Anyone tried/ used/ owned a Tech 21 Trademark 60?

RocknRollDave · June 2014

Mate of mine just posted this on Facebook, and, as I have no experience of (or, indeed, knowledge of whatsoever) these amps, thought I'd put it out there for opinions etc:

"Has anyone ever played through a Tech 21 amp?

Seriously thinking about switching to a Trademark 60 for gigging - anyone tried??"

If it helps, he plays a variety of guitars - LP's, Tele, Gretsch Duo Jet - and tends to play either just on the cusp of breakup or just into slight crunch, with an EQ pedal for boost for solos, generally speaking.

stefjudd · June 2014

I owned one years and years back. I remember that it sounded great, very versatile but didn't have enough power to keep up with the loud drummer I was gigging with at the time. I ended up selling it and I got a Tech 21 head which was damaged when it arrived but sounded awesome! Had to send it back due to the damage though and at the time Thomann had no more in stock so got something else... Might be worth checking out for smaller gigs!...

Hope that helps!

ICBM · June 2014

A lot of people like them and seem to rate them highly.

To me they sound quite harsh and boxy - although the clean sound is far better than the overdrive, which has an odd nasal tone to it that doesn't seem to be possible to dial out completely.

I'd guess if you like the typical sound of a small, midrangy overdriven valve amp they're probably quite good. If you like the sound of a big, deep clean or heavy crunchy valve amp they definitely aren't, in my opinion.

Richardj · June 2014

A friend of mine has been gigging with one for ages. He usually uses it as a monitor behind him and goes into the PA. I have to agree the built in OD is a bit meh but he also runs through a Boss ME multi FX and last time I saw him it sounded glorious.

TTony · June 2014

I've got one and love it, although - not being a gigger (regrettably) - I can't comment on its ability to keep up with loud drummers in real-life gigging situations.

@monquixote might have a view on that though, as it was previously his.

I generally just use the clean channel, which seems to get overdriven quite nicely with some decent p'ups feeding it, and then put a suitable pedal in front of that if I want more growly noise.

EricTheWeary · June 2014

without being arsed to double check Tech 21 stuff is usually much cheaper at Thomann than UK shops if he was going to buy ( there may not be any UK shops that do them anyway)and they come up pretty cheap on eBay.

I am slightly fascinated by the Koch Jupiter which is a hybrid combo with a more modern feature set than the Trademark and slightly cheaper - although not an SS modeller. There is one UK shop that sells them or, again, cheaper on Thomann. Apart from the word Koch in large letters IMHO looks better too!

RocknRollDave · June 2014

Apparently this is to replace his Mesa Boogie F50, which "weighs a ton" and costs about £200 a year to have serviced and revalved.

ICBM · June 2014

RocknRollDave said:

Apparently this is to replace his Mesa Boogie F50, which "weighs a ton" and costs about £200 a year to have serviced and revalved.

Eh?!!

It's a reasonably heavy amp, but I can think of many others which are a lot worse... and who is ripping him off for £200 a year to re-valve it? Even a complete set - which it shouldn't need anywhere near that often even if it's being gigged several times a week, it should only need a couple of sets of power valves at most - doesn't cost that much. And it doesn't need biasing either.

Also, if it's being gigged loud enough to wear out the power valves that fast then a Trademark 60 won't be loud enough and probably won't sound right. The F-50 is a *very* loud 50 watts, and has a very big sound for a 1x12".

For what it's worth, if it's just the weight and the valves he doesn't like but wants something that sounds reasonably similar to the F-50 but is lighter, loud and doesn't need servicing, I'd go for a Blackstar ID60.

RocknRollDave · June 2014

ICBM said:

RocknRollDave said:

Apparently this is to replace his Mesa Boogie F50, which "weighs a ton" and costs about £200 a year to have serviced and revalved.

Eh?!!

It's a reasonably heavy amp, but I can think of many others which are a lot worse... and who is ripping him off for £200 a year to re-valve it? Even a complete set - which it shouldn't need anywhere near that often even if it's being gigged several times a week, it should only need a couple of sets of power valves at most - doesn't cost that much. And it doesn't need biasing either.

Also, if it's being gigged loud enough to wear out the power valves that fast then a Trademark 60 won't be loud enough. the F-50 is a *very* loud 50 watts.

I did think that may raise a few eyebrows!

He certainly doesn't drive the Mesa hard. As I say, he plays fairly cleanish - the dirtiest it ever gets is bit of crunch from a Tubescreamer or similar on a fairly modest setting.

I know next to nothing about amps, but I know enough to know an amp of that ilk must surely have a considerably more headroom than he is pushing it to. We're talking pub gigs, mic'ed up amp, so onstage levels aren't getting especially loud, plus he's one of those rare guitarists who knows that the volume knob goes down as well as up...

ICBM · June 2014

Assuming he can deal with the weight, I would suggest he simply stops getting the Mesa 'serviced' unless something actually goes wrong with it. Most half-decent valve amps will run happily for years with no issues whatever. It's not even as if new valves prevent the risk of one suddenly failing either - if anything, possibly the opposite.

He should do what Mesa suggest in the amp manual (I think) - carry one spare pair of power valves and one correct fuse. If the amp ever dies, replace both the power valves and the fuse, and try again. If it blows the fuse again you can't fix it at the gig anyway. It's unlikely that a preamp valve will stop working suddenly enough to stop you getting through a gig - they can commonly last decades.

Even buying a complete spare set for that amp - two 6L6s and four 12AX7s - should only cost about £70.

richardhomer · June 2014

Never gigged one but reckon it is one of the most credible-sounding non-valve amps I've ever tried.

Does edge of break-up well, from recollection.

Would much prefer the Mesa though....

EricTheWeary · June 2014

RocknRollDave said:

Apparently this is to replace his Mesa Boogie F50, which "weighs a ton" and costs about £200 a year to have serviced and revalved.

The West Midlands Boogie repair person would charge approx £50 ( plus valves if need be) if he took it to him, so if a set of valves is £70 then presumably a shop is charging him £80 for, well, some kind of administration fee on an unnecessary service.

Danny1969 · June 2014

I gigged one for about 2 years before selling it to LoveRocker. Only sold it cos got some sponsorship and was able to build the Marshall Rack I always wanted.

Really great amp for a solidstate, plenty loud enough and great drive sounds. Will keep up with the loudest drummers. DI out is nice.

monquixote · June 2014

I had a TM60.

It's light and loud and seemed well made.

The clean is awesome and does tweedy breakup really well. The drive chanel is alright but the weird shared eq makes it hard to get both sides sounding good at the same time.

I'd plan on using a pedal for drive and ignore channel 2 entirely.

It was loud enough to gig. It sounds like a small amp because it is but the Sansamp out will sound big into the PA as it's emulating a bigger cab.

I'd happily have another or the rare tm120 which has 3 independent channels

Don't buy a new one as they are cheap secondhand. Also consider the amt Stonehead.

RocknRollDave · June 2014

Wowzer, tons of great information from everybody who has contributed!
Many thanks. I have passed on your comments on the Tech 21 to my mate.. The comments from @ICBM and others about his current servicing regime for his Mesa have also been noted, but I need to find a diplomatic way to bring that up with him!
Thanks all, great response

Danny1969 · June 2014

I actually used the channel 1 as the dirty channel and channel 2, the one with more gain as the clean, didn't use any pedals.

p90fool · June 2014

RocknRollDave;271030" said:
his current servicing regime for his Mesa have also been noted, but I need to find a diplomatic way to bring that up with him!

As ICBM says, his F50 doesn't need biasing so basically he's just changing lightbulbs, and way too often at that. Sod diplomacy, it's your duty to tell him!

Kebabkid · June 2014

As an alternative, a Mesa Boogie Express 5:25 might suit his needs although I'd imagine it would cost a good deal more than a Tech 21 Trademark 60, but their used prices have come down.

grungebob · June 2014

I've had a tm 10 and an F50. Stick with the F50, its a very loud amp and does weigh a fair bit but stick some casters on it. I never had an issue with my F50 in the 5 years I owned it bar some preamp noise that new valve's sorted. Never had it serviced and I know its still going strong as a local band bought it and still gig it.

ICBM · June 2014

RocknRollDave said:

The comments from @ICBM and others about his current servicing regime for his Mesa have also been noted, but I need to find a diplomatic way to bring that up with him!
Thanks all, great response

How about "don't believe that crap you read in guitar magazines or online about needing to get all the valves changed twice a year - and you're being ripped off anyway. Not your fault you didn't know that, but now you do you can stop."

For what it's worth I would charge £40 (1hr labour) to completely check over an amp, clean all the pots, replace any valves that need to be replaced, and bias it if necessary. Bearing in mind that this amp does not need biasing, I'd charge £20 just to change the power valves and give it a once-over, which is probably all it needs even if you really think the power valves are worn out. (Prices excluding valves.)

NickBotfield · June 2014

I've got a TM10 and I would echo what everyone else has said. Really good tweedy breakup sounds and anything cleaner than that. Unpleasantly honky sounds from the British setting (although much nicer if you turn the amp to face the wall!) and ok sounds from the Mesa-like channel.

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Anyone tried/ used/ owned a Tech 21 Trademark 60?

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