Has anyone tried one of these Tech 21 pedals? I've read a few positive reviews in magazines and I am seriously thinking of buying the 'Blonde' pedal. I would be using it direct to my soundcard (via my pre-amp/DI box). Of course I'd love to buy an actual Fender amp, but it isn't a practical option for me.
Tech 21 Character - amp sim pedals
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- Rated: 20 ↑
Sep 24, 2008 12:53 a.m. AJ:
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Sep 24, 2008 4:05 a.m. Ratrod:
The clips and reviews sound promising. I really liked the British pedal.
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Sep 24, 2008 12:21 p.m. 229someday:
I'm interested in the VT bass one, as I have to run my bass through a SWR California Blonde acoustic amp for the time being.
Like RatRod says, the clips do sound good. As far as getting something to go direct into your soundcard, I might also suggest the older desktop Vox Tonelab. I had one I used to do all my computer recording with, and I really liked it for the variety of amp simulations and the effects (even a tap tempo delay). They use a 12AX7 tube to help emulate the tones, which seems to help preserve some touch sensitivity. You can find them used for $150. When I just wanted to rock out I would patch it directly into the powered monitors on my computer desk and play along to stuff in iTunes.
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Sep 24, 2008 12:26 p.m. Walter Broes:
I've used the rackmount guitar version, and the pedal bass version in the studio when mixing. They're seriously great distortion boxes - actually I've used them on everything except guitars, but they work great on drums, vocals, saxes,...
I've used the bass one in combination with a mic on a Double Bass's piezo pickup for recording a couple of times, and it worked great to "get the piezo tone out". I got the impression that the bass one is a very handy preamp for bass intruments, and not just on the distorted side of things.
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Sep 24, 2008 12:55 p.m. GearJunky:
i've had the Trademark 60 amp and SansAmp GT2 (guitar), Bass DI and Acoustic DI, among other Tech 21 pedals. I can't afford them now, so I use cheap Behringer sansamp copies (gdi21, bdi21 and adi21 respectively).
they really are good pieces, especially sansamps. they are especially good for situations where there's no amp ("sans amp" = without amp). They are both a preamp and a character simulator/modeler, they approximate tube amp qualities. I said "approximate". But IMHO they do it better than most digital stuff.
A bit overpriced (Tech 21), but occupies an interesting niche.
i honestly haven't tried the character sansamps, yet. too expensive. but i'm sure they're good.
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- Rated: 20 ↑
Sep 25, 2008 2:14 a.m. AJ:
Thanks for the replies. I was hoping that someone had actual hands-on (foot-on?
) experience with the Blonde (or Liverpool) "Character Series" pedal. I know Tech21 has a good reputation and many of their products are good, but I want to know specifically about these pedals. They are alledgedly voiced differently than their other pedals or rackmount gear. If the Blonde is good it would be exactly what I'm looking for - clean Fender amp tones, compact size and a decent price.
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- Rated: 12 ↑
Sep 26, 2008 12:20 p.m. jonhope:
AJ said: I was hoping that someone had actual hands-on (foot-on?) experience with the Blonde (or Liverpool) "Character Series" pedal.
Hi,
I have very recently got one of these "Blonde" pedals.
I havn't had much time to play with it yet but first impressions are that it gives a reasonable fascimile of Fender style amps in a very small box.
The thing that has most struck me so far is just how sensitive the controls are - a very small tweak of the "character" knob makes a big difference to the sound you hear.
If you need more info I may be in a position to do some comparison recordings between this, a Award Session JD10 ( A British made amp/speaker sim pedal) and a real Blonde Bassman in about a weeks time.
Let me know if this would be of use to you
Cheers
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Sep 28, 2008 1:56 a.m. AJ:
Thanks Jon. I had read that the knobs on the Character Series pedals (specifically the Character knob) are very sensitive. If you have time and it isn't too much trouble I would like to hear any recordings made with the pedal, in comparison with the real thing or not. And once you've had a chance to play with it some more, any further comments about it's sound and responsiveness would also be appreciated. I've pretty much made up my mind to buy it, but I think I will wait until Xmas-time when I have another window of opportunity.
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Sep 28, 2008 2:37 a.m. cyclopssam:
not to be the wet towel,but i always find tech21 produts to have a short gear honeymoon.it just always works out tat way by people i known to have one
good luck
....no,really
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- Rated: 12 ↑
Sep 28, 2008 4:49 a.m. jonhope:
AJ said: Thanks Jon. I had read that the knobs on the Character Series pedals (specifically the Character knob) are very sensitive. If you have time and it isn't too much trouble I would like to hear any recordings made with the pedal, in comparison with the real thing or not. And once you've had a chance to play with it some more, any further comments about it's sound and responsiveness would also be appreciated.
Hi AJ
It should be interesting to see how it fares against the real thing
If it all works out as anticipated my idea is to use the same "riff" and put the two pedals and the real thing up in a "blind" comparison test for you - it won't be an exhasustive review but will hopefully give you a rough idea of how the pedal can sound
Cheers
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Sep 29, 2008 2:47 p.m. GearJunky:
just a word of caution here: a comparison approximating "true" would be running the Tech21 into a PA or some sort of power amp + speakers.
too many people use the sansamps as distortion pedals in front of their guitar amps only to dismiss them. they are preamps with modeler circuitry. they do their best when DI'ed into the board or perhaps into an FX-loop return on a solid-state (or even tube) guitar or bass or keyboard amp.
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Sep 29, 2008 3:06 p.m. jonhope:
GearJunky said: ust a word of caution here: a comparison approximating "true" would be running the Tech21 into a PA or some sort of power amp + speakers.
Hi,
Thats exactly what I am proposing to do
I have a full PA system here at the moment and will be running both the Sansamp and the Award-Session through it
Cheers
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- Rated: 12 ↑
Oct 9, 2008 10:42 a.m. jonhope:
OK - I have an update
The recording process has now been done and a full description of whats going on (with an audio comparison) will be put up shortly a new thread (as it involves equipment which isnt part of this particular discussion
)
Cheers
