The Jace NAMM Synergy report

[audiomidijace]

Hello everyone,
I just returned from NAMM last night.
I was working for Boutique Amps Distribution and helping to show off the new Synergy products. I'm personally very happy with how all of the new products have turned out. They look great and they sound great!

The Friedman BE and HBE sound incredible and WAY better than any previous Randall module modified by Friedman. These were all completely redesigned from the ground up with better components.

The new Soldano SLO is also VERY impressive.

My favorites were the new Plexi allowing you to blend the normal and bright gain controls and the Twin/Deluxe witch has independent bright and tight switches as well as EQ per chanel. You can dial the two channels VERY differently.

All of the new modules are great and sound as good or better than anything from our favorite mod guys like JF, Salvation, SG, etc.

With that, I'll open it up for questions from all of you.
Cheers,
Jace

 

[Mattfig]

Thanks Jace! Can you do some side by side comparisons of Salvation or JF Mods and Synergy?

 

[audiomidijace]

Bruce Egnater is going to have them send me one each of the current module prototypes to evaluate before they go in to production. When that happens I can at least compare them to my current set of modules in "my" rig.
By the way, Bruce Egnater is one of the nicest, smartest people I've ever met. I look forward to working with him more in the future.

 

[chrismilne]

Did they get any descent clips up (other than the iphone ones i've heard earlier)?

How much different are the BE and the HBE? Which did you like more?

 

[audiomidijace]

I'm not sure about clips. I was out of that loop. There will be quality demos in the near future.
The BE and the HBE are much like the amp. The BE is a bit tamer and warmer and the HBE has much more bite and gain. It's much tighter sounding than the JCM800 and the Plexi modules.
I'd rather have the HBE myself.

 

[webrthomson]

Interesting stuff Jace!

Do we have a full list of the modules yet, so far we've seen:

Plexi
(JCM) 800
AC (30)
B Man
T DLX

SLO
BE
HBE

Can you add to that list for us?

And I agree Bruce is a cool dude - always so nice to deal with!

Thanks!

 

[gtr31]

Hey Jace ,

did bruce comment on the Diezel module and the Syn25head.

any idea of a target price on the Syn 25 if the 50 is $2000 are we looking 15-1600 zone unloaded

 

[Yatagan]

They are coming out with a Friedman Dirty Shirley module that you can add to the list.

 

[audiomidijace]

There's also a Friedman Dirty Shirley.
There are more on the way as well.
There is another amp coming soon too that I'm not sure has been discussed here. I'm not sure if they're using the name SYN-20 or SNY-25. It's loaded with 6V6 tubes, has a built-in Fender style clean channel and then has one slot for a module. If I remember right it has a built-in reverb too. I'd have to verify that. I'm quite excited for that one!

Interesting stuff Jace!

Do we have a full list of the modules yet, so far we've seen:

Plexi
(JCM) 800
AC (30)
B Man
T DLX

SLO
BE
HBE

Can you add to that list for us?

And I agree Bruce is a cool dude - always so nice to deal with!

Thanks!

 

[audiomidijace]

Hey Jace ,

did bruce comment on the Diezel module and the Syn25head.

any idea of a target price on the Syn 25 if the 50 is $2000 are we looking 15-1600 zone unloaded

See my post below on this one too.
I don't think they've settled on the price for the SYN-25 yet.
Keep in mind these are all made in the USA with the best quality components.
It might not even be less than $2000. The cost for an empty module slot is certainly less than the cost of the components used to build a clean channel preamp. If they add reverb to it that will add to the cost as well. It will probably use the same chassis as the SYN-50 as it will likely require the same amount of space (front panel knobs, power tubes, transformers, rear panel jacks, etc.) But I have not heard a price for it yet.

 

[trimix]

Question about the S2 switching: the channel select switch now also cycles through "bypass" to select the external amp's preamp correct? Does that mean you can program each MIDI pgm change to use any of the four channels or preamp bypass by holding the button in and sending that pgm change ala the RM4?
Also, would the S2's fx loop remain active when using the external preamp?

Thanks!

 

[chrismilne]

No one reports on this anywhere it seems...probably because all of the videos out so far are from dealers and they don't review what they don't sell?

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Considering the BE pedal is all the rage on Rig Talk right now.. did you compare that to the tube preamp modules based on the BE and HBE? How did it stack up..

 

[audiomidijace]

Question about the S2 switching: the channel select switch now also cycles through "bypass" to select the external amp's preamp correct? Does that mean you can program each MIDI pgm change to use any of the four channels or preamp bypass by holding the button in and sending that pgm change ala the RM4?
Also, would the S2's fx loop remain active when using the external preamp?

Thanks!

Yes and Yes!

 

[audiomidijace]

Considering the BE pedal is all the rage on Rig Talk right now.. did you compare that to the tube preamp modules based on the BE and HBE? How did it stack up..

I did not get a chance to try the pedal. I'm sure it's excellent.
What I did try was running a BE and HBE in a SYN-001 in a Friedman Small Box FX loop. Switching between the the module preamp and the Small Box preamp there was no difference in tone. They sound exactly the same!

There's also a big difference between running an OD pedal in to a clean channel and running the output of a preamp in to a power amp.

 

[lintycreep]

How did the HBE sound compared to the Smallbox's BE channel, is there big enough of a gain difference to justify getting one? I have a Smallbox and this is exactly what I wanted. Love the amp, but there are occasions I wish I had more gain on hand. Maybe the Soldano is more of what I'm looking for?

 

[The Rossness]

I had heard there were morgan and fryette modules. Were you able to try or hear them?

 

[audiomidijace]

The Morgan AC was great! Seemed to have a bit more girth and clarity than most Vox tones. Much like his amps I must say!

There was no module from Fryette at this time. He's part of the team though so more than one from him would not surprise me.

 

[audiomidijace]

How did the HBE sound compared to the Smallbox's BE channel, is there big enough of a gain difference to justify getting one? I have a Smallbox and this is exactly what I wanted. Love the amp, but there are occasions I wish I had more gain on hand. Maybe the Soldano is more of what I'm looking for?

The SLO would certainly give you more paint for the canvas and is heavier sounding than the HBE. Thicker and deeper. And yes there is quite a big gain and girth difference in the HBE from the BE.

 

[audiomidijace]

No one reports on this anywhere it seems...probably because all of the videos out so far are from dealers and they don't review what they don't sell?

Everything is still a couple months out, so the marketing machine hasn't started rolling yet. There will be reviews, pro sounding clips, advertising, etc. You won't be able to miss it.