Cheap Vs Expensive Tech 21 SansAmp GT2 vs Behringer Tube Amp Modeler
The Tech 21 SansAmp GT2 has been a cult pedal for many players for nearly 30 years. They paved the way for ampless guitar rigs that we have today. But at $450 (AUD) they are very pricey. In recent years Behringer have released their own version of the GT2 called the Tube Amp Modeler. But how close is it to the real thing?
You can support me on Patreon by clicking the link https://patreon.com/MiddleAgedGearJunkie?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
Middle Aged Gear Junkie Merchandise USA and Europe https://middle-aged-gear-junkie.creator-spring.com/
Australia and New Zealand https://www.redbubble.com/shop/?query=middle%20aged%20gear%20junkie&ref=search_box
Product info:
Tech 21 SansAmp GT2
Architecturally create your own rig in seconds. You can easily achieve the most sought-after tube amp sounds, and entirely new ones as well. Choose amplifier type, modification and speaker cabinet/mic placement configurations. You can easily mix and match specific sound characteristics in ways that would otherwise be physically improbable, probably impractical and definitely not cost effective. The GT2 is a truckload of great amps in a single, simple pedal.
Features
Create your own rig in seconds
Loads great amps in a single, simple pedal
Achieve the most sought-after tube amp sounds or entirely new ones
Choose amplifier type, modification and speaker cabinet/mic placement configurations
Mix and match specific sound characteristics
Level, High, Low and Drive controls plus Mic, Mod and Amp selectors
Behringer Tube Amp Modeler
The TM300 provides plenty of great amps in a single stomp box, boasting authentic modeling technology for every situation. This highly acclaimed pedal features 3 classic guitar amps, 3 gain modes and 3 mic placements for a total of 27 configurations that let you easily achieve the most sought-after tube amp sounds from clean, crunch to super-fat distortion. The TM300 features dedicated Drive, High and Low EQ, Level, Mic, Model and Amp controls for awesome sound shaping. A cool blue status LED for effect on/off and battery check plus a first-class electronic on/off switch for highest signal integrity in bypass mode are included. The TM300 runs on a 9 V battery or a DC power supply (not included). Get this amazing modeling pedal and take off with 27 killer sounds!
#Cheap #Expensive #Tech #SansAmp #GT2 #Behringer #Tube #Amp #Modeler
Originally posted by UCUWLgohIm_Kf9dn4TcaZnIg at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=647GxAMK6V4
I bought the Behringer wah pedal in like 2009, (before anyone really knew about them) i believe it was $40 Canadian dollars. One of the best wahs I've ever played. The thing i don't like about the rest of Behringer pedals is that they're made out of cheap plastic. I realize that keeps cost down, but they just feel like one excited stomp away from being a shattered pile of plastic on the stage.
TM300 only £23 on Amazon
The Behringer sounds awesome with bass – there’s on vid on here that blew me away so much I’ve ordered one. I play fretless & fretted bass & looking for a crunch pedal to compliment my HM-2 that can get a bit fatiguing after a while.
Why 400$? Gt2 brand new is 220$. And you can buy used from 100$.
What’s wrong with a plastic enclosure? These Behringer pedals have been around for a good while now and i’ve never heard of a single one ever breaking.
I still have mine it sounds good with a Roland micro cube amp into a 10 or 12 inch 4 oume speaker cab.
I like the Tube Modeler's sound better because it has a better low-end response. I would buy the Behringer, unless I needed something to cut through a mix, which I don't; there, I said it.
If it sounds better in front of an amp, then it's not doing its "amp modeler" job – get something else.
As a beginner, the Behringer TM300 has been great for getting closer to tube-like flute than anything else in my solid state armoury.
What I've done is put the CS300 ahead of the TM300 and use said TM300 as the pre-amp before my dirt chain.
I'm messing with the BD2 before and after to see which gives the better "edge of breakup" sound on the clean channels.
I definitely use a DS1 set just high enough to get that speaker clipping edge on the chuncks with the right signal intensity.
An SD1 after that to push the tone's mids.
But still yet, an EQ7 pedal to clean up the signal and/or blend.
Really happy doing AC/DC on low low gain Plex-like and early Metallica at just Mesa-like.
Now that I know the bass may yet be too heavy, I'll retry slightly reduced. Readjust my EQ pedal if need be.
But also for Xmas I'm getting the Tube Pilot. I know it's a starved voltage tube but the circuit may add the colouring to TM300 fluting that helps make it even more tube amp-like.
My question is the gt2 sound like the original sansamp that Kurt Cobain used?
I have a Tri-OD and connect a a M-Wave IR Box after it. =>> Recording Setup
I have the GT2 since… 20 years ?
It's really useful to have it for live shows in your case "just in case" (lol) of an amp failure.
It's incredibly awesome when plugged directly in the mix, with the cleanest sound as possible, and a big ginormous distorsion between the guitar and the GT2 (I did it with a DOD Death Metal)
I had a Behringer Tube Amp Modeller. Let me tell ya, this thing has a 2K? tone that is always there. Terrible.
Oh nooo! The Behringer sounds better! Had one I loved but ya can't gig with em though cause they fall apart during heavy use. Everyone I've used, seriously ????????
Had one GT2 years ago, but soon sold it again, also the Oxford pedal, did not convince me so much, to be honest. But what I still have, is a decades old Award Session JD-10 (Mk. 2.3), which, with a good (212/412) cab IR behind still sounds better to me than a lot of contemporary digital solutions. Even the built-in simple cab/speaker emulation is not so bad, but luckily also deacivatable. Only two channels, a Tweed and a Plexi channel, which in this version even overlap a little, while in older version the channels differed more, but the sounds did not convinve me so much, this one was the best and most balanced sounding for me, the older one I also soon sold again.)
From the GT2 I have two plugins, which for me sound even better than the real pedal does.
if you really like it's sounds, the Arturia Dist OPAMP-21 is a gem with even a lot more features, but also the freeware AXP SoftAmp GT sounds very good, although it meanwhile is pretty old.
Nevertheless, if you like it's sounds, the GT2 is a simple no-brainer pedal, of course real tube amps most probably sound better and are more flexible adjustable, but there also are worse sounding solutions around. Another advantage, meanhwile you get it really cheap used often (Already have seen it for about USD/EUR 120,- to even 100,- meanwhile in Europe and for this price I definitely preferred buying the GT2 instead of the TAM. If I had not the JD-10.)
The cheap Behringer pedals up to now did not convince me so much, have the Noise Gate, which extremely alters the sound, so I replaced it with a linked pair of Decimator II's, which are much more expensive, but do the job much better and the sound remains the original one. On the other hand the Behringer Small Stone phaser clone sounds nice to me, so does the Mutron Bi-Phase clone and even my audio interface is a Behringer and does it's job well.
Ive owned both as distortion pedals to an amp and kept the Behrenger. Its more dialed in to my ears
Have you tried add an IR after them tô plug in LINE?
Should Sound great too
Awesome video! This is how pedals should be reviewed when comparing them, well done! If I had the money, I would get the SansAmp, but I don't so I got the Behringer. I also have the Joyo British on order, but hasn't gotten here yet. The Behringer really sounds like a Marshall or Fender amp, from comparing it to the gear I have. SansAmp came up with an awesome design.
I did a bunch of recording on that SansAmp in the late 90s.
I bought the Behringer during the pandemic when Zoom meetings were taking place in the house all day, and my practice had to go to headphones.
It’s not exact, but I think it’s close enough… and in some ways I prefer the sound of the Behringer.
The Tweed clean sound is useful in a direct practice/ recording setting, and with a touch of compression and verb, it can actually sound pretty great.
I'd love to see / hear a comparison between the behringer and something like a Helix or Tonex or similar…..
G'day Jason,
I don't care what you do, just give us more Silverchair!!! ????
Andrew
Jason I forgot to mention. I had a regular weekend gig at a Greek restaurant playing all sorts of stuff depending on the customers. It was a straight to PA gig. With a Tech 21 Paradriver DI and the the GT2 together it responded well. The XLR input did the trick i found. It would never replace tubes but it was a great quick fix. Scoop the mids to 10 o clock and add the gt2…..it worked.
Great video as always Jason. Im a tech 21 fan boy and have a few gt2s and tri acs in my playing experience. Tech 21 was cutting edge in the 90s but everyone has caught up. With smaller venue gigging these days i find i go through a blues driver…..i guess our tastes change with time. I dont want to sell them though. Keep up the great videos????
You could have set the EQ to sound the same. You have to use your ears. Just setting the knobs without listening isn’t how to do ir. Same with the gain.
Too bad the things that make you mad are my favorite things!
agrre with what you said about their differences.
I had the original version (the one with the little switches) back in the day, and it was amazing to pair with my Fostex tape recorder. However, technology has come a long way, and now I’d say it sounds “just okay.” There are plenty of other options out there that work better for recording or as a drive pedal. If you’re after that specific sound, I’d recommend going with the Behringer alternative. But if you’re a big Nirvana fan or just love vintage gear, the original is worth picking up. Personally, in 2024, I went with the plugin versions (same for the Rockman) for a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
I have a bias against Behringer for using plastic enclosures that I can’t get over. Even if they sound exactly the same as the pedal they are copying, I will never buy a Behringer. I do like Joyo pedals, which are doing the same thing and also made in China. There is also the “it” factor. At the end of the day all electronics can sound the same but what is the “it” that people perceive as value that brings a used price close to or more than original if selling the pedal down the road.
Thanks for a great video as akways ????. I think the Behringer overdrives, distortions and modellers are as good as most of us spare-room axe warriors will ever need…and it saves us a fortune…not to mention our marriages ????. Their modulation effects are not so great, however, in my inexpert hands.
Hard for me to comment, given that I don't play that sort of high gain sound, ever. I didn't really like either sound that much, but they both sounded right for what you were doing I suppose. I think you were right about the fizziness of the SansAmp cutting through in a possible mix. You really had to dial back the tone on the Behringer to get some sort of equity. Interested to hear the thoughts of others who probably play more high gain guitar than I do. Always enjoy your videos. Cheers.
Not sure if they’re better now, but those SansAmps used to fail a lot .
I've a Joyo (Behringer) bass preamp & a Soniccake acoustic preamp sitting next to my expensive Walrus, Boss, etc pedals. They simply sound good for the price.