“The SYN-20IR is the world’s most flexible, convenient, and tonally versatile all-tube amplifier head”: Steve Vai’s favourite amp brand Synergy unveils a 20W “preamp module platform” with onboard IRs

Synergy has unveiled the SYN-20IR, a tube amp head with a revolutionary design that allows players to swap preamp modules in and out, making for a fully customisable guitar amp – and this head has onboard IRs so you can run it direct without a speaker cabinet.

The idea behind Synergy’s modular approach to guitar amplification is genius. The SYN-20IR has one onboard “American-style” clean channel. Get yourself a two-channel Synergy preamp and plug it into the front, hey Presto! You have three channels to play with – that's a lot of electric guitar tone.

And say you’re done recording a high-gain lead part with a Diezel VH4 preamp module, you could swap it out for some vintage British crunch by way of a Friedman DS “Dirty Shirley” module.

This interchangeable preamp has a number of high-profile fans, with Synergy’s artist roster including Javier Reyes, Mikael Åkerfeldt, and most famously Steve Vai. Vai is a fan, and an endorsee. He has designed a signature preamp model with Synergy. Vai's touring rig for the recent BEAT Tour comprises of a quartet of Synergy preamp modules paired with a Fryette power amp.

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The SYN-20IR is Synergy’s second head in the lineup. The SYN-50 has space for two preamp modules, the SYN-20IR one. But the latter is Synergy’s first to be equipped with IRs.

Fundamentally, it is an EL84-driven 20-watter. Without the preamp module, the front panel looks a little like a VHS player with no cassette in it. Plug in your module and it just looks like a regular amp.

Of course, the controls will change determining on which preamp module you use. But these will be accompanied by the SYN-20IR’s onboard Tone, Volume, Master, and Reactance knobs, the latter a dynamic presence control that shapes middle and treble.

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There are also push buttons for channel switching, IRs, and power amp structure.

There are three modes in the structure section: Mode A has balanced negative feedback for a “clear yet punchy” sound; Mode B is a vintage-style phase inverter with balanced, “relaxed” midrange and bright high-end; Mode C is a modern hi-fi phase inverter with low negative feedback, and this will give you a tight response, solid low end, less high end, and with the appropriate preamp module that sounds like it will chug.

No question, a lot of these Synergy preamp modules run hot and offer a lot of gain. There is no shortage of metal and rock-friendly options, with Synergy offering preamps designed with Bogner, Diezel, Engl, Friedman, Soldano, Peavey and more. But there’s some high-end guitar amp cleans and crunch here, too, with boutique brands such as Dr. Z and Morgan also available.

Players can upload and manage their own IRs using the free software editor. The SYN-20IR ships with 13 IRs. It uses an “oversized” MHz ARM DSP processor to bring you these IRs with under 1ms of latency.

Other features include a headphone output with volume control, an ultra-transparent series effects loop, and XLR balanced output with ground lift. The unit is also MIDI programmable, allowing you to save up to 128 presets. The amp ships with a three-button MIDI footswitch that allows you to save your settings.

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“With the tap of your toe, you can, for example, switch from your module’s high-gain crunch with a 4x12 IR and Structure Mode C to the amp’s onboard clean channel through a vintage 1x12 IR and the open-sounding Structure Mode A,” says Synergy.

The SYN-20IR is available now, priced £/$999. Preamp modules are sold separately, but many retailers, are offering deals on these. Andertons is offering 10 per cent off Synergy Modules when you buy the amp. Sweetwater is offering the SYN-20IR as a bundle for $1,329. Preamp modules are priced £375/$399 individually.

For more details, see Synergy.