“Such easy-to-use effects haven’t been known to have world class sounds in them… until now”: Tech 21 says it has “cracked the code” for digital guitar gear with Marty Friedman’s new signature SansAmp
Tech 21 has announced the SansAmp Marty Friedman, a signature stompbox built for the electric guitar virtuoso.
The collaborative project looks to deliver Friedman’s tone while staying true to his streamlined on-stage and in-studio setups. The silver-finished design offers a “neat, compact, plug-and-play” pedal that provides built-in clean, dirty, and lead tones curated by Friedman.
Building on the foundation of the operationally similar SansAmp PSA 2.0, the signature build serves Performance and Studio modes. The former comes pre-loaded with Friedman’s trio of go-to live tones for on-the-fly playing, while the latter unlocks 128 preset slots.
Controls include Drive, Low, Mid, and High, as well as autonomy over Reverb and its built-in Noise Gate to clean up excess noise. Furthermore, a Filter control has been dropped in, which helps shape the mid-range via Friedman’s preferred voicing.
Elsewhere, there’s SansAmp cab sim tech to emulate cabinet speakers without having to lug them about, a chromatic tuner, effects loop, and MIDI interface for players averse to tap dancing on stage.
As Tech 21 explains, SansAmp inventor Andrew Barta has staunchly stuck by analog gear throughout his career. He believes digital amp modelers fall flat because they “sound one-dimensional and aren’t touch-sensitive, so the nuances of your playing style get lost”.
However, Barta also believes he’s “cracked the code” with this pedal, consequently “replicating the dynamics, responsiveness, and fluidity” of analog gear in a digital setting. The code-cracking coincided with the chance to work with Friedman.
“This is it! This pedal has been a long time coming, and only a truly exceptional design engineer like [Tech 21’s] Andrew Barta could craft something with these beautiful tones and make it so incredibly simple to use,” says Friedman.
“Such bonehead easy-to-use effects haven’t been known to have world class sounds in them until now. I’m proud to put my name on the first one.”
“The Marty Friedman Signature SansAmp offers Marty’s core sounds and the versatility for many different styles,” adds Tech 21.
Owning a Tech 21 SansAmp Marty Friedman pedal will cost players $349.
Check out Tech 21 for the full lowdown.
