Some people who mix music professionally say: The hardest part is the vocals and then the guitar.

I find that the guitar sounds are very diverse and still have a fascination today, depending on the type of strings chosen, the attack dynamics, solo or strum, chords or solo, pick thickness or fingers, the choice of pickups, single coil or humbucker.

When Lemmy from Motorhead was once asked how he set up his amplifier, he replied, "I turn all the knobs all the way up.
I'm always totally exhausted when I open Overloud or IK Multimedia. There are just too many settings and choices. I still have an old Zoom A1 multi-effects unit for my acoustic guitar, where I always play the same setting.

The amplifier, a Laney A1, has always had the same setting for years. When I was young, I experimented a lot. I've been playing guitar for 37 years now, but the new amp simulations always mean so much fiddling around.

 

I prefer my Headrush MX-5 to software sims and I've tried most.
The noise gate allows sustain because it has a noise filter, unlike most included software gates.
I don't like "instant on, instant off."
My playing sings more than chugs and I need a noise gate that allows sustain while filtering noise.

 

The worst thing you can do is use a preset, although they currently come quite well, I don't know why users insist on using a preset, you have to treat the sim amps as if you had a real amplifier in front of them, since each guitar has a different tone, the settings do not they usually serve a lot it is not a synthesizer

 

because lemy used a marshal and the old marshals the pots of eq do not work the same as the other amps

 

Last edited by a moderator: Apr 20, 2022

Signature Amps | Lemmy Kilmister | 1992LEM

 

On one hand, having sims to play with and that sound as good as they do these days are a wonderful advance, though like with everything else in the software side of reality, it is I am assuming for most who are not performing live and who want to express their signature tone a great time suck that takes away from the in the moment act of creativity. In my past when there was me, my guitar and pedalboard/rig I was intimate with my settings and the sound of the air pushing out and away from my speakers, going so far as taping the knobs of my stomp boxes so they wouldn't and couldn't move lest they move and mess with my sound. Taking full responsibility for the way I react to the shiney and new, I find myself constantly fiddling with the incredible amount of choices offered on the screen...and the time suck is considerable. If I could I would just use my amps, but sharing decibels with neighbors is kind of rude to me (and their wrath would scathe) so I must for the most times rock in the box when playing electric.

It's a 21st century problem.

 

As an experiment, try recording some DI guitar parts and then add the amp sounds later.

 

Thanks for the tip @ Zenarcist, yes I will do that then.
Correction : The zoom mulitieffect is called A2.1u + Amp: Laney - A1 60W

 

It's just a different way of seeing (or hearing!) things. You might find a sound that you never even considered, and then you can tweak it to your liking. That's the beauty of VST technology, you have a lot of flexibility.

 

No I mean from PA
Google soundwide plugin alliance

 

That's the reason why I set up the default template on my DAW as a basic guitar chain : Pro-Q3 > F-59 > Valhalla Plate. That way, all I have to do is launch the DAW, plug the guitar in my interface and voila. I consider tweaking and experimenting with effects/amps/cabs as a different kind of session.

Although I must say, I recently got a 3w Orange practice amp and except for heavy fx soundscape stuff I haven't even launched my DAW lol

 

I too have a baby, a VOX AC4TV which has 4, 1 and 1/4 watt options. It sizzles kinda quickly.

 

That amp is sweet.

 

Where is Ampeg free right now?

 

15 day demo., was never free, plugin alliance Ampeg still seem best out of the box cause ampeg kind of over did it.

and as native models (not hardware)
the closest to classic marshalls are by softube,
the best modded plexi is howard Benson’s STL tones withthe wizard 4x12 cab ir
Best soldano; ndsp
Best Omega; ndsp
Best high gain jcm 800: nameless by ndsp
Best cali: ndsp
Best Fender sim: ik multimedia
Best mesa boggie: ik multimedia
Best 5150 etc depends, THU, Nambrini audio, i cant decide but they all sound very cool
Spark has dome nice marshall tones but they are more less 2x12 type range, not 4x12’
ML labs def seems to be a new threat coming
ML labs has nice IRs’Jens Bogren has a decent rhythem and 7 string ir set.

my list is from teaching at a uni, i hear these all over and over (sadly by amateur users)., there are many more developers we have yet to list here, but softube, ndsp, stl, ik multimedia and pabx (i hope) stick around.

 

https://audiosex.pro/threads/what-i...amp-simulator-plugin.64376/page-6#post-639097

 

Oh it's from PA. Thanks for making that clear but I think they made it free for a limited time last year and I ended up grabbing it last time.

 

Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) is my new favorite and it is free

 

Last edited: Mar 16, 2023

I like the VOX AC15 amp.

 

When I play my Squier guitar I usually use a VOX VT-20X, which is a true hardware amp modeling many others (and with many very good built-in effects), excellent but which costs $280. There is also a 40 watt version and a 100 watt version of this amp (for myself I need only 20 watts).


But when I use a guitar emulation plugin, either I use the built-in amp, either I use one of these, depending the sound I want:

Two paid amp plugins :

1. ToneLib GFX, absolutely awesome for $36 (it is in 90% of the cases my go-to amp)
   
2. Aegean Amp Vision, for the same price ($36), excellent too, but in my opinion a bit less versatile than ToneLib GFX

And four very good free amp plugins :

1. Ignite Amps Emissary (a must have, which can compete with the paid ones !)
2. Voxengo Tube Amp
3. Voxengo Boogex
4. Blue Cat Audio Free Amp

The last three are excellent for old 60's and 70's sounds. They are not very aggressive, I don't use them for hard rock or metal, but they are perfect for clean sounds of old 60's rock and for many works in a prog-rock style (think Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes, Camel, Santana...) and ambient style (think Mike Oldfield and this kind of players).
And Ignite Amps Emissary is the perfect choice for hard rock and metal rock.

ToneLib GFX and Aegean Amp Vision are perfect for all the styles, from the cleanest to the most saturated sounds, with many available sonic colors.

 

Last edited: Mar 17, 2023