which plugin alliance products would you recommend a rock guitarists / self-producer

[Britishboxer]

I have a friend who is a very good guitar player, I got a 6 plugin voucher from my plugin alliance subscription so me and his younger brother thought about getting him some plugins as a surprise.
He already has just about every sim out there, mainly softube Marshalls and STL Tones Howard Benson etc..and he plays everything from ambient-jazz to metal - punk etc., he tends to sound very loud, like Judas Priest etc.,

So I thought to ask which 6 plugins would you recommend getting someone like this?

[jamcat]

Why not give him the voucher as a surprise, and let him pick his own plugins?

[Britishboxer]

Why not give him the voucher as a surprise, and let him pick his own plugins?

because they have no idea which plugs will do the job, and likely pick things they will regret...even after demo-ing some...

So I am asking people - guitar players with experience what worked out in the long run

Preamps, tape saturation, mastering plugs etc. what do you think will do as addition to the already owned sims and IR loaders is what im trying to help with here.

[Gavincoolguy]

Lindell 50/80, Shadow hills mastering compressor, Black box analog design hg-ms2, bettermaker eq, Bx true Peak limiter or Elysia Phil's Cascade. I find all of these a joy to use outside of the tiny ui's so if he is on windows I would recommend Magpie to enlarge https://github.com/Blinue/Magpie

[jamcat]

In that case, I would second the Lindell Audio 50/80. Especially the 80 series. And perhaps the new 69 series, too.

The 80 series is modeled on the Neve 8028. Its 1073 preamp imparts more saturation character (in a good way) than the API modeled preamp of the 50 series. I use the 80 as my tracking console on every channel 90% of the time, and the 50 on the remainder.

I haven't gotten the 69 series yet, but I am quite interested in it, particularly for the model of the Helios 69 Lustraphone preamp. Helios doesn't get as much hype as Neve, API, and SSL consoles, but it was the THE console of '70s hard rock. Pick any huge rock album of the '70s and Helios was almost certainly the console it was recorded through. We're talking Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC...

I'd also recommend the bx_console 4000 E and G plugins, which I use as my mixing console channels on everything. They say the G channel EQ is especially good for guitars, and I have found that to be totally true. I use the E channel on most everything else. The Townhouse buss compressor also gets constant use on my master buss.

So my Pick 6 would be:

• Lindell Audio 80 series
• Lindell Audio 69 series
• Lindell Audio 50 series
• bx_console SSL 4000 E
• bx_console SSL 4000 G
• bx_townhouse Buss Compressor

[hey212]

Whatever else you get, definitely get the Amek Mastering Comp. IMO it’s the best thing they make, and there really isn’t much else like it anywhere else. Amazing uncolored compression, and very easy to set up. Let’s the source material shine. Great for individual tracks, mastering, or delivering pre-masters.

[standalone]

I know he has many amp simulators but ...
https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/prod ... e_120.html

[Britishboxer]

Great recommendations, seriously great!

[fiedelfinn]

I think their compressors/saturators are pretty good.
I'm not a fan of of their EQs, you can match most of them pretty easily with a digital EQ. They only seem to model the curves, and not the transient response/phase/saturation etc.
If he likes to be experimental, you could check out the Unfiltered Audio Plugins, they are truly amazing!

[Uncle E]

If he doesn't already have a bass amp sim, their Ampeg B-15n is excellent.

[Britishboxer]

Whatever else you get, definitely get the Amek Mastering Comp. IMO it’s the best thing they make, and there really isn’t much else like it anywhere else. Amazing uncolored compression, and very easy to set up. Let’s the source material shine. Great for individual tracks, mastering, or delivering pre-masters.

what about the master desk pro? you dont reckon its as good?

[ygcmp]

Their channel strip is cool but other plugins would be more useful considering his situation.
ADA Flanger, Phil's Cascade, Neold Warble, LO-FI-AF is very cool and even beginners can adjust the preset to make the sound they want.
Byome is complicated, but it has a lot of great presets, and it's good to use only individual modules.
Lastly, I recommend bx_ssl. We feel different flavors on different channel strips. But other people don't need multiple channel strips.
A plugin with easy and cool sound design would be good.

[hey212]

what about the master desk pro? you dont reckon its as good?

Very different plugins. The Master Desk Pro does a lot more stuff. It has an EQ, de-esser, clipper, and various other "enhancing" modules in front of the final limiter. It's designed to be an all in one solution for self mastering. Very useful for "rough masters" in a pinch.

The Amek does one thing only, extremely transparent compression, using a unique method with multiple detector circuits. If your friend wants to self master, he would need at least an EQ and limiter in addition to the Amek. However, as a mastering compressor, the Amek absolutely smokes the compressor module contained in the Master Desk Pro.

[Britishboxer]

In that case, I would second the Lindell Audio 50/80. Especially the 80 series. And perhaps the new 69 series, too.

The 80 series is modeled on the Neve 8028. Its 1073 preamp imparts more saturation character (in a good way) than the API modeled preamp of the 50 series. I use the 80 as my tracking console on every channel 90% of the time, and the 50 on the remainder.

I haven't gotten the 69 series yet, but I am quite interested in it, particularly for the model of the Helios 69 Lustraphone preamp. Helios doesn't get as much hype as Neve, API, and SSL consoles, but it was the THE console of '70s hard rock. Pick any huge rock album of the '70s and Helios was almost certainly the console it was recorded through. We're talking Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC...

I'd also recommend the bx_console 4000 E and G plugins, which I use as my mixing console channels on everything. They say the G channel EQ is especially good for guitars, and I have found that to be totally true. I use the E channel on most everything else. The Townhouse buss compressor also gets constant use on my master buss.

So my Pick 6 would be:

• Lindell Audio 80 series
• Lindell Audio 69 series
• Lindell Audio 50 series
• bx_console SSL 4000 E
• bx_console SSL 4000 G
• bx_townhouse Buss Compressor

hi, thanks for the post, its great to see someone understands plugs specifically for recording-mixing guitar !

what do you think of plugin alliance's Tape and other plugs compared in which are alternative.
Example their Lindell SBC and MBC are very good in general, but the UAD API strip is just so good, you feel circuits when using it., like the real thing., do you think waves, slate, STL, Overloud etc have better silumations or are the ones you shared info on the best you can get?

[YnJ]

Any of their amp sims are very good, if he's into metal and he does'nt already have them they have some very nice ENGL and Diezel amp sims. I would also look into Kiive Audio Tape Face, and the ADA STD-1 Stereo Tapped Delay is almost a must have for any guitar player. The Lindell 50 and 80 are great for heavier guitar sounds, I'm not saying they are better than the SSL 4000 G, they are simpler and easier to use though