Rock N Roll Vintage is proud to be a Snider amp dealer.  Snyder amps are an amazing players amp with just the right blend of features, vintage vibe and hand built quality.  Jeff Snider has spent many years performing and has leveraged that experience to develop Snider amps as a no compromise superb sounding players amp.  

Snider amps feature a straight ahead 'Class A' tube amp powered by dual EL84's. Amps are hand wired point to point making this 20 watt amp that sound like a 50 watt amp !  The front panel features controls for volume, treble, bass, reverb, tremolo speed, and tremolo intensity. A foot switchable reverb and tremolo is also included. The Master volume can be disengaged via the push/pull volume pot.  The cabinet is tuned for great tone and features a 1x12 speaker configuration.  Give us  a call to schedule a showing, feel free to call or email us with questions.   Phone 773-878-8616  Email: rocknrollvintage@gmail.com

The Snyder design philosophy is dedicated to providing amazing sound.  Here's Jeff's approach to each subsystem.

Output: To create a 20-watt amp capable of behaving like a 50-watt amp with regards to frequency response and dynamic range Jeff ignored "small amp" protocol and design his amps if they was literally 50 watt amps. It has that big sound like you would expect from two EL34s or four EL84s. The bottom end in particular was tight and punchy and doesn't dissolve. Jeff discovered that along with dropping the power it was necessary to jack up the output tubes to full capacity to maintain the big wide open sound. Jeff found that different outputs optimized the amps performance at significantly different volume levels. He wanted both of them at his disposal. The result is a 30 watt output and an 18 watt output that are selectable from the standby switch and both sound huge!

Preamp: Jeff wanted a truly interactive amp. The evolution of this process lead to discoveries that would make up the final formula. On top of having the variable gain structure that I was after the discoveries here would be applied throughout the amp.

EQ: Jeff wanted the EQ to be flexible as well as complementary to the character of the amp. Jeff wanted to handle a wide range of guitars including Fender type ash/alder guitars with bolt on maple/rosewood necks and Gibson type mahogany guitars with mahogany set necks. The sonic differences between these two types of guitars is primarily in the midrange so Jeff tailored the midrange to allow players to dial in what they want from guitar to guitar. The differences players encounter in different venues also play havoc with ultra highs. Jeff tailored the bright switch to compensate for those variations as well as guitar properties. He chose the Bass and Treble frequencies based on what he considers to be the optimum tonal points for guitars and the cabinet of the amp. He named the Bass, Midrange and Treble controls "Woof", "Bark" and "Sizzle" because he thought those names were more descriptive of what those controls do for a guitar and they’re a bit more interesting.

Reverb: The most significant accessible parameter of a reverb for Jeff is called "ducking". This feature keeps the reverb out of the mix while the guitar is playing and then allows it back in between phrases or notes. Unlike conventional reverb that increases when you kick in a pedal or play harder, this stays out of the way when you get on it  Interactive reverb that dances around the guitar rather than submerging it.

Vibrato Tremolo:  Jeff always preferred the swirly type of vibrato like you get from a leslie and having the vibrato big and lush when playing moderately or clean. He also likes less intense, more subtle swirl when playing aggressive and dirty.  He has succeeded in producing a tremolo that is dynamically sensitive thus reducing the need to switch in and out within the context of a song. So with the vibrato engaged you could back your guitar volume down and get lots of swirl while playing rhythm and then crank your volume up and the vibrato swirl would shrink for playing a lead or melody. This is how the Vibrato behaves in Snider amps.

Master Volume: Jeff wanted a Master Volume that was both transparent and completely removable. He found what he considers to be the most transparent Master Volume circuit for his amp and used a pot with a latching/unlatching switch at the bottom of it’s throw so when you turn the control all the way down, it goes click and the Master is switched completely out of the circuit and the output is wide open.

Cabinet: Snider was interested in was making a two-foot cabinet with a 12-inch speaker sound like a four-foot cab with four 12-inch speakers.  The cabinet dimensions helps produce the right amount of low end as well as the low to mid ratio that Jeff was after. The highs are created by the actual speaker.

THE RESULT IS AN AMAZING AMP !

Snyder Amp Models

The Chicago: The Snyder Chicago is a pure blues machine. Guitar, cord and nothing' else. This is Rock N Roll Vintage's favorite Snider Amp. The perfect amp for your vintage guitar. The Chicago features a big robust midrange with a very rich harmonic complexion. With a humbucking pickup this thing just comes to life. From the volume control of your Gibson ES-335 you can go from George Benson to Robin Ford and everything in between. For Fender players your volume control will let you faithfully crank out everything from "The Wind Cry’s Mary" to "The Sky is Cryin".  That much variation with no pedals or channel switching.   -   Price $2995  - Free shipping in the continental US and Canada.  NOW TAKING ORDERS !

The California: is quite different. There is a very pronounced scoop in the midrange. The output transformer is more dynamically sensitive with less compression while maintaining the big spread in gain and harmonic complexion from the guitar's volume control. The speaker enclosure in this amp enhances the presence while tightening the huge bass response. Very "in your face" and expressive. Remaining present even when introducing pedals of extreme gain and color like a germanium based fuzz or an octave or a lushy 60's style phase shifter.   Mix these ingredients with a Stratocaster and WOW!!  -  NOW TAKING ORDERS !!  Price $2995  - Free shipping in the continental US and Canada.