Illustration: Louis Byrne
The barriers to entry for recording your electric guitar have never been lower.
Until not too along ago, capturing a quality sound for your guitar meant investing in a great amp, microphones, acoustic treatment, and any number of pedals depending on the effects you wanted to achieve. And it’s not to say that these items are obsolete today—they absolutely do still have their benefits, and above all can be incredibly fun to use and amass. However, for those of us with a limited space and budget, technology has blessed us with something truly incredible: amp simulator plugins. In this article, we explore what guitar amp simulator plugins are, how they sound, their pros and cons, and some of the best amp sims out there today.
Let’s dive in!
What are amp simulator plugins?
As their name implies, amp simulator plugins are digital tools that allow us to emulate the sound of a physical amp, entirely in-the-box. Most DAWs come with a stock option or two these days, and there are also a myriad of third-party options that you can explore (we’ll highlight a few later). Depending on the plugin, some also allow you to emulate effects pedals and even microphone placement, which can help you further manipulate your tone.
Logic Pro’s built-in amp simulator
How to use amp simulator plugins
The process of connecting your guitar to amp simulator plugins is very straightforward. First, plug your guitar into your audio interface. If you don’t have one, here are some solid budget options:
From there, load up a new audio track in your DAW, and make sure the correct input channel is selected if your interface has multiple inputs. Then, simply add your amp simulator plugin to the channel strip as you would with any other audio effect, and you’re good to go! You’ll be able to adjust your tone by clicking into the plugin itself, and by turning input monitoring on, you’ll be able to jam and hear any changes live.
How amp sims sound
A listen is worth a thousand words—let’s take a listen to how guitar amp simulators sound. To establish a baseline, below is an unamplified guitar recording, simply captured via our interface with no additional effects applied.
Our guitar sound, only processed by the preamp in our interface
Now, let’s try applying a few contrasting tones using presets from an array of different plugins.
The “Present Day” preset from Logic Pro’s built-in Amp Designer
The “Crunch” preset from Waves’ CLA Guitars
The “Insane 5153” preset from Positive Grid’s BIAS AMP 2
Not bad, right? While guitar amp simulator plugins have been around for years, it’s amazing to hear how far some of the built-in and low-cost options in particular have come in terms of quality.
Best amp sims by price point
If you’re looking to go beyond what’s available in your DAW, there are countless high-quality options out there that you can explore. Below, we highlight just a few of the best amp sims out there across different price points that you might want to consider checking out.
1. Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig 7 Player (free)
If you’re looking for a free third-party option to expand your sound, Native Instruments’ Guitar Right 7 Player is absolutely worth taking for a spin. Featuring a workhorse amp and a British-style tube amp alongside matched cabinets and 26 effects, you can navigate an incredibly wide range of sounds with ease. And if you enjoy what Guitar Rig 7 Player offers, you can upgrade to their pro version down the line for even more effects, an IR loader, and more.
2. Waves’ CLA Guitars (~$29 – $99)
Made in partnership with famed mixing engineer Chris Lord-Alge, Waves’ CLA Guitars is one of those plugins that’s simple and sweet. The hundreds of presets that many other amp sims throw your way are replaced with just three core tones (“Clean,” “Crunchy,” and “Heavy”), which can actually be immensely helpful in maintaining creative flow if they’re your cup of tea.
Above all, the plugin is typically just $29.99 (its full price is technically $99.99, but Waves runs very frequent sales campaigns), which can make it a great first upgrade from stock alternatives for those who are on a tight budget.
3. Neural DSP’s Archetype series (~$115 – $150)
Though comparatively new to the scene, Neural DSP’s Archetype plugins are easily among the most highly-regarded amp simulators on the market. Made in collaboration with today’s trailblazing guitarists (including the likes of Cory Wong, Polyphia’s Tim Henson, and Animals as Leaders’ Tosin Abasi), their sounds are both unique yet highly applicable to all sorts of genres. Veteran producer Kenny Beats calls the Archetype amps a “game-changer” as he walks through some of his own tones in his Skills lesson, and frankly we couldn’t agree more.
4. Positive Grid’s BIAS AMP 2 and BIAS FX 2 (~$299)
One of those unique manufacturers that makes both physical and virtual amps, Positive Grid leans into versatility and customizability as some of their top selling points. You can really get into the nuts-and-bolts of designing your own amp with BIAS AMP 2, but if you’re not looking to get that granular (and / or prefer messing around with pedalboards), then BIAS FX 2 is a great alternative too.
Both options also share a nifty feature called ToneCloud, which lets you browse and download presets crafted by an array of guitarists. While they’re more expensive compared to some other alternatives, Positive Grid also tends to offer quite significant discounts during the holidays.
The pros and cons of guitar amp simulator plugins
While amp simulator plugins are pretty great, they won’t be replacing their hardware counterparts outright any time soon. Starting with the obvious, physical amps will continue to be integral to any rehearsal and live settings that go beyond the studio. And even within recording and production sessions, the physicality of twisting knobs and hearing the warm vibrations of an amp in a room can generate different timbres as well as musical ideas. Lastly, while this can usually be remedied with a touch of smart processing, some amp simulators tend to lean a little ‘bright’ or ‘thin,’ which can give them that digital sound that many guitarists find less desirable.
That said, their numerous pros simply can’t be denied. For a fraction of the price, modern amp simulator plugins can achieve sounds that are truly competitive with physical amps and pedals. The DI nature also bypasses a room’s acoustics, which allows bedroom musicians to obtain a level of quality that would otherwise be inaccessible (while simultaneously preserving positive relationships with roommates and neighbors with a pair of headphones). Lastly, because processing is being applied entirely in-the-box, you can always go back and A/B or reimagine tones, without having to painstakingly re-record parts.
Conclusion
And there you have it! Hopefully this article gave you a good foundational understanding around what guitar amp simulators are, how they work, and a few of the best amp sims that you might want to check out first. While the plugin that’s best for you will be determined by a combination of your individualized budget, creative preferences, and workflow needs, know that great records have been created with all of the options we showcased above as well as many others that we didn’t list here—and the most important thing you can do is pick one and get started.
Do you have any guitar amp simulator plugins that you recommend? What other topics would you like to see us cover next? Start a conversation with us and an ever-growing community of other music creators via the Splice Discord.
Find inspiration quickly and take your tracks to the next level with the new Splice x Studio One Pro 7 Integration:
October 24, 2024
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