Tech 21 Trademark 10

Lot's of options for a small amp. Effects loop, Headphone jack, ext. speaker jack, reverb, 3 band active tone controls. No channel switching, but several amp characters available by manual switching.

Unique in it's class.

Had no problems.

Had no dealings.

Gave it mostly a 9 because you never know what other products the future brings, and have to leave some room.

Lot's of options for a small amp. Effects loop, Headphone jack, ext. speaker jack, reverb, 3 band active tone controls. No channel switching, but several amp characters available by manual switching.

Unique in it's class.

Had no problems.

Had no dealings.

Gave it mostly a 9 because you never know what other products the future brings, and have to leave some room.

Features include spring reverb.Three amp settings which include California,British, and Tweed.Three mod settings;hot,high gain and clean.Three speaker settings;US,UK,and Flat. Three EQ;low,mid,and high.Amp also has headphone jack,direct out to hook up to another amp or for recording,8 ohm speaker out jack, and effects loop jacks. Unbelievable features for a low priced amp.With the setting switches and EQ the tones are limitless!

When I first tried this amp I kept checking the back to make sure there wasn't tubes in it. It can capture the sound of a Fender tweed,Marshall,and Mesa Boogie pretty damn good.Not perfect but for a practice bedroom type amp it is wonderful.

This one is questionable. It comes with a spring reverb unit that you have to strap down yourself;they include plastic tiedowns. The switches for the amp type,mod,and speaker types are small and sort of flimsy looking.Cabinet is solid and has a nice leather handle.EQ and level knobs look solid.

N/A. I just got the amp time will tell.

This is the best amp in the $200.00 category. I am pleased with it!

This solid state amp has many tone-shaping features. It has a whole character section in which you can build your own rig. It even has reverb (very unusual for a ten watter). The reverb on this is the same one that's on my Fender Deluxe (pretty old). TYhis is it's strongest section. The active EQ makes quite a difference.

I use this with my collection of strats and it rules. You can milk so many diffrent kinds of sound. This fits all of my styles from jazz, rock, and metal, to swing, blues and others. This has a variety of realistic tones that rival those of Johnson amps and Line 6. The only problems I have with it are at high volumes. It doesn't sound good and the speaker starts shaking. All-in-all it's an amp with many great sounds.

This amp has always been good to me. My only complaint is that you have to screw down the reverb yourself.

Really good. They sent me a manual when I lost mine.

I tried this one out and fell in love with it the moment I bought it. The pure variety of tones is astounding. If I lost it I would definatly go and get another. I use this for small gigs with my Power Engine (also from Tech 21) and it rocks. I think I'm in LOVE!!!!
Please e-mail me with questions or comments at guitardude17@hotmail.com

Bought new in '00. One channel ten watt solid-state combo with an 8" speaker, effects loop, headphone jack, 8ohm speaker out and XLR out with "Sansamp" speaker simulation.

Not a loud ten watts, but enough for recording and home use.More features than anything in this price range.

Simulates three amp types-California (Boogie), Tweed (Fender) and British (Marshall.) Adds speaker type choices and gain models, as well as reverb.

Convincing clean Fender sounds, A/B'd with a Fender Blues Jr. VERY good Marshall sounds, best "Non-Marshall Marshall" I've heard, including the digital models.

Sounds great in general, and has many useful and convincing sounds. Most important to me is the way it "feels", for want of a better word. Digital amps always feels slightly disconnected to me, like I'm playing a tape of the guitar sound. The Tech-21 responds more like a tube amp.

Only complaints: Reverb is nice but gets swampy on high settings, and certain models (like most of the Boogies) have a minimum volume-below this they sound sort of boxy. The active EQ can often take care of most of this.

Only had it 3 days, but construction quality seems quite high, especially for the price.

Never contacted, but a pretty informative web site.

I bought this for some variety from my "main" amp, a Blues Jr. Jr.'s a great amp, but sort of a two or three trick pony. I'll never get rid of it, but I was looking for something that could get Marshall sounds at a very low volume. The Tech-21 is the only thing I've found that fits the bill, and it's really fun to play, as well.

One channel, 8" speaker, 10 Watts, 3 Direct Out options, Headphone (w/ spkr disconnect), 27 (count 'em) amp emulation modes, active EQ and more.
This little box is incredible. The only thing it won't do is play in an open environment or a setting in which bass and drums are louder than moderate, in which case you need use like a pre-amp.
The range of tubetone emulation (and distortion) is wonderful.
It would be nice if it were a little large, say a 10", but then the price would have been at least 50% more.
While there is only one channel, the ability to footswitch among two or three pre-sets would be nice -- this is a very 'hands-on' piece of equipment -- so I do need to fiddle between numbers. Again , you have to consider the primary purpose of the thing.

What style and sound won't this support? I'm using an ancient Epi Wilshire (SG knockoff) and an equally old ES-175. The amp works for both (would love to try it with a Tele). I use it for straight-ahead & be-bop, R&B, blues, and even for heavy metal. It woun't deliver a 'dry' solid-state clean sound if you are looking for that. All of the 'clean' settings provide some level of tube color, which suits me fine.
The only noisiness comes at max volume settings (but so does any tube amp!) Distortion is as extensive as I've heard except some sans-amp settings. The clean settings stay that way, although it would have been nice for Tech21 to lower the impedance on the Fender "tweed" circuit so that its volume would be akin to the other amp settings.
With medium-high to high distortion levels the speaker cannot successfully handle a low 'D' or 'C' (if you droptune that much) and it rumbles too much for me. Again, a 10" would solve most of that.

Seems solid; standard one year warranty (not 5 like a fender). Would have preferred a plywood cabinet versus particle board. Another writer had the same problem I did -- the reverb unit is not tied down through 4 points, only two, and if the straps are loose (or broken) the only thing keeping it intact is the speaker magnet.
I'd always have a backup regardless of whatever I had. Things break eventually, if used.

No need for support yet, though Tech21 did reply to an e-mail promptly.

Through 30 plus years of playing I've had several blackface fenders, and Peavey and Yamaha solidstates. Have only recently re-entered the electric game after a 20 year absence. Still feel I can judge gear, however the market has changed. This is absolutlely the most versatile thing for its size and price.

One channel solid state amp for practice, small gigs and direct recording. Features Drive, three band active EQ, and volume. You can also configure the cabinet, amp and gain stage. Controls are based on GT2 pedal. Also features spring reverb and and extra long power cord. My complaint is the absence of footswitch. But then again, this amp was designed with home and studio recording more in mind.

Wow. This little guy is definitely a keeper! With the exception of my Sansamp Classic, I've never seen an aparatus so small sound so huge. I used it with a Carvin DC 400 with active electronics and a Les Paul Std. I have not heard this quality tube emulation from any of the Johnson or line 6 amps. But then again, those are digital modeling amps and this is and analog preamp. My favorites were the lush crystal clear Fender twin tone and the incredibly saturated Mesa Rectifier emulation. The tube emulations were all pretty close. If you are a die hard mesa or fender twin fan however, you should probably go out there and get the real thing.
But since this is a direct recording amp, and most people don't have access to rooms with good accoustics or good knowledge of the infinitely subtle art of micking, this little wonder ($219 new) is more than a bargain. I own a VS880. And as far as recording direct I prefer many of the Sansamp tones over the Roland COSM emulations, especially the fender clean tones. You should bear in mind that the unit's eq is active. This means you can both cut and BOOST frequencies. Make subtle adjustments and your tone will change dramatically. The reverb is also lush, but gets a little noisy at full position.

I live in the NY, I've called the company with questions a few times and they were always really helpful.

This little beast can get you out of a lot of jams. It fits anywhere and weighs only 14lbs. You could use it at home as a killer direct recording or practicing tool. You could use for small gigs. You could even connect into a PA system in case your main amp breaks down. I must emphasize that Portability is a major advantage. This things fits anywhere (it literally would fit in a grocery bag). I live in Manhattan and I take this little guy everywhere. Its probably one of the best preamp/direct recording tools I've ever invested in. Keep this thing around (trunk, big nap sack, etc). You won't be disappointed.

1999, 8" speaker, sounds great, crisp distortion that makes my Boss pedal envious. Lacking footpedal is a major drawback however

I use a Fernandez, with 2 humbuckers and they can really sound nice through this thing. If I'm playing Ska or Reggae its clean, toney sound will make anyone happy, when my hookup a Turbo Distortion pedal...well..Korn never sounded better.

I've only had it for two months, but no problems so far, the unattached reverb spring case gets annoying when magnetically attached to the speaker

They biggest drawback is the lack of a footswitch, and when jarred, the reverb springs can be heard through the speaker. No other complaints however, the handle is study and the amp light enough to carry with one hand. I wouldn't buy another however, I'd just get the Trademark 60, It has a footswitch

There are plenty of switches and knobs to tune in the sound you're looking for - this is the amp's biggest plus. However, the inability to go from a clean to a dirty sound via a footswitch is it's biggest drawback. I know, I know, an amp in this price range shouldn't be critisized for the lack a foot switch - at least that's what the manufacturer keeps saying - but, if this amp was truly meant to fill the niche of low wattage, tone rich, verstasile amps designed primarily for studio use, the lack of a channel switching capability is a rather glaring oversight.

I play a Stienberger GM4T with a EMG humbucker in the bridge position, and EMG single coils in the middle and neck position. The Stienberger has an extremely clean, sterile sound through most amps and I was counting on the Trademark 10 to add some warmth. I wasn't disppointed. The overdriven settings are very good as well, I can get a wide range of sounds, everything from bassy chunk-a-chunka sound for rhythm to a searing lead that cuts through the background instruments.

I haven't had it long enough to comment of reliability, but judging from the Trademark 60's reputation, it's probably pretty reliable.
The case seems plenty sturdy. The only concern I have is the 3 position switches - they seem awfully small and wonder how long they will last.

I've e-mailed the company twice to ask about getting a manual - they were very helpful. I also asked them how difficult it would be for a customer to open the amp up and and some remote switching capability - they didn't recommend it. Overall, very knowledgeable abd helpful.

I've been playing for 30 years and have owned a Vox tube amp (a looong time ago) and a Yamaha 25 Watt amp. I sometimes plug the guitar into a Digitech RP-7 and run it's output to my guitar amp.

I would replace this amp if it were stolen. I needed an amp that sounds great at low volume - this amp delivers.

My only regret is the inability to control it remotely via a footswitch. I would have gladly paid more for this feature.

For a practice amp (which I suppose this is), it's pretty feature-rich. It's got the same 3 switches that the GT-2 stomp box has on it: Voicing (tweed, british, california), Gain (low, high, hot wired), mic sim (flat, UK, US), drive, lo, mid, high, reverb, and master vol. controls. I was suprised to see reverb on an amp this small. I don't know of any other small/cheap amps sporting these features. It's also got an XLR direct out on the back, which, if my experience with the bigger TM60 is any indication, works just as good if not better than mic'ing the speaker. The speaker is 8".

Well, while I was at the store, I also plugged into the new Mesa/Boogie Formula preamp, a Mesa/Boogie Rect-o-verb (is it just me or is "recto" not something you would want to put on the front of a product in any industry but the music industry?), and a marshall TSL-2000 combo. I was just looking for a good time. I kept going back to the Tech 21... I don't know how they do this crap. The distortion sound in this thing is tight, mean, loaded with harmonics, and a ton of fun to play through! (Contrast that with the lame-o tone coming out of the marshall, the over-saturated "I'm breaking up" tone coming out of the Formula; I can't complain about the recto-verb; It sounded really cool. I couldn't figure out where the reverb knob was though.) The speaker does seem to have some trouble holding up when you crank the bass up; It kind of sounds like someone farting, but if you're reasonable with the bass control, it sounds great. It's also pretty dang loud for a 10-watt s.s. amp. I was really, really impressed with the sound of this beast. If I didn't already own its bigger brother, the TM 60, this amp would be in my trunk right now. If it had a 12" speaker, I might buy it anyway. It's got a different sound than the TM60. My 3-year-old son would look cool playing through this amp, if he could play guitar. I might buy it for him in anticipation of him playing guitar someday.

It's a small s.s. amp. I've had absolutely no trouble with my TM60, and this thing is just as well-built from what I can see. I'd gig with it, and do it without a backup. Other than that, I have no idea how reliable it would be.

I've never dealt with them.

This is the coolest small amp I've ever seen, and I'm into small amps ("small" being defined as "you can carry it around with one hand"). It has a great sound, lots of useful features, and is even cool-looking. It rocks. Because of all this, coupled with its price, I give it a perfect 10.