Tech 21 "Liverpool" pedal

[MeBHank]

In the not-too-distant future I may need to start performing without a valve amplifier on certain gigs (I'll guess I'll have to put up with the withdrawal symptoms). I'm looking for a good pre-amp to emulate an AC15/early AC30 tone, but I certainly don't need anything as complicated as the Vox Tonelab as I envisage I will only ever use one tone setting, as I do with my amps.

Does anyone have any experience with Tech 21's "Liverpool" pedal. It's apparently a versatile easy-to-use unit providing Vox-type tones (named the "Liverpool" due to the Beatles' affiliation with Vox amps). It has been recommended to me but I thought I'd take the opportunity to ask for more opinions as I have no need to rush into a purchase.

I'm staying objective, though this gadget's name may have made up my mind already! Maybe it's fate.

J

[ubique]

Hi J
I can highly recommend the Joyo AC tone which is a copy of the Liverpool, and for £30-00 its a total bargain. I have the Joyo American which is a copy of the Tech 21 Blonde and its brilliant and built like a tank. Do a Youtube search and you will find lots of Joyo demos and comparisons. Hope this helps.
Cheers.
Neil

[alanh]

I have had a Liverpool pedal for 12 months, very easy to use and the sound is good. I put my desktop tonelab back in the box many months ago, for the very reason you are not too keen to buy one!!

Cheers,

AlanH

[jetblack69]

Been listening to the Tech 21 character series.

They all sound pretty good but for me (personally) its hard to judge as all the demo's I listened to have distortion,and for me.......a true Shadows fan.....("I CANNOT STAND DISTORTION) of ANY kind.

I dont like the Shadows ..Rocking with curly leads album,and the only early track I disliked....a lot...is "STINGRAY"

My love is a nice "clean" Fender/AC 30 Twang.

I watched quite a few demo's of the "Blonde,British and Liverpool"..I think they are all very versatile,and for obvious reasons I liked the Liverpool one best,as It try's to emulate a VOX AC 30.

Could,nt find any Shadows sound demo's with these pedals.

Steve

[roadworn]

Type in jalveste into utube.. This guy uses a fender classic player,kinman impersonator pups,q2, then a Liverpool 21. Demos many Shads tunes with good results..

[jetblack69]

Yeah,cheers roadworn,

I did actually listen to this guy technically he,s very good,but you can tell he,IS a big Ventures fan.

I listened to all his Shads stuff and it sounds ok BUT,he seems to have just a little too much gain on ALL of them,making it sound on the verge of(DISTORTION)..aaahhhh........apart from that the pedal does sound pretty good........and I may even buy one.

Steve

[jetblack69]

Neil,

thanks for the advise on the joyo.

I actually bought one of these,and I can say they are superb.

Steve.

[dakwah]

I too bought the Joyo pedal and it is a very well made pedal for the money. Can anyone tell me the role of the voice knob as there wasn't an instruction shhet enclosed?

thanks Stan

[Charlie Hall]

This is a link to the Tech 21 manual, it covers the Liverpool.
www.tech21nyc.com/support/manuals/sansamp/CharacSeries-OM.pdf
I would think the character control is the equivalent control if the Joyo design is based on this.
Regards,
Charlie

[dakwah]

thanks for the link Charlie

Stan

[peterbower]

I had a Tech 21 'Trademark' series 30 combo and have always regretted selling it. A fabulous amp and plenty loud enough for small venues. Roger Cook may remember it when I brought it down to our club nights in the old days.

Peter

[garystrat]

I own a Tech 21 "Liverpool" which has become my amp modeller of choice, I mentioned this to Justin in casual conversation, not realising at the time that he may have a future interest.

My experience of the "Liverpool" is that of being extremely well made, it is stated on their website that every one of their products is hand built with high quality components. Depending on what other pedals are in use, Tech 21 provides a guide recommendation as to where best to placed it in the chain.

This link tells you a little about the company:

tech21nyc.com/aboutus/index.html

To me the analogue circuitry (no digital conversion going on within the pedal) has a certain "feel" that achieves a warm tone. For those using use it with an audio interface, amp or PA there is a speaker simulation defeat switch, which was an added feature around the time I purchased mine. The speaker emulation is based on Alnico Bulldog speaker, the idea being an option to disable it when going to an actual amp.

The "Character" knob is designed to provide tones of various lineage of AC 15 through to AC 30, which in my opinion it does it very well. Carefully fine tuning the "Character" knob and other settings in combination, the "Liverpool" produces some very impressive AC tones from the 50s/60s. I have found that using drive in accordance with Tech 21 recommended setting for "Clean" gets a fairly satisfactory approximation to the slightly driven early Hank tones. Using drive may sound a little counter intuitive, but the options and ways of achieving the various tones are approximated to actual VOX setting, perhaps providing more scope for flexibility, i.e. it has a MID control. As far as the "Liverpool" is concerned, small changes in combinations of settings can make quite a noticeable difference.

Compared to Tonelabs or POD's these really have to be considered as a "one trick pony", but all the controls are neatly set out without the use of secondary functions.

Below is a link that compares the "Liverpool" to several actual Mic'd VOX amps:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=exca8rsluyU


Gary