SigNaL chaiN
Dean Farle Y
Great Amps Do Come in Small Boxes
Hey everyone, how are things? In October,
we looked at the concept of “organic
modeling” and the misgivings many guitarists
have about digital amplifier emulation, in
general because of the lack of perceived
dynamic response and the absence of a real
amp’s touch response. At the end of that
column I mentioned that I would share more
with you about using quality electronics to
discover more great sounds, and about some
wonderful-sounding “amps in a box.”
I want to tell a little background story first,
okay? Way back in the late ‘80s, during my
“Later California Era,” I had the good fortune
to meet up with none other than PG’s very
own Steve Ouimette. Steve was a technical
type of guy even way back then. One night I
was trying to record something when Steve
invited me over to his house to check out
some new gear that he’d just scored; it was
the first time I ever saw a Tech 21 SansAmp
unit. Tech 21 was then a new company out
of NYC that had originally pioneered the
concept of “analog amplifier emulation”
(built into the familiar stompbox format) and
I was about to try it out for size. Did I like
it? You can bet I did! In fact, I was absolutely
stunned at just how great this unit sounded
when it was used direct into a simple four-track PortaStudio. To make a long story
short, it wasn’t terribly long before I got the
recording bug and a SansAmp of my own.
Needless to say, I’ve been a longtime fan
of Tech 21’s gear, and I still own just about
every box they made. I had an opportunity
not long ago to try out their SansAmp
Liverpool model amp simulator. This box is
supposed to give you the sound of a vintage
AC30, and I was able to test it side by side
with my friend’s real AC30, and we were
floored at how accurate it was. Tech 21’s
founder Andrew Barta was able to get those
unmistakable chimey tones that made us all
love the early British Invasion bands to begin
with. Now, if that isn’t enough for you, I have
to say right here that the Liverpool model
from the Tech 21 SansAmp Character Series
even sounds as if it has the period-correct
72 PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2009
Celestion Alnico Blue speakers built right into
it—and you know from past columns how
picky I am about speakers. The speakers have
to be right from the start or the sound will be
all wrong, end of story.
The SansAmp Liverpool model has a variety
of clever controls that allow you to dial in
any Vox-like tone you’ve ever heard, from
The Beatles all the way up to Brian May and
beyond. In my humble opinion, this box is a
staggering piece of work. I have tried this as
a DI, going into a mic preamp’s front input,
as well as a stompbox, going through a
variety of guitar amps with speakers, and the
results were very very nice in all situations.
For a street price of around $150, you cannot
beat this box.
Every month I try to include some sort of
story that relates to the topic of the column.
This month I’ll tell you of a very memorable
gig that I played as a bassist while using a
Tech 21 Bass Driver DI, in this instance as
the preamp to my live bass setup. Can you
imagine launching into the band’s first tune
of the evening only to have your speaker
cabinet go down and out within the first 20
seconds? This was exactly what happened
to me one night, and it may rank as one of
the most challenging situations I’ve had to
deal with professionally. I had to keep on
playing—with a big smile on my face, no
less—without the benefit of directly hearing
or feeling myself in time whatsoever. This
called for some quick thinking, so I looked
back at the drummer, carefully mirroring his
bass and snare drum to keep the beat while
working furiously to ignore the bass wave
from the main PA bouncing back at me off
the wall 150 feet in front of us … seriously
out of time.
What fun! We played about five songs this
way … whew. It was probably the scariest
moment I ever had slogging it out on the
club circuit. Here’ the rub: my Bass Driver DI
wasn’t hooked into the stage monitors, but
only to the main PA speakers. By the time
the really difficult fast songs of the set had
arrived, I had to walk up to the mic and ask
the sound man to come up onstage and hook
my DI box into the left stage monitor, just
so I could hear myself playing. In that case I
had to be hooked into yet another console
at the side of the stage. That was definitely
the longest five songs I’ve ever had to play
through. If it hadn’t been for Tech 21’s magic
Bass Driver DI box, I would surely have been
musical toast! Thanks to Steve Ouimette and
Tech 21. See you next month.
Dean Farley
is the chief designer of "Snake Oil Brand Strings"
( sobstrings.net) and has had a profound influence
on the trends in the strings of today.
www.premierguitar.com
