Hello there, and welcome back to yet another cool guitar amp emulator pedal review! This time, we will examine one of the most overlooked SansAmp pedals, the Tech 21 SansAmp TRI-A.C.
Table of Contents
As we always do, I will provide you with some background information on the Tech 21 NYC company as well as their legendary innovation SansAmps. I have also prepared a sound demo for this SansAmp TRI AC review article to show you what Tech 21 SansAmp TRI A.C. sounds like going direct into an audio interface.
You may have already encountered some of this blog’s content featuring Tech 21 products. The first time I started using Tech 21 products was way back in 2007 and it was my first ever proper guitar amp, Tech 21 Trademark 60! It was an excellent amp and a complete game-changer for a young guitar player with no gear experience! Best Tools For Guitars at Stewmac.com
I also had the chance to borrow some other Tech 21 products such as Tech 21 SansAmp PSA 1.1 and GT2. A couple of years ago, I purchased their latest PSA, Tech 21 SansAmp PSA 2.0 and enjoyed it a lot!
Check out my Tech 21 SansAmp PSA 2.0 review here
I remember very precisely that out of all Tech 21 SansAmp pedals and preamps, the SansAmp TRI AC was the easiest to use and get quick direct recordings done. It’s been over 15 years since the last time I used the TRI AC so recently I started browsing the used market just to revisit this legendary yet overlooked SansAmp pedal and feature it on my blog here for you!
Before we go into details, let’s have a look at the quick history of Tech 21 NYC company.
About Tech 21
B. Andrew Barta founded Tech 21 NYC in Midtown Manhattan in 1989, unveiling his groundbreaking invention: the SansAmp. This innovative creation was born out of Andrew’s personal desire as a performing musician with an electronics background, whose day job involved repairing, modifying, and customizing amplifiers. Armed with both technical expertise and unwavering determination, he brought his vision to life.
Ironically, Andrew never set out to become a manufacturer. Initially, he sought to sell his technology to major companies, but they failed to recognize its potential or the transformative impact the SansAmp would later achieve. Unwilling to abandon his idea, Andrew decided to forge his own path. Despite the product being unprecedented, musicians quickly embraced it once they experienced its sound. Check out the best guitar pickup company, Seymour Duncan here!
Tech 21 NYC spearheaded the direct recording revolution and introduced an entirely new category of signal processing. The trailblazing SansAmp tube amplifier emulator was the first tool that allowed musicians to craft powerful tones and connect directly to studio mixers or stage PAs.
For the first time, achieving exceptional, consistent sound no longer required endless tinkering to locate the elusive “sweet spot.” Instead, the fully analogue SansAmp packed an array of massive tones into a compact, pocket-sized pedal.
Tech 21 NYC remains committed to producing durable, versatile, and user-friendly products tailored to the needs of musicians. In an era dominated by planned obsolescence and constant upgrades, many of our products have remained unchanged—and are still in production—proving their enduring value and reliability.
What is SansAmp?
SansAmp is the first ever fully analogue tube amplifier emulator. As its French-inspired name suggests, it helps you play your guitars and basses (and many more instruments) without an amp. I prefer calling SansAmp the best analogue tube amp, distortion, clipping, break-up and fuzz generator! 🙂
Surprisingly, the core sound and tonal shaping capabilities of SansAmp design have never changed since it was released back in 1989. Some people interpret this as the company is not progressive and failing to adapt to new trends in the guitar tone realm.
However, it also shows how impressively correct and fitting the design was on the first attempt! The original rackmount SansAmp was not programmable and came in a single rack format.
The only thing that changed with the next releases of SansAmps (PSA 1 .0, PSA 1.1) versions which stand for programmable SansAmp was the programming feature along with some hardware changes regarding more memory slots and trim pot.
The sound of SansAmp has been the same for the last 30 years and never required any updates! Because the design was so great it has always offered extreme flexibility for tone shaping.
With the additional programming and storing presets feature, SansAmps have become extremely user-friendly as you can store your presets and take them anywhere with you without worrying about the knob positions. Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
This legendary circuit has been used in all Tech 21 products and still maintains its original DNA since 1989!
Tech 21 SansAmp TRI-AC
Tech 21 SansAmp TRI-A.C. is yet another SansAmp pedal from the company. However, this time, they implemented their groundbreaking SansAmp DNA and programmable feature into a very compact pedal format and simplified it so you don’t have to worry about all those dip-switches to get the tone you are looking for.
While being digitally programmable, SansAmp TRI AC still features a 100% analogue signal path! It comes with three different amp voicings that you can program and save on the three different slots.
Programming the TRI A.C. is extremely easy! You just need to choose one of the amp voicings using the switch and adjust your gain, EQ and the level. Once you are done, all you need to do is double-tap on the slot you want to save the preset and it’s done!
SansAmp TRI AC comes with a Fender (Tweed), Marshall (British) and Mesa Boogie (California) amp voicings. A.C. probably stands for “Amp Character” and these analogue amp modelling circuits have totally different feel and sound to them.
As Tech 21 explains on the manual and the official product page, these amp voicings are not just simple EQ filters. Instead, they all have their own characteristics, input sensitivity and interaction attributes towards the EQ settings.
You can easily power up the SansAmp TRI-A.C. with a 9V battery which lasts around 100 hours as well as a standard 9V DC power supply. Power consumption is pretty low and is just 5mA.
You can use the TRI AC to drive a power amp and speaker cabinets or go direct and connect it to a PA system. It only features a standard input and output. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with an FX Loop.
Sansamp TRI AC is a fairly light pedal and built like a tank with its nice and sturdy metal chassis. For your reference, I’d like to share the tech specs of TRI AC with you here. Then we will continue with the demo video and my review!
Tech 21 SansAmp TRI-A.C. Tech Specs
| Tech 21 SansAmp TRI-A.C. | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| Number of Amp Models | Three Different Characters |
| Amp Models | Tweed = Fender®-style California = Mesa/Boogie®-style British = Marshall®-style |
| Programmable | Yes, Digitally Programmable |
| Signal Path | 100% Analogue |
| Number of Presets | Three Slots |
| EQ | Bass/Mid/Treble |
| Active EQ | Yes, 12dB Cut/Boost |
| Frequencies | Bass @ 125 Hz. Mid @ 500 Hz.Treble @ 3.5 kHz |
| I/O | Standard 1/4" I/O |
| FX Loop | No |
| Power Requirement | 9V DC - min 100mA PSU 9V Battery |
| Power Consumption | 5mA |
| PSU Included | No |
| Made In | USA |
As you can see from the tech specs and the introduction, it’s a very simple pedal with features way ahead of its time!
Before we jump to the review section, let’s listen to the simple demo video I made for this article. In this video, I used my FGN Boundary Odyssey electric guitar plugged into the SansAmp TRI AC. Then the signal goes directly to my RME Babyface PRO FS audio interface.
I only added Valhalla Vintage Reverb for ambience and room feel. That’s all! This may be the leanest direct recording setup ever!
Tech 21 SansAmp TRI A.C. Sound Demo (no talking)
Tech 21 SansAmp TRI AC Review
As I briefly mentioned in my other guitar pedal review articles, I have been collecting some guitar pedals and trying to feature them here on my blog. When I was in Türkiye for my vacation, I got in touch with a guitar player who was listing many items and I got my SansAmp TRI-A.C. from him along with other pedals.
Recently, I released the Tech 21 Double Drive 3X, Ibanez BB9 Bottom Booster and TC Electronic Röttweiler review articles, you may also want to check these out!
Tech 21 SansAmp TRI AC has a nostalgia element to it for me. Until I would have started playing the guitar for the first 6 or 7 years, I did not have the proper gear to play and practice.
Tech 21’s products were my first real gear that helped me a lot during my university years so whenever I come across a Tech 21 product, I kind of think about the good old days! 🙂 Ads - Check out these ads to support this web page
I remember having some G.A.S. started towards Tech 21 products and right after I got my first proper amp, Tech 21 Trademark 60, I got more and more interested in their line. I had only my guitar, my M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 PCI sound card and a TRI-A.C. for a while and I recorded many demos and played solos over backing tracks. I’m planning to uncover these audio files, hopefully soon and will be sharing with you.
As I said, I got my SansAmp TRI AC from a great guitar player in Türkiye. I was pretty lucky as it came with the original box. However, I didn’t have the manual. Fortunately, Tech 21 has a dedicated section on its official website that features all discontinued products.
Check out the official Tech 21 SansAmp TRI-A.C. product page here
For future reference, I’d like to also share the barcode section on the box.
In my opinion, SansAmp TRI AC is the easiest-to-use SansAmp pedal ever. It features a basic three-band active EQ which you can cut or boost up/down to 12dB, Drive control and Level control.
I think this pedal format with limited controls gives guitar players so much headroom to focus on their playing, rather than tweaking tons of dip switches and other settings. The company also used this template and design set on their Tech 21 Double Drive 3X pedal which is, in my opinion, the most unique guitar pedal ever, offering power amp drives!
Check out my Tech 21 Double Drive 3X review here
The only parameter we need to choose is the amp character. Out of the features California (Boogie), British (Marshall) and Tweed (Fender), the British one is my favourite. It can really sound like a classic Marshall and with a bit of reverb, you will find yourself vibing to that (especially if you are into Marshalls).
On the other hand, the cleans you can achieve with the Tweed character is so good! I remember recording clean sounds backing in the day with this character and after 15+ years nothing has changed. I was able to quickly find my settings and have these wonderful clean guitar tones in a matter of seconds.
The California setting which emulates the Boogie sound is my least favourite, however, it’s still very usable and you can achieve a lot of the Boogie vibe (possibly earlier Boogies) easily.
I think the modern/younger generation of guitar players will find the SansAmp character a bit dated as they have been exposed to amp simulation software, impulse responses and guitar processors. I absolutely agree that the modern solutions are more flexible than a SansAmp direct recording box.
However, if you consider the era these products were released, you can understand why these were popular back in the day. SansAmp pedals made our life so much easier as there were not many great products that you could go direct with.
Although I’m a big fan of Tech 21 company, I’m a little bit upset with their product strategy. Don’t get me wrong, they still release great products but also they stop producing their legendary products or they sometimes release anniversary models just like they did with the SansAmp PSA 2.0.
It’s the same situation with SansAmp TRI-A.C.! It was discontinued a long time ago and it’s not the easiest guitar pedal to find used on Reverb or eBay.
I’d be much happier if they kept producing their entire product line such as SansAmp TRI-A.C., PSA 1.1 rack version and their legendary Trademark amplifiers. But I understand they are struggling with the costs and sales as they insist on manufacturing these with the highest quality standards possible!
I think Tech 21 could have been killing it if they were to release their Power Engine amp series for the modern guitar players who could use them with the cutting-edge modelling technologies today.
Mind you, Tech 21 SansAmp technology sounds the best when used with a real guitar speaker cabinet and a transparent power amp. So you may have shockingly good results if you hook it up with a guitar amp (best to connect via FX Return of your amp).
In short, I would recommend SansAmp TRI-A.C. to any guitar players out there who are seeking the simplest, leanest and easiest solution for going direct or adding a three traditional amp character to their existing rig.
Where to Buy Tech 21 SansAmp TRI AC?
If you are ever looking for a Tech 21 SansAmp TRI AC for sale on the internet, chances are you may find some on Reverb.com and eBay as well. It’s impossible to find brand new ones but there are still listing this pedal in good condition (I’m one of them!).
As you can already realise from the articles I have been publishing here, I have one on sale and I will be doing this gear rotation to feature more and more gear for you! So if you are interested, please contact me or directly purchase this from my Reverb shop (only shipping within the EU).
Hopefully, I will be releasing the ancient demos that I did with Tech 21 products, especially with SansAmp TRI A.C., so you can also experience my nostalgia as well! 🙂
I hope you find this Tech 21 SansAmp TRI AC review article honest and insightful! Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
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