Hey guys,
I'm a home-recording musician and never play live. Most of my recording is done direct, so I've been trying out various softwares to make my recordings sound more natural and live. Anyway, I got to thinking about the Tech 21 SansAmp pedals, because I know several of them are specifically designed to be used with direct recording and also just sound great. Problem is, there are several of them, which all sound good to me, so I'm curious if any of you guys out there have one, have used one, or have any info, thoughts, dirt, or praises about them. Whatever your thoughts, fire away!
I posted a review of one of the new "character" pedals recently, the Vox-like Liverpool which uses Sansamp technology. I think it's great, albeit a little hissy at higher gain settings. Supposedly can be used for direct recording though it only has a 1/4" line-level output (not XLR); I haven't tried it yet, but according to Tech21 their are no impedance issues to worry about when plugging directly into a mixer or recorder.
Also I previously owned the TM30, which is basically the Sansamp built into a powered cab, so I guess more precisely called an "avec -amp." :rimshot: This has the fender/marshall/mesa simulations, similar to what you'd get in their GT2 pedal. One thing I found lacking was that "just on the verge of breaking up" power-tube tone, where the sound blooms and becomes almost three-dimensional.
But of course, the sansamp is really a pre-amp, and you could probably run one through a tube power amp like the Atomic Reactor with great success. I'm running the Liverpool into my DIY 1/2-watt tube amp, and the sound is fantastic.
One thing to keep in mind is your amp's speaker. As a modeling amp with speaker/cabinet simulations, the Sansamps (and most modelers) seem to function best with a full-range, flat response speaker, like you'd get in a PA monitor. The "special design" speakers in the Tech21 combos are basically flat-response PA speakers. As my amp has a midrangey/chimey Weber Blue Dog, I need to EQ away some congestion that develops in the mid-range, and cut some treble as well. If it were a bigger problem, I'd replace the speaker with an Eminence Modeling 12, which is really ideal for Sansamp applications.
Hope that helps! :)
P.S. I would not recommend the TM30 because I found the 10" speaker crammed into the little box tended to "fart out" (very technical term). The bigger TM60 would be a better option for a combo, but a sansamp into a tube power amp with a modeling speaker even better.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Hey Slej,
Thanks for the detailed reply! I checked out the links you put in, and those "character" pedals sound like a definate possibility. Also, I might be getting a new amp soon, so that TM30 just might be what the doctor ordered. I live in an apartment and can't ever really play loud, so I don't need a 100 watt amp or anything like that, and the headphone jacks would be perfect for me. Anyway, thanks for the info. It's going to be damn near impossible to chose between all these great pedals. I might just bite the bullet and go for the PSA-1, which should give me all the sounds of all the pedals, and a little bit more. Hmmmm...
