Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Synyster Gates is expanding his signature gear empire with the SG-22 – an all-new tube amp head and cab released under his namesake Synner brand.
It's a guitar amp, sure, but there's a slight twist. The clean amp is carefully tailored for pedalboards and rack-mount effects, and, in an unexpected move, it also becomes “the first-ever amplifier authenticated on the blockchain.”
Gates worked with Schecter to develop his signature amp, Hellwin, in 2013, but switched to the Axe FX a few years later. Now, the SG-22 Universal Pedal Platform amp head and matching cab put Gates' attention firmly back on tube amps.
The 175-watt head was conceived by Gates and developed alongside engineer Don Morris. It's designed to “maximize the potential of your pedalboard or rack effects system in a clean, user-friendly format.”
As such, a “clean, transparent, high-headroom preamp” stars, accounting for the pedals it'll be paired with. Its post-preamp effects loop has Line Level and Instrument Level modes for rack effect systems and pedalboards, respectively.
Controls include Volume, a three-band EQ, Presence, and Master. Notably, there is no gain, with the single-channel clean amp designed to better deliver uncompromising stompbox tones.
Interestingly, it features two built-in power supplies – 9-volt DC up to 0.9 amps, and 18-volt DC up to 0.9 amps – to free up valuable real estate. The head can also latch onto the cab for added security.
Under the black grille of its open-back cab lies a singular Celestion V-Type 12” speaker. Three 12AX7A / ECC83 tubes and two 6V6GT tubes feature beneath the hood of the head.
“It is intended to be used with your favorite distortion and overdrive pedals to achieve the distorted gain stages that most players desire,” Gates explains. “I decided to create a PPA rather than a traditional high-gain amplifier because of its versatility.
“The clean tones are designed for maximum transparency, allowing the character of your distortion pedals to shine. That said, the cleans ended up sounding incredible on their own.”
Gates is also working on a signature distortion pedal, the Original Syn, which he says also features across the band’s leftfield 2023 album, Life is But a Dream…
The Synner SG-22 Universal Pedal Platform Amplifier $1,199.00 and comes with a bonus of 20,000 Deathbat Reward points, which can be exchanged for merch and tickets.
Head to Synner for more.
Earlier this year, Gates worked with Schecter to develop the firm’s first headless guitar with his new signature axe earlier this year, arriving just months after his best-selling Avenger model got a radical makeover.
