Introducing AmpliTube 3.5 Custom Shop

[KeithAdv]

...On the other hand, if this marketing strategy somehow messes up the base product that brought you to this dance in the first place (and I can foresee plenty of ways for that to happen), if it somehow makes it harder, more fiddly, or ultimately prohibitively more expensive for me to do what I need, I'll have to pick something else and move on.

We have no plans to screw any of our current customers over. We always have big plans for the future and I'm sure we'll be surprising you with the stuff in store...

I'm going to lay off after this last response, but I'm not making emotional observations here. I'm a capitalist and I want you to make as much money as humanly possible. Seriously.

What I am reminding you is Coke also didn't have any plans to lose customers when it brought out New Coke. Ford didn't plan to be a laughing stock when it brought out the Edsel. If you are going to make fundamental changes to your product you must remember what it is that attracted your core customer in the first place.

I noted that you didn't assure me that the Amplitube product as we know it would continue, which concerns me. What I'm hoping is that you continue to parallel-path the development, so that there would one day be both an Amplitube 4 and an Amplitube 4 Free, for example.

Having said that, it's just my opinion but (assuming the above is true) from a positioning perspective I think you would have been better off creating additional separation between your comprehensive package and your modular package. I think the names Amplitube 3 and Amplitube 3 Free will simply create more customer confusion than you'd like. I could be wrong, but if you were my client I would have certainly advised against it.

[hibidy]

So I'm really enjoying the new models. I'd post some examples but I fear they would be ignored in favor of "you know what"

[Brian @ IK Multimedia]

Keith, we understand your concern. But rest assured, AmpliTube 3.5 works exactly like AmpliTube 3.02. We just added a new way to demo and add gear à la carte, on top of the old way.

The old way of full AmpliTube titles like Ampeg and Fender unlocking in AmpliTube 3 when you authorize them on your system still works. You can continue using AmpliTube 3.5 just as you used AmpliTube 3.02. Make sure you are using your full AmpliTube 3 registration, not the CS FREE registration. CS FREE unlocks gear through the Custom Shop online. AmpliTube 3.5 has integrated Custom Shop access, but it is not essential to the software.

We still sell AmpliTube 3, which is the same full bundle as it was prior to Custom Shop. We don't have any interest in cutting off a tried and true way of purchasing AmpliTube powered products. We are looking to add to it with an alternate way through the Custom Shop. The Custom Shop is mainly geared towards those who just want to add a few models at an affordable price, so we are able to provide more people with AmpliTube gear than ever before.

[KeithAdv]

...from a positioning perspective I think you would have been better off creating additional separation between your comprehensive package and your modular package. I think the names Amplitube 3 and Amplitube 3 Free will simply create more customer confusion than you'd like. I could be wrong, but if you were my client I would have certainly advised against it.

...You can continue using AmpliTube 3.5 just as you used AmpliTube 3.02. Make sure you are using your full AmpliTube 3 registration, not the CS FREE registration. CS FREE unlocks gear through the Custom Shop online. AmpliTube 3.5 has integrated Custom Shop access, but it is not essential to the software...

Uh-huh. I think my work here is done.

[A.M. Gold]

Just installed the free version of AT 3.5, but so far every preset I've tried in the browser tells me it uses components that aren't included. Anyone know how to narrow browsing down to strictly presets I can fully use with the free version?

[jsp1979]

Just installed the free version of AT 3.5, but so far every preset I've tried in the browser tells me it uses components that aren't included. Anyone know how to narrow browsing down to strictly presets I can fully use with the free version?

One of the categories is for the free version...try that one.

EDIT: Seriously, click on the word default where the presets are and you'll see Amplitube Free as a category.

[A.M. Gold]

Actually, never mind. I didn't read the website carefully enough. I see this free version is extremely limited, more so than I concluded at first. In fact, it appears to have little or nothing on it that I don't already have in Amplitube 2, so I will likely uninstall it.

Sorry guys, but I'm not interested in wading through the barrage of marketing to try to use a free product.

Edit: I suppose I'll amend that and say I view this as just a platform to demo components. I may look into some of the new individual models---depends on how much they cost and how good they sound. The included stuff on there, at least as far as amps, is as old as the hills and is stuff most people already have who have had any interest in Amplitube since version 2.

[Brian @ IK Multimedia]

A.M. Gold, don't uninstall CS FREE, instead, go to the Account menu in the Custom Shop and click Restore My Gear. This is an instant AmpliTube 3.5 upgrade for your AmpliTube 2, compliments of IK Multimedia! You now get the improved DSM and VRM 3D mics new in AmpliTube 3, plus 64-bit support, expanded MIDI and patch handling. AmpliTube 3.5 is a major upgrade for ALL AmpliTube users.

[A.M. Gold]

A.M. Gold, don't uninstall CS FREE, instead, go to the Account menu in the Custom Shop and click Restore My Gear. This is an instant AmpliTube 3.5 upgrade for your AmpliTube 2, compliments of IK Multimedia! You now get the improved DSM and VRM 3D mics new in AmpliTube 3, plus 64-bit support, expanded MIDI and patch handling.

Ok, thanks for the heads up. As far as models, is it just new mics? I don't need 64 bit at this point.

[Brian @ IK Multimedia]

There are no new mics. The new models are all available à la carte through the Custom Shop. We bring all existing users up to speed with AmpliTube 3.5 for free, but we do still ask that you buy the new models. You can buy just a new amp or stomp if you like. It is no longer a major financial commitment to get into AmpliTube.

The new models are from our co-branding partners at Fender, Orange, Soldano and T•Rex. Plus the Nu-Tron III, which is a model of a vintage Mu-Tron III.

[A.M. Gold]

Edit, I think I pieced this together. Your words were "AT 3.5 upgrade" so I took that to mean more models would be added, but other than maybe a few added stomps, it's just turning the AT 3.5 Free player into a platform for AT 2, but you said some of the functionality is improved.

By "improved DSM" are you saying these old AT 2 models have been improved and are supposed to sound better now than they did in AT 2?

[zerocrossing]

The only malware I get is from pace and ilock and macrovision, all courtesy of legitimate companies choosing such, for their anti-piracy efforts.

Cheers

[hibidy]

I'd like to take this time to ask for BAD CAT once again

[egbert]

...from a positioning perspective I think you would have been better off creating additional separation between your comprehensive package and your modular package. I think the names Amplitube 3 and Amplitube 3 Free will simply create more customer confusion than you'd like. I could be wrong, but if you were my client I would have certainly advised against it.

...You can continue using AmpliTube 3.5 just as you used AmpliTube 3.02. Make sure you are using your full AmpliTube 3 registration, not the CS FREE registration. CS FREE unlocks gear through the Custom Shop online. AmpliTube 3.5 has integrated Custom Shop access, but it is not essential to the software...

Uh-huh. I think my work here is done.

It is hard to believe that anyone who spoke English as a first language would pick a product name like "Amplitube 3 Free" - the homonym (3/free) is asking for trouble and all the blather that's going to take place in a million conversations all over the world to clear away the unnecessary ambiguity is doing the opposite of exciting potential buyers about the new product. You have their attention and you are wasting it explaining how they got it wrong. Then there's the parallel registration with the free and pay versions.

NI used to have this sort of nonsense with Kontakt Player and full Kontakt versions. 3rd party libraries would come bundled with the player - whether you needed it or not - and the installers would insist on installing the (stoopid) player version and then you had two versions of Kontakt which needed to be authorised and upgraded. Some halfway intelligent person at NI said "enough of this BS" and collapsed the player into the full version for anyone who had the full version which fixed that trainwreck. Why would anyone want a paying AT customer to have two versions installed concurrently with potentially two custom shop registrations? So that you can buy the Orange or Soldano and only have it registered on AT3 Free and not the full AT 3.5?

The Horror

[Brian @ IK Multimedia]

Why would anyone want a paying AT customer to have two versions installed concurrently with potentially two custom shop registrations? So that you can buy the Orange or Soldano and only have it registered on AT3 Free and not the full AT 3.5?

The Horror

It doesn't work that way. You have one IK User Account. All of your IK products are registered to it. The difference between AmpliTube CS FREE and AmpliTube 3.5 is the serial number. AmpliTube 3 starts with 'ATX30'. AmpliTube CS FREE starts with 'ACS30'. The installer is the same for both, and authorizing the AmpliTube CS FREE serial number is redundant if you have AmpliTube 3.

Custom Shop purchases are tied to your IK User Account, not to a particular serial number. So once you buy the Soldano, you can unlock it with either your AmpliTube 3.5 or AmpliTube CS FREE, provided they are both registered to the same IK User Account that the SLO-100 was purchased through. The reality of it is that Custom Shop FREE gives registered AmpliTube 3 users 5 additional authorizations for free, and is for all intents and purposes functionally the same thing.