Tech 21 Trademark 60

The amp was made in 2001 and I have been using it for the last 5 years. It is plenty versatile for my needs (small gigs, jamming, teaching; blues, rock, jazz guitar). The amp has two channels with a foot swich to control both channel switch, boost and effects loop i/o. An XLR jack for direct out recording, a headphone jack and a speaker jack for adding an extra cab. A very good reverb section is also included.

It has plenty of power for gigs and jams while it still sounds good at a low enough volume for teaching. Also, the direct out solves my home studio recording issue of not being able to get a good amp tone to the board without keeping the family up.

Also, the fact that it wieghs less than 40lbs makes it a great 'portable' amp without sacrificing sound nor power. This factor alone drew me to consider this amp in the first place.

Paul Reed Smith CE24, vintage treble and bass PRS pickups. I play a mix of music depending on the group I am jamming with or the students' requests for songs they are learning. This amp is quiet (the only time I get noise is when using stomp boxes in the effects loop).

I have changed my 'default' tone on the amp as it has suited my mood or style, but have not run out of different tones it can produce. Recently I did a gig opening for an awards ceremony and played Hendrix' version of the Star Spangled Banner. The tone was spot on. Feedback was perfect! The day after, a student wanted to learn "Oriental Melody" by Satch. I dialed in the tone on the amp and had a tone that matched (minus the echo/delay and chorus) within moments. I can only echo my student's opinion, 'wow, that was easy and it sounds awesome!".

The clean channel is a bit 'tight' with the PRS pick ups at 10 and the amp at a high volume. However, dialing back the guitar or using a single coil strat I get smooth clean tones without any distortion on the clean Fender settings. Be sure to disengage the Bite switch on Channel 1 if you want ultra clean sounds.

Channel 2 can go from clean jazzy tones with a little meat to full on Hendrix tone just by dialing in the right settings. Also, the weep switch gives you more options on the tone. On full on "crank it to 11 and yank the knobs off" settings you can get a decent metal tone. Although to make it really scream I'd recommend a distortion pedal up front and a compressor (Tech 21's comptortion works well for this in a single box)

In 2001 I sold all my equipment and started from scratch. I picked up a PRS (a guitar I had wanted since they were first released) and in looking for an Amp found the T60 at a local store. I bought it and have not used another amp since. I have had only one time I had any issue with it and that was user error in setting up a sound. (I did contact Tech 21 on the issue and resolve the tonal issue in seconds after getting their response).

The amp has performed flawlessly and I am constantly impressed with it's tone, versatility and the fact that I can go to a student's house and get in and out in one trip to the car.

I have had one support contact (see above) and the company was prefessional, prompt and courteous. Given the problem was essentially an "RTFM" issue, they were not condescending nor annoyed. They genuinely seemed to care and offered service immediately if the recommendations did not resolve the problem.

I have contacted them for other "hey can I..." questions on how to get to a specific tone both pre and post sales and even though these were not "I have a problem" questions, I received the same level of responsiveness. The fact that they truly care about their customers has made me a lifelong customer. I own three of their other products and each one has performed as advertized and without issue.

I have been playing for 26 yrs and have owned a number of amps, guitars, effects, etc. Currently I run a lean sound chain on all of my instruments. For my guitar I have the Tech 21 T60, the XXL distortion pedal and the comptortion pedal to augment sounds. I use the SansAmp Bass DI to record my bass direct to the board. The XLR out on the T60 and the weight of the amp were two primary factors that made me even consider purchasing the amp since I was looking to mostly do home recordings and small jams at the time.

If it were lost or stolen I'd pick up another one. I love the tone, the versatility, the fact I can carry it with one hand, the footswitch, reverb. The list goes on. It may not be perfect for everyone, but it definitely suits my needs.

I looked at the line 6 amps when I was checking out this amp, but even though they had more features (built in effects) the cost and weight of those amps precluded me from pciking them.

The company is awesome, their support is superb and their products (or at least my experience with them) have been flawless.

As described by others. A bit tricky to get the right settings on the EQ, as it is shared between the channels.

Many, many great sounds.

As mentioned earlier, sudden losses of power/volume can be an issue with the T60. No longer a problem. The tip i got from Loyd did the trick (look further down ).

"Dear Henrik,
Thanks for your inquiry. That sounds like dirty Effect Send and Return jacks... even if you don't use them, the signal always passes through. So if the contacts oxidize (possibly from a humid environment), there will be an interruption of the signal.

You can check whether this is the cause of your cut-outs by running a short guitar cable from the Effect Send right back into the Effect Return (a sort of "jumper") to open the jacks. If the amp sounds fine that way you'll know you only need to spray a little bit of DeOxit or similar electronic component contact cleaner in the jacks and then jam a 1/4" cable plug in and out a few times. That usually does the trick.

Regards,
Lloyd Schwartz, Product Manager



Henrik Xxxxxx wrote:

Daer Tech21! I am the proud owner of a TM60. It has worked well untill now. The other day when I was jamming with some friends I got a sudden loss of volume. I tried with other guitars, but the same loss of volume occured. Have you got any idea of what could cause this? NB! I am not going to try to repair my amp. myself! Mvh Henrik Xxxxxxx. Norway. "

Great support!!!

The Tech 21 Trademark 60 combo has all the features I was looking for in a lightweight 1x12 combo amp including: a pristine warm clean channel, a versatile dirty channel, a thick rich reverb and plenty of headroom for medium sized gigs. The Tech 21 Trademark 60 combo has delivered that and a lot more. In addition to its great sound, it has features that allow it to be used in a variety of settings including; a practice amp, a gigging amp and a studio amp. It sounds great at low or high volumes. It has excellent headroom for a 60 watt 1x12 amp. The XLR out can be fed directly into a mixer for live shows or recording. The headphone jack allows late night practicing without disturbing the family or neighbors. The foot switch provides access to a great boost feature for those times when a little more punch is needed when playing live. The amount of boost can be set from 0 to 9db. The boost feature can also be linked to the reverb via a push button switch. Another feature that is very cool is the XLR our can be fed into a Tech 21 Power Engine 60. It is like adding another 60 watts of amp and another 1x12" speaker. The PW 60 can be daisy chained over and over for more modular power at a very reasonable cost.

This amp absolutely shines in the sound quality department. The really great thing about this amp is that both the clean and dirty channels are excellent. I like the way the tone can be shaped on both of these channels. Its like having several amps in one without the complexity of a modeling amp. As my tastes change or as the room conditions vary, the amp can be set to accommodate the needed tone. While there is a single master tone control for low and high frequencies, the clean channel has a Bite switch. This allows me to set the dirty channel's tone (using the master low and high controls) and then switch to the clean channel and engage the Bite if I need a brighter sound. The amp is used for Vintage Rock, Blues and Metal. This amp accepts single coil or humbucker equally well. No prejudice there. My son likes to run the Tech 21 amp's XLR output through the PA which yields a very heavy metal sound on the dirty channel.

Excellent. My first Tech 21 amp blew the fuse in the power cord connector. It turns out the power strip I was using had a short in it and would have fried the amp but the fuse saved it. Put in a new fuse and threw away the bad power strip. No problems since. I always bring a backup amp (and guitar). No exceptions.

Called for pre-sales support and got my questions answered by a knowledgeable person (Yes it was Lloyd).

I have been playing guitar for 42 of my 52 years. First amp was a 1965 Fender Bassman and my 3rd guitar was a 1967 Les Paul. I have been through a few of amps and guitars since then. My Carvin CT6T and Carvin DC127T sound incredible through this amp. The amp only weights 35 lbs and is quite compact, great for gigging and lugging to practice.

I have worn out two pairs of shoes running around evaluating amps in the last couple of years, glad I found the Tech 21 for my sole's sake.

How much do I really like this amp? Well I sold ALL my other amps and bought a second Tech 21 Trademark 60 combo for my son who loves it. He's 15 and has been playing 8 years.

The design features of this amp make it an excellent choice for both studio and gigging musicians.

I bought my Tech 21 from Mars Music in Nashville, TN back in 1998. The amp gives me what I want, a good clean tone, and a santana like blues lead tone. I play a '97 std tele through a wah right into the amp. I never had any problems with my effects loop. For a couple of years, it needed a good cleaning. Deox and a can of air did the trick. I've played so many hours of music at performance/stage volume. The amp is 8 years old! I'm still on the road, play every weekend. I know that at this point my reverb tank fritzes out so I just don't use it. I compose a variety of styles of songs, ranging from funk, reggae, ska, punk, rock, emo, soul. I just keep writing and the amp keeps rockin'. It's got plenty of power for the dives and small rooms I play. But even hitting the festivals, it sounds great. Anywhere, where they mic your amp you should be just fine. I stand next to the drummer most of the time and my tele cuts through with the tech 21 trademark 60. 60 watts. 1X12". 2 channels. boost, mic/line out. effects loop. tri-way effects loop.

tele, standard, single coil. get a power conditioner. use good strings, it effects tone. This amp has dynamics! play softly, it sounds softer. Play rough, gets more responsive. You'll find some tones in there, but warning, what you like immediately, might change with time.

Well, my amp is 8 years old, bought new in 1998. Only had problems when it was dirty. playing shows in dirt fields with hippies kicking up dirt everywhere! Open it up and clean that crap out! reverb tank has a ground or cable problem. I've abandoned it. You really don't miss the reverb anyway. a holy grail pedal is far far surpassing the actual reverb of the amp.

warranty expired a while ago. Never used tech21 tech support.

I've been playing music all my life. guitar for ten years now. I'd love to own another one. You know, when you're gigging alot. It gets hard to pick up your marshall 4X10 or your vintage fender twin 2X10--but with the 22 pound tech 21 trademark 60, my back is still intact. No tubes to buy every couple of months too!

The features aren't to bad. This amp takes a little getting use to. It's wise to read the manual over and over again to get the full effects of this amp. It was a little confusing with the Master EQ select knobs. this is the first amp I've owned without a Bass/Treble/Midrange knobs.

I tried both my Les Paul and Strat while using this amp. Face it, for a 1x12 amp you're not going to get the full sound of a stack or even a 2x12 cabinet. I just bought this for practice anyway. If I ever use it out giggin I plan on hooking it into my Marshall 4x12 bottom. Lloyd at T-21 said that would be ok, but he also suggested I buy one of their 4x12 bottoms. I don't know if that's a sales pitch or not...but I'll stick with my Marshall. Noise......hummmmmm..well yeah. Maybe it was a ground issue when I used my Strat. no big deal, just try a Furman or something. The Clean channel did sound quite nice with both guitars, and the distortion was ass kickin with my Les Paul. The settings sections in the back of the manual is a smart idea. I wish more amp companies would do that too.

Here's the problem! I bought this off of Musicians Friend as a Blem item. When I got it out of the box I plugged into it and started playing. after about 30 secs the volume dropped like a cheap radio on an AM station. So I called T-21 and got to talk to Lloyd. I told him the story and he said that Blem items are not covered under warranty from MF. He told me that before I send it back, try a few things that might clear up the problem. He said the jacks could be dirty from sittng in a warehouse or box somewhere. I did what he told me and the problem seemed to fix itself. He also told me that if I did need to send the unit back it would be a approximate cost of 25 bucks. Let's not forget shipping! Anyway, I decide to keep the amp for now. The next week I get to practice and hook up my pedal chain into the effects loop.....amp craps out again. I unplug the pedals and go with straight foot switch effects and it worked???. Back to square one. Make a long story short.......it works fine now with pedals or without.

Next problem. I call MF and ask what the return policy is for returning my amp? The guy on the phone asks what the problem is. I gave him my story and he proceeds to tell me that it was a Blem item.....Well yeah! But Blem or not the dam thing should work. Blem to me means a few dings here or there. but the product should work! He also tells me that it is covered under warranty from MF. I told him I just talked to Lloyd at T-21 and he says it isn't. This guy from MF tells me that Lloyd is mis-informed and I need to speak to someone else. I proceed to tell him that I personally talked to the Product Manager Lloyd and whatever Lloyd says goes! So anyway I'm asking Junior what I need to do about sending this back I told him this whole purchase for now has been a bad trip. this guy gets an attitude with me saying I should expect that from a Blem item. Back up Pal. Number one, yes I know it's a Blem. It still needs to be functional. Two, I see these things all day long on Ebay for 300.00/new plus 35.00 shipping. I paid 400.00 as a Blem item. As far as T-21 and Lloyd go....He was a true professional, he stayed on the phone with me until I asked everything I needed to know. You couldn't ask for better customer service. Those Pricks from Hiwatt, Vox and even Junior from MF need to take lessons from Lloyd on how to deal with current or potential customers! Thanks a Million Lloyd

I must say that since Lloyd went out of his way to work this thing out with me I plan on buying another T-21 amp. probably the new TM-60 with the 4x10's in it. I also might add that if you guys and gals are looking for new equipment, you need to do your homework. these reviews from here and ever Musician's Friend are the best tool we have out there for anyone looking for support. Other than that...happy hunting.

Brand new. 2005 model. Excellent. I've no problem with the shared EQ. Celestion 70-80 does the trick!

Excellent for country and rock/blues stuff. Uee it with Telecaster and a humbicking guitar.

Power cuts in and out. For example volume (say on level 6) suddenly and without warning drops to 2 or 3 volume level. VERY embarrassing! No effects were plugged in... it just drops and I panic. Volume comes up after 2 or 3 seconds but I should charge a reliability factor of "1" or "0" but it does work most of the time. Won't return to Tech 21 (people indicate that even with a warranty they charge you). Great sound but don't count on it.

Always responive in e-mails.

fix the structural integrity issue(s) and you've got a mean machine. Just don't count on it for until the company says: HEY, WE'VE FIXED THE RELIABILITY ISSUES!!!

Anything else I'd want would increase cost and thus price point, but for what you get in versatility of tone I would have paid more for:

- Seperate EQ for each channel
- Built in tuner
- Effects loop volume control
- Reverb not tied to boost(?)
- The oblique "weep", "growl", "bite" and "punch" features are useless until you read the manual. I understand them but the names and panel layout need to be more intuitive. Especially for the retail shopper.

I play blues/jazz with mostly a PRS McCarty/P-90's into a 535Q wah, Ernie Ball volume, TS-9 (w/Keeley Deluxe Mod package), Boss CE-2 (w/Keeley Speedy Mod) in effects loop. I've been messing around with Line 6 lately but just couldn't get passed the "synthetic" vibe. Great "amp-ersonations" (parody?) of the real things, but just not the real things. I have a Boogie MKIV (LOUD!). I've had Fender Twins, a Yamaha 115 (horrible! as an SS). I was considering a Traynor but decided on this based on reviews here, at MF and that weight,(36lbs). I've owned a SansBass for several years.

Like fine wine and women, tone is subjective.
This to me, pumping it with a TS-9, is TONE NIRVANA.
Based on my 30 years doing this - just my opinion.
I get complimented on my sound constantly; even from people who wouldn't know the difference can tell, if you know what I mean.
It just seems to stand out from the crowd.
Nothing has ever been a 10 for me, until now.

The spring reverb was busted loose in shipping. Had to re-attach it.
This is NOT "built like a tank".
Again, that would cost more, which I'd pay.
No problems so far in functionality/operation and I don't expect any.

They say Lloyd is the GOD of support.
Hope I never have to find out.

If there was a value rating I'd give this an 11 just for the variable tone qualities alone. My plan is to buy the Power Engine and run stereo through a GigaDelay. If you're a tube snob this is NOT the amp for you. You guys cringe just knowing your not playing through anything but tubes. I dare anyone to take a blind fold test against Fender, Marshall, Vox or Mesa. This amp has been around for years and yet still seems to be a dirty little secret among non-tube biased (hey, a nifty pun!) guitarists everywhere. It's a player's amp. Les Paul plays through it! NUFF SAID!
9, only cause if were perfect it would cost more, which I'd pay.

I must admit, I'm a little bitter as I write this. I read the reviews and bought one of these amps. I was happy with it at bedroom volume. However, my new Trademark 60 just cut out and then died on me during a show. Total nightmare situation. I will never use another Tech 21 amp again because I just can't trust it. I've read other reviews which mention this but I just didn't pay attention. My mistake, and it won't happen again.

Clean and dirty. It does sound good, when it works.

Big, big problem. The entire thing COMPLETELY died on me in the first 25 minutes of a set... cut out and then nothing. Zero. DO NOT TRUST THIS AMP WITHOUT A BACKUP.

We'll see.

I've been playing 15 years and have had all kinds of amps. This one has been babied yet has seriously let me down on it's first night out of the house. I've had other amps that cut out like this and it's totally unacceptable.

New 2005.Features have been well documented on this site.As others have noted,Tech 21 is now shipping these amps with celestion seventy 80 speakers.I have heard older models and any change in sound is not noticeable.Lack of seperate EQ for each channel is this amps weakness.If you want to use live and switch back and forth between clean and distortion they are hard to match up,as the distortion channel always seems dark and lifeless.An outboard EQ will help get around this,but that can become bothersome.I have had this amp for almost a year now and have quit using the distortion channel .The clean side is really what sold me on the amp anyway,so I now just get my dirty sounds from stomp boxs.The line out is very nice,and I use it often.A 7 may seem a little low considering that the amp has a lot of useful features,but I have to be honest,and the lack of seperate EQ for each channel flaws this otherwise great little amp.

I use the Trademark 60 with both a Les Paul and a older strat.They both sound nice,but as with any amp you have to compensate for the guitars different output levels.As I stated before,I bought this amp for the clean channel.It really is just about as close as you are going to get to a good tube clean tone without the expense and other considerations in owning tube gear.Notice I said close,as good as this amp sounds,in an A/B comparison I am sure you could tell the difference,but in a live mix I doubt anyone could tell that it is solid state.I use the Bite switch at practice levels and turn it off when cranking the amp up as it can give some nasty high frequency overtones when playing single notes in the upper register.The distortion side is very full sounding at quiot practice levels and sounds better through the line-out than the speaker.It is not touch sensitive like a good tube amp though,and I find I can get better dirty tones thru a good stomp box.All in all the amps clean channel is a great foundation for building almost any tone.Well worth the price of the amp.I have noticed that the FX loop and reverb add some noise, that could be a problem in the studio, but are not an issue when using live.

After owning the amp for 5 months it fried-out.I called Tech 21 and the man who took my call imformed me I would have to pull out the insides from the amp and pay to ship it to them for repair. I was not thrilled about that,but the turn-around on the repair was very short.About one week total.Since then it has been fine.I guess time will tell.Having bought a solid state amp I was hoping for better reliability.

As noted, they fixed my amp in short order and they were nice enough on the phone.I still think the custumer should not get stuck with shipping costs for warrenty repairs.Just my opnion.

Ive been playing as an amature and semi-pro for nearly 40 year.Scary.As most, I have gone through a good amount of gear.The only things I have kept and will not part with are my two guitars and a 65 super Reverb. The Super stays in my den.The Trademark 60 has turned-out to be one of my wisest purchases.You need to spend some time getting used to the controls,but there are a wealth of great tones to be had from this little amp.Well worth the price.

Features all covered. 2 channels, one shared master tone section. Loop, pedal, XLR direct out with ground lift (cool), 1x12. Good spring reverb, no other effects (needed). Very versatile. I've been playing for 25 or so years, music performance degree, music ed degree yadda yadda.

I play many different kinds of guitars into this amp. Like many amps, it has its favorites, but it's fine with almost anything. I've had this amp for 5 or 6 years. Been in and out of love with it several times. I've had Bogners, Guytrons, Marshalls, Boogies, Fenders etc. There are two reasons I love this amp. One is that it has a legitimate tube feel and response. With a fender setting, using some fulltone pedals, you get the sponge and glass of a real fender. Unlike digital amps (which I'm not slamming). Which seems to suck the notes from you. The second is that EVERY time I've used this, I've gotten compliments on my sound. I've always been "yeah, it's OK for a little junk amp." With top-notch gear, it wasn't any better, sometimes much worse. But after years of struggling with top-of-the-line gear, I finally got it. It feels great, it sounds great. That's what I want. You can't compare it to the magic, transcendent experience of, say, a 59-62 fender bassman or whatever, but that's not the point of this amp. It does what it's supposed to do in spades, with musicality and playability, so it can't do worse than a ten.

No problems. Send the chassis back to Lloyd once because of some problem with the tone. They cleaned it out, sent it back (free!). I was miffed because it still sounded horrible. Turns out my Fulltone Fulldrive had crapped out.

As good as it gets. Lloyd is a god. Just does what is needed, and always get back to you. Even if you get in his face a little (like I did with the Fulltone issue) he's never anything but great.

This amp does what it's supposed to do. The sounds are in there. The feel is there. Direct it's awesome, and in the mix it's a real amp as far as anyone is concerned. Some people have issues with whatever, and that's the way music and musicianship is. But I have grown into a love affair with this amp enough to have gone and bought the TM120, and the TM30 as well. My boutique, great amps have been sitting there, but are slowly being sold off. Which to me, tells me a lot. It's not a Line 6, and doesn't pretend to be. I've owned those too and had to ditch them. Versatile, hell yes! But I always plugged into the TM60 when I wanted to "have fun." Get this amp, a Boss CE-50 or whatever and you are set. I also highly recommend the Fulltone Fat-Boost and Fulldrive if you are a fender clean freak/Marshall Plexi like me.