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.

After I sold the first unit (no real use for it since I expected fuzz), I bought one back as I'm in a cover band again as well and I remembered the good sustain it had.
I also like to have non-mainstream pedals ...

I use it for lead work in moderate rock songs (think Bryan Adams and such).
Gain at max (i.e. 3 o'clock, anything further just adds mud) pushing a Laney LC15 or LC50 MkII tube amp set on clean. Gives a nice Marshallish gain.
I use it exclusively with my Carvin Bolt (strat type) in that band.
I use other pedals for other types of gain.

The pedal is probably too much for blues players, there is some very noticeable gain even with gain on zero. I think there are better pedals for blues anyway.
On the other hand it's too mild for the heavier stuff (metal heads, even moderate ones, don't waste your money).
People who call this a fuzz pedal probably never have oned a real fuzz.
There is ZERO ! fuzz in this pedal compared to my ZVex factory, DOD FX52 and DHA fuzzes.

I don't like it that much for rythm. A bit undefined/mushy.
Sustain is good like I said already. I still need to use a delay FX for lead though.

At the gain levels I use it, the warp only has a very subtle effect. I prefer it turned completely to the left, 07:00
The effect is more noticeable at low gain settings, but it remains subtle.
And no way you could ever notice any difference in a band situation.

From what my ears tell me, the tone knob is a trebble cut in the range 12:00 to 05:00
Below it acts differently but I never use that range anyway ...

I like the smooth switching, without any hard point to pass.
The LED dimms when the battery gets empty but it's rather hard to tell since it isn't that bright to begin with.
The pedal looks (and is) very sturdy. Extremely lightweight just like all Tech21 products.
My pedal board (and my back) want to thank Tech21 for this.
Certainly dependable.

I think the pedal is quite transparent. It doesn't really have its own sound which is a good thing.
Depends a lot (and I mean it) on amp and guitar unlike other distortion boxes.
It doesn't work that well with my time FX (currently Ibanez DE-7 delay and Jacques chorus), seems they fight against each other a bit. I have pedals that work better with them.

There are certainly other ways to use this pedal which take better advantage of the different controls.
For instance I can see how it would suit some specific type of Jazz like a guy said below.

I can't rate it. IMO it's one of the better pedals on the (now used) market though.
It's a mixture of hype and real qualities.
(I'm quite surprised by all the raving reviews below)
Sustain and relative transparency are its best features.

I like Tech21 products even if I always end selling them. Weird.
Had a sansamp classic (pre reissue) which I sold a fortune. Thank you Kurt Cobain.
And the Tri-A.C. would have been the best pedal I EVER ran accross if it had had more gain.

I'm 40 playing 20 years. By no means a pro player but I play everything, really.
From folk to techno/electro to metal to boys bands ...
I also play synth.
Obviously, during this time I had (and still have) a ton of gear.
If you get past the Tech21 hype and use this pedal for what it seems to be (a decent medium gain distortion pedal), you'll probably find a use for it.
Any pedal that makes it on my pedal board is a good pedal.

Its fairly easy to get a good of it I'll go into more detail in the next section. The manual is pretty good ginving some good suggestions for sounds you might want to try and clear diagrams. Access to the battery is a bit of a pain, four screws to get in and I am not to impressed the way the battery it just wedged in under the PCB. Wouldn't have killed them to fit a plastic clip or something to hold it still at least

I use it with a Yamaha Pacifica 112 and sometimes a Fender Squire Jazz bass. Not a lot of people it is also designed to be used with bas guitars too which is one reason I bought it. Tech 21 do recommend you use it with their Bass Driver pedal though. As other people have said it does introduce a tiny bit of hum when being bipassed and I think it does take a little edge off the tone of the guitar, but I think that might be just as much to do with having extra ten feet of cable for the signal to pass through.

A lot of people have slated this pedal for sounding flat and unresponsive to adjustments of the controls and I thought the same at first until I tried it with a friends Mexican Strat. With that guitar and the volume turned down to say 5 it was fantastic. Yes it does add an incredible amount of gain and if you turn it up too much its sounds like mush regardless of what you do with the Warp control. But with the right guitar I got some great singing heavy blues sounds out of it. It doesn't do that just breaking up crunchy valve amp sound unless you turn your guitar down to two or three but when you need a wall of sound on some power chords or a wailing guitar solo its got it. Whats more its got finesse. Its far more sensitive to different pick-up settings and how you strike the strings then a lot of pedals out there. If you want to sound like the Darkness, Led Zepplin or Queen then this is the pedal for you. Warning if you already have powerful pickups particularly humbuckers I would give it a miss. Using it with a bass it gives more of a fuzz sound, which isn't the best, it is a bit flat though my old bass amp but through a modern amp powerful with a horn tweeter its much better and the fact you get two pedal for the price of one is a bonus.

It has worked fine so far

If you want to sound like the Darkness, Led Zepplin or Queen then this is the pedal for you. Warning; if you already have powerful pickups particularly humbuckers I would give it a miss as. Using it with a bass it gives more of a fuzz sound, which isn't the best, it is a bit flat though my old bass amp but through a modern amp powerful with a horn tweeter its much better and the fact you get two pedal for the price of one is a bonus.

4 knobs, one switch. Just takes a bit of experimentation with the warp control to certain tones.

Tanglewood Tomkat > Morley Wah > Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde OD > XXL > V-amp 2 > Laney Hardcore

This thing sounds awesome! It's a fairly unique pedal, in that it's high gain, but not necessarily as scratchy-sounding as many gainy pedals. I really do like the warp control, I wouldn't go so far as to say it makes it sound as though you're using valves, it doesn't totally nail the 'sag' but it IS close, warms the tone up quite nicely when open, or can give that transistor sound, should you want it, when closed. The best thing about it is that it's an extra layer of tonal sculpting, which you can use in conjunction with the tone and gain to get loads of different tones - I can find anything from drivey 70's blues, chunky rock rhythm, vintage fuzz to thrash. Which is nice.

It does have to be said it's very gainy, but it wouldn't have a name like XXL if it wasn't, would it?

Finally, no it's not true bypass, but there's no discernable hum with the pedal off at bedroom volume. At gig levels, there's nothing a bit of gating won't fix.

would be 10/10 if the warp did exactly as it said on the tin.

I've never heard of a problem with Tech 21, the chassis and case are made from feeling durable steel, all sockets and pots are high quality, and the soldering is immaculate.

Never needed to deal with them, doubt i'll ever have to.

I play anything from jazz and blues to thrash and industrial. This thing's too gainy for the former pair, but that's not what i bought it for. As far as rock and metal go, it's excellent at giving that thick-sounding disortion.

It wouldn't get stolen because i wouldn't let anybody get near enough to steal it.

You need to do some experimenting to set this up (like Mesa Boogie amps). Once you've got the right balance (primarily between the Tone on your amp and the Tone/Warp/Drive on the XXL) it's a doddle to use.

Mostly playing LPs. Dialled in for its party trick - the bloom+sustain Warp thing - it sounds amazing. If you like to use slow bends, adding emotional feel with vibrato, the extra change in tone you get on sustained notes is fantastic to play around with. I've never heard anything like it in a cheap stomper.

I run my XXL into a MB Studio preamp (with no other pedals) when the preamp is set on the Lead channel with a little drive (like a mild blues edgy overdrive) and this then adds the over-the-top legato-style solo tone. Awesome :)

There's something about the Mesa's Lead channel that works with it really well - to cut the highs. Because, if I switch to the Mesa's Clean channel with the XXL switched in, it sounds terrible. So basically I've got the two things set up for 3-channels: Clean, Edgy Overdrive, Sustainy Lead.

Like others have said - there's still a LOT of gain with the Drive at minimum (it's not a clean boost pedal). I mostly have it at about 12oclock. But the type of distortion is voiced wrong for HM, so I can see why some people won't like it.

I'd give it 10 for its party trick but I've got to take off 3 because it has a bug - it's not true bypass and when switched off there's a distinct fizz low in the mix. This f*cks up the clean tone if recording, but isn't noticeable live. I'll hack the pedal to add a true DPDT bypass switch soon.

Fine

Never dealt with them - no need to.

As a rule I don't like stompboxes for distortion. But I dug this out of the bits box and it was far better than I remembered it. I'd love to have an amp that could bloom/sustain like this at living room levels. It's not perfect, and it's not for everyone, but does deliver.

Pretty easy.

High gain tubey sound. Do not get this for "amp just breaking up" sounds.
The warp knob is great: full to the right you get an excellent thick sagging sound and thick compression. I run in into a sans amp bass driver for both guitar and bass.
This is the only only thing I know about that gets anywhere near that Neil young arc weld guitar-sag amps melting sound.
With warp on full, bass freqs are boosted and the slightly unusual tone control (past 12 oclock it cuts bass freqs) becomes useful for cutting the bottom if its too much.
With the warp set flat its a more normal heavey overdrive sound.

Doom/sludge metalists etc should check this out, downtuned its thunderous.

Into a sansamp its a really warm thick fuzzy sound. Naked into a solid state bass amp its brighter/tinnier.

Other reviews say its reative to different amps. so beware maybe?

so far very solid

Great heavy overdrive, with the excellent ability to simulate amplifier sag and compression.

Easy to use. No matter where the knobs are set. I don't like the sound.

Used with tech 21 trademark 10 amp and single coil guitar. I don't like the sound I get wit this pedal. Even with the gain all the way down it still has too much gain. Turning down the guitar's volume helps, but it does not clean up as well as a Blacktone Mosfet overdrive. The higher gain settings sound almost too full - not much room for notes to come through. The warp knob is all hype. it's supposed to switch between even and odd harmonics or amp "sag" - whatever! turned all the way to the right and the sound just loses the high end on the attack of the note. as the note sustains the high end comes back. with the knob all the way to the left the sound is thinner sounding. Half way in between and you're right in the middle of two not very good sounds.

Very reliable. I can always depend on it to give me a sound I don't like.

I haven't had to contact them.

I wanted either a natural sounding low gain overdrive or an over the top maxed-out fuzz. I recently replaced the XXL with a Blackstone Mosfet overdrive for low gain overdrive and a Frantone Creme Puff for fuzz. Both pedals are great and have the sounds I wanted. Tech 21 has other products I really like - trademark 10 amp, bass and acoustic guitar direct boxes. But this pedal is all PR hype and not the sound I want. I heard a couple of short mp3 sound files of the pedal on the tech 21 web site and they must have a guitar and amp that must work with this pedal better than mine does. this pedal does not fit with my set up. Test this pedal out before spending money on it. I bought it over the internet because I read tech 21's hype and their sound files sounded good. My set works great with the Blackstone and frantone. My set up sound just as good as Blackstone's sample sound files. That makes me not believe tech 21's demo files.

This is also my second review. I'd written this thing off. But I tried it in the clean channel of a Peavey Rockmaster, just to have a different distortion sound than the Rockmaster's Crunch and Ultra. But I'm kind of amazed at how I'm liking it BETTER than the Crunch and Ultra channels of the Rockmaster. I keep telling myself this can't be. I mean, IT'S A PEDAL. What i discovered is, the Tone knob on the XXL - at least in my set-up - has to be rolled way back to about 8:00 o' clock (Presence and High on the Clean channel are at 12:00 o' clock. Lows too. Mids about 1:00.) The presence on my power amp is full. The other key is setting the Warp to neutral, at the 2 arrows < >. I don't know, I'm dumbfounded by it but I like it.

I've had it for about 10 years. I notice when I leave the Drive knob in one position too long it develops a scratchiness in that spot. Soon eliminated by moving the knob back and forth.

I'm playing rock, pop, hard rock. I have another amp, a Marshall Artist 3203, and the way I have this pedal set-up reminds me of the Artist's sound, which is kind of nice because I can now access that sound without having to haul an extra head.

Well lets see, distortion/overdrive pedal, and 4 knobs, hmm?? What is so hard about that? Okay, I admit the WARP knob is a little difficult to get used to, but a little fiddling and some patience is all it takes to find some killer tones.

Well this is my 2nd review for this product, but my last one was made like 3 years ago, so I thought I would update my review with some new facts. My set up currently consists of either a G&L S-500, a Godin LG, or a Godin SD then on to a Tech 21 Killer Wail (good aound, bad manufacturing) or Crybaby535Q then into a Boss OC-2 octave, a Boss TU-2 tuner, Boss CS-3 compression sustainer, Ibanez TS-10 tubescreamer, Ibanez MT-10 metal charger (i think)(Oingo Boingo sound), into a Boss HM-3 hyper metal, Tech 21 XXL (OH BABY), Boss DD-3 digital delay, Boss DM-2 analog delay, Ibanez CF-10 chorus/flanger, Boss CE-2 chorus, and Boss PH-1R phaser into a Marshall JCM 900 SLX 50 watt head and JCM 900 slant cab. Then in the effects loop i have a Boss RV-3 reverb/delay. The XXL is my main dist. box. The sound does change with every amp and guitar I use, it builds on the tone of the two not change them like Boss dist boxes do. Definitely sounds better with tube amps like my TS-10.
It has a very distinct one that sags like a tube, when playing rythms it can sometimes be a little muddy but over all great sound.

I have used this pedal for a little over 3 years now and have had no problems, anyways it was built in the USA so I doubt I will have any problems with it built like a tank. I gig without a backup.

never had to use them for this pedal but I have with my killer wail wah and they have been nothing but helpful.

I play a range of music from Jazz, fusion, blues, FUNK (most of my original music), rock, metal, and alternative (the remainder of my music) and the XXL has been my standby always one of the first pedals my foot goes for on my pedal board, my TS-10 being the second.
If lost I would search hi and low for another and would murder anyone who stole it from me. I love the smooth sound it gets, and even with the drive at 0 it still crunches like none else.
This pedal even with the gain cranked still has clarity of notes that hardly anyother pedals can even touch, especially Boss's distortion/overdrive pedals which all are extremely muddy. The warp is so engenious i is a classic rock/hendrix blues in the middle of its set 12 o'clock or so and cranked all the way up it sounds almost like a synth with my flanger and with tapping arppegious.
Definitly the best dist on my board.

This pedal is pretty hard to use. Even though i have been playing electric guitar for only 8yrs, i can tell when a pedal is easy or hard to use, and this one is a lil touchy one. The warp knob needs good ear training ;) and the manual included isnt very reliable, you have to play with the pedal alot to understand all its possibilities.

I am using a Ibanez Talman guitar(really crappy), plugged into the XXL, then in a BOSS HyperMetal, into a Peavy Classic CHorus 212 75W rms.

First of all, THE SOUND OF THE XXL DEPENDS ALOT ON YOUR GUITAR and AMP!! i have tried with my friends equipment and the sound wasnt the same at all. so ill just go with my setup. The pedal itself has a very warm fuzz, even more when the WARP knob is at 75-100%, giving a mellow and crispy meltdown on harmonics. You really need to hear this: ITS YUMMIE!! but i found out the only way to get the best of this feature is using it plugged BEFORE a distortion pedal. It sounds like a tube amp cranked to maximum drive. Gives warmth to a cold and crunchy distortion, like the hyper metal or any other boss distortion.if used without other effects, the pedal has too much a high-pitch sound and really hurts my ears. but that may be only because of my amp. so its hard to tell. i hate the tone knob; it either cuts too much high notes or sharpens it too much. the drive knob gives a nice distortion, but cant be used to play chords cause its too noisy. when i play using only the XXL fx pedal, i find the sound to be too flat. but REALLY, the pedal should be used to enhance the warmth of any distortion pedal, and should be plugged betwin the guitar and the dist pedal youre using, assuming you wont turn the xxl's drive knob too high. I LOVE IT

the pedal alone gives a good sound for blues, brit-rock, reminds me alot of SUBHUMANS sound, old school punk. but with the hyper metal(dist knob at 25%), i get a really nice Billie JOe ARmstrong or any new school punk sound easily, with the warmth of low distorttion/high gain tube amp sound.

Oh yeh. the metal box is so strong i could throw it down a f***in cliff and it still would be in mint condition. the electronics are high quality. everythings tightly packed: its a real SAFE

Nope. i heard its discontinued though... thats sad.

I play old school punk rock, experimental rock, rock n roll. its the perfect match! ive been playin for 8yrs and used the XXL for 4yrs. its been a fundamental element of my equipment. My fav feature is the sound of the pedal itself. i use the warp knob to where the arrow is and the drive button to 0. its uncomparable to any other stomp pedal. but you gotta love light dist. and harmonic meltdown.

The only reason I give it a 7 instead of a 10 is that it takes a while to suss out the Warp control and its interplay with the Tone control. Otherwise, it's straightforward -- totally so if you leave the Warp in its marked "neutral" position, which is what I've come to prefer. I like the attack and the chord clarity of that position.

70s Japanese (Moridairi) equipped with Duncan mini-HB neck PU, unknown (DiMarzio? Mighty Mite? Early 80s manufacture, at any rate) PAF-style HB at bridge. Guitar > XXL > Korg G3 > 80s Randall RG80. I had bought the little Korg floor unit for a few reasons: got a deal (NOS that the store couldn't move -- obsolete in terms of features, but I just wanted a little chorus & delay anyway), easy programmability (all knobs), great clean sounds -- really enhances already great clean sound of the RG80, & the quality of distortions & overdrives -- smooth & clear, VERY natural-sounding, BUT .... The Korh doesn't quite have enough "oomph" to its ODs and distortions. The "crunch" settings in the banks go up to about a Keith Richards dimed Ampeg VT22 sound -- great, but not quite up to fat power chord territory. And the high-gain "lead" settings don't quite make it to violin-sustain/jump-to-feedback sounds. OK, I needed a pedal.

I used a Tube Screamer for quite a while -- good match for the Korg, but with the usual TS mid-hump. No that I don't like mids, I love'em -- that's where the electric guitar lives, and mids are essential for fat leads that cut through the mix. But the XXL *excells* at goosing already overdriven & distorted sounds while preserving basic tones. The string-to-string clarity for chording is also superior to the TS. The XXL does not mess with the richness or smoothness of the Korg's ODs and distortions. It complements them perfectly.

On its own, in front of the RG80 (a solid-state amp), there are a few things I discovered. This pedal likes VOLUME -- it sounds like crap at bedroom practice levels, but really takes off at gig levels. Sounds VERY tubey and bluesy in front of the RG80's blackface-like cleans. I imagine it would sound godly driving a tube amp. The Warp is subtle, but it does what it claims to do -- crank it counterclockwise for compressed, sustaining Brian May/Santana, clockwise for some pretty convincing vintage "sag & bloom." The Warp *will* affect EQ settings -- it interacts with the XXL's tone control in a way that requires some tweaking. Watch the tone control -- this unit is bright. It most definitely does not like very much presence-control snot from the already-bright RG80. It is also no good as a clean boost, as the absolute lowest gain setting already has a fair amount of dirt.

All in all, the XXL sounds great -- even driving an all-SS rig. In front of a full complement of tubes, I'd wager it would sound orgasmic.

Seems very rugged -- 1 point off for plastic jacks, although they work fine & should hold up nicely if you're not an ape on steroids with your gear.

Dunno, although Tech 21 seems like a cool company.

They don't make XXLs anymore, so I don't know if I'd take the trouble to hunt for another one if it was stolen. I'd certainly GET one if it were available, however, and I'd certainly check out Tech 21's current products. That programmable Tri-OD looks interesting ....

I bought this pedal used with a manual, but you dont't need one. With only four controls I let my ears do the walking.

The pedal has very high gain cirduitry. I read all of the other reviews and agree with only one. I've benn playing for over forty years and have owned just about every type of Distortion pedal or floor processor you can imagine. My two favvorites are a Korg AX 30 and this pedal. The pedal is not noisy and adds no new tones to your guitar. It sounds natural, which is what I wanted. I use it with either a Polytone Mini Brut IV , Fender Concert or Lab L-9 depending on my mood. It simply has a great overdrive. The warp contol to my mind is a compressor. My favorite position is to leave the DRIVE, and WARP at their lowest postion, move the Tone to the 9 o'clock position and adjust the Level to a little more than even gain with the switch on. I am a nut for sound quality, I own an Eventide GTR 4000, Digitech digital delay, rackmounted parametric equalizer and a Digech harmonizer. What can I say, I love it, it gives me the sound I have looked for and like.

I haven't owned it for long, but I do own one other TECH 21 Product, the SANSAMP, and it appears to be rugged. Tech 21 did not scrimp on parts for the XXL, the electronics are housed in a very rugged metal enclosure.

Don't know. No problems.

I play all types of music, but this pedal will be used for Rock & Roll and Blues. I would buy one again. It outshines any pedal I have owned in the past.

na

excellent see last, this is a revision.

very

I should revise my previous and say that the customer support was very good. They sent me a pdf file of the manual.

I placed an earlier review some time ago. At that time I was impressed with this pedal. I am even more impressed now that I've had it a while. The sell it as emulating vintage tone which it does a good jobe at, however, where it EXCELS os as a preamp device. I recently purchased an old Silvertone 1472 tube amp. I plug in this pedal with my "muy grande" equipped strat and OH MY GOD!. You can't believe the tone. With warp all the way on and and frive off I get a wicked ACDC fat tone. Turn the guitar tone pot down and voila, "money for nothing. Turn warp allt way off and get VOX AC-30. It sings and sustains like you wouldn't belive. Again with warp off I turn the guitar vol pot to 5-6 and I get a singing, sutain-happy Santana tone. I think this pedal differs from most other tech 21/sansamp products in that they emulate a tube amp where as this pedal complements a clean tube amp in the extreme. You can't get a really saturated MesaBoogie or nu-metal tone but thats not really the point here. They have discontinued the product but you can still get one on ebay. Also the current Tech 21 Double Drive does essenially the same thing with slight different nob function. If you want to add some zing to that old vintage tube amp of yours this pedal is for you!

No the most user friendly pedal I've ever come across, the tone, level and drive controls are self explanatory but warp? Has Mr Sulu designed a stomp box? It interacts more with the tone than the drive in my experience, its suposed to bosst and cut harmonics with a poition of about 10 o'clock for the nuetral setting.

Sounded terible with my Trademark 10 but fantastic with Les Paul and Fender Blues Junior.

I think it really thrives on Valves...

I give it a 10 for the sound with the blues Junior and 4 with the Trademark 10. So an average of 7 is awarded here....

Great pedal with the right Guitar / Amp but very ordinary with single coil guitars and solid state amps (not tried it with a digital amp yet.

Easy to use in the sense that it's a stomp box and what could be easier. The difficulty (and fun) lies in playing around with all the knobs (including your guitar volume and tone) in order to get the sound you want. It this respect it's very versatile

I'm plugging in a custom made fender strat with Muy Grande pickups. Sometimes I play through a digitech RP-5 in order to add compression, chorus, etc and sometimes straight through to a crate G40 CXL. Either way this pedal sounds great. I can go from an almost Metallica crunch to a farty "money for nothing" tone depending on the combination of settings. The warp knob really does affect your tone if you get a feel for it. The X-factor is really affected by the tone setting on the box and on your guitar. You also have to experiment with playing style as this will make a difference. Once you get a sense for all of tne subtle nuances of this pedal you really can get a beautiful tone.

I have only had it a couple of weeks but I bought is used on ebay.These things came out in '97 or so. I guess it's lasted this long and I haven't had any problems with is.

Not much experience with the telephone support but I have emailed a couple of times and gotten no response.

I love this pedal. It's been fun playing with all the settings and seeing what kind of tone I can get. It is extremeley versatile and yield a very (several very) tube-like distortion for those of us who can't afford a tube amp. It sound awesome when I run it throught my RP-5 (which has been criticized on the site for it's bad distortion) and add effects. All around a fun, fun, fun pedal with a great sound.

Very smooth overdrive on most positions.
No real distortion, and certainly no fuzz.
This may be due to myself using batteries rather than
an adaptor. I believe that slightly different voltages
will have a big change of tonal characteristics.

The sound I was able to dial in were good, nothing to rave about
and certainly not as good as my Laney TF300 preamp.
I agrea that it is very analogue sounding, way different from
digital distortions. Sustain is REALLY incredible.
I also agree on the dynamics and sensitivity : this pedal lets
your playing technique really shine through.
I wanted fuzz. I haven't found anything usable for me :
when cranking the gain knob past 3:00 you have harsh distortion
Before you have creamy, smooth overdrive.

VERY nice people.
The marketing manager responded within 24 hours to my mail.
Top notch !
I'll certainly check all their production line.

I don't want to come and fart among all these raving reviews but I'd like to give my opinion as well :
I've had this pedal for a couple of months and sold it recently.
Whereas it sounds good it doesn't sound great.
There's NOTHING spectacular about this pedal.
I repeat : NOTHING SPECTACULAR
It's a good overdrive in a box but most preamps
will sound better. (even my shitty Laney does, excepted
for the smooth sustain this pedal provides)

The warp knob does nothing special.
I can hear a slight effect and as other people mentioned
to my ears, it's a compressor effect rather than anything else.
(When you use heavy gain you won't hear any effect at all).
I've tested the pedal under several of situations with several
completely different guitars, amps, direct, headphones, digital preamps, ...)
Used in combination with my Sansamp classic it does nothing
the SA classic doesn't. They don't compliment very well.
The XXL seems redundant in this situation.

I don't hate anything about this pedal.
It's just that I don't need it.
I wanted to get a fuzz pedal to compliment my gear
and it's NOT the kind I needed.

I highly recommend it for smooth, creamy and sustaining lead play,
especially if you're an analogue snob :=)

I like Tech21 products.
I have the original Sansamp and I intend to get the Tri-AC for live play (I liked the way it sounded direct into the PA at the store). And I'd like to find a deal on the PSA-1 (currently going used for 450?). I'll buy one when they drop to 300? ...

Super easy for me. Put everything at 12 o'clock except the level knob, that should be at about 11 o'clock. The manual is very good and gives you many different options to start with.

This pedal kicks so much a$$! It sounds great on every bass rig i've ever played thru (using my 1978 Fender Jazz). The old bass player in my band took this pedal from me to use because it was the ONLY distortion pedal he ever played thru that retained low end and still cut the overall mix with smooth crunch.
On guitars it is equally powerful. Although it never sounded good to me on my 1973 Fender Dual Showman. Right now i'm using it exclusively on my Matchless Spitfire clone that i built. Just perfect tone. Sounds like a Vox AC15 but with so much more gusto. That's the word for this pedal: Gusto. I have also used it on a 1958 Gibson GA-30 amp. The tone of the GA-30 is already pretty dark. With the XXL it just got bigger and darker than any amp i've ever heard. A great contrast for my amp arsenal.
Guitars used: 1998 Gison SG standard. 1989 Fender Strat. A Strat I built with Hot Rails and Fender Lace pickups. 1978 Fender Jazz bass.

Built like a small tank.

I have two of these pedals and one had a circuit problem. I sent it to them and they repaired it for $40. But it was worth it. And they guaranteed the work.

The pedal sounds great with rock, punk and metal. The overdrive can get pretty thick which i don't really prefer. Too much of the WARP knob sounds like total amplifier sag. This is a good thing when used properly.
I've used this on bass, guitar and even vocals for recording and the pedal has always done what i expect. Great tone, great tube amp emulation.

If you read the manual, you're find a good examples of how to get good sounds to begin, and specially, the use of the warp. Without the manual, would be difficult. Like all products with special features (warp), takes some time to get used with it.

I'm using basically a Gibson LP Special (SD Antiquity's humbuckers) and a 62'RI Strat, with a 68'Fender SR Blackfaced. Is very quiet on lower drive, not noisy at all, but some noise start when you pass twelve o'clock. But you must consider that this pedal offers a lot of overdrive, even if it was on zero drive, you will get an AC/DC "Back in Black" sound.
To get a Marshallesque tone, I need an equalizer to mid the boost, because my SR has lots of low end and highs, but not mid enough to kick ass like marshalls. But if you're looking for Mesa Boggie sounds, this pedal had it. The Fuzz Face is good, but I don't use it so much. The warp control is good to emulate a Class A tube overdrive (think on Vox AC30), a Marshall/Mesa Boogie (class A/B amps) or a sag sound a la Neil Young.
I had an exaustively comparison between the XXL and a Bottle Rocket Mesa Boogie of a friend of mine (US$200 tube overdrive, twice the price of the XXL), and the sound was almost identical in some settings. The Mesa was a little bit warm, because of the dynamic range of tubes, instead of solid state in XXL, but the XXL was more clean when I turn down the volume of the guitar. With a help of an GE7 (Boss equalizer), I can get all the tones I want, included the "woman tone" (intro of "Sweet child o'mine"), just have to boost the mids, bass on the middle point, and turn down a little the highs. Without the equalizer, I can't get that tone because of the logarithmic (I think) behaviour of the tone control, but with the equalizer, it's no problem. When I use the strat, I turn the warp control in minimum, and with the LP, in the double arrows. Bottom line, this pedal has TONE and TUBE FEEL like no other in that price range. I always forget that there's no tube inside of the unit.

It's very strong and well built, but the DC position isn't well located, and I need to unscrew the bottom faceplate to replace the battery, so if I'm on stage, it's difficult. If you use a DC, you don't need a backup.

I know the people on Tech21 are great.

I play classical music, jazz, bossa nova, classic and hard rock, pop. For what I play, and with my gear, is a perfect match. I've playing for about 15 years, and I have a 68 Fender Super Reverb (blackfaced), a Gibson GA10 (50's tweed class A tube amp), a 57'Gibson ES125 with 2 P90's and a Bigsby talpiece (my favorite guitar), a USA 62'RI Fender Stratocaster, a Gibson Les Paul Special with Seymour Duncan humbucker Antiquity's, a Ibanez SA100 (ES335 copy), a Jim Dunlop Cry Baby, a SD1 Super Overdrive Boss, a boss CE5 (Chorus Ensemble), a GE7 equalizer, and a VP500 Yamaha volume pedal. I would buy it again if it were stolen, or would try the TRI AC, the GT2 and the Double Drive. What I love on this pedal, is the dynamic and capability to traduce the intensity of my playing, the different sounds I can get using the guitar volume, and the tube feel. I've compared to a Mesa Boogie Bottle Rocket, a Vox overdrive, a lot of Boss overdrive and distorsions, and this is by far the best at this range of price. I wish it had a equalizer included, but would be on another price. This pedal changed my way of play, now I am more focused on get overdrive when I need, to accentuated the intensity of phrasing on my solos and even rhythm, using the guitar volume or playing soft to get clean, and hard to get overdrive.

This pedal is all about tube sag...like Hendrix Live. The thing is
just old style compressed tone that is on the verge of "De-Construction. The manual is good.

I first used this pedal with an ART SGX2000 pre-amp for a more
"natural sound", when I was recording my first album. The XXL adds
air around each insturment.
I am currently using it now and then in my live set-up of Bad Horsie 2
Electric Mistress and NS-2. The sound of this pedal is VERY Unique!

I have been using this box non-stop for seven years. No problems.
I trust it on any gig without backup.

I have never had a problem with this box. I have spoken to
the sales people at Tech 21 and they are nice and friendly.

I am playing in a great band. We produce the best metal and pop
music ever! This pedal is used only now and then to spice a solo.
The XXL is unique in it's tone flavor. It does have a big volume boost
even with the level at 7 or 8 o'clock. I think this box excels at lead
work and solo lines. When hitting chords it is muddy.

Level, Tone, Warp, Drive. Ste them all an 12 o'clock for a good starting point. Anyone who can't figure it out doesn't have a brain.

I use it with the best amp of all time, a '78 HIWAT DR 103 (and sometimes a '69 Marshall SLP 100 or a '65 VOX AC 30 TB). Guitars are a '78 Gibson LP Custom, Gibson SG with P-90, Rickenbacker 350, '67 Gretsch Double Anniversary and some Fender (Strat, Tele and Jaguar).

I use a lot of stompers (MJM London Fuzz, Klon centaur, Cornish Rangemaster, Fuldrive 2 and lots of others).

To put it short, the XXL (stupid name) is pure magic.

This highly underrated pedal has got to be one of the best distortion devices of all time. Don't be fooled by some of the reviewers here, who "tested" it with small transistor combos or the likes.

This is a high gain stomper, I use it with the Drive at zero! It has a lush, pristine high end sparkle all of it's own. Doesn't colour your basic tone (no mid hump) and let's the beauty of a good guitar and a good tube amp shine throuhg. It is very touch responsive and cleans up beautiful if you back down your guitar volume.

Another big plus is, that it doesn't cut the bass. A lot of pedals sound thin and buzzy, but not this one. It leaves all the low end intact.

Contrary to what has been said here, the warp effect isn't subte at all! It is a very pronounced effect, anyone who can't here it is either stone deaf or has equipment like shit.

The warp knob is in the neutral podition at 12 o'clock. Turn it up and it compressesand sags like an old hard driven Fender combo with a tube rectifier. Sounds a lot like Neil Young ("Cortez the Killer"). A great setting for solos, but can be a bit too much for rhythm.

Turn the warp counter clockwise and it compresses more gently, not unlike a Vox.

I leave the warp in the neutral position at 12 o'clock, because I like my guitar sound big and chunky.

The XXL has a buffered bypass, I couldn't hear any unwanted coloration when the padal is off.

The switch is a bit weak and makes a popping sound sometimes, but nothing to worry about. Rock'n Roll.

I have it since 10 years or so, never had any problem. It is of solid construction (PCB) - not like a BOSS, but ok.

Never dealt with them.

I play since 30 years. I've had so much equipment that I hardly remember all the stuff. This one is a keeper. If you're looking for a high gain hard rock sound (not the scooped metal type), look no further. If you find one used, by it - you won't regrett it.

Pretty simple, just takes time to match it up properly with your gear

I have a Fender Prosonic which already has a wicked drive channel (very Mesa like)so I use this to drive my clean channel for a tottally saturated singing, saggin compressed Neil Young sound and it nails it in spades. The warp control is the key to this sound. I find once you have a great basic sound you can push it over the top with the warp.But it does take a fair amount of fiddlin to get there.I love it for that sound and don't really use it for anything else and certainly not all the time (only when I feel urge to squeal like Neil)

1 year-no prob

don't know

Excellent for the sound mentioned above. I use different drive, dist, fuzz pedals for different sounds. One pedal doesn't do it all as far as I know. Besides its fun collecting pedals (cheaper than amps or guitars) I suggest you try it out if you can find one for under $100

How easy to use? Got a brain?

Marshall and an old Tubeworks(both tube).Its a Fuzz box= noisy(not excessive).This is the BEST fuzz box for the neck pickup that I have ever tried.Hendrix playing the blues is the tone you get out of this thing.

I hope so.I am plannig to keep it for eternity.Backup?I any't no Carlos santana.If this goes,I will have to wip out my trusty Boss dS 1.

Generally speaking,costomer support on this type of product is poor and not very forthcoming.(understandbly since they are dealing with one of the most egotistical self-centered souls on the planet.Guitar players!)

It is chocking to read some of the things us peace loving musicians will do to our fellow musicians.I will find the person who stole the box,tell him that I forgive him for his moment of weakness,and plitely ask him to return it to me.When he is bent over to pick up the box,I will jam up guitar neck right up his ass,up to the 12th fret!yeah baby!

This pedal have four controls: level, tone, warp and drive. It's easy to use but you have to take time to know the warp control. Somepeople say that this feature is not appreciate, in fact at first my opinion was the same. But when you take a time with this control you know the importance of the control. Basiclly is this: in the right position you achieve a fuzz sound and in the left position you achieve a overdrive-fuzz sound(in the middle you get another overdrive-fuzz sound)

I think that is more a fuzz-overdrive than a distortion pedal. The sound is very good, warm, with a lot of harmonics and the most important: you hear your natural guitar sound. But it depends on what amplifier do you conect this pedal. I conect it to a Egnater TOL50 combo with a strat plus deluxe guitar and the sound is wonderful. To get a idea of the sound you can think on Hendrix, David Gilmour or Robben Ford sounds. But I try to conect the pedal to a Roland Cube40 amp and it sounds pretty bad. I also conect it to a sinmarc transistors amp and the sound is pretty good. The only thing bad is than you can't reduce the drive sound although you turn the drive control control left.

I play a lot of styles and have been playing for 10 years. I also have a digitech rp-12(bad distortions if you don't use the EQ) and a engl 350 preamp(good distortion but not as classic and "vintage" sound as the XXL). I have played with some distortions (that I haven't owned) like the boss MT-2, ibanez fat cat, zoom 505,zoom 404040, etc and I didn't like this distortions very much. I think the XXl is a great pedal.

This pedal is fairly easy to use. 4 Controls - Level, Tone, Warp & Drive. Pretty self explanatory.

I switch back and forth between Les Paul Junior's and Japanese Strat reissues. All fitted with Seymour Duncan Hot Rail pickups (Yes, my Junior has a Hot Rail in it as well). Sonically, all my guitars are big sounding to begin with. Add the XXL to the mix and the possibilities are endless.The trick to this pedal is using your guitars volume to control everything.

My signal chain is as follows: an original Digitech Whammy, Clyde Wah, XXL, Boss Flanger, TC Chorus, Line Modulation Pedal, Boss Chorus pedal, Boss DD5, Line 6 Delay and a Boss Noise Gate. All pedals are powered with an Voodoo Labs Pedal Power except the Wah, the TC Chorus and the Line 6 boxes.

Is the pedal noisy ? Yes and no. While engaging the pedal you'll hear a slight "clip". It will make your amp hiss a bit as well, but what loud amp does'nt hiss. This is why I have a Noise Suppressor.

This pedal will interact with amps differently. With small practice combos, the pedal is a bit overkill. This pedal definitely needs to be fed into a clean amp. Then again I'm part of that school plays clean and uses a box for my "heavy" sound. I run two Marshall JCM 800's (Model #2203) and plug into the "low" input. This allows me to have a loud clean tone - It's the Smashing Pumpkins trick that I've been doing for years. So when I kick in the XXL, you definitely know that it's on. Just an incredible rich tone, with gigantic harmonics and massive punch.

For those of you looking for that Smashing Pumpkins "Cherub Rock" tone, this pedal will nail it. And like I said before, you can vary the tone with just a roll of the volume knob. A very solid sounding Distortion box.

I've had this pedal for about 4 years now. No problems at all. One of the better built pedals out there.

This is the only pedal I take to the gig.

Never had to deal with Tech 21. If this pedal broke, I would just go out and buy another one.

I play all different types of music. Primarily, I play Alternative
music. My influences are Steve Stevens during his time w/Billy Idol, Robert Smith from the Cure, John McGeoch's work with Siouxie and the Banshees and bands such as the Church and Echo and the Bunnymen.

For what I do, this pedal allows me to do what I need to get done. When pushed, the tone is completely volatile and aggressive, but yet still musical. I needed something that would give me night and day between my settings. When I play clean, the tone is very dreamy and watery -depending on what modulation effect is currently engaged at that moment and my dirty tone is complete anarchy. Basically, my tone will say "l love you" and then turn around at moments notice and tell you to "F**k off".

I've had about every distortion box ever made. I chose this box on a whim actually. I read a review and decided to pick one up. Compared to other boxes this one had the most gain. My thoughts on other various pedals:

The Boss DS1 - Too fizzy
The Boss Heavy Metal pedal - Not applicable in a real situation
The Fulltone Fulldrive - Not enough drive
Big Muff - Big disappointment - too wooly
The Creamy Dreamer - Not musical
Tube Screamer - What's the big fuss about this pedal ?

Hands down, the XXL is my favorite distortion box. It suits me fine. I would definitely buy this pedal over and over again. It's part of my musical DNA.

It does take a little tweaking... but there are four knobs -- not rocket science, but you have to give it a chance...
Some pedals "play it safe" by limiting the variation in sound availibility - thus they are "easier to use" for the whiners in the bunch ;) This pedal does not "play it safe"... so yes, you do have to tweak to get kewl sounds... but let's face it, if you just jumble your amp's knobs and try to play, it's going to sound like crap - does that mean your amp is hard to use? I digress...

One other complaint - the LED doesn't shine very brightly, even with a new battery... BUT, the unit I bought has a battery lid (this must be a change from original, since I see someone complaining about removing screws to change batteries in a prior review)--- this is something to lose/break... I would prefer just having to remove the four screws every few weeks... oh the pain, the pain ;)

I will base things on the Peavey Envoy (transtube) SS amp (set clean with a little fake power tube overdrive) with a Les Paul and EMG 81/85. I know it'll be 10x easier to get tone out of the Mesa Triaxis/90-90 setup.

First, as I said above, this pedal does not "play it safe" by only offering limited tweakability to one particular sound (yes, even the venerable TS808 is of this variety - you can't make it sound bad generally, but it has limited uses imho)... that said, you can get some terrible, farty-blatty tinny crap sounds out of the XXL if you don't tweak... I first plugged it in, left the Warp in the "safe zone" and got a pretty bland, tinny, farty sound...

I started playing with the Tone and Warp knobs (leaving the Drive at about 3 o'clock), and got some complex, very dynamic and musical distortions --- I own tons of pedals - the better ones, in my book, can really sound terrible if you are lazy and don't dial for awhile.
It's obvious that Tech 21 discontinued this pedal because the average user did not have the patience/prowess to find the tone in this very special little box.

After about 5 minutes, with Tone at 5 o'clock, Warp around noon-one and Drive at about 3 o'clock, I was jammin away with some nice, Noisy (yes, it's noisy---- but so is a cranked Marshall, Boogie, Soldano, Rivera, etc... folks! Be real!) Complex Compressed yet dynamic sweet harmonic sustaining distortion --- (very much like a pushed tube preamp)... Another pedal I own, Fulltone DP2, has similar qualities (the Fulltone is a lot more versatile... but at a price)- The Fulltone also has some complainers -- for the same reasons - it can sound bad due to it's tweakability and ability to go over the edge in all directions...

Bottom line - I love it and will probably try to grab another while they're still not too rare - it's unique and a keeper... can get some very Vai/Satriani/et al punchy, noisy, harmonic fun out of this puppy

Hmmmm.... not built like a Fulltone, has plastic in/out jack housings... but the box is the standard "Hammond 1590B" size box... It'll last with a little care - the knobs are not offset, so you don't want to throw it in a bag with guitar/mic stands, etc... and you don't want to jump up and down on it (well, other than the switch)... it seems to use an electronic "flip/flop" switch ciruit -- that is, the switch is single throw (momentary, like on Boss/Ibanez stuff)... so it should last longer than the mechanical double throw switces that go "click" every time you stomp... (ok, I prefer the fell of the mechanical double throw switch - you can tell when you hit it)

The LED doesn't shine too brightly....

I'd never rely on one pedal with no backup... you just never know... lightning strikes...

N/A

At $41, this was a steal... I can get sounds very comparable to some of the nastier, noisy, tube-ular shred tones that I get from the Fulltone Distortion Pro... I don't know what the list was, but even $100 would be a good value for me.... From a sonic perspective, I'd hand over my TS808 (if it weren't so damn collectible)before I'd give up this pedal... TS808 tone is all over these days... the XXL is more unique, more on-the-edge (or _over_ the edge) and way way way more amp/tube like imho....

I'd buy another one... ;)

No problem if you read the manual and understand what the "Tone" and "Warp" knobs do. Otherwise you might be a bit puzzled, because the "Tone" knob works a bit strangely and the "Warp" knob is subtle unless you know what to listen for.

Guitar: cheap Korean Strat copy with humbucker retrofitted at bridge.

This box does one sound beautifully, and it's "My hot-rodded Marshall stack is overheating and about to explode." Turn the Warp all the way CCW, tone about 1 o'clock, and set gain according to how hot your pickups are (I use about 2 o'clock). Big bassy hi-gain chugga-crunch and singing "woman tone" sustain. Wonderful!

Unfortunately it doesn't do anything else...trying to get just a little distortion makes it go crackle-crackle at the transition. Use something else, like a Butler "Real Tube".

It's not noisy considering the amount of gain involved.

Haven't had any problems but I haven't abused it either. No data.

Haven't had to ask.

It's a great pedal if you want the sound it delivers, which I think is killer. But it's not versatile. I'm giving it a 9 for the tone it has, but subtracting 2 for all the BS hype Tech 21 put out about how versatile it was.

It's a distortion pedal. Crank the gain and ROCK. It's especially cool for getting various feedback tones with the electric guitar and a big amplifier. Oh- changing the battery is a hassle with 4 screws.

The sound is not for everyone. This was a good fit for certain music I played- it has a full bodied distortion with a very harsh edge in the treble. Distortion boxes are like spices, it's good to have several different units around. Amplifiers are like the meat. No amount of spices will make rotten meat sound good. How's that for a carnivore analogy??

I gigged for years with this without any problems.

don't know.

This is good for certain metal and noise sounds. I wouldn't rely on it for all distortion needs.

the different of warp controll is't most notorious with the humbucking
to bridge. (sound more fuzz).THE WARP IS'T A GREAT ADDITAMENT.

GREAT PEDAL! I played for 13 years, I used BOSS distortion pedal, XXL better BETTER than dist. BOSS (DS-1, DS-2, SD-1, MT-2(puaj!))
fine tone "like amp dist. tone" very dynamic.
little problem of noise, extrange problem with low volumen setting of my guit. the high frecuency`s up`s in these situation.

no problema

BArta is't a good guy.

FINE pedal!!!

Pretty easy to get good sounds out of this (although I am still trying to find a setting that will let me turn my guitar volume and clean up the distortion). 4 knobs and a footswitch, not to difficult and thankfully most of the controls are labled for what they are (except WARP) unlike DOD's new boxes with stupid shit names!

It made a an old Ampeg VH 140 c solid state amp sound pretty crunchy to the point where some tube head buddys of mine thought the ampeg was a tube amp. Now-a-days the XXL is running through my Peavy Classic 50 tube amp.

It survived 4 years of punishing stomping in dives and outdoor gigs by a guitarist who would occasionaly get into it too much (thanks to beer chuging contests between me and the drummer) and is no worse for the wear. Hell it still looks pretty new.

NA

This little tank was good for the heavier stuff (CREED, queensryche, collective soul and originals) but was too much for the Stevie Ray and Chris Duarte tunes. Although I found a neat trick for that. I set my Tube amps dirty channel to a slight break-up tone (black Crow like) and then for leads I would kick in the XXL. It gave me that unpredictable drive and overtones that makes guitar players slobber for!

This thing is pretty straight foward and easy to get good sounds out of. Tech 21 website still has instructions on how to use it

Fender California fat strat-XXL-Music Man RD210 130. The MM is stone quiet with and without this thing inline. Of course when you crank it you get a little noise. Anyway, with the MM set super clean (totally countryfryed)I kick this thing in with warp full on and gain at 3/4 and I'm in heaven. Great harmonics and tube saturated distortion. Great response to player dynamics. I match the amp and XXL levels so I can use the volume to roll of the top. I also tried this with my Roland JC120 and well....you need tubes for tube distortion. Duh

I guess so and no I would not

N/A

I mostly play 50's to current rock. I also dabble in Jazz & Country.
All in my basement studio with a couple of friends and just for fun. I've tried the DOD 250, Big Muff, French Toast, Akai Shred-o-matic (which I really like) and Fab Tone. This box is the best of this bunch as far as my setup and style go.

I thought it was fairly easy to get a good sound. I've had it for years but only recently integrated it into my setup. I've used it in the past for at home, personal practice. I finally started messing withe tone and Warp knobs and realized how versatile this pedal is. I'd say if your just starting out with this thing set the tone at 12 o' clock and the Warp all the way counter clockwise.

I have 2 Marshall heads(tube) and a Randall head(SS). Bolt-on guitars with humbuckers. It does get pretty noisy with the Drive past 12 o' clock. This is a high gain pedal. I love distortion and this thing delivers. This comes close to the best distortion pedal I've ever heard which is a Tonebone Hot-British. I didn't keep that one because I thought this came pretty close & couldn't justify the $.

I play rock with lots of distortion going on all the time. I've got a Marshall Shredmaster, TS9DX/808, Rat, MXR Dist+, Boss Heavy Metal, Westbury W-20 - none have the touch sensitivity this one has. Though I used the RAT for a long time, it's distortion isn't as refined as the XXL. The RAT is grittier, nastier. I wasn't digging the midrange bite of the RAT anymore. I saw 2 used XXL's for $40 or $50 at a store I should have nabbed them for spares because they don't make these anymore.

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"!