Swanky Amp

I've been looking for a way to get tweed-like dynamics at any volume for decades now, and Swanky Amp is it.

The key for me seems to be passing a large clean signal to the power amp section, so keep preamp DRIVE and STAGING moderate to keep compression low, but crank up INPUT level right up there (I've only tried this using single coil Dynasonic type pickups). Then use higher power amp DRIVE and SAG settings. I also boost into Swanky Amp using a "tape" type delay plugin which is essential for NY inspired dynamics — the clean repeats hitting the struggling power amp really brings out the chime! Set like this I can go from chimey "clean" to saggy sustaining fuzzy overdrive using only the guitar volume knob which is new to me with an amp sim — guitar volume control is usually worthless for amp sims. So, not unlike a real-world small tweed pushed hard, Swanky Amp can operate much like a 400 volt Fuzz Face.

Garrin, the developer of Swanky Amp, seems uniquely qualified to model nonlinear dynamics and I look forward to future offerings from Resonant DSP.