Tech 21 Introduces the American Woman Overdrive Pedal
January 25, 2003
Tech 21's American Woman overdrive pedal celebrates the tone of one of the most recognized guitar solos in the history of rock. It was developed at the suggestion of Randy Bachman after purchasing Tech 21's SansAmp PSA-1 pre-amp/direct recording processor. He discovered it contained a preset named in honor of the famed song co-written by Bachman-Cummings-Kale-Peterson while in the Guess Who.
Bachman worked closely with Tech 21 to design a single pedal he could use with any amp. After having captured the sound of an entire chain of Bachman's '59 Les Paul going through amps, mikes, compressors and tape compression in one preset of the SansAmp PSA-1, the electronics had to be reconfigured into an overdrive pedal. It is believed that Bachman originally coined the term "overdrive" when naming his next band, Bachman Turner Overdrive. Since then, the word has been incorporated into our everyday vocabulary of tone.
The American Woman pedal includes Drive, Gate, Tone and Level controls. With just the right balance of odd and even harmonics, it recreates the cascading effect of two different amplifiers, including pre-amp and power amp stages. This effect is typically only achieved by running two guitar amplifiers into each other. For versatility, the American Woman pedal can also be cleaned up for semi-dirty and warm blues sounds.
Other features include a 1megOhm high impedance 1/4" input (same as traditional tube amps use), a 1kOhm low impedance 1/4" output (drives long cables without loss of signal integrity), and a smooth, silent-switching custom actuator.
Operable with a 9V alkaline battery (not included) or optional power supply (Tech 21 Model #DC2). MSRP: $150.00.
For more information, visit their web site at www.tech21nyc.com. | 
