Tech 21 Character Series

  • Thread starter Thread starter AndrewC
  • Start date Start date
Yeah, the link was bad, but it has since been fixed. I just got the Blonde pedal so I'll be trying it direct later today. Hopefully I get good results with it.
 
And I did-- it sounds great direct into my audio interface. highly recommended for recording :)
 
Has anyone else had a chance to record direct using any of the Character Series pedals from Tech 21 since this thread was originally posted? What are your thoughts on them?
 
I have the Blonde and while I haven't recorded with it yet I'm using it through a keyboard amp and it sounds very believable. So far I've had more success with clean to semi-dirty tones with it...enough so that my tweed deluxe clone has been getting lonely.
 
I recently returned a Tech 21 Sans Amp GT2, which models a Twin, Marshall, and Mesa Boogie. The sounds in of themselves were great... I felt the modeling was good... but whenever I modified the sound to achieve a sound with lots of gain and distortion... which I need for my music... it got REALLY NOISY. Lots of hum. I tried a Boss Noise Suppressor pedal, and this cleaned it up a bit.. but not good enough to keep it quiet for my needs. I gave up on it.. I simply couldn't get a good, recordable sound with it that didn't have a noticeable hum. Others who don't need a high-gain sound probably won't have this problem.

I have the Sans Amp Bass Driver DI, and noticed that certain settings would also emit the dreaded "hum", but I was able to get a sound that I loved that didn't have the hum... I set it relatively clean, and let my bass (which has active pickups) do the work. It's a great sound. I remain really happy with that one, and it's the only device I use to record my bass.

I mention all of this, because when I watched a youtube examples from Tech 21's website... you can clearly hear the hum being emitted from these new pedals. NOTE: I just checked out the videos, and at the very tail end (like the last second or two) of the Mesa video, you can hear the hum (at 48 seconds). There had been another video... where you could hear the hum for a lot longer, during the middle of the video... but it appears to have been removed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9AVZTTUvkQ
 
I don't get hum from the Blonde pedal when I use my Les Paul with buckers, but I do notice some when I play my strat through it, although it's not too bad and I don't think it's noticable in the mix. I still prefer tube amps, especially for recording solos, but these pedals are great backups and worthy of limited usage in the studio and perhaps even live.
 
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