Amplitube2 preset demo (again)

[deeaa*]

Here, excuse my flu. And the trouble of keeping in tune; my kid had detuned the guitar completely just prior to this and I just quickly corrected it, and it doesn't quite keep in tune yet here. (Normally it does stay in tune real well, but he'd loosened the strings completely so it takes a while of playing for the thin strings to settle again)



The overall recording sounds a bit too bright for some reason; that's the video camera's fault...but aside from that it does presnt quite well what do a couple of my favorite Amp2 Live 'rock' style presets sound like.

BTW I haven't played really much at all all summer long, so again I'm amazed how easy and natural it feels to play random stuff when you've had a LONG break from it. I could almost imagine I could play acceptably well at times :-)

[guitartango]

I wouldn't worry about the playing, not a bad sounding demo. I find that most "digital" demo's cannot do good cleans or sound like a "Vox".

[deeaa*]

Really? I've always felt just the opposite - they've yielded really great cleans for a long long time, but until Amp2 I never did get a nice crunch out of them...they always sounded quite 'digital' and buzzy, and/or didn't really react to playing or 'scream'. Now I don't think I could get as good a crunch sound any other way. Pretty much everyone I know who's recording guitars seriously has started using this kind of stuff also in studio. Still you of course don't quite get the feeling of punch you get standing in front of a blazing tube stack...that's still weighing in favor of also using one of those :-)

But, I'm no expert on clean sounds...I practically never ever use one. If I want clean, I'll use an acoustic.

[Eric***]

Sounds pretty good. My perception is that once you're in the general ballpark of tone (which you generally are), it's more about what notes you play than the specific tone nuances. If you put that tone on a recording, I'd never think twice about whether it was a good tone or not. It is nice to know that digital modeling software has come so far. Is that a VST plugin or what? The latency seemed pretty low.

[deeaa*]

Yeah it's a VST plugin too, but it came along with StealthPedal which is a Wah-pedal looking soundcard in itself. You can use the wah for whatever you want though, wah, whammy, pitch, volume etc.

This here is just direct to the pedal and from it in stereo to my actual soundcard, so I'm kinda using it as if it were a POD or something, the only difference being it needs a computer to work. But there's no lag.

The way I usually record it is I record a stereo track right from the pedal i.e. already processed sound, but I also record a mono track at the same time, bypassing the pedal and just recording an entirely dry signal from the guitar. That way, I can play with the 'correct' sound and feel along with whatever I have on record, yet I can completely change the sound and patches also at any time until the final mix.

You can use the program completely as just a plugin too, but a dedicated soundcard for it is much more convenient.

If you listen to Spookbox demos, or any of my stuff, it's always for the largest portion Amplitube or similar...I still do record my Ceriatone too, but mostly only for live stuff...it's just better done direct to PC.

I'd say since 1998 or so 90% or more of my recorded guitars have been some kind of D/I device rather than an actual amp. I've tried small amps and big amps and different miking and whatnot, and it just ain't any better than D/I and loads more work&difficulty. This Amplitube thingy is just the latest and so far best I've had at my disposal...and I haven't even really edited my own patches yet, the presets, maybe adding just some pedals or a touch of EQ, have been so good right as they are.

There's a whole lot of presets, though, and for the most part they aren't so good, but the ones that are to my taste really are very good.

[syo***]

Hey Dee. I know you use Amplitube alot and you sound real good with it. I must say when I first got Amplitube 2, I didn't care for it too much as I felt like the character of whatever guitar I was playing through it was largely lost. I have come to like it however for ease of use (and sound as well) and recently upgraded to 3 and bought the Fender module. For me I really have to go beyond most of the presets to get something I'm happy with, but it's easy to dial in what I want and sometimes find happy accidents that work real well. I also have Guitar Rig which is especially good for wild delays/reverses/psychedelia etc.

[deeaa*]

Yeah, it might well be that guitars/pickups sound more similar between each other thru it than a real amp...hard to tell for me, though, as I use the same pickups in all :-) but IMO it does still preserve the twangy quality of the maple-board strat, like in the start of my clip with lower gain...it does sound much twangier than my other axes.

To be honest, pretty much all I've ever really used with it is the Amp2 live 'styles' menu presets under 'rock', namely CrunchMaster and the couple of tones around it with a little less or more drive...I just add and change pedals to that preset....all I need is one good tone and I'm set :-) I've tried the Amp3 and I have also the Guitar Rig 4, which is indeed great for extreme FX...not so good for playing stand-alone or using just it for sounds. I use the rig mostly for re-amping, or creating a doubled track, i.e. have the main track with Amp2 and support it with Rig4 track in the background; gives a nicely different sound that blends well. So I kind of use it much as I would use a different speaker mic'd for another take than the first.

[syo***]

Yeah, it might well be that guitars/pickups sound more similar between each other thru it than a real amp...hard to tell for me, though, as I use the same pickups in all :-) but IMO it does still preserve the twangy quality of the maple-board strat, like in the start of my clip with lower gain...it does sound much twangier than my other axes.

To be honest, pretty much all I've ever really used with it is the Amp2 live 'styles' menu presets under 'rock',

Well to be honest, I too tend to use just a fraction of what's in Amp3 which is fine. I have played around with it alot though as it's quite good for inspiration for me.

Dee , have you tried the IK Fender module? If not, I think you can get a 10 day free trial download. It's really an excellent product all by itself. Great amps in that one. I mentioned in another post that IK have a group buy going. They just hit the buy 1 get 2 free mark. I got the Fender, Amplitube 3 upgrade and the CSR reverb plugin (I already have the "Hall" part of the package which is superb but it's nice to have it all now).

[deeaa*]

Haven't tried it, no...maybe I should indeed. I did install the Amp3 free as it comes with the online store and all, and tested some pedal quickly...I will likely expand it when need arises, yeah. It's proved to be the platform that I mostly use for guitars on record, after all.

And I've owned a bunch of real nice Fender amps as well from Twin to DeVille and could use some of those tones too, maybe, some of these days.

[deeaa*]

BTW I tested the '65 reverb and some others in Fender pack and yeah, sounds damn good...however the Fender pack is WAY expensive...it's more I paid for the actual Stealth Pedal which came with Amp2, X-Gear, Metal Pack and whatnot...hm...but, cheaper than a real amp...

[syo***]

BTW I tested the '65 reverb and some others in Fender pack and yeah, sounds damn good...however the Fender pack is WAY expensive...it's more I paid for the actual Stealth Pedal which came with Amp2, X-Gear, Metal Pack and whatnot...hm...but, cheaper than a real amp...

Yeah, I demo'ed (and was very impressed by) the Fender pack at NAMM when it was first coming out a few years ago. This after having owned Amp2 for about a year prior and feeling underwhelmed by it (at the time). I was amazed at how good the Fender pack sounded and how close some of the amps were to the real thing. I think it's around 170 Euros (15% off) but for a limited time you could also upgrade to Amp3 and get another title for free. I suppose you could also just buy the individual amp in the custom shop for 15 Euros. Not that I'm trying to get you to spend more money mind you...

[deeaa*]

I can't find any mention of another title for free from IK site...it's 149€ for Amp3...if that would come with Fender pack included it'd be well worth the upgrade I think, yeah...then it's a good price in my book. Well over 300 for both is...a touch too much.

[syo***]

I can't find any mention of another title for free from IK site...it's 149€ for Amp3...if that would come with Fender pack included it'd be well worth the upgrade I think, yeah...then it's a good price in my book. Well over 300 for both is...a touch too much.

Check out the group buy page here:
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?15/groupbuy.php

Scroll down to see the available titles for the free deal. Basically you buy one of these titles and then you can pick 2 titles of equal/lesser value for free. The Fender pack is going for 144€ . Then you can get the Amp3 upgrade (which is otherwise 127€ ) for free plus another title of your choice. The deal is good I think for another couple weeks.

[deeaa*]

Damn, yeah...thanks...! I think I may have to do just do that...fender, amp3 and, well the only thing I can think of is the Jimi Hendrix pack.

OR hmm....I could also get a StealthPlug for my livingroom machine, then I could noodle on Amp in the living room as well easily...damned for being so short on cash just now - I'm rebuilding the kitchen and it's eating ALL my funds just now, plus I just bought the piano too...sigh...this might be too good a deal to skip, anyway...

[syo***]

Sorry to add another consideration to your expenditures Dee, but it is a pretty good deal isn't it?
If you do opt for the Stealth, bear in mind that free products are software only. So the Stealth would need to be your paid for product.

[deeaa*]

Yes I just realized that...bummer...but, the Hendrix one likely has some nice patches as well.

[deeaa*]

Well I took the plunge...170€ and now it's amp 3 with Fender pack and Jimi Hendrix too.
There's a couple really good sounds indeed, mostly of the crunchy clean variety, but I instantly came accross this superb metal sound as well.

I'll see if I can muster a quick improvisation demo over lunchtime today, I have like an hour free so I could zoom home and play some :-)

[deeaa*]

Okay! I just recorded a quick improv from D, three tracks, mixed the vids together. Used pretty much random amplitube settings, the first was some 'vintage' amp, then a Fender deluxe model and the last one is some marshall 800 amp model.

I really like the way these sound...although I almost never play this mellow stuff, now that the clean sounds are great too, maybe I will some more! :-)

[deeaa*]

Ah, sorry...forgot about the vid...YouTube is rendering it for ages...but here it is!