Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

[Butch Snyder]

I need to get a new amp pretty bad and these look good to me. The sound samples are very nice too. I was interested in a Roland Jazz Chorus; but I like the warmer tone of the Trademark 30/60. I'm most interested in the Trademark 30. Yeah, I know, a decent tube amp might be better; but in my situations where stage volume and be either really loud or really quiet, a tube amp doesn't work as well.

I appreciate the feedback and insight.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

As a previous owner i can say that jazz chouses are super loud too. Just like a tube amp only not sweet.
Tech 21s are definitely versatile. I like the sansamp preamps a lot.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

I used the original sansamp for sev years as my home rig, used my marshals/jackson/laney out.

But imo, the trademark combos dont sound nearly as good as the original. They are more processed, compressed and less organic sounding. In particular I find the 30 to be the worst sounding of the bunch. 10"speaker crispness and fast attack seems to emphasize the negative aspects more. I prefer the 10 for practice, but the 60 sounds the best. Im sure a diff 10" speaker would help.

If I were to go that route again, i would grab some of the newer character pedals they make, and the power engine.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

I used the original sansamp for sev years as my home rig, used my marshals/jackson/laney out.

But imo, the trademark combos dont sound nearly as good as the original. They are more processed, compressed and less organic sounding. In particular I find the 30 to be the worst sounding of the bunch. 10"speaker crispness and fast attack seems to emphasize the negative aspects more. I prefer the 10 for practice, but the 60 sounds the best. Im sure a diff 10" speaker would help.

If I were to go that route again, i would grab some of the newer character pedals they make, and the power engine.

Or maybe a Blues Jr?

 

[JeffB]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

Well the power engine is very neutral, clean,. And will not color the tone of the pedals. It also has active EQ which can really help dial in that real/big amp sound.

I dont like the sansamp in front of a regular guitar amp..sounds small/distant and unnatural. Using it in a fx loop as a pre would be much better.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

Just for clarification, I'm not, at all, interested in the Sansamp. Only "real" amps.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

The sansamp is the preamp base which the trademarks uttilize in their circuitry. The are essentially the sansamp g2 in a combo form..neutral power amp and speaker.

The character series pedals are just more refined and singularly focused on which amp they emulate. Utilizing them with a clean neutral power source and speaker is how they are supposed to be used. They sound wonky as a "amp in a box" tyep pedal into the front of a guitar amp. As does the previous sansamp pedals..original...remake, and G2. IOW, if you use a guitar amp, patch the pedals into the power amp. The blues jr, does not have a loop.


Thwts why I recco the pedals into the power engine. The new character pedals sound better than the trademarks old G2 based preamp.

Hopefully thats more clear than my previous post.

 

[jtougas]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

Ummm, Butch... the Trademark 10/30 is the same circuit (the GT2, to be precise) with an amplifier attached to it (and the 10 isn't made anymore, and you can't have mine ).

The Trademark 60 is a different circuit altogether, which happens to be very different, a little idiosyncratic, but sounds very good.

I haven't played a 30, so I can't comment about the differences in the newer models.

**simupost** woot!

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

I had a Trademark 60 for a few years. It was very well made and had some great features (I particularly liked the output level boost for solos and the footswitchable effects loop). Lightweight and portable too.

Channel 1 was excellent for Fender-style tones, both clean and dirty. Really loved the tones here and it worked great with overdrive pedals too.

Channel 2 is for dirtier sounds - Marshall, Mesa, Vox. I am used to playing Marshalls and I found that, in comparison with the Marshalls I've owned, this channel had a darkness to it that I could never completely dial out. Some great recordable tones but I was always hankering after something more open and bright when playing live. In the end this led me to sell the TM60.

Les Paul used a TM60 in his later years. His tones would all be in Channel 1. I know there are guys who just use Channel 1 clean and use pedals for drive.

In summary, Channel 1 does excellent Fender tones, Channel 2 is voiced too dark to nail a convincing Marshall tone.

They can be had quite cheaply used and that first channel might be all you need.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

The sansamp is the preamp base which the trademarks uttilize in their circuitry. The are essentially the sansamp g2 in a combo form..neutral power amp and speaker.

The character series pedals are just more refined and singularly focused on which amp they emulate. Utilizing them with a clean neutral power source and speaker is how they are supposed to be used. They sound wonky as a "amp in a box" tyep pedal into the front of a guitar amp. As does the previous sansamp pedals..original...remake, and G2. IOW, if you use a guitar amp, patch the pedals into the power amp. The blues jr, does not have a loop.


Thwts why I recco the pedals into the power engine. The new character pedals sound better than the trademarks old G2 based preamp.

Hopefully thats more clear than my previous post.

Thanks for the clarification. That all helps to make more sense of the whole thing.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

Thanks for the clarification. That all helps to make more sense of the whole thing.

Cool! :bigthumb:

 

[Mincer]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

I use a TM60 live. Really the clean channel with pedals for gain. I always loved the sound and the xlr out to the PA is so much better than setting up a mic.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

I use a TM60 live. Really the clean channel with pedals for gain. I always loved the sound and the xlr out to the PA is so much better than setting up a mic.

Hmmm, good to hear. I have been hearing a lot of positives about the TM60 over the TM30.

 

[Kostas]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

I tested the 60 when they first released these amps, probably 20 years ago. It was a pleasant surprise considering the price and the fact there are no tubes in it.

I've read good things about their amp line, it's the only brand I would consider if I wanted a low price solid state amp.

I like the tone in this clip, the 10 seems to have the same specs with the 30 except the power section. They are versatile amps and you can go from clean to a heavy sound. I'm sure an external cab (with the right speakers) will help to make it sound bigger than it is.

 

[Fresh_Start]

I've got a TM-10. When the TM-30 came out, I thought I wanted one but had a chance to try one for a week. Don't know what they did to the circuit but it just didn't sound or "feel" as good to me. I like the TM-10 for quiet practice or with headphones. Also works nicely feeding a Power Engine 60.

Cheers,
Chip

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

Can anyone tell me about the Powerengines and Character pedals?

 

[Mincer]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

Hmmm, good to hear. I have been hearing a lot of positives about the TM60 over the TM30.

They are 2 very different sounding amps.

 

[Wattage]

Re: Tell Me About Tech 21 Trademark Amps...

My friend Chris James of The Hideaways uses a TM60 and it kills! You'd swear he had a Super Reverb.

 

[ErnestoMM]

^^^^^^^^^^^

^^^^^^^^^^^

I'm surprized, thanks!

 

[jtougas]

Can anyone tell me about the Powerengines and Character pedals?

A PowerEngine is basically a very neutral 60w cab, with an XLR in (and out - you can daisy chain 'em), and a full tone circuit. They're designed to complement the TradeMarks, the character pedals, and the SansAmp gear ( including a separate model for their acoustic DI (their acoustic amp rocks, too, but some of them have noise issues)).

I've also had interesting thoughts regarding a DI between a low watt head and a cab fed into a PowerEngine.

Check YouTube for vids...