can you recommend one ?
Hi EVeryone 
I need a plug in to soup up my electric guitar sound since I have no physical amp to run it thru.
Thanks Guys,
Ted
hey, there are a few decent options for guitar amp modelling. I usually use IK multimedia’s Amplitube, as my system is utter nuts and cant handle much. But if you have WinXP then Native Instrument’s Guitar Rig is the software standard for amp modelling(you can make any amp/cab combo you could want in a rack environment on-screen.
The other alternative i’m not too familiar with, but my friend has tried is buying a pod pro xt live footpedal. It connects via usb to the comp but apparently it takes over as the soundcard 
and i dont know if you’d want to lock out your existing card if it a decent one. If i find anything else out i’ll post back!!
Depends on what amp youre trying to simulate:
http://www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm
Has a couple of amp sims as well as fx processors that work well…however it only works with mono signals…so make sure you record your guitar mono.
MDA Combo among with some of its other free fx are pretty good too.
http://mda.smartelectronix.com/effects.htm
The guitarsuite plugs are my fave
Also Little Green Machine is good for more of a british sound (don’t know the URL though…but do a search and you should find it)
Rich
| Quote (Ted Roberts @ Mar. 04 2005,19:31) |
| Hi EVeryone I need a plug in to soup up my electric guitar sound since I have no physical amp to run it thru. Thanks Guys, Ted |
Ted,
You may have already considered this, but instead of putting more burden on your CPU, you may want to also think about a hardware amp simulator, like the Behringer V-Amp 2 ($100) or the Line 6 Pod 2 ($200), and record directly into your soundcard. (I see Amplitube going for over $300.) The V-Amp and Pod are also more versatile, as you can plug them into non-PC devices, as well as practice with headphones on without having to boot up a PC. I decided to pick up the V-Amp 2 after trying the Amplitube demo; I decided it would be better to use my CPU (and the money I saved) for other things, at least as a start. I am *very* pleased with it!
Just another POV...
Tony
Although I ended up with Johnson’s J Station, a comparitive review of amp modelers gave high marks to the V-AMp. That and the low end POD are encased in plastic. I love the J Station for it’s decent sounds, SPDIF ability, and it is housed in a metal case. I bought mine used for $79.00 but last I heard, they are going back up in price.
Current bid on ebay for a J Station is $55.00 with 4 hours to go!
I’ve got the j-station, V-amp2 and software modelers like amplitude. But there is no way in #### they hold a candle to either of my old tube amps. Something about micing a live tube amp just sounds different. It BREATHES instead of sounding flat. Even the sheen of verb and delay on top of modeled sounds don’t cover up that flatness.
But some people can’t hear the difference. So its a matter of taste. I would strongly recommend for those who hear the difference to buy even a tiny tube amp for basic tube-clean and tube-distortion sounds.
I am using an ADA MP1 midi programmable tube preamp as the front end to my tube amps, so its tube on tube and sounds very “round” (ADA MP1 no longer made but available cheap on ebay and such. A wonderful guitar tube preamp).
I like to blend a tube-amped track with a doubled modeled guitar track for rhythm guitar parts, panned fairly hard L and R. Gives a spacious sound and keeps the center of the soundscape open for the lead instruments to inhabit.
Modelers and cabinet emulators are very cool, but still not up to the par of a mic’d tube amp “breathing” in a real room and intereacting sonically with the guitar physically to put a shimmer on the top end, feedback, enhanced harmonics content, etc.
Excellent Responses Everyone 
Thanks alot guys, I will start assimilating all this info and do some experimenting.
If anyone else has some input feel free to add on.
Thanks Tom Hicks, Great info
Ted
The validity whether “warmness” comes from the actual tubes is questionable.
Many debate that the capacitors themselves are responsible for that “warm” sound.
Nonetheless, I have to agree regarding the soft or hard simulators vs the actual amps. Its completely a matter of personal taste.
In fact, I route some of my soft-synths that need to be in mono to my amp and I mic that because the rendered soft-synth sounds really flat to my mix when Im trying to get a “acoustic club” sound to my mix. I would suggest even routing some of those cool soft-synths to a decent preamp and track that!
Software is a revolutionary miracle! But for me I need the best of both worlds with hardware to get the sound I crave.