IK Multimedia’s latest amp sim plugin dusts off nine rare-breed Fender amps for 80 new Tone Models based on elusive and oft-overlooked brown-panel amps.
The amps in question, built between 1959 and 1963, sit slap bang in the middle of Fender’s Tweed and black-panel eras, and tonally melded the warmth of the former with the latter's cleanliness and clarity.
They were built for and used on some classic surf, country, blues, and early rock records, offering a distinct tone unlike other Fender amps.
These are amps that have pushed air for everyone from Chris Stapleton and Billy Gibbons to Mark Knopfler. And as Fender Senior Product Manager, Rick Heins, told Guitarist last year, these amps are getting rarer by the day, and are “almost unobtainable at this point.”
So a digital recreation of nine of them is the next best thing. The collection takes in new Tone Models based on three 1960 amplifiers: A Concert combo, a Bandmaster, and a 1x10 Princeton combo.
There’s a Deluxe and a Pro Amp from 1961, a 1962 Vibrolux and Super Amp representing 1962, and a Vibroverb and Vibrasonic from 1963.
IK Multimedia says, “Together, they deliver a wide palette of authentic American tones, from expansive cleans and sparkling small-combo response to bold 1x15 authority, smooth breakup, and pedal-enhanced lead sounds.”
The real amps have been captured using the latest TONEX V2 AI Machine Modeling technology through an SSL 4000G console with “carefully selected dynamic, ribbon, and condenser microphones”.
A score of the Tone Models also pair the amps with choice pedals and signal chains, including a Klon Centaur, a TS9 Tube Screamer, and the preamp section of a Fender 6G15 Reverb unit.
The Tone Models can be used across the TONEX ecosystem, including in a DAW, a TONEX amp-in-a-box pedal, the TONEX Plug headphone amp, and beyond.
The new IK Multimedia Brown Panel Signature Collection priced at $/€99.99 pre-tax.
See IK Multimedia for more.
The news comes after Alex Lifeson revealed he’s been capturing the tones of classic Rush albums for the Fifty Something tour, with his signature TONEX pedal sitting at the heart of his updated live rig.
