The Tech 21 XXL Guitar is a distortion pedal built around a single idea: the Warp control. Instead of simply adding gain, Warp manipulates the structure and balance of odd and even harmonics and how they relate to the dynamics of your instrument and your playing, so the same setting can respond differently depending on how hard you dig in. Tech 21 describes the pedal's remit plainly: "Obese, megalithic, dynamic distortion is what it's all about."1
What the Warp control does
Tech 21's own description of the circuit is worth quoting in full:
"The XXL's Warp™ control manipulates the structure and balance of odd and even harmonics and influences their relativity to the dynamics of your instrument and your playing style."
In practice, the maker describes three broad zones along the control's travel1:
- Minimum settings: higher amounts of even harmonics, producing an overdrive like that of a Class A tube amp.
- Median point: traditional distortion, well suited for chords and rhythm parts.
- Extreme settings: work particularly well with individual notes, making them smoother, fatter, thicker and juicier.
Because the harmonic balance is tied to your picking, pick attack changes the result even within the same setting: a lighter touch and a hard attack can come out differently without touching the knobs1. That makes Warp as much a playing-dynamics control as a tone control.
The Tone control
The restructured guitar version carries a Tone control that Tech 21 describes as very musical: it shifts the center frequency of the high cut from 10kH to 1kH while maintaining the mid-range1. Rather than a simple treble roll-off, it lets you move where the top end folds away while the mids stay in place.
History and the bass version
The XXL was originally in production from 1995 to 2000. Tech 21 notes that some guitar players considered the original a little too over-the-top, and, as the maker puts it, "Oddly enough, certain bass players seemed to like it just fine." The design was later restructured and split into two versions: this guitar edition and a separate Tech 21 XXL Bass1.
The XXL Bass is a distortion pedal for bass, built around the same Warp control, with one key difference: the Bass Edition features a level-compensated Tone control2. Both the guitar and bass editions now appear in Tech 21's online archive rather than its current lineup2.
The XXL Guitar is an archived design, not a current Tech 21 product. The maker's own pages for it live in the archive section of its site23.
Where it sits in the Tech 21 range
The XXL is the most deliberately extreme distortion in the maker's line as described here, sitting apart from the amp-flavored drives and preamp-style pedals in the catalog, such as the Tech 21 U.S. Steel, the Tech 21 Hot-Rod Plexi and the Tech 21 Double Drive. If you are browsing the wider category, the distortion pedals page collects the type as a whole31.
Videos
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Questions
What does the Warp control do on the Tech 21 XXL?
Warp manipulates the structure and balance of odd and even harmonics and how they relate to your playing dynamics. At minimum settings it produces higher amounts of even harmonics, an overdrive like a Class A tube amp. The median point yields traditional distortion suited to chords and rhythm parts, and extreme settings work particularly well with individual notes, making them smoother, fatter, thicker and juicier.
Is there a separate bass version of the Tech 21 XXL?
Yes. Tech 21 made an XXL Bass Edition, a distortion pedal for bass with a level-compensated Tone control. The original XXL was in production from 1995 to 2000, and some guitar players found it a little too over-the-top, while certain bass players seemed to like it just fine.
What does the Tone control do on the XXL Guitar?
The restructured guitar version features what Tech 21 calls a very musical Tone control that shifts the center frequency of the high cut from 10kH to 1kH while maintaining the mid-range, so you can darken the top end without losing the body of the sound.
Is the Tech 21 XXL still in production?
No. The original XXL was in production from 1995 to 2000. It was later restructured and split into separate guitar and bass versions, and both now sit in Tech 21's online archive rather than its current product line.
Sources (3)
- XXL Guitar, Tech 21 NYC, 2019-06-24
- XXL Bass, Tech 21 NYC, 2019-06-24
- XXL Original, Tech 21 NYC, 2019-06-24
