think people really made it sound tooo out of this world but its perfect).

here's my checklist.

-SWEETDAMN MOTHER SINGING TONE? CHECK

-SUPER WEEZER BLUE ALBUM CRUNCH? CHECK

-dying fuzz battery sound in its own way? CHECK

-Interesting compressed lead lines that can bring out your playing? yes.

-Sag and BLOOM? Check.

-not like the american woman tone, but someone close because the same company made it? Yes.

-not like the Mariah Carey for your pedal but it does the job fucking well? SWEETDAMN MOTHER you wish you would have done her...ofcourse the closest you can imagine is with this pedal...CHECK!!!

-This thing is freaky, powerful chug, awesome chuggy rhytm? yes...but its more of "singing" pedal...ok.

anyhow, just things that come up to mind, mind you I woke up 10 minutes ago lol, but even if you put whole truth serum into my system...its pretty darn close.


NOW!!! the only disadvantage I've had so far...is that this pedal DOES
not truly bypass, freakin such a big argument so I think people should
have a forum/messageboard. I'm happy for those who went the extra mile and got theirs fixed one way or another. My theory behind this lies with perhaps the drive knob and maybe the warp? turn them both towards the left kinda alleviates the clean sound from have this fudging little high end hiss that follows your output when you play clean.
it does color your sound and may get annoying. I don't mind mines so far because it just adds character to your tone. what?what? making excuse? dude you're gonna die one day, so at least don't sweat it too much.

choosing between batteries and adapter does affect your sound as others mentionned. if you want to be consistent, adapter is the way to go...but once in a while if you get bored, putting the warp towards the tube emu spectrum comes out pretty well with a used battery, nice compressed semi muddy sludge tone to your playing. lskdjflsjd sweet I tell you, so I do that once in a while.

you will thank tech 21 and other reviewers to have mentionned the sweet singing character of this pedal.

(tranny peavey, goes well with my ehx clone, and/or ECHO PARK, and really adds a cool factor being fuzzed along with my new family member...mid-fi RANDOM COMPUTER GLITCH...which is texture party avant-garde pedal. have a compressor pedal too, but this thing compresses itself already in its own beautifully unique way, so don't need that in combo, that'd be limiting this baby's own Mariah tone. I also once sported a dod and digitech Grunge pedal...which is my preference in perhaps trying to nail other people's tones particularly the nineties sound. obvious,neh?)

ah ah ah...perhaps, not as hardcore as the random glitch comp, grunge or perhaps soon new member effector13 smooth yellow fuzz, but it holds its own as its solid performer, I find above average. helps you find your character in your leads. YES YOUR OWN CHARACTER.

perhaps a ten it CAN DESERVE. but I'll leave that til tech21 improve the tone spectrum (get your own sep. eq , and drive beyond 3 oclock isn't always best, between 1 and 2 is optimal before some annoying hiss starts to dial in). thank you. I love you mom and your mom.

used. hardcore. butofcourse, do not perform physical sex with it and expect it to work the next day...if so or too late...good luck anyway.
up to you if you want to feed it to your dog. hasn't failed me yet.

email. respond fast. helpful, and does great pub rel. responses. thanks tech 21. just make more kick ass pedals one day?

its cool on its own, one of my favorite moments is that my friend had this christian family event where he had to play a song for these kids 30 strong choice hahaha that was hilarious...he's like playing something that has the feel of I love rock n' roll thingymajig, and yeah everytime he'd pause after a good fifth chord and mute the strings, there like a weird delay or decay or noise gate that comes in...(like play E5 twice and stop and muted with palm) then there this huge sucking up sound, sort of bass oriented, very weird but very powerful quality lol like as if the speaker wanted to suck you in? hahaha...oh yeah, big time AURAL SEX BABY!!!

don't know what type of music that you play...but this pedal is definitely awesome if you get away with steal, as in ebay, unless you'd wanna join inmatedatingpersonals.com.

this pedal helped me write my leads, and even some of my new material.
this baby sings. perhaps if you got a better technique, it will sing out more, because I know it only pushes me further with my playing as an occassional lead.

also, I suggest messing with your tone knob on you guitar, it does wonders, I don't get frustrated when people put this down or bitch how bad or muddy this may get leadwise (mug plus rhythm can be a good thing ;)) but its a simple and yet golden secret solution. people can be such dolts at time...ugh...it pains me.

so remember. play with tone knob. less it more with the drive knob...something for tech 21 to look at for future referrence. I like noise thus compelling me to buy some fuzz (this is 6/10 for the experience has its uses, but if you want fuzz character which I find is great for everything else texturewise but NOT ALWAYS FOR LEAD).

YOU WANT A PERSONALIZED LEAD SOUND? LOOK NO FURTHER.

ps.I'd thrast/bomb this review if I wanted to keep this secret. being a nice soul and all, I'd wanna support and salute those who'd want to rock!!!

-Yuri

Depending on what guitar\pickups combination you have and what sort of amp you use, there are a wide range of possibilities in this box. If you want a straight fuzz box, you should probably try something else, especially if you are looking for scooped mids. The contols are fairly straightforward and elusive at the same time. The gain has a lot of boost and I use it to either provide unity gain or a little boost. The tone knob is very sensitive and makes a huge difference with just a little turn. Tech 21 products in general have eq controls that really have a lot of gain so small adjustments and then playing for awhile and listening carefully is the best approach. The warp control is the most subjective and elusive as it doesn't seem to change the harmonic balance that radically but seems to alter the compression qualities. Drive has a pretty wide range of distortion and should be set according to how much your amp is already distorting and your mood.

I use mostly strat type guitars with Duncan pickups installed. The bridge pickups are usually JB, AH, or JB juniors. The middle and bridge pickups are anything from stock Fender to split rails duckbuckers or the newer Fender noise cancelling single coils like on the new Jeff Beck Strat. It is very quiet and has no pops or clicks from the switch. My normal amp is a Hot Rod Deluxe set for a clean smooth sound with the tone controls set flat or with slight mid boost.I have played through many small and medium fender amps all over the west coast in various blues jams and found I could get my sound as long as the amp was working normally. I my opinion, Tech 21 didn't market this box correctly. They should have sold it as a box that would get a Marshall sound out of any small to medum Fender amp, especially the famed "Bluesbreaker" tone Clapton got on the "Beano" album. I traveled with only this and a cheap Charvel strat with the Duncan pickups for years and most players were shocked that I could make their amps sound like that. Another killer feature is that it will always feed back and sustain on the second harmonic and hang in there with extreme whammy bar drops-always in complete control. The other cool feature is that when you turn down the volume on your guitar, the distortion cleans up considerably and gives a slightly roughed-up rhythm sound but with no muddyness. It is very responsive to dynamics and has a big variation in tone depenging on how hard you pick, especially with the volume backed off on the guitar. It makes the distortion more animated and "alive" with swirl and harmonic shift like no other box I ever tried. Oddly enough, as others have noticed, it sounds best with a dying battery.

I bought it when it first came out and it died after about a half hour of playing. I sent it to Tech 21 and got it back about 10 days later. It has never failed again.

I met Andrew Barta, the designer at a Namm show in 1999. a cool guy and super intellegent. He told me that they test all designs with Duncan humbuckers for tone. He admitted that the box didn't sell too well and that yes, they could have marketed it as a box to turn a Fender into a Marshall but that it wouldn't have made the amp companies very happy. When I asked him about the Warp knob, he was kinda vague and when I asked him how the circuit worked, he clammed up. You can't blame him for not revealing trade secrets. He did talk to me for a long time, however which is not the usual thing at the Namm show if you are just a regular guy crusing the show on a borrowed pass and not from a big music chain or a rock star. Hats off to him and his company.

I play a lot of blues jams and can play fairly straight blues if I want but tend to wander into the netherworld occupied by Jeff Beck, Allan Holdsworth, Robben Ford, Robin Trower or early Clapton but not copying any of them. I have been playing 40+ years and have owned or borrowed just about eveything ever made. I always work to get a sweet, musical tone and in my opinion it is the most musical sounding distortion box ever. I am probably going to get a spare soon as they don't make 'em anymore and I can't get my sound without it. The led could have been a little brighter but that would probably draw the battery down faster. It does seem to work best when plugged straight into an amp or amp simulator like a Sansamp which comes alive when they are used together.