
The three SVT amp heads can be paired with any of eight speaker cabinets or any third-party IRs.
Ampeg today introduced the SVT Suite bass amplifier plugin, which features three of the most highly coveted SVT amplifier heads: The Heritage 50th Anniversary SVT, the Heritage SVT-CL, and the SVT-4PRO.
The plugin represents the first foray into amplifier modeling by Ampeg, the company that defined electric bass tone with the iconic "flip-top" B-15 Portaflex combo amp in 1963 (the most recorded bass amplifier in the world) and then again in 1969 with the mighty 300-watt SVT amplifier. Intended for home and professional recordists alike, the SVT Suite plugin brings that same legendary Ampeg tone to any studio environment.
"For the first time ever, we're offering the amp that redefined rock bass tone in a plugin format," said Dino Monoxelos, Ampeg Brand Marketing Manager. "No third parties, no proprietary hardware, just straight-up bass tone direct from Ampeg, the most trusted name in bass. And for all those who want SVT tone without having to move a large amp, or make room for it in a small studio, what could be better than having three of our finest SVT heads, a bevy of Ampeg cabinets, and a great selection of mics and effects pedals, all in a single plugin?"
The SVT Suite plugin's photorealistic interfaceāfeaturing Amp, Cab, and FX viewsāmakes using it a simple and familiar experience. Flip a switch, turn a knob, patch in a cable, just like on a physical rig.
The three SVT amp heads can be paired with any of eight speaker cabinets and third-party IRs may also be loaded. Dual-Cab and Dual-IR modes allow two cabs or IRs to be used simultaneously. The cabs may be miked with any of six virtual microphones, and you can adjust the positioning of the mic in relation to the cab speaker, as well as blend in one of three stationary room mics. Models of the Ampeg Liquifier Analog Chorus, Opto Comp Analog Optical Compressor, and Scrambler Bass Overdrive pedals are also included, along with the new Rocktaver and Phasifier effects. And for those who prefer to add a parallel direct signal (or even go straight DI), there is a virtual version of the renowned SVT-DI studio direct box.
All this adds up to one extremely powerful plugin, offering nearly unlimited variations on authentic Ampeg SVT tone. A fully functional 15-day trial version of the 64-bit plugin is available in AAX, AU, and VST formats.
Pricing & Availability
SVT Suite is $199.99 USD (MSRP) and is now available worldwide.
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After decades of 250 road dates a year, Tab Benoit has earned a reputation for high-energy performances at clubs and festivals around the world.
After a 14-year break in making solo recordings, the Louisiana guitar hero returns to the bayou and re-emerges with a new album, the rock, soul, and Cajun-flavoredI Hear Thunder.
The words āhonestyā and āauthenticityā recur often during conversation with Tab Benoit, the Houma, Louisiana-born blues vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. They are the driving factors in the projects he chooses, and in his playing, singing, and compositions. Despite being acclaimed as a blues-guitar hero since his ā80s days as a teen prodigy playing at Tabby Thomasā legendary, downhome Blues Box club in Baton Rouge, Benoit shuns the notion of stardom. Indeed, one might also add simplicity and consistency as other qualities he values, reflected in the roughly 250 shows a year heās performed with his hard-driving trio for over two decades, except for the Covid shutdown.
On his new I Hear Thunder, Benoit still proudly plays the Fender Thinline Telecaster he purchased for $400 when he was making his debut album in Texas, 1992ās Nice & Warm. After that heralded release, his eclectic guitar workāwhich often echoes between classic blues-rock rumble-and-howl, the street-sweetened funk of New Orleans, and Memphis-fueled soulāhelped Benoit win a long-term deal with Justice Records. But when the company folded in the late ā90s, his contract and catalog bounced from label to label.
Tab Benoit - "I Hear Thunder"
This bucked against Benoitās strong desire to fully control his musicāone reason he settled on the trio format early in his career. And although his 2011 album, Medicine, won three Blues Music Awardsāthe genreās equivalent of Grammysāhe stopped recording as a leader because he was bound by the stipulations of a record deal, now over, that he deemed untenable.
āI wanted to make records that reflected exactly how I sounded live and that were done as though we were playing a live concert,ā Benoit says. āSo, I formed my own label [Whiskey Bayou Records, with partner Reuben Williams] and signed artists whose music was, to me, the real deal, honest and straightforward. I couldnāt do anything on my own, but I could still continue putting out music that had a positive impact on the audience.ā
Benoitās new album, which includes Anders Osborne and George Porter Jr., was recorded in the studio at the guitaristās home near the bayou in Houma, Louisiana.
Those artists include fellow rootsers Eric McFadden, Damon Fowler, Eric Johanson, Jeff McCarty, and Dash Rip Rock. Benoit also spent plenty of time pursuing his other passion: advocating for issues affecting Louisianaās wetlands, including those around his native Houma. His 2004 album was titled Wetlands, and shortly after it was issued he founded the Voice of the Wetlands non-profit organization, and later assembled an all-star band that featured New Orleans-music MVPs Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, George Porter Jr., Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Vidacovich, Johnny Sansone, and Waylon Thibodeaux. This ensemble, the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars, has released multiple CDs and toured.
Essentially, Benoit comes from the bayous, and when itās time to record, he goes back to them, and to the studio he has in Houma, which he refers to as āthe camp.ā Thatās where I Hear Thunder came to life. āGeorge and Anders came to me and said, āLetās go make some music,ā Benoit offers. āSo, we went out to the camp. They had some songsāand George and Anders and I go back so many years it was really a treat to put everything together. It only took us a couple of days to do everything we needed to do.ā
āGeorge Porter and Anders Osborne and I saw this alligator sitting around the boat where we were writing the entire time. I guess he really liked the song.ā
I Hear Thunder has become his first number one on Billboardās blues chart. Besides the fiery-yet-tight and disciplined guitar work of Benoit and Osborne, the latter also an esteemed songwriter, the album features his longtime rhythm section of bassist Corey Duplechin and drummer Terence Higgins. Bass legend Porter appears on two tracks, āLittle Queenieā and āIām a Write That Down.ā Throughout the album, Benoit sings and plays with soul and tremendous energy, plus he handled engineering, mixing, and production.
Once again, that ascribed to his aesthetic. āMy main reason for taking on those extra duties was I wanted to make sure that this recording gives the audience kind of a preview of how weāre going to sound live,ā he declares. āThatās one of the things that I truly donāt like about a lot of current recordings. I listen to them and then see those guys live and itās like, āHey, that doesn't sound like what was on the album.ā Play it once or twice and letās run with it. Donāt overdo it to the point you kill the honesty. All the guys that I loveāLightninā Hopkins, Albert Kingāthey played it once, and you better have the tape machine running because theyāre only going to give it to you that one time. Thatās the spontaneity that you want and need.
āOne of the reasons I donāt use a lot of pedals and effects is because I hate gimmicks,ā he continues. ā Iām playing for the audience the way that I feel, and my attitude is āLetās plug into the guitar and let it rip. If I make a mistake, so be it. Iām not using Auto-Tune to try and get somebodyās vocal to seem perfect. You think John Lee Hooker cared about Auto-Tune? Youāre cheating the audience when you do that stuff.ā
Tab Benoitās Gear
Benoit in 2024 with his trusty 1972 Fender Thinline Telecaster, purchased in 1992 for $400. Note that Benoit is a fingerstyle player.
Photo by Doug Hardesty
Guitar
- 1972 FenderĀ Telecaster Thinline
Amp
- Category 5 Tab Benoit 50-watt combo
Strings
- GHS Boomers (.011ā.050)
The I Hear Thunder songs that particularly resonate include the explosive title track, the soulful āWhy, Whyā and the rollicking āWatching the Gators Roll In,ā a song that directly reflected the albumās writing experience and environment. āGeorge and Anders and I saw this alligator sitting around the boat where we were writing the entire time. I guess he really liked the song. Heād be swimming along and responding. That gave it some added punch.ā As does Benoit and Osborneās consistently dynamic guitar work. āIām not one of these people who want to just run off a string of notes or do a lot of fast playing,ā Benoit says. āIt has to fit the song, the pace, and most of all, really express what Iām feeling at that particular moment. I think when the audience comes to a show and you play the songs off that album, youāve got to make it real and make it honest.ā
When asked whether he ever tires of touring, Benoit laughs and says, āAbsolutely not. At every stop now I see a great mix of people whoāve been with us since the beginning, and then their children or sometimes even their grandchildren. When people come up to you and say how much they enjoy your music, it really does make you feel great. Iāve always seen the live concerts as a way of bringing some joy and happiness to people over a period of time, of helping them forget about whatever problems or issues they might have had coming in, and just to enjoy themselves. At the same time, I get a real thrill and joy from playing for them, and itās something that I always want the bandās music to doāhelp bring some happiness and joy to everyone who hears our music.ā
YouTube It
Hear Tab Benoit practice the art of slow, soulful, simmering blues on his new I Hear Thunder song āOverdue,ā also featuring his well-worn 1972 Telecaster Thinline.
The range of clean, dirty, and complex tones available from this high-quality, carefully crafted Dumble modeler make it a formidable studio and performance device.
Fantastic variation in many delicious sounds makes it a bargain. High-quality. Easy to use and customize. Killer studio path to lively, responsive guitar sounds.
Price may be hard for some to swallow if they donāt leverage the whole of its potential.
$399
UAFX Enigmatic ā82 Overdrive Special
uaudio.com
Iāve never played a realDumble. Iād venture most of us havenāt. But given my experiences with James Santiagoās UAFX modeling pedals, most recently theUAFX Lion, I plugged in the new Dumble-inspired UAFX Enigmatic confident Iād taste at least the essence of that very rare elixir. You could argue there is no definitive Dumble sound. Each was customized to some extent for the customer, and they are renowned nearly as much for dynamic responsiveness and flexibility as their singing, complex, clean-to-dirty palettes.
The Enigmatic nails the flexibility, for sure. To my ears, its tone foundation lives somewhere on a sliver of Venn diagram where a black-panel Fender and a 50-watt Hiwatt intersect. Itās alive, dimensional, snappy, sparkly, massive, and, at the right EQ settings, hot and excitable. But the Enigmaticās powerful EQ and gain controls, multiple virtual cab and mic pairings, rock, jazz, and custom voices, plus additional deep, bright, and presence controls enable you to travel many leagues from that fundamental tone. The customization work you can do in the app enables significant changes in the Enigmaticās tone profile and responsiveness, too. All these observations are made tracking the Enigmatic straight to a DAWāmaking the breadth of its personality even more impressive. But the Enigmatic sounds every bit as lively at the front end of an amp, and black-panel Fenders are a primo pairing for its saturation and sparkly attributes. The Enigmatic is nearly $400, which is an investment. But considering the ground I covered in just a few days with it, and the quality and variety of sounds I could conjure with the unit just sitting on my desk, the performance-to-price ratio struck me as very favorable indeed.
The legendary string-glider shows Chris Shiflett how he orchestrated one of his most powerful leads.
Break out your glass, steel, or beer bottle: This time on Shred With Shifty, weāre sliding into glory with southern-rock great Derek Trucks, leader of the Derek Trucks Band, co-leader (along with wife Susan Tedeschi) of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, and, from 1999 to 2014, member of the Allman Brothers Band.
Reared in Jacksonville, Florida, Trucks was born into rock ānā roll: His uncle, Butch Trucks, was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, and from the time he was nine years old, Derek was playing and touring with blues and rock royalty, from Buddy Guy to Bob Dylan. Early on, he established himself as a prodigy on slide guitar, and in this interview from backstage in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Trucks explains why heās always stuck with his trusty Gibson SGs, and how he sets them up for both slide and regular playing. (He also details his custom string gauges.)
Trucks analyzes and demonstrates his subtle but scorching solo on āMidnight in Harlem,ā off of Tedeschi Trucks Bandās acclaimed 2011 record, Revelator. In it, he highlights the influence of Indian classical music, and particularly sarod player Ali Akbar Khan, on his own playing. The lead is āmelodic but with Indian-classical inflections,ā flourishes that Trucks says are integral to his playing: Itās a jazz and jam-band mentality of ādangling your feet over the edge of the cliff,ā says Trucks, and going outside whatever mode youāre playing in.
Throughout the episode, Trucks details his live and studio set ups (āAs direct as I can get itā), shares advice for learning slide and why he never uses a pick, and ponders what the future holds for collaborations with Warren Haynes.
Credits
Producer: Jason Shadrick
Executive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double Elvis
Engineering Support by Matt Tahaney and Matt Beaudion
Video Editor: Addison Sauvan
Graphic Design: Megan Pralle
Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.
A 6L6 power section, tube-driven spring reverb, and a versatile array of line outs make this 1x10 combo an appealing and unique 15-watt alternative.