The Tech 21 SansAmp Character Plus Screaming Blonde is a Fender-style amp emulator with a switchable Tube Screamer-style overdrive section, part of the Character Plus series launched in 20221. Premier Guitar summed up the recipe as "Screaming Blonde = Fender-style + Tube Screamer-style"2. The whole Character Plus range is all-analog3, and the series shares a rugged, all-metal housing with metal footswitches and jacks, plus both a 1/4-inch unbalanced low Z universal output and a balanced low Z XLR output for going straight into a PA or interface4.
What it does to your sound
The idea is a Fender amp in a pedal, with a Tube Screamer-style drive on tap. Premier Guitar described the Screaming Blonde's tones as ranging "from the '50s Fullerton to blackface and silverface"2, meaning the pedal covers the classic Fender clean and breakup territory from early tweed-era amps through the blackface and silverface panels most players know from the '60s and '70s.
The controls
The Character knob is the heart of the pedal, sweeping through the Fender-style voicings. MusicRadar's Jonathan Horsley mapped it out like this1:
| Character knob position | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Below noon | Classic Black panel and Silverface Fender sounds |
| At noon | Blonde territory, "with more of everything" |
| Above noon | Tweedy tones, with lead-boosted tones when dimed |
The Scream section, the switchable overdrive half of the pedal, offers a single Tone control to adjust the highs and mids, and an overdrive control for dialling in how much TS-style gain you want1. If you want a sense of how that Tube Screamer-style voicing compares against the originals, the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison covers the circuits it draws on, and the overdrive pedals page places it among its peers.
Where it sits in the Tech 21 range
The Character Plus series is a step up from the earlier single-channel Character pedals. Tech 21's own Blonde Deluxe from the Character Series pairs "a warm, all-analog signal path and convenient digital recall" and offers "the same pure American tones as its single-channel sibling," with cleans that build from "sparkly, spanky" into "the punchy bark of hard-pushed tweed"6. The Screaming Blonde condenses that American-amp territory into the Character Plus format, alongside siblings like the Tech 21 Screaming Blonde from the original Character line and the Tech 21 SansAmp Para Driver DI for players who want more routing flexibility.
Videos
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Sources (6)
- Tech 21 unveils the SansAmp Character Plus Series, amp emulators with effects voiced to nail classic guitar tones, MusicRadar, 2022-05-24
- Tech 21 Introduces the SansAmp Character Plus Series, Premier Guitar, 2022-05-25
- Tech 21's SansAmp Character Plus pedals celebrate iconic pairings of amps and effects, Guitar World, 2022-05-23
- Character Plus Series, Tech 21 NYC, 2024-03-13
- New Gear: Tech 21 Introduces Four SansAmp Character Plus Series Pedals, Bass Musician Magazine, 2022-05-19
- Private Stock, Tech 21 NYC, 2019-09-11
