Tech 21 Trademark 10

Lots of very useful features...This is just a post to get my e-mail address at the bottom of all this. Just in case anyone has any questions about the 10 inch speeker upgrade. I clicked to send the post before I realised I forgot the address.

Better for sure with the 10 inch speeker.

In the beginning my amp was cutting out a lot, over time it seems to have gotten over it.

No idea

I'll give it a 9 simply because it is not a tube amp with (the feel.) although it feels better with the larger speeker. For some unknown reason I feel that the 5 pound magnet on the new speeker pulls the notes in quicker giving a more tube like response. It makes the reverb sound a bit deeper too which I like a lot. I also replaced the back panel with a much larger and (twice as thick) panel, screwed in from the sides, this projects more forward sound. My amp is quite a bit heavier than it was stock but I like it's more robust feel. This amp also needs to be lifted off the floor and tilted slightly back to really hear its potential. An amp stand is reccommended.

This little amp has a lot of features. It has 3 different amp, gain and speaker sttings, roughly based on 3 amp sounds (fender, marshal and MesaBoogie). It has real spring reverb, and most importantly for me, an FX loop. This is unusal in such a small amp, and was the thing that made me get one. I also like the EQ on it. As it is an active EQ (with cut and boost, instead of a passive EQ which will only cut) you can really vary your sound.
It is a really flexible amp which can produce a wide range of sounds from nearly clean (more about that later) to high gain OD.
This is, in my opinion, just a practice amp. I know it is intended for recording too, but I don't think it has a good enough sound quality for recording.

I use this amp with a USA Fender Strat and a Gibson Xplorer Pro, and a load of pedals.
I really like this amp as it is great at low volumes and, for a solid state amp, has a nice warm tone.
There are a couple of things I don't like so much. It doesn't really do clean properly. It sounds OK on with single coils but with humbuckers it just can't do clean at all, and this is on the Fender-type setting. On the Marshall and Boogie settings it wont go clean even with single coils. This is a bit anoying but for the most part I am running fuzz and distortion boxes into it anyway.
Having said that, the distortion is very nice, I like the Boogie setting with the gain all the way up! I get the feeling they designed the amp with distortion in mind, rather than clean.

Erm. Its OK. I know they have a good reputation, its just that mine is a bit flakey - sometimes it stops working, and then I turn the mid range knob a little and it crackles back to life. Also the first one I got I had to send back because the reverb unit was broken.

Never dealt with them.

This is a great little practice amp for those who need low voume, versatility and reasonably good sound quality. For the money and the convenience I don't think you can do much better - I have tried a lot of solid state practice amps and for me this is the best. I found that this was the only amp in its class with an FX loop, nice warm tone and low wattage. I tried to find a low wattage valve amp to use at home, but the ones I found that were quiet enough did not have the FX loop.
Over all I would have to give it 9. Well worth it.

2005 model. See other reviews; this is only an important piece of information: For all of you who think that this amp ist not as warm and vintage-sounding as you thought it would be, but a little cold and tight, try pure nickel wound strings like Fender 150s instead of your nickel plated steel wound strings. Here, the sound change is DRAMATIC; the amp suddenly produces all the sounds you have so far only heard on your favorite records.

You all know the features, lets move on!

I have had this little amp for a few years now and while I was very impressed with it when it was new it was not long before I lost interest in it, mostly due to the small speeker and the lack of tube feel. Well instead of throwing it away I decided to mod it a little just in the way of a 10 inch speeker, hoping to give it one last chance before selling it. It has been sitting idle for about 2 years now. My main amp is a Genz Benz El'Diablo C60 combo, I also have a bunch of amp modellers. Well,the 10 inch speeker project was completed last week and to my surprise it was a complete success! This little amp has come to life now! I will not be getting rid of it. I now deem it worthy to record with. It sounds slightly different in a good way, it also sounds bigger and the best part about it is it feels better, maybe not quite 100% like my El'Diablo but it's 95% there. The 10 inch speeker upgrade is the greatest thing for this amp! I am astounded now each time I turn it on, it' a little monster all packaged in a very small package. How did I pull this off? well, for one thing .. I didn't care what happened to the amp so it did not matter if I destroyed it, I would have thrown it out. I went to Carvin ( which is very near by ) and purchased one of their 10 inch 200 watt multi purpose speekers. (It has a 5 pound magnet) (works for both guitar and bass) this was about 60 bucks. I then busted out the rear panel on the TM10 and chucked it out. I then took the reverb unit out then I took the main head unit out. I then took the front grill off. I then traced around the new speeker (from the inside) I then hacked out the larger hole, drilled new holes, purchased new washers, screws and bolts and put the new speeker in. The new speeker is installed from inside the cabinet as opposed to the old speeker being installed from the outside. I then had to cut a large U shape out of the actuel head unit to fit around the larger speeker at the top. I then had to get 2 clip extensions for the speeker wires (the speeker terminals on the old speeker at the top but on the new speeker they are on the bottom.) I put the grill back on plugged the cord back in, turned it on and BAM! Any pro would love to have this amp now for playing, practice or recording.

It's a 10 ( with the speeker mod ) If anyone has any detailed questions about doing this I'm posting my E mail address.

New (2005? 2004?) Trademark 10. This amp has just been discontinued by Tech 21, so if you want one, pick it up soon. Versatile little "1-channel" amp. Three "model"-type control switches, each with 3 positions. First pick amp "tweed, british, california" = fender, marshall, mesa. Then pick style: clean, high gain, or extra hot. Finally, speaker: US, UK, or flat (no speaker modelling). Essential the amp version of the Tech 21 GT2 SansAmp pedal. Also has drive, level, reverb controls and 3-band EQ. Real accutronics spring 'verb, 10" speaker, SansAmp XLR line-out with ground-lift. FX loop. Tonnes of options here.

This amp is certainly aiming to be the "jack-of-all-trades" amp. It can be geared for basically any sound, dial in verb, can run line out for recording or PA live use. This is a serious line out, not one of those silly little "afterthought" line-outs that so many amps coem with these days. This amp sounds great for what it is. It's essentially a GREAT little practice/bar gig/demo recording amp. Nail the gist of any tone easily, but not quite the tone itself, of course. Jam with it, use it to record song ideas real quick, etc. If you sit down with it, can get some pretty good sounds, especially leads. Biggest problem is actually response. Tech 21 gear seems to get the "sounds" pretty well on the tube amp thing, but nothing except the real deal will yield that tube response . . . Sounds like a tube amp, but doensn't really feel like one . . . I'll give it a '9' for sound, taken in the context of how I use it. If "feel/response" were a category, it would get 6-7.

No tubes! Looks pretty tough, company has good rep. Light! Seems like a cool little box. Carried it around in a backpack a few times, which most amps would not be exceptionally happy with. Never even heard of one failing either.

Talked to them before about a pedal, and about the power transformers on their Trademark 60. Good people to deal with. Fast responses, and very knowledgable.

This amp is a great little box. It doesn't have the response of tube amps, but not a single one of the modellers/solid-state amps out there that I've played has it either. It does however, have a very diverse and usable bunch of disinctly tube-like sounds. Easy to dial-in. Durable, light, compact. IMHO, this is the amp gigging musicians use when they're not out with their big tube amps. In comparison, little tube amps are fairly pricey, and still need to be relatively loud quite often to sound good. No fragile tubes, and can nail the high-gain sounds that the little tube-tykes often can't. Way easier to use than most of the Line 6, Digitech, etc stuff. Just try it and see what you think for yourself.

Okay, for features I gotta give it a "10". Why? Well, this is only a 10-watt practice amp, but it's got three amp types, three speaker types and three gain types to choose from. Plus reverb. Plus FX-loop, plus speaker-out. What more could you wish for?

Here's the deal. I bought this thing about a year ago and I went through a honeymoon period. Honeymoon's over and... Yes, it sounds very convincing... For a practice amp. And that's just what it is.

Except... I've gone back to using a good clean amp with a good OD in front of it.

But as for the TM10:
Fender sounds: OK, not fantastic. Clean is just that: OK. Overdriven Fender sounds are OK, but in the long run still not very convincing. I get a MUCH nicer Fender tone through my Laney TF200 with a FullDrive2 in front of it.
Marshall sounds (played with an SG): Better than the Fender sounds AND the bass-notes have quite a thump for palm-muting. However... If I plug my SG into a Marshall Guv'nor into a clean Laney TF200, again it's MUCH nicer. Much more of that typical Marshall rock "bark".
Mesa/Boogie sounds: quite OK for high-gain Santana-type leads, but a bit too "dark" for metal.

So here's a summary:
Plus points: versatile, quite "punchy" for such a small speaker, user-friendly, good build quality.
Minus: no real clean sounds. Plus overall the sounds have sort of a nasally mid-range you can't seem to get rid of.

Overall: 7/10

I find that in all cases it has this nasally mid-range that you just can't get rid of.

Looks well built. No problems so far.

Been playing for about 16 years. Had a variety of Fender amps and Laneys.

If this was stolen, I'd buy something else.

Purely as a recording tool, I like my V-amp2 better. As an amp... Maybe it would sound better through a bigger speaker or maybe a 4x12 cabinet.

I've gone back to my Laney as my main amp. I've come to really love its clean sound and it's also very open to receiving pedals. Depending on what I'm playing I'll put a Fulldrive2, Marshall Guv'nor or an MXR Dist+ in front of it. Much more satisfying sounds to my ears.

See the excellent Tech 21 website for stats and list of features. You've got 9 choices between amp, mod, and speaker. Line up any 3, and fiddle with the drive, level, tone, and reverb. It's not infinite, but there's a lot of tones here. This is, in my opinion, a recording amp in the truest sense. It is designed for studio use, either miked or direct, and as such, it's a terriffic tool. The headphone jack, the ground lift, he speaker disconnect, all are features that any home studio amp should have. Add the SansAmp DI built-in , and you've got a lot happening here. For live work, I would choose something different and put stompboxes in front of it. Buy this for its intended purpose, and I think you'll be happy. Think about your recording experiences: usually, you mic a nice tube amp and run it into the board, right? Then what? Then you compress it, add delay, pan it, maybe put it through a limiter, flange, whatever...you essentially take that tube tone and tweak it either digitally or analogally (?) until it fits the song. So in a way, this amp sort of cuts to the chase. Oh, and you can pretty much keep the overdrive/distortion pedals in the closet from now on.

Seems to have a lot on the menu, although chimey, bell-like, tons-of-headroom-Fender isn't really represented here. Again, for recording purposes, I usually go direct for those sorts of clean tones anyway, maybe adding some compression for that "sparkle." So this amp does almost everything but that. I love the Billy F. Gibbons sound of those pinched harmonic whistles that this thing can do all day (and at whisper-quiet levels, I might add). It can do a decent weeping violin thing if you're into it, but mostly I like the combo of California/HiGain/UK for general-purpose rock. Adjust the drive and it cleans up a bit for blues; or better yet, use your guitar's volume pot. I play a US Tele with Custom Shop Texas Specials, and so metal isn't really an option for me anyway. So unless you're hell-bent on either extreme (crystal clean or scooped metal mayhem), I'd be very surprised if you didn't find several sounds that will make you happy. And don't just listen to this thing in isolation, either -- track it with the full complement of instruments and marvel at how well the guitar settles into the mix. That's what it does -- it records.

US made! Noo Yawk City! These guys have a reputation that most other companies would kill to have. Too new for me to comment here, but I'm not worried in the least.

See above.

Again, I bought this for one thing: recording. I had a very nice borderline boutique amp that was also billed as a recording amp. I won't tell you it's name, but it was 5 watts, class A, all-tube, hand wired, point-to-point, made by a huge and famous guitar manufacturer once based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It sounded awesome, as long as you cranked it. Problem was, it was too G.D. loud for in-home use at that level, and thus difficult to record. It had one channel. Hell, it had one knob! So it really did one thing - and it did it very well - but with no direct out and no headphone jack, you HAD to hang a mic in front of it, and to get "that" tone, you had to scorch the walls with volume. So, blasphemous as this may be, I went to my local dealer and sold them the Gibson GA5 (oops!) and picked up the Trademark 10. "Fool!" you're howling. "How could you DO that?" Well, my friends, if what you're using isn't doing the job you need it to do, get something that will. Life is too short to spend hours fiddling with knobs. mics, and preamps trying to get a sound. At one point I put the tube amp in the closet with a bunch of blankets, trying to get that crunchy break-up sound without waking my kids, placing a mic inside the closet with it ---how ridiculous is that?? The Tech 21 gives me the tones I want, at ANY volume; for late night tracking, it does it with NO volume, thanks to the XLR DI. No tubes? I defy you to listen to someone play this amp and determine if it has any little glowing glass bottles inside (no peeking, now). And once this gets in the mix, no one but you is going to know you used transistors. And by all means, compare this side by side to whatever Line 6 is offering -- this is, by far, a steal. Oh, and did I mention that this is a recording amp?

This is for a 2003 model, absolutely packed with features. This is definitely the main selling point of this amp, the ability to match different amps to different cabs all at the flick of a switch. This is a solid-state affair, with an apparent tube-like feel.

I play rock'n'roll with a '94 Fernandes Telecopy with stock pickups. I'm basically looking for a bluesy Fender crunch suitable for 60s soul and rock'n'roll and a nice overdrive bite for Ramones/Flamin' Groovies-type music.

I was expecting exactly what almost every single review up here says: "WOW!! I was BLOWN AWAY by the tube tone!!"

Nope. Though this amp is great for a beginner, it still doesn't have a proper tube feel. The sound is intermittently passable, but ultimately doesn't cut it. Why would someone spend $250 on this thing at Sam Ash when you can get an excellent small tube amp like a Fender Champ for $50 more on eBay? It's a bit of a shame that manufacturers are concentrating more and more on tons of features instead of focusing on getting one thing (tone) right. However, this thing still blows away any of that Line 6 garbage.

All in all, a great amp for a beginner, but once you actually play out of a good tube amp, you'll wonder how you could have regarded this thing so highly.

Solid as a tank. I've dropped this thing pretty hard to no ill effect.

Though I'm not nuts about the sounds out of it, I have to admit that the company is the business. Their website is top notch and I'm sure I'd have no problem getting in touch with them.

Overall, a passable practice amp, very good looking and reliable but I don't think it quite nails the tones I'mlooking for. If you want tube sounds, buy a tube amp.

Modeling amp that has a warm analog -tube sound. Three amp settings: Cali (Mesa Boogie), Britsh, and Tweed (Fender). Three gain settings: Clean, High Gain, and Hot. Three Speaker settings: US, UK and Flat. Low, Mid and High equalizer, reverb and level. "Solid state with a tube feel". I mainly use this amp at home, I'm a new guitar player and it's plenty loud to rattle the windows.

I'm using it with a MIM Strat w/ stock single coils. I'm learning to play blues and this amp allows me to get many blues sounds and a little heavier stuff to miss it up a bit. Thsi amp will play down right sopt on SRV and by adjusting a few switches you can get some high distortion rock sounds to mellow jazz and ok clean stuff to. I tested and tryed many "modeling" effects amps before ending up with this one. The all seemed to have a flat digital sound. I think the analog circuitry helps bring it closer to a tube sound.

All I know so far the reverb tank was broken when I got it. I bought it off ebay and it was 2 years old. Other than that it seems to be in graet shape considering it was sshipped across the US a few times.

I emailed Tech21 about the reverb not working and they told me how to diagnose it.(unplug the red RCA cable leadng into the tank and turn the reverb and level up, touch the end and if it hums then the tanks is bad, if no hum it's a circuit board problem). They told me to call and order a new tank ($18.50+$6shipping). This was all in a matter of two days. great customer service!

I haven't been playing long, but I've had friends that have been playing for years plug in, and they were suprised and the tube sound this little amp puts out.

If stolen or lost, I'd probably by another, unless insurance gives me enough for a Fender Blues Jr. and about four pedals.

As others put below.
More features than any one-channel amp in its' class I've ever seen.

Used with Fender HSS Strats.

Incredible variety. Does good Fender, Marshall sounds, Boogie is good enough for me- I do play some Santana style lead, and it covers the base well.
The amp is worth the price for the Fender tone alone. Cheaper and more versatile than a valve Fender, and less flabby on extreme settings.
No harshness, very responsive, the warmest overall tone I ever heard from a solid state amp; in fact it beats some valve amps.
This is the only small amp I will now use!
Admittedly there's no channel-switching so you have to set up one good sound for any particular song if you're using it live, and control the dynamics/ gain with your guitar controls. Luckily, this is what I do anyway, it's my style of playing and comes with experience.
I disagree that it doesn't do clean, though it may break up slightly early for some people's taste. Not mine. I can get clean, and I actually like the harmonic overtones in the clean [tweed clean] sound.
I recently used it at its' first few gigs; sometimes miked up, sometimes DI into PA.
Other pro and semi-pro players in the audience were astonished at the quality of tone I had. I had to hand it to the amp.
Note this amp really does respond, and it sounds at its' best with a high quality guitar.
At it's size and price, in it's range, there's nothing to touch it if you want a really accomplished all-rounder.
Be aware that a large part of any guitarists' tone is in the fingers. This amp accentuates that, just like a valve amp;- responds to how hard and it what way you pick the strings. You can't just slate an amp if you're simply a bad or rough player, because your argument is therefore nullified, and you won't sound professional through anything.
You can find your sound with this amp by experimenting with the controls. Set it right [and play right!] and you can have any-era Clapton, any Knopfler, good general Santana tone, clean country, or edge-of-breakup blues, and beyond. Works for heavier tones and scooped-mid too. The only reason some may not like it's tone per se, is if they're looking for some ultra-modern, very specialised tone, such as maybe a particular thrash/death tone that some current metal or industrial bands have. That said, it does do a nice Metallica impression, with the right guitar and accessories; but I'm not a thrash player.

No problems as yet; I dunno if there'll be in future, but being solid-state I hope there won't be.

Not contacted them as yet, as US warranties are more tricky to deal with in the UK, but I might email them sometime.
Heard the're approachable and good to deal with.

In it's range, absolutely nothing to touch it.
I've played 20 years.
I love its' general sound, it's stunning.
It would benefit from two channels live, but that would increase its' price, size and complexity. Anyway, it's mostly used by pros in the studio; I happen to use it live too, because of it's portability, tone and DI ability. I happen to be a straight-into-the-amp lead guitarist, relying on my improvisational skills a lot, and no frills like effects, etc.
Just a GOOD guitar, a GOOD solid, tubey tone from this amp, and good playing feel, will make you sound as pro as you like.