Synergy Syn-1 Single Module Tube Preamp Demo Video By Shawn Tubbs

[@PeteThorn]

Great job Sean, you do good work man!

[@ShawnTubbs]

Wow! Thanks so much Pete. You're the man!

[@davidcaro8217]

Tubbs and Thorn are a couple of the very best players on the Tube today! This has been a public service announcement

[@jackleyton5504]

Nice to hear two monster players complimenting each other. You both are brilliant players doing great videos. Say coffee this weekend around 1PM? LOL

[@jobprojobpro3238]

@@ShawnTubbs may mmmmm. Much. Much. Jhuh. Jhn.jm..Janine you mn.ttt g Rg..r.hhrrr R

[@JandNandJ]

Awesome as always! Thank you. I really love my Syn-1 with the HBE module. It’s nice to see quality demos like yours starting to come out.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Right on thanks so much!

[@guitwiz64]

loved the demo Shawn, great sounds awesome playing from the master as always. thank you

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks so much!

[@chrismilne2475]

Excellent, been waiting years for a good demo of these. Can’t wait for the module run down.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks Chris! I'm gonna demo the Syn-2 next and then dig into the individual modules.

[@ikigai47]

haha, he loves that Eruption A-G-D chord sequence. Great product demo'd be a great player. Win/win

[@r.llynch4124]

You hear the word "game changer" a lot these days but THIS is a game changer.

[@gerenhill]

thanks for the close up on the last lick in the intro!

[@peterbrusch1493]

Excellent playing plus a very informative and detailled review.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks so much for watching Peter and I appreciate the kind words!

[@kenthompson8448]

OMG - such fantastic playing!! Never mind what you are demo'ing you always sound killer!..

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks so much Ken!!

[@KrazyDoctor]

Sounds fantastic Shawn and the preamp sounds great too!

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks man!!

[@artreno5135]

Great demo !!! Nice guitar work and clear explanation of the gear !! Thanx from Art Reno

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks so much Art! So great to hear from you man!! Hope you're doing well!

[@artreno5135]

I'm doing OK !! Glad to see you are doing well !!

[@FredBrum]

I'll be honest - I came here to check how this new take on the modular designed behaved (which appears to be really solid) and what stood out the most was actually how great the playing itself sounded. Great stuff!

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks very much Fred I appreciate it!!

[@RobertBakerGuitar]

My god, the playing is tasty!!!

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks so much Robert. You're very kind sir.

[@sumithramachandranwatchyou5045]

Finally a good demo !! Class player👌👌

[@sumithramachandranwatchyou5045]

Love those diminish lines👌👌

[@ChristianBundgaard]

Great demo as usual! It could be really interesting to hear it directly into the DAW with the build-in cab-sim, or with an impulse response. That is probably how i would use it most of the time.

[@ShawnTubbs]

I'll be working on some direct to DAW videos soon. Thanks Christian!

[@BackingTrackKing]

This, I'm really looking forward to. I heard some incredible sounds going direct at NAMM.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Right on Christian!

[@ChristianBundgaard]

Thanks Shawn! I'm looking forward to watching that!

[@stephenchow5161]

great as always

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks Stephen!

[@nunyabidness5150]

Love your licks man

[@fatherjacques]

Please a demo with IR into your DAW. Great Demo by the way

[@paulsdino]

Sounds good .Good demo

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks so much Paul!

[@mcmillanalex]

This is very intriguing. If I'm not very fond of the tone of my current amplifier, specifically because it's too loud for my needs at home (40W 1x12). Would I be able to get the kind of tones you demonstrated without having to crank the volume of the amplifier? The speaker in my amp is a Celestion Vintage 30 so I think there would be the potential to get a great tone from it. Great video by the way!

[@brianmckenzie1318]

Loved the demo (and playing of course)!!! The Synergy is very interesting! I love that they have the actually designers building the pre-amps. All kinds of combinations to incorporate into your rig. One combo I thought of is a Friedman Runt, then run the Synergy into the effects loop with a Dirty Shirley module and have all the rock tones! In your opinion, would it be important to have a tube power section amp to use with the Synergy? I'm wondering how this would work running into a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170 or 700. Again, thanks for the great demos and explaining in language that I can understand! : )

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks Brian! The DS module would be killer with the Runt for sure. As far as tube power goes I'm a big fan of retaining as much tube goodness as possible but I totally get the idea of having such a compact but powerful rig using the Duncan Powerstage.

[@GermanGallardoMusic]

Sounds great! I wonder how good would it pair with say, a two-notes C.A.B. to go direct taking advantage of custom IRs.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks! I have a feeling it would sound great. I'm going to demo the Syn-2 with the Syn 5050 power amp and I might try and incorporate the Tube Direct with Cab Sym. I'll have a quick demo series of all 11 modules after that.

[@SoulProvider88]

Thanks for this great demo! If you had to pick only 3 modules that each cover either clean, rhythm or lead tones, which ones would you pick?

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks so much!!! Yikes guy!! Um....that's a tough one... I'd go with the T DLX or the Morgan AC for the clean module and either the Friedman DS or Metropolis Metro Plex for the mid gain. For the high gain I would look at the Friedman BE or the Soldano SLO.

[@PJ-ee5mc]

Great video and great playing as always. I have one question as I dive deeper into this: If I use a Syn-1 or Syn-2 with any of these great sounding modules and run this through one of my own amps as explained, wouldn't the tone of the Syn module be colorer (effected) by my amp's existing preamp? I don't see how it would not considering that the Syn module is being plugged into the amps input. I realize that it is also being routed through the amps effects loop but I still cannot make sense of this and would be grateful if you or a knowledgeable viewer could enlighten me.

[@ShawnTubbs]

The Syn preamp takes advantage of your amps FX loop return so the preamp section of your amp is never used as an input for the Syn.

[@PJ-ee5mc]

@@ShawnTubbs Thanks Shawn. Just one more: When running the Synergy modules through my amp's effects loop will the volume knobs of my amp have any effect at all or does the Amp section simply provide raw power?

[@ShawnTubbs]

@@PJ-ee5mc If your amp has a master volume, it will be part of the power section.

[@PJ-ee5mc]

@@ShawnTubbs Thanks, Shawn. I ask because the amp I would most likely use the modules with is a 50 watt combo which is a lot for home studio use. If I can use he amp's volume as a sort of Master Volume and set it low (to make it behave more like a 5 or 10 watt amp) I could then do everything else from the module, or so it would seem. By the way, I have been looking at several of your videos. Your presentations are great. I love the graphic environment you setup in the Syn OS and Steve Vai videos for example. Wonderful playing as well! You are indeed a talented and very creative man, Shawn Tubbs. Thanks for what you do.

[@ShawnTubbs]

@@PJ-ee5mc Thanks so much!

[@WayneHoldenMusic]

Solid sounds! Any chance of demoing that SNY2 and SYN power amp in that rack please and thank ya!!!!

[@ShawnTubbs]

Coming up! Thanks Wayne!

[@WayneHoldenMusic]

Splendid!!!! I think that combo is what I will be going with so that would be amazing... Maybe something with the cab DI in stereo? lol .. Cheers!!!

[@KelsterVonShredster]

Went to see my doctor this morning and apparently my GAS readings are off the charts !!!!! Killer !!!!! Only complaint about this video is that it was way too short !!!!! Please advise on what retailers will be carrying the Synergy gear as I'm horny to purchase. Thanks!

[@ShawnTubbs]

Hahaha thanks Von! Maybe reach out to www.synergyamps.com to find out where they distributing. Thanks again Von.

[@alt_unknowntv5497]

You can direct from their site.

[@ShawnTubbs]

What Eli said!

[@BackingTrackKing]

Shaws demos music is always too short to fulfil my music needs.

[@mikeaustin4138]

Does the effects loop on the Syn-1 also work when you're bypassing the Syn-1 and using the amplifier?

[@ShawnTubbs]

Yes.

[@satch4u3]

Savage licks, Shawn! Question: If you have the Synergy preamp in the FX Return of the amp, how are you getting to both your Bella's preamp input and synergy preamp input? AB switch?

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks man! Basically the Syn Pre is doing the a/b for me. When I bypass the Syn, the input goes to the front end of the Bella.

[@MJ30ism]

Shawn, How to conect this rig in this case? How to preserve the clean chanel in the amp? Your Job and playing it's unbeliveable,than for this vídeos!

[@ShawnTubbs]

It's a 4 cable method. Your amp has to have an FX loop. Your guitar goes to the main input of the Synergy Pre-Amp. There is an output that goes to the input of your amp called "to amp in". From there you utilize the FX loop of your amp. You connect the "from amp fx send" to the fx loop send of your amp. You connect the "to amp fx return" to the fx return of your amp. Go to www.synergyamps.com and download the Syn-1 manual for a more detailed explanation. Thanks Marco!!

[@MJ30ism]

Ohhh ,thank you very much for your feedback Shawn ! More sucess for your !

[@PackinForSuperbowl]

I was thinking about your description for using other pedals in the loop while using the synergy preamp. I do something like this with my Two Notes Le Clean and BOSS ES-8 (i.e., bypass my 6505+ preamp and put the Le Clean in it's place). I toggle the Le Clean via MIDI (Which I'm a little confused not to see on the synergy). I think as long as your getting your time based pedals after the preamp out, you don't need to use the synergy's fx loop thereby keeping those fx loop pedals available for your main amp sound. I think the fx loop on the synergy would be of a greater benefit when going DI and using cab sim. I'm not sure if that makes sense but just my observation.

[@PackinForSuperbowl]

Maybe I should describe the signal chain as I see it. It assumes 4CM and pedals in the loop being on the board (though rack would make just as much sense and save some longer runs). Guitar > pre pedals > front of amp. Fx send > synergy input > main out > (back to board) time based fx > fx return. This all assumes that the synergy can be bypassed remotely so the signal still passes through without getting the preamp sound. Otherwise I'm not sure how any of this would work.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Yes that would be the case with that set up. In this case you need to be able to not only use the channel or channels in your amp as well as the channels in the Syn-1 module, but also be able to apply fx to them or more specifically apply the fx to the channel in the amplifier you're using with the Syn-1. You get preamps built by the designers as well. Friedman, Morgan, Diezel, Metropolis, Soldano.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Yes that is how it works. If you jump to 5:38, you'll see that the bypass light is on in the inset shot of the Synergy while I'm playing the Suhr Bella preamp. When I move to the blue channel of the BE module you'll see the bypass light turn off at 5:49 and from that point I toggle between the blue and red channels of the BE module. That is done via the supplied foot switch. See 3:41. These changes can all be done via the front panel as well.

[@PackinForSuperbowl]

Shawn Tubbs Seriously, this is very, very cool. I'm imagining having two of these along with a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 700 which is stereo. That's really not that much money to spend for that kind of flexibility and unique stereo tone options.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Right on Joel. The possibilities get pretty endless man and like I mentioned it's nice to know that the modules are made by the designers!

[@Θανος-ι6φ]

Hi there Shawn, great videos. Got a question, is there an audible difference between the SYN1 and the SYN2? I was told the DI is better in the SYN2, and perhaps because its a bigger unit, it may sound better as did the Randall RM-4 vs Randall's RM100 head. Thanks.

[@ShawnTubbs]

Hey thanks for your question. The SYN-1 and 2 sound the same to me. Didn't notice a difference.

[@HarrrySpider]

Of the high-gain amps, do you prefer one over the others? do you think one has more usable musical quality? on the demo, it's kinda hard (well, for me...) to hear differences between the various high-gain modules... Friedman vs Metro, etc... what is your feeling?

[@ShawnTubbs]

The Metro is very Marshall Plexi in nature with more gain. The Friedman BE has more gain and more low end and sounds a bit more modern but still has a Marshall vibe. The Diezel sounds very modern high gain and thick to me. Just depends on what you want.

[@embreesmith7613]

great demo ! I am 100% behind the sound here, no "low mid" heavy fake Mesa sound I am gonna have to have one of these dammit Shawn, stop posting this stuff I am waaaay past broke

[@ShawnTubbs]

Hahaha right on Embree! Yeah it's a pretty amazing platform.

[@jfrancis411]

Hey Shawn I have a question not addressed in the video. In the past, when I plug any kind of preamp into the effects return on my head, it overrides my current preamp on the amp. How do you go back and forth between the amps preamp and the Module preamp? Thanks!

[@ShawnTubbs]

The switching is done via the Syn Preamp. It routes the signal from your guitar to the input of your amplifier as well as the input of the module and toggles between the two sending the output signal to the FX return or power section of your amp.

[@markinthemix6055]

Seems like a great product. Who are the engineers behind this? I think a little name plug would increase interest in the product. Randall has had or still has a similar product.

[@ShawnTubbs]

The preamp modules are built by the actual designers. If you use a Friedman module, it was built and signed off on by Dave. The same goes for Morgan, Diezel and Metropolis. Definitely go to the website and check it out! www.synergyamps.com

[@rbagel55]

Egnator has a tube preamp that can hold 4 different modules. I don't know how it would compare to this preamp, but Ty Tabor of King's X seems to like it kzbin.info/www/bejne/r16vnJ-Le5Jkprc

[@heliobluesrock]

Amazing! So small, reminds me that little Crate head discontinued. Does it work well with pedals in front, like a classic TS? I believe so, but, to be sure, had to ask, hahahaha...

[@ShawnTubbs]

What's so cool is all of the modules are built and signed off on by designers. Friedman, Soldano, Diezel, Morgan and Metropolis.. They'll all take pedals for sure!

[@heliobluesrock]

Some of my favorites amps ever in one little box!? OMG! Hope they ship to Brasil, ahahahaha... Thanks for the kind answer!

[@stanesposito2664]

Did you mention what to do if your amp has no effects loop?

[@BobbyLaneProductions]

a really cool product.. pricey but sounds like it's worth it.

[@user-qr7ee2cp4y]

Awesome sound, I just wish the housing''s were a little lower in price. I think the modules themselves are a fair price. With all the amp mod pedals out there like sampler, they have their work cut out for them.

[@marcaddona2771]

$500 for the housing, that is just insane. I don't know why they didn't just make in in a rackmount preamp. It costs $900 for one workable preamp. No way. I will stick with my guy in Russia that can make any preamp you want for half the price.

[@johnmiller9219]

Does the Synergy SYN1 come with a module or is it empty?

[@ShawnTubbs]

The SYN1 doesn't come with a module.

[@lukechandler4094]

Great review! Do you do online lessons?

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks Luke for watching and for the kind words! As of right now I'm not doing skype lessons but I may in the future.

[@mikeaustin4138]

Anyone here using this module into an amplifier with its own pre-amp, along with a multi-effects unit such as a HX Stomp, Headrush, etc.? If yes, please share how you wired it up.

[@geoffreymerrifield5666]

Late to the table. Is this company alive and thriving? My focus is recording. Do the included cabs sound great, or do people end up having to get into IR's? Notice there is nowhere near the activity on the Synergy forums as there are Fractal and Kemper. All insight appreciated!

[@ShawnTubbs]

The onboard analog cab sim sounds good but digital IR tech is better. The Synergy stuff is excellent. It's really designed for players that want to play through tubes. Fractal and Kemper are both great as well but no tube feel. Just depends on what you want.

[@geoffreymerrifield5666]

@@ShawnTubbs Thanks so much for replying. If I went all Synergy, what would you suggest as a low cost IR solution? I am 100%, no DAW. I record with Roland VS2000cd...

[@ShawnTubbs]

@@geoffreymerrifield5666Merrifield, I think for the money, the Two Notes CAB M is the best bet. There are cheaper options, but it will reflect in your tones.

[@geoffreymerrifield5666]

@@ShawnTubbs Wonderful. Thanks Shawn.

[@jackleyton5504]

Dam, you have some sweet original chops Shawn. Are you self taught?

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks Jack I appreciate it. Yes for the most part I'm self taught.

[@rachamarrento]

Shawn, What are your favorite modules?

[@ShawnTubbs]

I like the Dirty Shirley, 800 and the BMAN for my style of playing. Thanks for the question!

[@jaysonjohnson556]

I have a orange CR120 solid state amp, does this work with ss amps?

[@ShawnTubbs]

If it has an FX loop it will work!

[@Lslinstrumentstoneinspiresyou]

First to Comment! Yeah!! Love me some Shawn Tubbs!

[@ShawnTubbs]

Thanks!!! :)

[@GEM88882003]

"Yo, dawg! We heard you like effects loops so we put an effects loop in your effects loop so you can affect your effects!"

[@ShawnTubbs]

You seem affected by the effects loop thingy... ;)

[@bouadie2007]

Another thing that i didn't like: When The FX loops is engaged even with effects turned off, it thins out the sound and i loose the lower ends, anyone having the same issue ?