Any amp sims that sound double tracked out the box?

[blueman]

I think MicroShift works best for this application

[Aleatoriac]

So far there isn't anything that sounds like actually double tracking a guitar part. You just have to do it if you want that wide, wraparound, wall of sound monster. It's good practice for increasing playing ability/chops too.

Then again I obsess about it, which is why I haven't released anything in over a year.

I've found tracking both parts initially in mono helps me stay locked in a little better. I mean track left pass panned center. Then track the right pass on a separate track also panned center. Maybe that might help you, I don't know; I just know if I try to double track with the first pass panned out hard either side while laying down the second pass some weird delay happens that's just enough milliseconds to throw me off. Could be old age. Who knows. Anyway maybe try tracking them both in mono, center pan, then pan them hard when done.

There's also no shame in punching in to tighten up a section you don't like. I know it feels like cheating, but hey there won't be a way to pull it off live anyway unless you can clone yourself.

I've tried chorus, ADT plugins, weird mid-side saturation, delay and EQ... Nothing sounds like double tracking for real.

Well except supposedly maybe this (I doubt it):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFyGfd3qtMc

Good grief I sound like that old man who says there isn't anything new that is good.
Well. I like autotune. Does that count?

[hibidy]

I think MicroShift works best for this application

I was going to recommend looking into it. I feel like an ass for not getting in on that intro (was it a freebie) and being able to get the full version at a decent price. I heard some examples that were far and above better than average.

I can tell you what DOESN'T work, and that is that waves abby road whatever. OMG, it was horrible!

There is a free one I have by "ADT" http://www.vacuumsound.de/plugins.html and it's not bad, but it's prolly not exactly what you are looking for.

BTW, I find this to be very frustrating. I don't always want to double track everything, sometimes I just want to space it out. And frankly, none of the amp sims I have do that.

[lfm]

I have most all of the everybodys heard of it guitar sims and I run into the same problem where I have to do all this stuff to make it sound mixed.
any thoughts?

It could be the same thing I discovered some years ago - amp sims don't do the phattening that tubes do. It sound thin, kind of.

So I started with tube preamps like Damage Control Womanizer to phatten signal before entering sims. Much better.

But ended up with current setup with all tube amps of various sorts. There isn't only one way to bake a cake.

If to mention one that really is versatile - Laney Ironheart Studio. Ready to run without speakers if you want - and quite a few ways to get different tone. You can even re-amp through usb if you want.

But seen a lot of people praise S Gear amp sims, and also Magix Vandal. There is an offer from Magix now buying Samplitude Music Studio 2015 with 15% off and you get Vandal for free.

[izonin]

Isn't double tracking a way to fake a band with two rhythm guitarists?
As everyone said, track the guitars separately. Use different guitars, amps/sims, pedals. Try changing your playing style a bit. Any other technique will lead to a 'doubled' guitar, not the illusion of two musicians playing together.

[robertszalapski]

http://www.bozdigitallabs.com/stereo-guitar/
Neat trick works surprisingly well based on the audio samples.

[SJ_Digriz]

EDIT: I meant to answer the question ... I have not had any luck using plugins to do this properly. You can get close, and in a lot of cases in a mix it is not that important. But, if the guitars ARE the focus then it's really necessary to take the time to double/triple... track.


The best method that I've found for home studio tracking is to mic an amp/cab and go DI. This gives you 2 tracks.
Loop complete sections and play multiple passes. I then comp a "Guitar 1" within those takes.
I use Guitar 1 as a guide track and set up a 2nd set of DI and Mic tracks. Loop record again as many takes as you can stomach.
In that 2nd set of takes, depending on the number of loops you do, you can get the double, triple, quadruple tracks. You get a unique performance in each loop even when you are trying to make it identical. Works great.

Finally, you have the DI versions that you can use for reamping and/or using internal amp sims etc...

[Jim Roseberry]

No ADT plugin will ever truly capture the same result as a real double-tracked part.
The subtle differences in timbre, pitch, timing, etc... all work to yield a stereo sound that's alive/animated.
It's a very cool effect... and sounds huge.

If you just want to print a quick "stereo" guitar part, the Boss GT-100 (hardware) has pretty decent amp-sims and allows two simultaneous signal paths. You can setup a virtual rig where you're running thru two different amps/cabs simultaneously...

For the money, the Boss GT-100 is a nice piece of gear.
Also has a great/stable tuner (monophonic & polyphonic)

[RLSguitar]

I think MicroShift works best for this application

I was going to recommend looking into it. I feel like an ass for not getting in on that intro (was it a freebie) and being able to get the full version at a decent price. I heard some examples that were far and above better than average.

I can tell you what DOESN'T work, and that is that waves abby road whatever. OMG, it was horrible!

There is a free one I have by "ADT" http://www.vacuumsound.de/plugins.html and it's not bad, but it's prolly not exactly what you are looking for.

BTW, I find this to be very frustrating. I don't always want to double track everything, sometimes I just want to space it out. And frankly, none of the amp sims I have do that.

I second these two plugins, I've had great results with these. Though there's nothing like doing two different takes using different amp and effects chains, and panning in opposite directions with perhaps a slight time shift or delay either left or right.

[dblock]

I got way more responses than I expected so just wanted to say thanks everybody for all your great input!

[RunBeerRun]

I use a filter-low pass or band pass to separate guitar takes, also do pitch & delay like everyone else said.