Trade Mark 30 owners talk to me

kotornut · #1 02-01-2008, 09:11 AM

I have been looking for a practice amp recently. I can't get a big great tube amp because of my apartment and that I am not gigging. So i wanted to find an amp that has decent tone, is small, it NEEDS AN EFFECTS LOOP and a headphone jack. The biggest thing was that ithe controlls had to be to be real time not like a Line6, when everytime you touch a dial the whole program goes funky. I can use those amps but, I don't really want to.

So, I found the Trademark 30 and thought it has what I want, but I have heard it's noisy and other mixed reviews. Also it's only one channel at a time and that sucks. I play rock and metal for example: Led Zeppeling, Paul Gilbert, Aagra, and As I Lay Dying. Tell me what you think please.

MadRyan · #2 02-02-2008, 12:39 PM

I had a trade mark 120 and thought it sucked. No clarity, not much gain, didn't like pedals at all, etc. Granted it was my first solid state amp in a decade but I couldn't stand it. I have a Flextone III that sounds better to me but I can't stand it either.

kotornut · #3 02-02-2008, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadRyan

I had a trade mark 120 and thought it sucked. No clarity, not much gain, didn't like pedals at all, etc. Granted it was my first solid state amp in a decade but I couldn't stand it. I have a Flextone III that sounds better to me but I can't stand it either.

Dude that doesn't really help me. The Trade mark 30 isn't the 120 and telling me the Flextone sucks doesn't help either. I know they don't sound as good as a boogie or laney or whatever but I can't afford or use one in my situation.

Please don't just be a tube snob and assume I'm a noob because I have question about an affordable practice amp. I know this topic isn't about a swirl JEM, but I still wold like adequate help.

Fender868 · #4 02-02-2008, 08:58 PM

He is not being a tone snob. This man has a lot of knowledge in all kinds of amps, and if you had taken the message for what it was, he was kind of giving you a hint to stay away from solid state amplifiers. I personally think you should try the Peavey JSX Mini Colossal all tube amp. I am pretty sure it has a head phone jack and it's become quite popular since it's release. A lot of serious tone in a small sized combo amp.

Don't ask us to pick the amp for you mate. Most of the people on here will simply give you a track record of their experience with said amp and maybe if you're lucky, they'll be followed by an anecdote.

Best thing to do is to visit many shops and try as many amps as you need to be able to distinguish which among of them that you really want/ can afford and that advice will be more valuable than anything we can tell you about a particular amp. Like i said, you might not agree, but i think that if i was in your situation, the amp that best correspond my needs would be the Mini Colossal.

Good luck, but have respect too pal!

Let us know if you get closer to your amp

kotornut · #5 02-02-2008, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fender868

He is not being a tone snob. This man has a lot of knowledge in all kinds of amps, and if you had taken the message for what it was, he was kind of giving you a hint to stay away from solid state amplifiers. I personally think you should try the Peavey JSX Mini Colossal all tube amp. I am pretty sure it has a head phone jack and it's become quite popular since it's release. A lot of serious tone in a small sized combo amp.

Don't ask us to pick the amp for you mate. Most of the people on here will simply give you a track record of their experience with said amp and maybe if you're lucky, they'll be followed by an anecdote.

Best thing to do is to visit many shops and try as many amps as you need to be able to distinguish which among of them that you really want/ can afford and that advice will be more valuable than anything we can tell you about a particular amp. Like i said, you might not agree, but i think that if i was in your situation, the amp that best correspond my needs would be the Mini Colossal.

Good luck, but have respect too pal!

Let us know if you get closer to your amp

Let me rephrase then, what do people with experience with a trade mark 30 say about it in the long run?

I know about the JSX mini colossal but honestly it's 60000￥　($600 or about 299 pounds) That's a bit pricey for a 5 watt practice amp with only moderate gain and no three band EQ.

Look just so you guys know, I've been playing 16 years I have owned Half Stacks, combos, and all in between. I just wanted to know about a specific amps performance.

toshiro · #6 02-02-2008, 09:14 PM

I owned a Trademark 300 head and the the 10/30 has a completely different preamp than Tech21's other amps. If the TM300 had the 10/30 preamp I'd probably still have it. The Trademark 30 actually great sounding. The only reason I went for a Vox AD30-XL over it for a practice amp was that I wanted built in effects.

quik · #7 02-02-2008, 10:06 PM

I've had lots of Tech 21 products. SansAmp GT2, Trademark 10, Trademark 30, and Trademark 60. I have also spoken with Tech 21 reps about the differences between some of their amps. I should note that my TM30 was the LE model, which pre-dated the current TM30. Same amp, but the LE had an oak case and a Weber speaker.

I think that all of the above, except the 60, offered a very good Marshall-esque tone, and they'd be great for Zeppelin. I don't listen to any of the other bands you listed, so I can't speak to those - though I think Gilbert uses a Marshall, so it ought to work for that, too. The 60 is a different animal, with less gain on tap - I'd avoid that one. The Tech 21 rep told me that the TM10, TM30 and TM120 all have the same preamp setup and should sound similar.

MadRyan · #8 02-02-2008, 11:27 PM

If you're wanting to do metal the Tech 21 stuff isn't for you.

IMO, Buy a POD or a used flextone and be done with it. If you pick up a flextone you can gig with it later. If you get a POD XT you can use it plugged directly into a board later on down the road. The little kidney shaped POD's don't have a MIDI jack so you'll have to buy a L-6 foot controller if you ever plan on using it live and they're overpriced junk (The floorboards that is)

What's your budget?

Used flextone, or a Roland CUBE will do it nice. Better yet a VOX AD series, the old blue ones, or a Tonelab. Much more natural sounding than the POD's and whatnot.

Can't go wrong with an Epi valve junior and a hotplate. Killer tube sounds there.

ETA: Forgot the VOX multi-effect thingie is called the Tonelab, not the Valvetronix... DOH!

kotornut · #9 02-03-2008, 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadRyan

If you're wanting to do metal the Tech 21 stuff isn't for you.

IMO, Buy a POD or a used flextone and be done with it. If you pick up a flextone you can gig with it later. If you get a POD XT you can use it plugged directly into a board later on down the road. The little kidney shaped POD's don't have a MIDI jack so you'll have to buy a L-6 foot controller if you ever plan on using it live and they're overpriced junk (The floorboards that is)

What's your budget?

Used flextone, or a Roland CUBE will do it nice. Better yet a VOX AD series, the old blue ones, or a Valvetronix. Much more natural sounding than the POD's and whatnot.

Can't go wrong with an Epi valve junior and a hotplate. Killer tube sounds there.

Thanks I hope I didn't offend you earlier.

My budget is $300-500. I was looking at the flextone III mabea buit out of my range but it might work. I like the cubes but, none of them have an effect loop. I was also looking at the Boss GT-8/10.

I heard that the VOX amps can be unreliable. I heard that too about the Trademark 30.

MadRyan · #10 02-03-2008, 03:07 AM

I'd sell you my Flextone. I never play it, and as such it clutters up my living room which bugs me. PM me if you're interested. I see you're in Japan. Are you an American living there or a Japanese Citizen? I spent quite a bit of time in that part of the world and really enjoyed it. I miss good Yakisoba.

kotornut · #11 02-03-2008, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadRyan

I'd sell you my Flextone. I never play it, and as such it clutters up my living room which bugs me. PM me if you're interested. I see you're in Japan. Are you an American living there or a Japanese Citizen? I spent quite a bit of time in that part of the world and really enjoyed it. I miss good Yakisoba.

I love Yakisoba. I'm an American citizen. My wife is Japanese. I teach English. A very obvious and typical lifestyle of an english speaking person in Japan.

I think the shipping would make it really difficult to buy it from you, but thanks.

Yakisoba is great especially shio yakisoba.

MadRyan · #12 02-03-2008, 03:30 AM

That's cool. I recently shipped an amp to Canada which while the mechanics of shipping internationally is a PITA, I got to know the buyer really well and now consider him a friend. I'm looking to get $300 plus shipping and for another $100 I'll throw in a mint Rocktron Midimate to control the thing. I know that often times, buying gear from folks in America is still a winning deal even with taxes/duties and all that just because stuff costs less here.

BTW... I was in Okinawa about 10 or so years ago and the Yen took a serious dump so naturally I went electronics shopping. Bought the most incredible Sony stereo. I still use it to this day and nothing I've seen around here can touch it for even 3 times what I paid for it.

kotornut · #13 02-03-2008, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadRyan

That's cool. I recently shipped an amp to Canada which while the mechanics of shipping internationally is a PITA, I got to know the buyer really well and now consider him a friend. I'm looking to get $300 plus shipping and for another $100 I'll throw in a mint Rocktron Midimate to control the thing. I know that often times, buying gear from folks in America is still a winning deal even with taxes/duties and all that just because stuff costs less here.

BTW... I was in Okinawa about 10 or so years ago and the Yen took a serious dump so naturally I went electronics shopping. Bought the most incredible Sony stereo. I still use it to this day and nothing I've seen around here can touch it for even 3 times what I paid for it.

Well, I would like to continue looking for a while. I'll keep it in mind though.

Also, it wouldn't sound to it's optimal potential because our power runs at only 100v.

Thanks a bunch.

toshiro · #14 02-03-2008, 03:41 AM

The new Vox XL-series rules for the metal, BTW.

The older Chromes sound a little muddy to me, but these grey/black ones rock.

Though, I've had the thing less than a week, so "new amp hype" is still in effect.

Zann · #15 02-04-2008, 10:03 AM

Hey kotornut, here are my two cents, as they say. Not quite TM30, but I do own a TM10 here - and, believe me or not - will not trade mine for any other amp/modeler mentioned in this thread (played all, owned most). Now TM10 is discontinued, and supposedly TM30 is the same thing: if that's the case, I recommend you getting one without any hesitation.

Equally, I recommend getting one of their SansAmp stomps, say GT-2, and feeding it into anything, really - cheapo mixing board, headphones amp, any clean combo, or even home stereo, you will be surprised. By the way, 2008 NAMM brought new SansAmps: http://emusician.com/ms/namm08/video/tech21_character/ - check them out.

Disclaimer: my enthusiasm about the above mentioned products is purely personal. You mileage may vary!