Thomann/HarleyBenton Tech21 Character Series Clones

Post by **Mike** » Thu May 05, 2011 8:50 am

http://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.htm ... =0&gk=&bn=

Â£25 a piece, albeit the v1 versions without the speaker emulation defeat.

I have a Tech21 Blonde I use as an Amp Sim with Sell Crazy when we practise at my drummers house and it's amazing. These might be worth a pop. Part of me wants to pick up a couple to try out.

Post by **Mike** » Thu May 05, 2011 8:55 am

I think the mapping is like this:

AC - Liverpool (Vox)
British - British (Marshall)
California - California (Mesa Boogie Mark Series)
American - Blonde (Fender)
Extreme Metal - US Steel (Mesa Boogie Rectifier Series)

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Thu May 05, 2011 9:19 am

Thanks for posting Mike. I'm thinking the Fender one may be good to use as an EQ before my EHX 22 Calibre as it has no EQ, I may get one.

Post by **Mike** » Thu May 05, 2011 9:23 am

Bear in mind these have speaker emulation on all the time, so you might get some odd interaction going into a power amp and then speakers, but you might actually be ok as the EQ is pretty powerful.

I've been very impressed with the Blonde I have for going DI - it also takes pedals very well - it sounds as close as you'd not know to playing pedals into a mic'd Fender amp.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Thu May 05, 2011 9:25 am

Wow, really you cant go wrong at Â£25.
Is'nt the Behringer TM300 based on the V1? I use the mic position option a lot for different sounds. Great pedals.

Post by **Mike** » Thu May 05, 2011 9:28 am

The Behringer is the SansAmp G1 I believe

Great sounding thing. These are similar analogue amp emulation technology but aimed at specific families of amps.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Thu May 05, 2011 9:31 am

Mike wrote:Bear in mind these have speaker emulation on all the time, so you might get some odd interaction going into a power amp and then speakers, but you might actually be ok as the EQ is pretty powerful.

I've been very impressed with the Blonde I have for going DI - it also takes pedals very well - it sounds as close as you'd not know to playing pedals into a mic'd Fender amp.

Thanks for the info. I think for Â£25 it's worth a punt.

wwrrss · Post by **wwrrss** » Thu May 05, 2011 11:19 am

WANT EXTREME METALZ

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Thu May 05, 2011 4:43 pm

Awesome, I was looking for an 'AC30 in a pedal' to use with my Powerblock so this might work. Cheers.

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Thu May 05, 2011 6:06 pm

They should go ahead and integrate these with a small power section like those recent power amp pedals, BOOM TINY EMERGENCY AMP.

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Thu May 05, 2011 8:06 pm

Mike wrote:AC - Liverpool (Vox)

I'm totally gonna nab one of these. I was really impressed by the demo Aeon did of his SansAmp version. Although at Â£129 for the SansAmp, that seems perfectly reasonable for what it is

Post by **Mike** » Wed May 11, 2011 7:39 am

So I picked up the British and American (Marshall and Fender) pedals and tried them out at rehearsal last night.

The American one sounds just like my Blonde to me, although we weren't doing "silent" practise so I couldn't A/B them. The footswitch doesn't work in bypass mode however so I've contacted Thomann and they're going to replace it.

The British sounds very Marshally and lovely, I'll get the Tech21 settings from their website and start having a muck about next week.

Overall QC issue aside, I'm impressed.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Wed May 11, 2011 8:21 am

Nice one Mike. I trust you will be demo'ing on Youtube?

lorez · Post by **lorez** » Wed May 11, 2011 8:30 am

thanks mike, they sound really interesting and at that price certainly worth a look

Post by **Mike** » Wed May 11, 2011 8:38 am

Fran wrote:Nice one Mike. I trust you will be demo'ing on Youtube?

Umm.. probably not, no time innit.

Although when Amy is away at the Hay Festival I might have a bit more of an opportunity. I could do a DI'd one into Sonar.

THEGREATJONZINI · Post by **THEGREATJONZINI** » Sun May 15, 2011 10:28 pm

picked up one of each of these i am also impressed!

particularly with the:
British
American
Extreme Metal (BONKERS!!!)

will demo when i have means!

MikeG · Post by **MikeG** » Mon May 16, 2011 11:04 am

Good to hear. Might pick one up myself.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Mon May 16, 2011 4:10 pm

I've always wanted to try these but no xlr jack kind of puts me off. There's room in the tech21's for a jack and some people do mod them for it. For that price its a hell of a deal for a practice or even rehearsal in a pinch

THEGREATJONZINI · Post by **THEGREATJONZINI** » Wed May 18, 2011 10:37 pm

playng about more with the extreme metal and the battery doesn't fit in the battery compartment LOL!

they sound good through my Laney LC30ii really have to find the sweet spot though.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed May 18, 2011 11:21 pm

Aww, if they only had switchable speaker emulation.