Which Guitar VST?

[Scoops]

Hey

I am starting to realize that I'll be needing a guitar vst for my home studio. I've downloaded IK's Amplitude, and NI's Guitar Rig demo versions. They both have thier pro and cons.

I'm not so certain that Amplitude LE will have enought in it to suit my needs when T2 comes out, so, I was wondering if anybody else might be able provide insight/review of other guitar vst's that would be on the level of the two I mentioned above.

Thanks

[Bill]

Hey

I am starting to realize that I'll be needing a guitar vst for my home studio. I've downloaded IK's Amplitude, and NI's Guitar Rig demo versions. They both have thier pro and cons.

I'm not so certain that Amplitude LE will have enought in it to suit my needs when T2 comes out, so, I was wondering if anybody else might be able provide insight/review of other guitar vst's that would be on the level of the two I mentioned above.

Thanks

They are both good VSTs but this is better:

http://www.johnson-amp.com/jstation.htm

[Lunch Money]

That's if you can find it on eBay, since it's no longer commercially available.

What's your budget?

If you don't mind re-amping (ie. having to re-play the whole guitar track back in realtime) through something external, you could always go for V-Amp 2 (by Behringer) or the Line6 GuitarPort. With a significant amount more money, you can consider the Vox Tonelab or the Line6 PodXT.

If you absolutely need it to be in VST form, and you have the budget, wait for Amplitube2's release. I personally can't afford it, but I anticipate it being a good one.

In the meantime, if you have zero budget, you could use a setup like:

Amplitube LE (when it arrives with T2) for 3 types of amps, Simulanalog Guitar Suite for different versions of the Marshall and Fender Twin, and Cortex for non-brand-specific sounds (though it can crank out specific brand sounds with some tweaking).

For a wee bit of dosh, I love Green Machine Amp II, which has its own sound that's not an exact replica of any particular amp, though it includes "British" and "American" amp models as a guideline.

Greg

[Scoops]

Hey Guys

Thanks for the responses so far.

I'll be looking at VST's exclusively! The J-station looks appealing, but my aim here is to keep eveything on the computer. Maybe it's not the overall smartest path, but, I'm just getting to damn lazy to deal with an external box for every little thing that comes up (hell of a rationale, hey?)

As far as $$$ is concerned, well, I can spring for either of the two mentioned, even a little more if there is something else out there.

Hell of it is, I got a bunch of Fenders, Marshalls, and Vox amplifiers, but the wife wouldnt really appreciate it if I were to crank it at 2:00 in the morning!

Scoops

[Lunch Money]

Any minute now, someone will recommend isolation cabs and soak-boxes (allowing you to use your REAL amps without disrupting the household!).

Can't say I'd disagree with the recommendation. If I had a collection of amps like that, I'd want to record them.

If money isn't an object, I'd wait for Amplitube 2. The cost will be only a bit more than Guitar Rig, though the tradeoff is that it's ALL software, and no hardware interface, as far as I know.

Greg

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

I'm a rather devout hardware amp sim guy, myself. However, in my opinion Amplitube 2 will be the software amp sim of choice once it is released.

The two amps at once feature may be a blatant ripoff of Line 6's Duoverb and Vetta, but it's an awesome feature that I make constant use of on my Vetta. Plus, the number of actual amp models in NI Guitar Rig is appallingly low. It might have been worth it if GR's sims were much better than Amplitube 1, but they weren't.

[IIRs]

My advice?

Mic your amps.

Get a divorce if necessary!

[dealwithit]

My advice?

Mic your amps.

Agreed.

[Scoops]

You guys slay me

If I get a divorce, and the wife goes after the amps as a part of the settlement, where does that leave me? Zero, zip, zilch, naddda! Dont want to go there!

On a different note, with no no offense to thornemaelstrom, but I've been a guitar amp guy, and some of these amp simulators, good as they are, dont come close to the real thing! I find it real difficult to dial in ANY amp simulator to get a good Fender Tweed sound, or a good Fender Super Reverb sound, which are the two main stays of my guitar work.

I also have no intent on relpacing my amps with a VST. I'm just looking for a virtual amp to add to my aresenal.

I will also agree with thornemaelstrom that Amplitude does sound ALOT better than the GR! BUT, GR looks to be more configurable. So thats my quandry with those two. So maybe i'll wait for Amplitude 2.

In the mean time, Thanks to Greg for pointing out the Green Amp. I've already dl'd it and started to play with it. Not too bad.

Scoops

[rpc9943]

The following mudpile is one of lamb barbeque. Please toothbrush it.

RonC

[Scoops]

Yeah Ron

Open IE, google, go where google tells you, dl demo.

Scoops

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

Hey, no offense taken. Tone is in the ear of the beholder. I know some great blues and jazz players who swear by the Fender sounds in the Vetta/PodXT. I also know some some guys who say that the Vox Tonelab has better clean and saturated sounds than the Pod.

Doesn't bother me one bit. A good guitarist can get great tone out of all most any amp, or amp sim. If I grabbed my $1,700 amp and had a guitar duel against Jimi Hendrix playing on a $70 practice amp, Jimi would kick my ass 10 times out of 10.

All amp modelers have a bit of a learning curve, because as you noted, no amp sim sounds that close to the original. Still, I've heard some great tone from amp sims, and I've even coaxed them out myself a few times

Now I'm just going to go on for a moment about the dual amp feature. As I said earlier, my Vetta has the ability to run 2 amp sims simultaneously, which is really great for adding a little bite to clean tones. For instance, use a Fender Twin as amp 1, and a Fender Deluxe with the drive somewhere around 7-8. The blues tone this creates is just georgeous. Though, I should mention that I have no idea if these amps will be included in Amplitube 2.

As I mentioned earlier, Amplitube 2 will be able to run 2 amp sims simultaneously. I *THINK* Guitar Rig can as well, but you've only got 4 amps to choose from. The beauty of mixing and matching amps is getting two amps with different yet complimentary sounds, which is hard to do when you've only got 4 to choose from.

I've played a lot of amp sims in my day, and I can honestly say that none of them have ever tempted me to dump my hardware. Still, Amplitube 2 seems to be heading in the right direction. I think it may be the closest any non-hardware manufacturer has ever come to getting it right.

So my final suggestion to you is to head out to your local Line 6 dealer and ask to plug into a PodXT updated to version 2. I know that you said you wanted to stick with all software, but I really think that you would be selling your tone short if you didn't check one out.

And don't settle for a PodXT running version 1 software, everything has been completely revoiced in the version 2 update, and it all sounds much closer to the Vetta now.

[Improv]

I've been a guitar amp guy, and some of these amp simulators, good as they are, dont come close to the real thing! I find it real difficult to dial in ANY amp simulator to get a good Fender Tweed sound, or a good Fender Super Reverb sound, which are the two main stays of my guitar work.

Might want to check out the Nano Head amp-tone deluxe!
http://zvexamps.com/

Good for recording or low level playing.