Tech 21 Trademark 120 212 Combo

2001 model, hard to find on the usual web sites. However AMS (american Musical Supply) had it before I knew it existed. Most other web sites musicians friend,Mar's music etc. have the tradmark 10 or 60 series. I will not list the feature's you have read them already.
Let's just say, this is the kinda of amp I was looking for, not a two channel F series boogie or fender twin. I have to say the Marshall AVT models were starting to look delicious! They (MArshall)offered d up to 4 channels, really only three channels with an acoustic simulator, price 899. And they offered some effects if your like that. I do.
But after reading comments here I ordered this baby same night. How's that for emotional. This review will be editied from time to time in order to change actual performance ratings if needed. I will use this as a combo for studio type applications from home practice to small gigs. Inactive status right now.
On my wish list of features I would like to see a different cabinet finish even if just a tolex color change and a cd input.
The power this amp has is perfect for my application only. Keep in mind the line out can give you additional venues. So 60 watts x 2 with 3 channels is more than enough as a monitor if you will.
I knew this was not a tube amp, and I have played through marshalls, fenders ,crate, and roland and I still decided to go this route.
Stereo was a plus, different settings and the reverb make for a good work horse, home,studio,gigs and hobby. Rating based on if money were no object you could have any equipment you need. This would be a 7.

My (EQUIPMENT) consist's of a modified Fender American with a Lindy Fralin set of pickups with a slightly hotter bridge pickup. A modified Gibson Les Paul Standard with (Rio Grande Texas BBQ )in lead and texas tall boy in Rhythm A.K.A. Texas Barbeque. No other modification to the guitars. Both very new. They sound vintage and I couldn't be happier. Previously I used stock pickups, on my guitars. That made it hard to get what I needed. The sounds usually were to muddy with gibsons, and to thin with fenders. I always had to overdrive them some way, but these pickups are incredible. I see some review's here and people still have stock fender pickups, even if they are newer strat models. So after tweeking this thing best as you can, and your sound should be 80%-90% of what you want to emulate. Not perfect, but acceptable to some!
I use effects ( I know some of you purists are saying that's it) but this is my rig not your's!
My effect's are an Arion chrous,boss DD5,MXR dyna comp compressor and
I will soon ad an acoustic simulator from Boss.
My electric guitar music (STYLE) is a blues, jazz fusion,rock and heavy stuff. Trower,SRV,Santana,Creed,ZZ TOP ZEP,Al dimeola,Frank gambale you get the picture.
The (CLEAN) is better than most here say, but not better than a fender or the new AVT Marshall's. (DISTORTION)The distortion is good,very similar to (Marshall AVT 50 head) listen to the Marshall web sites mpgs and then tech 21 british., (HARMONICS) are o.k however I am thinking of using a Boss MT-2 to further enhance the british sound just a pinch more bite. When I do I will update this review.
My guitars are decent enough that I expected this baby to make me sound like everyone I emulate. Truth , it brings me closer than the others (LINE6,POD, CRATE gfx65,MARSHALLS AVT-265)but I still need more time to fine tune her and then I will edit this view point if needed. (NOISE) This amp is not any nosier than any other amp with effects, and un-shielded items. What do people expect a CD no hiss quiet from this stuff? Come on get real.
Here's the (INTERESTING PART), the sound I wanted from this amp mainly was the ability to sound like Santana. This is about as close as your going to get without a boogie. Sorry you still need the boogie. Better than Line 6 POD rectified. However the Marshall like sounds are pretty good. If you want perfection it usually comes at a ballistic cost. (HOW CLOSE TO SOUNDS) very? To my ears and I have a accumulative total of 32 years, I say 80-90% close to the sound you want to emulate. NOT BAD! 75% for if your using cheap knock offs, and entry level stff. Still not shabby. Hobbiest's and entry level people should be this lucky. Rating reflect's honest comparisons of higher priced boutique and mass produced equipment.

To soon to give an opinion! I will update in 12 months.
its March 2002 now.

I am dealing with the distributor right now, so I don't have any comments. If anything negative comes from dealing with this company you will (Not an idol threat) hear from me.

I 10 years accumulative time on guitar. The first two years was all acoustical and then I went electric. I play drums also, and have more years on drums.
I have had lots of gear like most guitar addicts, but right now only two guitars and a nice drum kit, yamaha maple custom.
What I like most about this product is the price, sound emulation presets, and simplicity. Looks like a vintage something or other. It's got pinnache. I predict that in the future this will be the one others are judged by. SOTA Strictly from a solid state view point. Question can you beat this unit? Answer of course, either by spending more or using individual effects like the sansampTri-A.C. by tech 21 with a clean amp, or tube amp. It may be cost effective that way,however this was my choice. Look it over and kick it tweek it, use effects, and if you think this review helped great. I wish I could rate it 8.75.

I love the range of features that are available with this amp. Once the channels you plan to use are dialed in, channel switching is a breeze with the footswitch. I use Tweed clean, Tweed broken up and Mesa balls out settings and stay mostly on the clean tweed, but the British setting is tasty as well if you fuss with it. And why shouldn't you? You have three switchable channels. With effects added to these, three should be plenty. Fantastic recording options, too! Any other sounds you might need can be plugged into the effects loop, which works well. I won't list all the features, as they are listed in the other reviews. I wish the footswitch was a bit bigger (buttons farther apart), but . . The other guitar player in my band has a 212 DeVille, and this sounds great with it and can hang in terms of volume and clarity. I can't imagine a show I'd be playing where this wouldn't work. Anything bigger than a club, you'd be getting most of your volume from the board anyway. The boost feature is to die for!

A G&L ASAT through this amp is a dream come true. I can get clean, Fendery sounds, slightly overdriven tones, and all-out sustained rawk tones, and all of them are as good or better than other amps i've tried and owned--except for the chorusy clean i can get on my Roland JC 120 (i know, i know "isn't that a keyboard amp?") or the sweet tremolo of my VOX Royal Guardsman. But those are effects, so with the right effects pedals, I should be in good shape. i play rock, pop, indie, emo stuff mostly, and the sounds i get here keep me from sounding too bluesy or too heavy. A perfect middle ground for my style. Tweaking the knobs on this amp really pays off with some trademark tones that suit my band's style perfectly. With my other guitars--strat plus and epi lp signature--the sounds I use for the ASAT don't work quite as well, but those are my backup guitars, so why should I spend loads of time dialing in sounds for guitars I won't be using? That's my only complaint, however, as my other amps tend to have a sound that is pretty utilitarian in terms of doing fairly little tweaking to adapt to the other guitars in my collection. The reverb is sufficient, but I'm not a real reverb fanatic anyhow.

It's pretty new, but it seems rugged as can be to me. At my bassiest moments, there seems to be a slight rattle of the amp, but I think a good tightening of a screw or two would get rid of that.

They responded to an e-mail query pretty quickly and quite politely.

At first, I was afraid I'd made a real mistake with this amp. The sounds weren't quite what I 'd hoped for. I read all about it before purchasing it but didn't play it anywhere. I'm not the kind of guy who's comfortable going into a store, turning up an amp as loud as it would be at one of my shows, and playing my parts from songs nobody's ever heard before and that frankly don't sound so great in isolation without the rest of the band. i don't think a low volume session in a music store helps you decide anything, truthfully. But the reviews i read in reputable, trustworthy magazines and publications seemed to really like this, and it had the features and stock tones i was looking for. Like others here, i got it home, cranked it up, and fiddled with it until i had the tones I wanted. then, I tried it with the band, and it sounded like crap, so I made slight alterations to my settings, and all of the sudden, it worked just like i hoped it would. I made templates of my settings in case contents shift during flight, and bam! we're ready to rock. I've been playing for fifteen years, by myself and in bands. For original bands, this is a good choice because of the phenomenal range of sounds possible. I've used a Deville, A VoX RG, a JC 120, AC 30, and various others live and in the studio. In terms of portablity, sound, price and features, this is tough to beat. I wouldn't pay MSRP for it, but who pays MSRP for anything?

Amp is an end of the year, 2001 model. It is extremely flexible in sounds. I play mostly rock, jazz and blues and can usually find a very satisfactory tone. Channel switching is clean and with each channel, the variety is infinite. The only feature missing that I thought it would have (I bought it sight unseen) would be "mod" and "speaker" switches like the Trademark 10 I also own. There is a quality and coloration these switches add that I have not been able to duplicate (yet). Power is more than adequate in light of most small clubs and rooms.

I have a number of guitars, all of which sound great -- but require very specific tweaking depending on the guitar and pickup combination. I have a Fender Custom Shop set neck Strat with custom pickups that sounds killer, a Squire Strat with stock pick ups in the neck and middle but a PJ Marx in the bridge and a Steinberger Spirit (pretty weak). All sound in this amp amazingly good. I rate it a nine because having played with a Mesa Boogie Mark III half stack, it is just not the same. The sustain and decay are somewhat artificial. But the flexibility, generally great sound and ease of use win out. CAUTION: I thought it sounded horrible out of the box using the suggested presets and I almost sent it right back. I had to really tweak the knobs (especially the midrange and the drive) and experiment to get the sound right. Because they are active tone controls, the slightest movement can make major changes. It's kind of amazing.

Solid state is usually pretty reliable. No problems yet but I haven't moved it around much.

The company is terrific. Great web site and they answered my email questions swiftly.

I've been playing 38 years. I'm pretty faithful to equipment. I had an old Fender Bandmaster head and 2 twelve cabinet in the sixties, a Peavey Bandit in in the 80's, and a Mesa Boogie Mark III 100 watt half stack since then. I've had various practice amps including an all tube 60 Watt Electar. I bought a Trademark 10 last year for practice and was blown away, so I bought this one for practice with others. I have been very pleased so far. What is a little weird is that the other people in the band and those who listen always comment on how good it sounds. I didn't give it a 10 because it is pricey.

3 Channels with 3 modes(tweed,brit & calif)120 watts S.S. 2x60 with
2 12's. Boost, fx loop and reverb which can be turned on or off via
the 6 button footswitch. The six button footswitch uses a standard
guitar or speaker cord which is pretty cool. The 120 S.S. power is
as loud as a loud 60 watt tube amp but with a little more headroom
for the clean stuff. I think the term clean is quite subjective as I
like a little hair on my clean sound and I know some people don't.

I am using a 2000 Les paul Classic and a 1999 Fender Designer series
Strat w/vintage noiseless p.u's. I'm playing in a four piece w/2 guitars, bass and drums doing Rock Blues and R&B. From Santana to SRV
and everything in between. This amp just sounds great for everything.
With the L.P. it sustains for days and with the strat it quacks and
sceams. You really need to spend some time getting your sound as this
amp has the capabilty to get great tones as well as not so great and
I think that's true with most amps.

I've been gigging with this 3 or 4 times a month since August and no real problems. One of the buttons on the footswitch was sticky and Tech21 sent me a new one ASAP. No Problems since. I went to a solid state amp after a horrible 2 years with Mesa Boogie amps (what a nightmare).
I used mainly Boogies for the last 20 years and I just couldn't hang anymore.

Customer support was great with the footswitch problem. They {Lloyd)
was a great help.

I've Been playing for 30 some odd years and I have a lot of gear. 11 guitars (PRS's,Strats,Tele,Ernie Ball.....). 5amps(60's SuperReverb,
Fender Concert,Boogie...) If I lost it I would get another as it is versatile and easy on the back. I tried a prosonic,deville,crate,line6
and others that don't come to mind and this covers my needs. It also
sounds cool at lower volumes as well as cranked. My band can get loud
and this amp can hang no problem. Our singer plays though a Twin and
I have no trouble being heard and I love to play loud.

3 channels, any of which can be assigned to clean, crunch, lead duties. I used mine in a covers band playing various stuff, usually 90's rock/pop stuff.Each channel has separate bass, mid, treble gain and volume, with a 3way sytle switch (fender,marshall,mesa). Master section includes a master volume, reverb and boost volume. Stereo 2 x 60 watts.

Used with mainly USA standard Strats. Not too noisey an amp at upper volumes. Didn't give the guitar very much sustain/singing quality. Clean Fender type sounds have a very mid scooped sound, which got lost within a band context, also difficult to keep really clean without distorting (ie no headroom). Crunch sounds were quite good for a non valve amp, lead tones had no sustain. Amp wasn't loud enough at all, master volume was nearly full up (only a four piece band) and with bass control anywhere near the halfway mark caused the speakers to sound like they were flapping-which made me try and hold off playing the guitar too hard, ie less than inspiring! Guess could be a good amp if miked and PA'd. at low volume. But that's not really the point of back line is it!? Also the effects loop annoyingly cuts out very briefly when switched out on footswitch

Very well built with massive heat sink. Also very light (55lbs I think?) for a 2 x 12.

Sent a email to their support staff (from England), got a reply in a day or two= very good!

Returned after 2 rehearsals and one gig. Not enough volume, effects loop volume dropout when switched off=too annoying, Speakers sounded like they were flapping, couldn't dial any bass into the sound, no sustain on lead settings, couldn't keep clean sounds really clean.

Made Sept 2001.
Versatility - very
3 channels - use one for CLean Tweed, one for British (usually rhythm) and am undesicde whether I want to use the Big mesaa (Calif) or get a dirty Fender (Tweed) on the third. Fender Tweed sounds a little buzzy to me when you crank the gain.

After 4.5 months of stuff and playing.....

I use this amp mainly in a Christian contemporary Worhsip band setting where the styles differ from one song to the other.
The pedal (channel, effect, reverb and boost) is great cuz it allows "real time" access to the features. My partner, uses a Peavey and is constantly walking over to the amp to adjust)
I got the amp cuz of the features (Overdrives, reverb - good sound..need nothing else,

Guitar - mainly play a AmStd Strat with Seymour Lil 59 in bridge and Classic in Neck, stock in middle.
AMp is not noisy at all. I usually dont go past 12 (oclock) on volume (I let PA do the rest)
Good sustain..but harmonic feedback not quite as easily obtained as on the tm60...tech21 suggested pushing up the middles - it did the trick. Distortions are great and sound great coming out of direct outs...both to a sound card or straight to board.
Use clean tweed for glassy sounds, Brit at about 1200 gain for solid rhythms (Cleans up nice with playing dynamics) and Calif at about 12:00 - 13:00 for leads. Calif has much more bottom than British..but Britsh can be compensated with Low adjustment. I read somewhere that the channels also have different personalities (ie tighter bass on channel 1..I have not yet tested this)

Has the jury reached a verdict?
I think I suffered from being one of the first to buy the product in early July. I ended up going thru 4 120's before getting one that overcame my unique circumstances.
The first two were unable to survive in an environment with unusually hi voltage fluctuations (sometimes > 135vac) it overheated and shut off. Tech21 began putting larger heat syncs (at least in mine) on, I believe, the voltage regulator..which solved the problem of ovberheating. Unfortunately the 3rd amp they sent out was damaged in shipping. The fourth amp was shipped special by tech21 with extra packaging and air-freight to protect. No damage but I had problems with buzzing at certain frequencies. THis was solved by putting a couple more screws thru the metal casing into the wood cabinet underneath. I also have a couple of shims between the metal casing and the wood cabinet. I do not get the buzz and figure....most intstruments are tempormental anyhow (like females) I was willing to
overlook the mods I needed to do because I loved the sound of the amp.
(See Cusotmer support!) WOuld I use this without a backup....hmmmmmm??
Do I HAVE to use this without a backup - Yes! <- my wife typed that !

John of tech21 was great. They were willing "...to do anything" to get me satisfied. John worked with me over a period of 3 months till we got it right. Even the Preseident (of tech21) got involved to make sure things were worked out. I had some great conversations with him (1 immediately after 9/11) They are great people and made the difference between me keeping this and chucking it and going for a Peavey classic or line6 or Fender HRD.

I have been playing for 20 years (FIrst amp Earth amp !!!, Fenders, Marshall's and now tm120!)
Overall it seems like the reliability issue is now in the past. I have used the amp several times in the past 2 months and it has been extremely reliable. SOme of the tones do not quite match the warmth of a good ol' twin reverb with a ts9 (Played next to one the other week..maybe I have more tweeking to do?!??!)) but this amp overall does the basics better than anything I've heard. It is now my main rig (FOrmerly used Fender and Rp7) to get the job done. I use this amp along with a few BOss pedals (compressor/sustain and acostic sym in front and chorus and delay in effects loop) to get the job done.

This amp is a 2001 model. 3 channels , boost, effects loop with stereo returns, stereo XLR outs, headphone out and reverb. All are controlled via the supplied footswitch. 2 Tech 21 12's. A very handsome amp, it only weighs 55 lbs.
Each channel has 3 modes: tweed, britsh and california. It's rated at 120 watts(60 x2). It's loud enough for my gig. Oh yeah, it solid state.

I play a Parker Fly Deluxe.
To the amp: Boss TU-2, CS-3 and Vox Wah.
In the loop: TC Electronics Chorus, Fulltone Supa Trem and Boss DD-5.
Like many of you I play in cover bands, Merle Haggard to Marilyn Manson. You know the story, try to all kinds of sounds out of one box. I thought this would be the answer, but I was wrong.
Tweed: very sterile sound. has a lot of bottom, but lacks fullness.
British: not too bad, pretty good AC/DCish tone. but once again the channel lacks fullness.
California: just like the rest of them, thin. But you can get a pretty good scooped mid distortion out of this channel. when you finnally get it loud enough the speakers souhd like thay're going to crap out.

I just got it 2 days ago. I gigged with it first time tonight. It seems pretty dependable. I'm probably not giving it a chance on the sounds, but I had high expectations for this amp. It's built like a tank and looks great.

Haven't dealt with the company, but the website is cool.

I've been playing for 16 years. I've got 3 Peavey Stereo Churus 212's(only 2 work),a Peavey Classic 30 (a great little amp) and a Fender Deville 212(a workhorse, awesome amp!). After 5 years of hard gigging the Deville has been retired. I've owned a Line 6 Flextone, a Mesa Boogie Mark IIc and a Peavey Delta Blues.
The Tech 21 has tons of features and doesn't sound terrible, but it just can't do the tube thing. I think I'm driving to New Orleans tomorrow and buying a Mesa Boogie Nomad 55.

2001: Made in New York City, by Tech 21.
Two analog power amp sections; three analog preamp channels; effects loop with stereo returns; stereo XLR outs; Accutronics long 3 spring reverb;
six button footswitch for channel switching, boost, reverb, and effects loop.
120 watts.

Great concept and execution by an established US company.

Good tube type sounds and dynamics. Well thought out features.
They've blended the best features of the Tech 10 slide switch for "Tweed/British/Calif (Boogie)" voicing: and the great level; tone stacks; Master & Boost stuff from the TM 60.
Lively sound with harmonic content, Fender BF clean to over the top screaming dentist drill with balls, plus everything in between.
The three distinct preamps are the same, and can be logically set up for increasing crunch, grind, howl, whatever. The boost just boosts (up to 9db) without changing the character of the sound itself, anytime, any preset, and you can vary the jump in volume with the knob.
In the TM 60, the boost was on unless the footswitch was used. In the 120, the boost seems to be off if the footswitch isn't used, but the knob can be turned up instead on the amp's control panel.

I use a solidbody superstrat type guitar with two humbuckers and a middle single coil (a self-modified older Carvin DC135 with Duncan Antiquity humbuckers).
Clean Jazz and Country through Blues edge and SRV, to over the top Rock sounds.

This amp sounds like a BIG TM 60, with that Tech 21 sorta compression, but of course more clean headroom and overall volume.
Works great alone or with my old Peavey TubeFex processor for stereo effects and direct to the house PA (also in stereo), for big rooms (1,000+ seaters).
It has a bit of hiss and hum when cranked up, but most amps with this kind of power seem to. Around the house at lower volumes it's quiet and doesn't sound thin when turned down.
It's easy to tweak on the fly. The controls are logical and active (they vary the tone a LOT).
Tech 21 stuff is easy to use and solves a lot of performing headaches. The TM 60 and TM 120 amps sound consistent from room to room too. Unique in my experience, for solid state amps!

I've had lots of Tech 21 stuff with no problems.
At first there was a funny idling noise coming from the boost section when turned OFF. The rep was going to get me another, but the noise went away after the first gig.
I use it routinely, even though I have smaller amps too, and don't aways need the power, but it's not too heavy for a 2 X 12" combo, and I've gotten addicted to the great footswitcher, live.
There's usually an extra amp or two floating around the venues I play, so I don't bring a spare amp, just fuses, tape, etc.
Had a TM-10 that the light burned out on fairly quickly. Never bothered with it.
My other Tech 21 amps and Direct boxes, etc., have always been trouble free and easy to use.

One year warranty.
Like I said above, the rep was very responsive, but ultimately not needed when the minor noise problem solved itself.

40+ years playing guitars. Various other amps, processors, etc., but this is now my main gigger (previously used a Trademark 60 with very satisfactory results, but this is the ultimate Tech 21 offering at this time and is a great refinement and execution of their concept).

Also had a '65 RI Fender Twin Reverb, but not versatile enough for my needs. The Tech 21 is slightly more "recorded" sounding than a Twin, but certainly NOT digital modeling sounding!

Best sounding transistor amps ever, even though everybodie's have gotten much better recently. Tech 21's are very convincing, and way easier to live with.

I love being able to set up my processor "off-line," then just switching in the effects loops with the footswitch. No unpleasant surprizes. Stereo too!

I guess over the years I've become a pretty big fan of Tech 21 stuff, and this is no disappointment either. It's actually more than I expected. I figured it would be like two TM 60's linked together, but it's actually got some refinements in the controls, while retaining the great sound with more headroom.
Kudos to Tech 21.

New 2001 model
3 channels,10db solo boost,reverb,effects ALL on The "Comes with the amp" Foot switch.Master Volume too.
I paid $685 the sales men said it listed for$1,000
I said I can get it from SAMASH.com for $750.00
he said How about $685.00?...SOLD!

Plays ZEP,SRV,and Lynch.
NO clean you have to turn the gain down on the third channel and run effects loop(Which works like a true effects circuit)BUT it still dirties the clean Rush style arppegios I run
Oh well I Bought this for Distortion and so I would not have to Lug a 4x12 and a head etc,To rehearsal's ,For a gig I will whirlwind switch to a 100 watt clean amp for ringing purity..

Its solid state,What could go wrong ?

N/A
Although I did email the tech Guy he answered all my questions,
within an hour.

Playing 8 years
Yes I would Buy another one
Why did I choose this one ?
Because my Ax teacher(tdclark.com) has the 10 watt one,
At any volume level you get the same tone/feel... AWESOME
The amp simply gets louder with the master volume
The 120 watt that I have more Volume then you could ever need.
I gave just about everything a 9 Because it's NOT the real thing
It isnt a Marshall jcm 800, Or a Fender twin, Or a Soldano etc.
But it is the Closest I'll get to them for now....

This is an update to my earlier post. I wanted to return after I had a chance to mess with the amp, find strengths, weaknesses, etc. I sent an email to Tech 21 because my amp did not come with a manual and the reverb tank was loose. They told me that a manual should have come with the amp and that the loose tank probably happened during shipping. They advised that I take it to the store I got it from. Well, I did and sure enough my new one had a manual and the reverb tank was securely mounted on the amp. This amp is great for headphone use, line out use, and I think it will have plenty of power for gigs! The reverb is analog and sounds like a Fender type of reverb. A guy at Tech 21 told me that they did not include a lot of effects because it would bring up the price, and also they feel that each person has an effects preference that they stick with.

Let me just say this. The settings that Tech 21 gives you to start with a nice, but if you want to find "your sound", you have to just tweak until you are there. I really loved the distortion on this thing, but everytime I played it I felt like something was missing. I changed my pickups from Gibson Tony Iommi's to Seymour Duncan Distortions and that made a difference, but I still was not there. I started turning knobs every which way, and then it happened. I found "the sound". With the amp set on "British", I turned the Bass to the 1 o'clock position, cut the mids, and put treble up at 3 o'clock. That setting is a "Dual Rectifier". It sounds brutal and killer! I was playing everything from "Unchained" to Godsmack riffs completely amazed. I did not think this amp would be able to get that kind of crunch. I recommend Seymour Duncan distortions also. Good and heavy!

I have heard good things about reliability. This is my only amp, so I am forced to gig without a backup but I don't think I'll have any problems.

These guys are awesome! I have received more emails from these guys than I have sent to them. Amazing. They have answered all of my questions promptly and thoroughly. When I told them what happened with my first amp, they scanned a copy of the manual into their computer and emailed it to me. Then they told me they were sending me a hardcopy manual, warranty card, and some extra screws to fix the loose reverb tank. They actually read my previous review on Harmony Central and thanked me for the write up.

I play through a Gibson SG with the SD Distortion pickups in it. I love the sound of this amp and am very happy. If you are looking for a solid state amp that does a good job of faking as a tube amp, look no further.