The collection profiles nine rare American amps from 1959 to 1963, each captured with its original speakers through an SSL console.
IK Multimedia has turned its attention to a short-lived but influential chapter of amp history with the Brown Panel Signature Collection for TONEX, a set of 80 Tone Models drawn from nine rare American amplifiers built between 1959 and 1963.
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Brown Panel amps came after the Tweed models and before the Black Panels, with more warmth than the amps that followed but cleaner and louder than the ones before. That sound ran across surf, country, blues and early rock, and it still turns up in the raw tones of Chris Stapleton, the Texas blues-rock that shaped ZZ Top, and the clean American sounds players like Mark Knopfler are known for.
The nine amps range from small combos to bigger 1x15s, taking in a 1960 Concert, a 1962 Vibrolux, a 1960 Bandmaster, a 1961 Deluxe, a 1962 Super, a 1963 Vibroverb, a 1960 Princeton 1×10, a 1961 Pro and a 1963 Vibrasonic. Each was profiled across a range of settings, covering blooming cleans, sparkling small-combo response, smooth breakup and heavier lead sounds.
Modelled with IK’s TONEX V2 AI Machine Modeling, each amp ran through an SSL 4000G console and a mix of dynamic, ribbon and condenser mics, with the original speakers left in place – vintage JBL, Jensen and Oxford drivers among them. A set of Complex Rigs pairs the amps with vintage-style signal chains built around circuits like the Klon Centaur, TS9 Tube Screamer, Tube Driver, MXR Distortion+ and the 6G15 reverb preamp.
The Tone Models work across the wider TONEX setup, running in the TONEX software, AmpliTube, the TONEX Pedal, ONE, ONE+, Plug and Cab.
It’s out now through ToneNET and every version of TONEX for Mac and PC, along with IK dealers and the online store. For a limited time it’s also being bundled with new purchases of the compact TONEX ONE+ pedal.
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