Not a bad little amp... the Tech21 TM30
Moderator: Dave Mudgett
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Terje Larson
- Posts: 187
- Joined: 9 May 2005 12:01 am
- Location: Rinkeby, Spånga, Sweden
- State/Province: -
- Country: United States
Not a bad little amp... the Tech21 TM30
I liked the idea behind the TM10. Small, versatile, no tubes to worry about, not loud enough for gigs on its own but with several options for running it through the PA, a nice sounding reverb... everything was "right" aobut this amp but still I never bought it. I was very close a few times but it just didn't happen. Everytime I was about to something stopped me.
The problems that stopped me from buying it were that it was way too expensive and the speaker was too small. Also the lack of any kind of clean headroom was a problem even for me, although I do like to play at extremely low volumes on my blalajka.
The TM30 seems to solve these problems. With 30 watts of power it does indeed have some clean headroom, at least enough for someone like me. The bigger speaker does fatten the sound up a bit and the treble isn't as piercing. The fact that it's still as small as the TM10 and weighs almost as little makes it an alternative worth considering for me cause I want something small.
... it is also cheaper than it used to be...
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If you can't hear the others you're too loud, if you can't hear yourself you've gone deaf
The problems that stopped me from buying it were that it was way too expensive and the speaker was too small. Also the lack of any kind of clean headroom was a problem even for me, although I do like to play at extremely low volumes on my blalajka.
The TM30 seems to solve these problems. With 30 watts of power it does indeed have some clean headroom, at least enough for someone like me. The bigger speaker does fatten the sound up a bit and the treble isn't as piercing. The fact that it's still as small as the TM10 and weighs almost as little makes it an alternative worth considering for me cause I want something small.
... it is also cheaper than it used to be...
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If you can't hear the others you're too loud, if you can't hear yourself you've gone deaf
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Jay Fagerlie
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Jay Fagerlie
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Jon Light (deceased)
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I just received an email from a guitarist-friend telling me about this amp. He actually became aware of it because his excellent steel player was running his non-pedal steel thru one and sounded great. He (the guitarist) is real impressed with this as a versatile lightweight rig for small rooms. I think he is gigging with it for the first time tomorrow and will find out how it holds up.
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Terje Larson
- Posts: 187
- Joined: 9 May 2005 12:01 am
- Location: Rinkeby, Spånga, Sweden
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- Country: United States
Yes Jay, a balalaika. Sorry about the spelling error there. Too much coffee probably 
Please visit my band's homepage http://www.drbalalajka.com if you want to hear what an electric balalajka can sound like.
Jon, I was impressed too. The TM10 had problems. unless you played it surper quiet the 8" speaker would sound thing, even for an instrument with a very high range such as mine. The TM30 doesn't have that problem. The only thing I have to say against it now is that it sounds a bit distant, but that is something it shares with all modeling amps. they sound like a recorded or a miked amp.
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If you can't hear the others you're too loud, if you can't hear yourself you've gone deaf

Please visit my band's homepage http://www.drbalalajka.com if you want to hear what an electric balalajka can sound like.
Jon, I was impressed too. The TM10 had problems. unless you played it surper quiet the 8" speaker would sound thing, even for an instrument with a very high range such as mine. The TM30 doesn't have that problem. The only thing I have to say against it now is that it sounds a bit distant, but that is something it shares with all modeling amps. they sound like a recorded or a miked amp.
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If you can't hear the others you're too loud, if you can't hear yourself you've gone deaf