Tech 21’s Artificially-Aged SansAmp

The concept of faux-aging - or relicing - of guitars polarises opinion as efficiently as does an innocent discussion of whether Russell Brand should be hung, drawn or quartered. We´re perfectly happy with the idea as long as it doesn´t go too far, although we´d still stand up in court and state, for the record, that the EVH Frankenstein Replica (at a cool £16,000) borders on a work of art.

So, lurking in a not so dark corner of the recent NAMM session was a small yet unassuming pedal that looked as if it had been around the world a few times at the mercy of Slash. Using real wear from a genuine pedal as a template, this is the faux-aged SansAmp Classic Relic from Tech 21.

The SansAmp was amongst the very first dedicated devices that allowed technophobe guitarists to get a great tone down to tape in short order: in fact, this writer´s first ever semi-pro recording experience revolved around an SansAmp, a Godin Artisan T-1 and a Fostex R8 reel-to-reel.

The pedal has been issued to celebrate the Noo Yoik company´s 20th Anniversary, and whether you grab a weathered or new SansAmp, the unit is still as good as ever it was at getting authentic guitar sounds down for all eternity. Try one and see.

We reckon it's as cool as two naked Eskimos having a snowball fight in the dead of night.

More from Tech 21 here.

Or see what Music Radar thought of it here.