Guitarists: What amp sim do you use?

[ManFromNapa]

On 8/25/2023 at 2:28 PM, deckard1 said:

Nice! What amp does the UA Ruby emulate? 

I managed to pick up a Quad Cortex last week. Probably more than I need, but, the Quad Cortex is really an amazing piece of gear. Sounds and feels like a real amp. 

It emulates the classic Vox AC30.  Great overdrive, great tone.... totally dig it.

[loukash]

On 5/13/2023 at 6:23 PM, deckard1 said:

What about Helix Native?

I'm playing my basses and guitars – electric, acoustic, fretted, fretless, you name it – through a HX Stomp since over 3 years now. The best gear invenstment in 40 years of being an active musician. ;) 

Helix Native is then the logical extension at a discount price, especially since Line6 is giving an extra discount a few times a year where you can get it as a registered hardware customer for as low as $70 or so. It was a no-brainer.

Apart from reamping the DI signal from the Stomp, I also use Native in mixing and mastering, especially its Retro Reel (=tape saturation) block on master bus. Works great.

[Sunset]

I am a bit confused on the latency discussion, when recording straight into the box. How do you manage best possible live feel when recording guitar through a PlugIn?

[loukash]

18 hours ago, Byhxx said:

How do you manage best possible live feel when recording guitar through a PlugIn?

Not sure if that's a reply to my previous post, but that's exactly the point why the combination of a hardware modeler with a corresponding plugin works so good:

• When recording, I hear the direct sound from the Helix Stomp, with any amps and effects I've set up there. Helix internal latency is supposedly just around 1 ms. I, for one, don't hear any latency in the headphones.
• Usually I'd record both the "wet" signal from Stomp as well as the DI, the former mainly in order to remember what I was doing while playing live. Also, Logic can record any further activities on the Stomp itself as MIDI data, e.g. wah-wah.
• Helix presets can be exported to Mac and then imported to Helix Native, so that I have the same presets within Logic to reamp the recorded DI tracks.

[deckard1]

Picked up the newly released UAFX Lion '68 Super Lead Amp pedal last week...sounds very good. Not inexpensive for a pedal but it seems worthy of its price so far. 

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UALion--universal-audio-uafx-lion-68-super-lead-amp-pedal

 

[logicrules]

I mostly use Scuffham Amps S-Gear and Line 6 Helix Native. I also sometimes use Guitar Rig, Amplitube, and Bias Amp. S-Gear has great amp sounds and a dynamic feel when playing through it. Helix Native also sounds great and has an incredible selection of amps and pedal effects.

[wonshu]

On a side note, and I know I'm opening a kind of can of worms with this question:

Why do guitarists not like the Pedalboard + Guitar Amp that comes with Logic? Obvious but also very general answer: The sound...

I'm not a guitar player, but I have a guitar and record stuff (single note stuff... 🙂 ) every now and then... I wish there were better presets for these two and I would even pay for a preset library (is there one?). I am getting results I like though... but then again, perhaps my ears and especially hands aren't really trained to handle this and that's why I just can't gauge it at all...

[loukash]

4 hours ago, wonshu said:

Why do guitarists not like the Pedalboard + Guitar Amp that comes with Logic? Obvious but also very general answer: The sound...

No, for me the built-in amps were always great, and before I got the HX Stomp/Helic Native I would of course use them all the time when recording bass or guitar. The only annoyance was the inevitable latency while playing.

It was the switch from an analog amp (Fender Blues Deluxe 1993) to amp modeling that made the difference for me, because now I can use the very same presets for playback within Logic via Helix Native, while recording the DI signal via the Stomp and directly monitoring with virtually zero latency.

[logicrules]

Quote

15 hours ago, wonshu said:

Why do guitarists not like the Pedalboard + Guitar Amp that comes with Logic? Obvious but also very general answer: The sound...

I used the Amp Designer and Pedalboard plugins with good results when Logic Pro X first came out. But I think the newer generations of amp modeling plugins have surpassed Logic's amps in terms of realism. I still use some of the Pedalboard effects in combination with other amp plugins. I recommend S-Gear if you’re willing to try a 3rd party plugin as it’s reasonably priced, easy to use, and has great sounding presets.

[Dewdman42]

my current favorites are from Mercurial, but there are a lot of great amp sims these days and basically its whatever you like the sounds and feel.  own it.

 

[NoPro]

Electrum, vintage amp room , neural amp

modler (free and great ), honestly 5 watt tube  amps in a closet (use pillows if your neighbors are bothered . …close mic with a 57. Nothing beats air on a mic …you can always combine with a sim ….