Members jorhay1 Posted January 24, 2008 Members Share Posted January 24, 2008 Sorry, This has probably been covered a million times. 1. How does the Sans Amp PSA-1 Compare to most Digi modelers (Line 6, Boss Cosm, Vox, Digitech, etc) for direct recording. ? 2. Does it sound good as a Pre-amp in front of a SS or Tube Pwr Amp and Spk Cab. ? 3. Does it Interact well with Pedals ? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jorhay1 Posted January 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 24, 2008 Sorry for the amp thread on the effects forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rushtallica Posted January 24, 2008 Members Share Posted January 24, 2008 Wrong forum, IMO, but I browse here, so... I had one and was really surprised at how good it sounded through the front of the Roland JC-120 I used to have. Definitely better than any distortion pedal I ever heard. It took a while to tweak the sounds the way I like it. The presets for vintagy Marshall sounds were thin and harsh-sounding to me, but after a while I figured out how to sweeten and fatten them up. The best preset distortion for high gain out of the box was a Mesa setting. The best clean I got was the Mesa clean patch with a bit of adjustment. I thought the Fender patches all sucked hard but didn't care since the Mesa one was the opposite, IMO. The only drawback was just a lack of in-your-faceness/balls that I get from good tube amp distortion at high volumes even when it was turned up loud, though it still made the Roland sound like a rock/metal machine. The gain sounds were fine through tube amps I tried, though the patches sounded more similar to each other; the cleans were harsh when run through the tube amps I had (front of a '65 Bassman, loops of a 5150 and a Carvin X100B). I liked it well enough that I'd almost put $ on one I saw a good deal for but told another forumite about it who seemed to want one more badly than me at the time. It was surely a better pre for recording than most modelers, I would say, though I've never owned a Tonelab and can only go by PSA-1 clips I've heard that I know of. From my understanding they've been used in many, many studios for a long period of time. I would definitely take one over the Line 6 modelers I'm somewhat familiar with (based on just the general tones rather than fx modeling the Line 6 gear has). I like my V-Ampire head but easily admit it's nothing like the PSA-1 when it comes to sounding closer to real amp gain even though the V-Amp can be tweaked to sound fairly decent in a mix. It's possible the best speakers are going to be flat-response speakers, and the power section should probably be SS. Both reasons are probably why I thought the Roland worked best for it out of what I personally tried, though I also wanted to try a dedicated power amp of some sort but never got the opportunity. I also didn't solo that much with it but easily remember it sounding better than the GT-2 pedal for that. I didn't really try any pedals with it other than an eq pedal, which really wasn't needed due to the tweakability of the pre, itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dolf Posted January 24, 2008 Members Share Posted January 24, 2008 Listen to Rammstein's Sehnsucht album. I'm pretty sure that was all PSA-1's. Some heavy {censored} on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members messiah Posted January 24, 2008 Members Share Posted January 24, 2008 I'm also surprised to see this in this forum, but as a long time PSA-1 user I'll pipe in... first off, it isn't digi like Line 6 et al, it's all analogue, it just has digital control features. The only time I ever used it live was for bass... into an Ampeg SVT Power Amp and 8x10 and it seriously rocked. I have kept mine (whilst selling on a whole load of gear) because it is a really good studio tool for guitars, bass, drums and anything else you need to crunch up.It is one of my 'go to' tools for rhythm guitars too. Because it is full range, there are sounds that you cannot get from a guitar amp and speaker that the PSA-1 breezes, so I use it in addition to mic'd amps to get HUGE sounds when needed. You really need to know what you are doing with the PSA-1 to get the best out of it, if you're looking for a live modelling amp, I'd look elsewhere.Maybe check out the Tech 21 amps that are based on the same technology, but a bit more fool proof? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members messiah Posted January 24, 2008 Members Share Posted January 24, 2008 Listen to Rammstein's Sehnsucht album. I'm pretty sure that was all PSA-1's. That wouldn't surprise me at all, I can get them to sound like that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jorhay1 Posted January 24, 2008 Author Members Share Posted January 24, 2008 Wrong forum!Sorry! I'm (obviously) kind of new here.I see now I should have used the amp forum. Great Replies! My sincere thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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