What are some great guitar effect plugins out there? I know about things like guitar rig pro 7, neural dsp, tonex, etc but was wondering what the popular and not as widely known guitar effect plugins were in case I’m missing a hidden gem or something…

if it’s a suite of effects like amplitube or guitar rig then I’m more interested in plugins like that

 

Of the ones you didn't name, come to mind:

-Like "All in one": ML Sound Labs, STL Tones

-Effects (pedal/rack): Safari Pedals, Eventide, Fuse Audio, Tc Electronic, Audiotiry, Fazertone

Also I am interested in what others may have to say

 

In terms of suites there are Overloud, BiasFX, and Kuassa 360 that haven't already been mentioned, though I would hardly call any of those "not as widely known". Suites are really all sqaurely in the realm of well known because it takes the resources of larger developers to produce them.

What I will say though, if you are in the box, don't limit yourself to "guitar effects". There are a lot of cool effects that aren't marketed for guitar but work awesomely that open up whole new avenues of sound.

 

Otto Audio´s II II II II, is kind of not widely known...sounds great for low tunings, and i mean great, it has a distinctive low end but its almost useless if you are not recording metal or (very) hard rock. The stuff from Bogren digital its quite good also, but again, not suited for all styles (Ampknob series its amazing if you just need a heavy tone that will sit in the mix effortless, the SubZero amps behave more like a regular amp but are more versatile), and finally some of the stuff from Aurora DSP, the ironheart and mr hector are great, their other stuff its kind of "meh", but you could give it a try

 

Oh I forgot about positive grid, and yes I do have more than what could be considered “standard” guitar effects, this was just a specific range I was looking at in case it could use a bolster later, plus it’s as if you can’t have an all-in-one collection without it being a gigabyte or more, amplitudes and t-racks are among the biggest

 

Well thanks for all the suggestions, I knew there was a couple I forgot and now I have more options to consider, pray for my ssd cause it’ll be eating a big breakfast later

 

I mainly just use "mixing" plugins from PA, but these are included in their All bundle. I rarely see anyone mention them.

list:

Spoiler

Plugin Alliance All Bundle – Guitar/Bass Related Plugins

Amp Sims:

Ampeg B-15N
Ampeg SVT-3PRO
Ampeg SVT-VR
Ampeg SVT-VR Classic
Ampeg V-4B
Brainworx bx_rockrack V3
Brainworx bx_megadual
Brainworx bx_megasingle
Brainworx bx_rockergain100
Chandler Limited GAV19T
Diezel Herbert
Diezel VH4
ENGL E646 VS
ENGL E765 RT
ENGL Savage 120
Friedman BE-100
Friedman Buxom Betty
Friedman DS-40
Fuchs Overdrive Supreme 50
Fuchs Train II
Gallien-Krueger 800RB
Suhr PT100
Suhr SE100

Effects Pedals & Other Guitar Tools:

bx_blackdist2 (RAT 2 style distortion)
bx_distorange (DS-1 style distortion)
bx_greenscreamer (TS808 Tube Screamer style overdrive)
bx_metal2 (MT-2 Metal Zone style distortion)
bx_yellowdrive (SD-1 style overdrive)
bx_bluechorus2 (CE-2 style chorus)
bx_opto Pedal (optical compressor pedal)
ADA Flanger (classic flanger pedal)
bx_shredspread (stereo widener for guitar tracks)
bx_tuner (tuner)

 

SketchCassette for guitar is quite great.

https://aberrantdsp.com/plugins/sketchcassette/

 

everything sinevibes: https://www.sinevibes.com/desktop/ for unreal soundscapes. And, they are not that expensive. Also, Dawesome love: https://www.tracktion.com/products/love if you are into ambient stuff.

 

the Strymon plugins Bigsky, Timeline, and Mobius are developed from relatively expensive guitar pedals.

Arturia FX Fragments is based on, or "inspiredd by" the Hologram Electronics Microcosm pedal.

 

I have pretty much every amp plugin known to man.
For what my opinion is worth, it might be worth investigating these if you haven't already:

Scuffham S Gear https://www.scuffhamamps.com/product/s-gear
DiBiQuadro https://dibiquadroaudio.com/

 

I have Love so I can give it a whirl, but I could also check out some of the sinevibes effects too

 

Interesting that nobody mentioned Line6' Helix Native. I love it for making synths sound like guitars.

But yeah, it's not very popular with in-the-box guitarists for some reason, even though it's a 100% code from their Helix hardware minus AD-DA, and those effects has always been very popular.

 

In addition to those already mentioned, I really like Polychrome lately.

 

Helix Native cpu light and the most authentic sounding ampsim (BUT you need to use IR's even if the new cabs sound much better than the first one they had since Helix was released so third party IR sounds much better i.m.o i usually use York Audio or Ownhammer)
BUT it doesnt have a OH IT LOOKS LIKE AREAL AMP GUI which of course make it very CPU lighweight and also not several hundred of MB big
And if you dont count Tonex and NAM which has the most authentic ampsims right now with NAM being the most authentic slightly foolowing by Tonex which recently updated their capturing algo so it is very close to NAM you wont find a more authentic sounding ampsim..
There is alot of very good sounding "modeling" ampsims but they tend to "polish" the sound so it DONT sounds like how a real amp sounds
They sound more like a "recorded and mixed and mastered" guitar tone
Those are Neural DSP,STL Tones,Softube,Otto Audio,Kazrog,Overloud TH-U (They also have capturing/profiling but it sounds like Kemper and isn't as accuate as Tonex and NAM),NI Guitar Rig which guitar amps sounds crap i.m.o but i havent tried version 7 yet,Kuassa,Bogren Digital,Nembrini Audio,ML Sound Lab, etc etc.

 

My goto amp sim is Genome from Two Notes. You can use Nam profiles inside.
When they upgrade for free they offer new amps or pedals or modulation FX.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/T-vZ_B7g3rs

 

Last edited: Sep 6, 2025 at 3:37 PM

I'm bored with profiling, because i can't do my own profiles AND don't like most "pre made" packs.
So bye ToneX, NAM...

Now i only use Helix and AmpHub. (i left THU, too "rock" oriented).
AmpHub for high gain realistic amps (they all kick), they are in the same ballpark than Neural DSP but more flexible.

And Helix still the king on the complete suite, with amazing FX like poly sustain, poly pitch ... and more.

PS : i tested EVERYTHING on the market for 20 years

 

Ahh....that's why you look so seriously.....

 

In Genome, you don't have to use Nam, it's an additional option. It's my favorite amp simulator. To each his own.

 

Very underrated, in my opinion, is Scuffham Amp S-Gear. I get the 2.7 version from sister site but I never had the opportunity to test version 3.2 (uncracked).