Tech 21 XXL

Bought it used, didn't get a manual, just turn the knobs till I get a tone I like, it's fun. After some knob tweeking can get a good tone out of it. For real techies take some time to experiment to get the sound you want, not everything is in here.

Can get some LOUD cranky overdrive or just plain volume boost. I am a Bass player not a guitarist, bought this just to have some fun on a short Bass solo and maybe piss my guitarist off. I use it with a Gallen-Kruger 1001RB Bass head (540 watts) and Carvin & Hartke cabinets, Fender P-Bass, or Yamaha TRB -5 string bass. Kicks some ass.

Seems tough. Full metal jacket. Good strong knobs. Takes 9 volt battery. What's to break? Just stomp on it.

No contact with Tech 21. Bought it out of a used bin real cheap, don't expect any warrenty, don't think I'll ever need any.

Always looking the "THE" sound this seemed like a good idea. Used it on a gig, blew my guitarists mind, was already well worth the price. There is nothing better than getting to my short Bass solo (one per night) and making people WAKE UP and take notice. Like most strong effects try not to over use or it sounds cheezy. I have to give it a 9 overall because I paid so little and it sounds so good.

I't's not rocket science, but it won't get you to the moon. The manual is slim and apologetic (appropriately after all the HYPE on the Tech 21 website).

An average distortion pedal. I own several boss distortions as well as a lovely old roland BeeBaa and it barely compares to any of them. I tried it through my wasp head and eden speaker cab, as well as a fender super amp and a peavey bandit practice amp. It sounded worst through the peavey (a screeching microphonic feedback at high distortion), but it's a shitty amp anyway.

It seems solid enough, not solid like a boss pedal, I wouldn't kick it or stomp too hard on one of these. I returned it within a week, so I can't really say.

Don't know, never dealt with Tech 21. I was considering getting a Sans Amp PSA 1 for direct guitar recording, and I saw the XXL and bought it. I was disappointed - I will definitely play the PSA 1 first, if my guitar store can get one. I think the sound samples on the Tech 21 website for the warp on this unit could do with some explanation....

Wouldn't buy it again .....wary of buying Tech 21 gear.

Easy if you read the manual (apparently a foreign concept for a lot of people). Not all tone knobs work like the treble on your stereo receiver.

I play the XXL through a small Mesa Subway Blues combo using both strat style and humbucker guitars. You can get some nice sounds with this pedal, but I surmize it would be a bit harsh with a solid state and/or cheapo amp. As others have said, there's lots of gain available -- even at the lowest setting. The tone is definitely on the bright side; The Tone knob max setting is flat -- going down from there adds lows, and going past the midpoint cuts highs. However, the treble cut is very noticeable, especially past the midpoint. The WARP control, while an enigma to some, is way cool. Frankly, anyone who says they can't hear what the WARP does is tone deaf. The description on the Tech21 site is pretty good and you can definitely hear what they're talking about. For a high gain pedal this thing is pretty musical once you learn how to use it, and you can get it to clean up a bit if you turn down your guitar volume.

Looks and feels pretty solid. I don't really gig, but it looks reliable enough.

No dealings with them.

I'm an amateur who plays for fun. I like rock, jazz, blues, bluegrass, and a little bit of metal. This pedal can cover rock and metal (probably, but I'm not a metalhead so I don't really know) and blues if you want a higher gain tone. I had this pedal years ago and returned it -- so I was happy to find one now that they've stopped making it. Overall, I think this is a cool pedal. It's not too expensive, and you can get different sounds if you like tweaking knobs. I like pedals that have their own identity, and this one fits in that category.

Sorry for my english but i'm french...So...what an amazing effect...it's very simple to use it. 4 knobs and it rules...
You have a volume,tone,gain and the amazing warp control that put you in a vintage class a distortion or heavy fuzz...
You can find settings in the manual(well done)

I use a fender jazzmaster reissue and an old epiphone ET 270 (made in the seventies) with a fender blues deluxe tweed amp.
I use about 15 effect pedal(i love them) like pro co turbo rat, colorsound tone bender, guvnor,big muff etc...but the xxl is one of my favorite...the warp control can make your guitar sounds with a sweet class a overdrive, a real fat distortion or a amazing fucking fuzz...just great...
there is no buzz except extreme settings and i can say that this is definitly my favorite distortion.(and i 've got a lot of them...)

you want to use only one distortion? use this no problem!

sorry never had problem with it!!!

You can control your sound with the warp control...
you can control the sound with the volume control of the guitar
I'm not paid to say that but it's the most incredible distortion unit in the world!!!(try the killer fuzz settings....)

This thing is tough. Four knobs should be easy, but the damn warp knob makes the sound mushy or super mushy depending on where you put it. NOt that hard to use.

First of all, this thing buzzes so much my noise suppressor can't handle it. I play through a combo, and this thing is just mushy. I played it through a friends solid state half stack, and it sounded ok though. overall, that warp knob is useless, just fucks up the clarity. I don't really know of anything this pedal could be good for, maybe some Jimi if the sound would clear up.

The pedal looks strong. Unfortunalely, when I step on it now, it crackles a lot, and over time, the sound just went down hill until now it sounds like I'm playing abad version of mario brothers theme song, in terms of tone anyway. not very reliable, eats up batteries, and I would never take this thing to a gig.

I emailed them twice or three times. No response at all. That really sucks.

This thing is a piece of shit. Don't let anybody tell you that you want this. It's better than no distortion, but I would rather buy one of those mini danelectro pedals named after a food item than this thing again.

Easy to use. The Warp control seems to give others some trouble, but I think it's great. I'm guessing that the trouble some users had is what caused the company to discontinue this great pedal. It didn't come with a manual (used), but the website has a lot of info about the pedal. The controls are very responsive, and allow you to really shape the tone.

I've been playing for over 20 years and have owned just about every piece of gear over the years (even an original hyped TS-808 that I bought for about 50 bucks when I was 17). I plugged my reissue 62 strat into the XXL and then into a Marshall Jubilee combo (which has great tone all by itself). The tone and warp controls are dependent on each other, and with a bit of tweaking, it really gave me some impressive tones. You'll need to back off the drive a little because this box is loaded with gain. It really seems to breathe, and is responsive to pick attack and playing style. This thing has great tone. I like it a lot.

Seems very solid. Kinda like my TC electronic pedals. I'm a little concerned with the pots being part of the circuit board instead of wired. This may cause problems if I need to replace a pot, but it should be ok. The battery life seems to be pretty good.

I don't know. I've never called them. I do like that it says NYC on it. I love living in Manhattan, and it's my only pedal that says NYC, and my shirt/jacket size on it.

I play a lot of different styles, but am most heavily influenced by Steve Morse, Eric Johnson, Scott Henderson Rock/Jazz. I may look for another one of these while they're still cheap. The only other overdrive I still have is a TC Booster/Line Driver (which is amazing with my Jubilee amps), and they're not made anymore either (and they're very expensive now). I wanted a distortion box, tried a lot of the current offerings (the Marshall Jackhammer wasn't bad, but it was kinda flat), and I'm really glad I tried this XXL. It's an excellent pedal with a lot of character. It's a musical instrument.

i bought it used off ebay with no manual and the gain knob was busted off so i got it really cheap! but that's what i love, i don't give a crap if it looks good or what. i can still adjust the gain with a little screwdiver which will be a pain to adjust live, but that's what the price reflects. i love this pedal. if you can't hear the warp, stick it in the middle, play a slide on the low E, then turn it all the way up and slide again--pretty cool hendrixy sorta deal. i think at least. so i don't think the warp does nothing. all the other knobs work, and the on/off switch is really nice and smooth! i like that. not clicky like my distortion+. but that's a matter of preference

this pedal is NOT perfect. in fact, i don't think any pedals in this price range are, and perhaps none in any price range are. i think something like a soldano or vht or something like that would really be 'perfect' but whatever. anyway...
i'm running it into a labseries L5 (which kicks arse! check out my couple of reviews) through the effects loop. really satisfying sound! i really can't complain!
tone knob--it's subtle, yes, but also noticeable! i don't know if the people who couldn't hear any difference have been playing so much longer than i that they've completely lost that area in their hearing. but it works and works well, at that.
warp knob--it's cool, but i think more gimmicky that cool. but remember that i bought it on ebay after reading the 6 and below reviews here (didn't waste my time to see what the peolpe who liked it had to say about it)...so i obviously didn't buy it for the warp feature. but it too, is subtle, and depending on how creative you are, it can be either a waste of space on the face, or a new area of tone to hash out.
gain--there's someone i agree with, but i don't think he posted on this pedal. he said that he wished that all gains were 'NO GAIN' when they were set to 'zero.' i wish this pedal was like that. but at the same time, i really like having control of my tone all the way through. rolling back on the volume is not a problem to me, it actually gives me another parameter to control, and i like that. (rolling back on the volume can get rid of the gain at zero). i used to play w/ guitar at 10 all the time, but now i'm trying to hone my volume know skills--learning what your volume knob can do for your tone is an eye-opening (or ear, as the case may be) experience.
i dont' experience a whole lot of noise from this pedal. when on single coil settings, i just keep my hands on the strings and it shuts up. zero noise. i don't know enough about electricity to know WHY this works, something to do with being grounded, i guess. you can fix that problem also by just taking a paper clip or some kind of wire, clamping it to the pedal under the backplate, and sending it to a ground. don't try this w/o proper supervision from a professional electritian or some expert in electricity!!!
remember that i only paid like 30 some bucks for this thing since the gain knob was busted off, so my opinion is biased to that. had i paid regular price, it may have lost only a point, though.

i plan on gigging with this pedal. i think it sounds great. good for nasty chunky metal, then get some eq pedal to switch on for nice sing-songy smooth distorted solos. good stuff. the pedal is built ford tough, and i believe is true bypass like all sansamp stuff (if i remember correctly).

i'll let you know if i ever decide to let them repair my gain knob. they guy who sold it to me said they'd charge like $25 bucks or something. that's enough to make me use a screwdriver!

i don't know what style of music i play! i'm into it all! i don't listen to country, but i wish i could play like a couple of those dorks! my favorite artists are king's x, joe pass, geggy tah, jane's addiction, indigenous, outkast (ha ha), reeves gabrels, BILLY MCLAUGHLIN, dave kline, and i'm just now developing my affinity for tommy bolin! i'm primarily a classical guitarist, but i love all styles. i just love playing guitar. this pedal gives me the smooth distortion i was looking for that the mxr distortion+ (which i love in a different way) can't give. i will in the future check out more sansamp stuff and recommend it.

4 knobs (Volume, Tone, Warp, Gain). Turn everything to 12 as a starting point. You've got to get used to the Tone and the Warp controls.

I don't like distortion/overdrive effects or pre amp distortion very much. I prefer british amps flat out (Marshall, Hiwatt) and use them with a power brake. For smaller venues I sometimes use a VOX AC 30, a Deluxe Reverb or a Bassman Reissue. To be more versatile at different volume levels I put a Reussenzehn Tube Booster (a high class clean boost), Fulldrive 2 and the XXL in front. The XXL starts where the FD2 stops. Even with its gain at zero you get that high gain Boogie/Soldano type of sound. I use it only for solo, cause with rhythm it isnt't tight enough for my taste. My settings are Volume 11-12, Tone 9-11. Warp 11. Gain zero. If you don't put the Volume or Gain above 12 its not noisy.The Warp acts like a compressor, turn it up and the sound sags (think of Neil Young), turn it down and the same thing happens, but a bit more gentle (Brian May perhaps). You get the least compression in the middle position, which fits better if you want to play rhythm also. Its not a very versatile pedal, the nuances are very subtle, everything sounds quiet similar, but that's the best distortion I've heard so far. Very musical, natural and organic, not tight and harsh at all. It reacts great to your guitar, playing stile, and guitar volume setting. I give it a 8 because it's too mushy for fast rhythm playing, the highs are somewhat artificial and sound overprocessed (similar to those psyco-acoustic exciters) and it's got no hardware-bypass. But it's a good bypass(there seems to be a buffer inside), doesn't strangle the tone (like these unusable japanese Boss and Ibanez are doing).

I've used it for several years an never had any problems with it. The footswith seems to be a bit wimpy. The AC jack placement is very unpractical.
I don't think you need a backup.

I've never dealt with them.

I play since 20 years and have tried it all. You name it, I had it. To me, this is one of the best pedals I've ever heard. It has a special loose, dynamic tube-like quality all of its own. The only real drawback is that it's not capable of producing any crunch sounds (way too much gain). On the other hand, you can backoff the guitar volume for that purpose or use another pedal, maybe the FD2. But for solo guitar (this Santana, Gary Moore, Neil Young sort of) the XXL is very convincing. Best results should be achieved with vintage (low output) PU's and straight forward tube amps, that are more on the clean side.

Typically, distortions are easy units to use. Want more crunch? Turn up the gain. Want more volume? More Bass? Same thing. Will, this is NOT your typical distortion box. The volume and gain knobs work like you would expect, but the Tone and Warp knobs are different beasts entirely. It takes a while to get used to them, and how they work. But it's well worth it once you the hang of it. One thing though...this box is a tone monster! TONE TONE TONE TONE TONE. And very very touch sensitive. The nuances of your playing have a nice effect on the sound of this box.

TONE TONE TONE TONE. Awesome tone. It's like a Boogie Mark IV lead channel in a stomp box. As I said, the volume and gain function as you would expect. Beware the volume knob - you can get quite a boost from it. I typically keep mine set at about 8:00 - barely up. And that gives me a nice boost for distortion. With the drive knob all the way up, your signal will completely break up. I usually keep it to about 3:00, and I play hardcore/emo/indi rock, and like a lot of gain. That however is the easy part. The hard part is figuring our what to do with the tone and warp knob. The tone is fairly straight forward. All the way up is flat. As you turn it down you get a bass boost, mid you start to get below the mid point, the treble is cut. Not a passive high roll off like on a tube screamer or something. The warp knob is strange. It's a little hard to describe, but it has a huge effect on the tone. I've seen some reviews where people said the warp didn't do anything. I don't know how anyone could not h
ear the effect the warp knob has. Maybe it's the amp your going through but I can get dozens of sounds, just by adjusting the warp knob and varying my picking. According to Tech 21, the warp drive controls the amount and mix of odd and even harmonics generated by the circuit. Odd harmonics tend to give your sound edge and bite. Evens tend to make your sound smooth and creamy. When you have the warp knob in the 11:00 position (where to the two arrows are) that is the middle. There it isn't having much effect. When you have the warp all the way up, you get a strange kind of overloading breakup, that sort of has a natural compression. On the Tech-21 web site they describe it as a "sag"...it sort of does that...compressed attack with a sort of expanding super saturated sustain. Reminds me of this old no-name tube amp my brother used to have...crank the gain and the high, mid and bass knob and the thing would overload and compress like hell. With the warp knob all the way down, the gain is smooth, thick a
nd creamy. Back of your guitars volume and it gets almost squishy. Very nice. The in between setting are mixes and variations of that...blending the smoother even harmonics with the edgier odd harmonics. And I'll tell you...you almost forget that your dealing with a solid state unit. If I didn't know any better I'd think there was tube in there. The thing is with this box is that they all have their own character. I've used 3 over the years, and they all act slightly differently. I don't know why. That all have tons of useable tones in them, and I can get the sounds I want from any of them...but you have to know how to use the controls.

Mine has worked without a hitch for years. I have a friend who has one he's been using for about 6 years non-stop without a problem. I don't expect to have any problems, but since they are out of production I bought another one as a back up. I really don't want to have to look for another distortion box.

Never tried. Web site was helpful for learing how to use the tone and warp knob though.

http://www.tech21nyc.com/

My playing style cuts across many things - harcore, punk, classic rock, blues, ska, name it. I just mash it all together. I love this box. As far as gain goes, it does everything I want. I don't want to have to live without it...so I got another one in advance of something happening like it gets stolen or lost. How many reviews on here are from people who didn't just replace a lost item, but got it early "just in case"? I of course wouldn't have done that if they still made them, but I had the opportunity to get a 2nd so I did. The rest of my rig consists of a Mesa Boogie Mark IV, a Home Made Swamp Ash, Maple/Maple neck Tele with a Seymour Duncan Little '59, a Home made Swamp Ash Maple/Rosewood neck Strat with Fend 50's reissue pickups, and a Vaccaro Astrolite with 3 Duncan P-90's. My other pedals are a wah, Boss DD-3 digital delay, a Danelectro "pepperoni" Phaser and a vibrator. Yes, the sex-toy thing. It creates WICKED electromagnetic interference, makes a bad-ass noisy slide, a strange string vibrating/sustaining thing...and generally speaking freaks people out. Sorry, I can't help it. If you can find one...BUY THIS PEDAL! Or if you have one and don't want it anymore...email me, I'll buy yours!

Adding to my review below--Try maxing all the knobs on the XXL and plugging it directly into the power section (tube!) of your amp, through the FX return. Awesome sustain, like "American Woman"!