Tech 21 XXL

[Ben N]

Just picked one up used--this is an awesome overdrive.  Punchy, articulate, no big mid-hump, very true to the guitar and amp, cleans up well with the guitar volume.  It's not too noisy until around 3:00 on the gain knob, and that's with single coils.  Great range, plenty of gain.  I don't get the warp knob, though...

I wonder if anyone knows what makes it tick.  I opened it up, but I didn't take the board out.  It is mounted so that the trace side is down, so I couldn't actually see the components, and the jacks are mounted to the board, so that I don't think the board can be removed without desoldering at least one jack, and probably both.  But from my limited vantage point I didn't see any goop, so maybe there isn't any.  I was wondering if some more intrepid soul had gotten deeper in.

Ben

[The Tone God]

Check out this article from AMZ:

http://www.muzique.com/lab/warp.htm

I belive the warp control works in the same manner.

Andrew

[Ben N]

Hey, Andrew, thanks.  I kind of assumed as much, based on the info that I could find on the pedal.  Problem is, I just don't hear it.  I don't really care all that much, because I love the sound of this thing, but it is a puzzlement.
Ben

[Rodgre]

it is a great pedal. it would be my main distortion on my pedalboard, were it to get a little cleaner. It goes from really distorted at minimum, to super distorted at max.

The warp...

try this.

Turn it all the way counter clockwise (off) and play muted staccato stuff. Then crank it all the way up and do the same. All of a sudden you will hear the tone get really compressed like a 1957 Deluxe cranked to 12. That's the warp. I didn't hear it at first either. It's easier to tell if someone ELSE is turning the pot while you play. All of a sudden, it FEELS different.

Roger

[Ben N]

Rodgre:
Interesting--I found that it did clean up.  What kind of pickups are you using with it?  I have only played a Strat through it so far, so maybe with higher output pups it's different.  Maybe tonight I'll try my 335-type with it.  But with the gain set up to 1:00 o'clock, I can get pretty much clean by turning the guitar down to 2-3.  Even with the gain higher, it still cleans up, but not completely, just to a light o.d. sound.  I also find that it's great for picking dynamics, from semi-clean arpeggios to pick-edge harmonics without touching the knobs.
Ben

[Rodgre]

Rodgre:
Interesting--I found that it did clean up.  What kind of pickups are you using with it?

I've used all kinds of pickups... my main axe being a Jazzmaster, but I've got all sorts of guitars I've tried with it. I found that if I roll my volume down, it cleans up nicely, but no matter what, if my guitar volume is full up, it starts in the distortion range and goes up from there.

Roger

[Mark Hammer]

I stuck a warp control on a TS-808 clone and the difference is audible but subtle.  Since the primary effect is to alter the threshold of clipping for one half-cycle, it is very dependent on picking style.  Play a legato line and you won't hear a thing different.  Switch to hard-transient chickin-pickin by the bridge and you start to notice the difference in dynamic response (the stock TS-808 setting is far more compressed) and overall volume.  Overall, the differences are most noticeable on transients and not on the decay portion of the note.

[The Tone God]

I played with a warp control on a TS style fuzz as well and I have to agree with Mark that there is a difference but very mild. A neat control but might not be used that much. I think the adjustable Ge version might be more interesting in a TS style circuit.

I haven't played a Tech 21 XXL. I hope it is optimized to bring out the charateristics of the warp control otherwise I would be somewhat dissapointed with it. Thats just me.

Andrew