Tips for selecting a guitar plugin

[Drum4Drum]

I'm trying to select a guitar plugin for my midi tracks, and looking for some tips to help me with the selection paralysis. I'm mostly interested in electric guitars for punk rock/indie rock type of music. I also have TONEX so amp modelling is not important.
Most of these have articulations, strumming and palm mutes, so I'm not sure what else to look for.

Here are my contenders:

UJAM Iron 2
Heavyocity Damage Guitars
Ample Guitar (probably AME?)
Orange Tree Samples (Infinity?)
AAS Strum GS-2
MusicLab RelaStrat
NI Electric Sunburst

[mixyguy2]

Outside of features, quality of sound and ease of use are the biggest factors, but they are subjective. Any one of us could come on here and go "this one is awesome!" and you get it and don't like it. Sorry, but that's the reality of plugins in general. I don't think you can go wrong with Orange Tree, but again, just my opinion. Check if any have free or demo versions. I know that Ample has a freebie or two you can try to see if you like. Other than that, it's a dart throw. Also check out other freebies in general (I recall trying one that had a good overdrive preset...if I can find it again I'll reply back). Also check out the Kontakt Factory (free with the full version of Kontakt).

[Drum4Drum]

Outside of features, quality of sound and ease of use are the biggest factors, but they are subjective. Any one of us could come on here and go "this one is awesome!" and you get it and don't like it. Sorry, but that's the reality of plugins in general. I don't think you can go wrong with Orange Tree, but again, just my opinion. Check if any have free or demo versions. I know that Ample has a freebie or two you can try to see if you like. Other than that, it's a dart throw. Also check out other freebies in general (I recall trying one that had a good overdrive preset...if I can find it again I'll reply back). Also check out the Kontakt Factory (free with the full version of Kontakt).

this makes sense. However, I was hoping to get some insight into whether any of these plugins include features X or Y that I might not have considered, but that could result in better-sounding guitars.
Demos are fine, but you only run into these things if you worked with something long enough.

[Benedict]

The issues with geetar emulation VST are:
a) they can't do what a real guitarist can as they are too limited compared to the huge variety of things that a guitarist does with the real thing eg I don't know if any of these can 'bend the instrument" as is so common with the real thing. While one might say, Oh just pitch bend it all up and back a bit, this is not accurate as the instrument bend is rarely done 'perfectly' so being off means that each string is stretched slightly differently. Again, easy to say, Oh no one will notice, and yet it sounds as false as an AI vocal.
b) to make these things really fly, one effectively needs to know how to play, or again it just sounds weird. While I am not opposed to weird, when Jeff Beck does weird, it feels authentic; when Fiverr Freddie tries to pretend he is Jeff Beck, the closer he gets with cloneware (incl AI), the more false it feels.

Sooooo, either pick up a real geetar and play it your way and let that define you music - OR - do something unique by not trying to emulate but by making something that is yours, just as many synth players have done guitarlike with Moogs and Oberheims. As I did with my "Run From The Sun" album. It may have parallels with early Death/Doom, but it is never trying to be exactly that. People who are open dig it. People who are not, can go listen to NuMetal


The only guitar samples in this are in #3 The Humanity Problem. They were samples of my partner's Start clone. I tried the sorts of things you are looking at but they never felt right. i tried slightly different techniques for each track, mostly using Europa as I know it so well. My results may be unusual (the horror for the narrow-minded - many of whom I met) but it is mine and not meh-slop.

[mixyguy2]

The issues with geetar emulation VST are:
a) they can't do what a real guitarist can as they are too limited compared to the huge variety of things that a guitarist does with the real thing eg I don't know if any of these can 'bend the instrument" as is so common with the real thing. While one might say, Oh just pitch bend it all up and back a bit, this is not accurate as the instrument bend is rarely done 'perfectly' so being off means that each string is stretched slightly differently. Again, easy to say, Oh no one will notice, and yet it sounds as false as an AI vocal.

That gets down to talent...which is true with any instrument. I've heard songs made with a guitar VI that sounded very realistic.

[mixyguy2]

this makes sense. However, I was hoping to get some insight into whether any of these plugins include features X or Y that I might not have considered, but that could result in better-sounding guitars.
Demos are fine, but you only run into these things if you worked with something long enough.

Got ya...I doubt it tbh, but I'll defer to those who have used guitar VIs more extensively.

[Benedict]

The issues with geetar emulation VST are:
a) they can't do what a real guitarist can as they are too limited compared to the huge variety of things that a guitarist does with the real thing eg I don't know if any of these can 'bend the instrument" as is so common with the real thing. While one might say, Oh just pitch bend it all up and back a bit, this is not accurate as the instrument bend is rarely done 'perfectly' so being off means that each string is stretched slightly differently. Again, easy to say, Oh no one will notice, and yet it sounds as false as an AI vocal.

That gets down to talent...which is true with any instrument. I've heard songs made with a guitar VI that sounded very realistic.

I didn't say a thing about talent there. I did imply that later and that bit already put talent as the real factor in making anything shine. There, I talked about what I talked about which is nothing to do with talent at all. Reminds me ever so directly why I stopped forums etc as I say "potato" and they say "you said cucumber, therefore are a fool" for that so...

[mixyguy2]

I didn't say a thing about talent there. I did imply that later and that bit already put talent as the real factor in making anything shine. There, I talked about what I talked about which is nothing to do with talent at all. Reminds me ever so directly why I stopped forums etc as I say "potato" and they say "you said cucumber, therefore are a fool" for that so...

The only thing worse than an idiot is an idiot trying to pass themselves off as some kind of superior intelligence with nonsensical gibberish. Welcome to my ignore list.