Recording with Amp sim plugins

[Cris Sabater SabaterParticipant]

Hi guys, how many of you record with Amp sim plugins? How do you find them and which ones do you use? I have quite a few that I use but my fav's are S-Gear and Positive Grid Bias. They have some great amps and tones on offer but there are also some very nice free ones out there too! After tracking I tend to hone in on the upper mids and check to see if there is any harshness there as I tend to find anywhere between 3-6 Khz especially can be quite brittle at times and guitar amps don't really have much above about 8 khz anyway. I usually use a narrow Q and pull offending frequencies out if needed but the two amp sims I prefer seem to deal with this slightly better than others to my ears. I would love to hear how you guys use Amp sims!

Cheers,

Cris

[Matt BoudreauParticipant]

Hey Cris,

I frequently record guitarists with amp sim plugs. Mostly from UA via my Apollo. I find the trick is too have a good DI. On my last session with Greg Lisher from Camper Van Beethoven, we found we liked the sound better when running through a Radial DI in to the Apollo mic pre rather than going into the Apollo's Hi-z input.

Cheer,

Matt

[Steve AParticipant]

I've demoed a bunch of them and will probably pick up the very two you mentioned (S-gear & Bias), and for the same reasons.
I started off many years ago with the original ZOOM, found it harsh, flat and 'fizzy' but it was the only game in town in the early '90s, so I did my best to EQ it into something usable.
Then came the original POD which was way better, but the symptoms described above, while not as bad, still persisted.
I still own a POD X3 Live, but mostly use it without speaker emulation into a SS power amp, then to a Marshall cab loaded with G12Ms and G12Hs (2 of each) and it sounds surprisingly good. Thing is, those Celestions have one sound, and I need many to cover different tones and genres, but then you have to run it with speaker emulations, and your back to the '2d' sound. Uggh..

So yea, the S-Gear and Bias both seem to be mostly absent of those bad characteristics, with a few exceptions, one of them being the '57' amp in S-gear, that tends to sound 'gritty' or 'fizzy' if you will...
I'm going to play around with some of the other settings to see if I can tweak it further.

I have to say I've not liked the free ones that I have tried: The Eleven plugin that came with my PT upgrade to v.12, the free one that came with my copy of Mixcraft, and a couple of others I can't recall their names atm.
What free ones have you tried that you like, if I might ask?

[Richard TorrieParticipant]

I use Logic Pro X and have not found a good Guitar Amp Model from the included bundles yet but I do try them. Much prefer recording direct or mic'd from my amplifiers as I feel its a much richer tone.

I do use the Bass Amp Models all of the time as they do sound fantastic.

Regards,
Rich

[Nick D.Participant]

^^ Im the same. I haven't really ever been happy with electric guitar tones only through amp sims, but they are great to blend with other guitars. I use a line 6 pod pro to track with a lot, just because I don't have to setup mics and isolate cabinets etc. Bass tones are a different story however, and I think its just the frequency response. Guitar sims for me really lose it in the upper midrange. Something is missing in the harmonic content IMO.

[Richard TorrieParticipant]

I have a Line 6 HD500 and to be fair to it, a while back, I had a shit Fender M80 amp. The amp modelling was good at making a shit amp sound much better. Upgraded to a Marshall JVM, so no need to amp model now.

[Cris Sabater SabaterParticipant]

Hi 3rdstone, LePou who is a Canadian plugin maker has some good free amp sims. They are heads but he also has a convolver that is separate so you can load in Wav files of speaker Cab's. As far as I am aware the convolver is only avaiable for Mac users and I use Windows 7. Maybe one day!

http://earmonk.com/free-overdrive-distortion-and-amp-vst-plugins/

The link above has a load of different Free Amps and Pedals and is certainly worth a look! It can't hurt as it is all free!!

Cheers mate,

Cris

[Cris Sabater SabaterParticipant]

Hi Matt Boudreau,
thanks for the great tip! I have heard that the Radials are very good and I think my next purchase when I have some spare cash could well be one of those!

Cheers mate,

Cris

[Cris Sabater SabaterParticipant]

Hi guys, I know what some of you are saying with Amp sims not quite matching the real thing which is the case but I have gotten some great tones from amp sims and it also depends on the material/song structure too. Like re-amping when you have an arrangement you can always go in and tweak the sounds of the guitars to suit plus there are some great tricks out there like using a Piano playing underneath or a synth tucked underneath to thicken the tones and give a fuller feel. I also find strings playing softly under some guitars can work wonders too. And of course using EQ after tracking can help it to fit. I also find saturation works well if used via a send and blended in gently can also make an impact. It really is all about experimenting and getting ideas down that work for you in situations and noting them down for possible future use!

Cheers guys,

Cris

[Lee HawkinsParticipant]

I do use Amp sims for Guitars as I get a wide choice of tones conveniently and quickly. With my Bass (as a bass player) I use an Ampeg amp 95% of the time although recently I have the UAD Ampeg SVT bass plugins which are surprisingly good. A good DI is also essential too so I use the Rupert Neve RNDI which is by far my favourite. I'm all for giving things a try when producing. If it sounds good and fits with the track, well I use it and move on.

[Cris Sabater SabaterParticipant]

Hi Lee, thanks for your thoughts on this. I have the same philosophy as you mate, always be prepared to try things and if it sounds good then go with it!

Cheers mate,

Cris

[Cris Sabater SabaterParticipant]

Hi guys,
I have recently been messing about with using my Blackstar H-T distortion pedal as a pre-amp going into my focusrite and then into an S-Gear amp. It is quite amazing the difference you get! I back the gain off on the Blackstar to about 2 on the dial adjust the EQ knobs to taste in conjunction with that S-Gear amps settings and it gives a far fuller sound with more bite. I of course print once I have the sound I want. Just an experiment that was very interesting! 🙂

Cheers guys,

Cris

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