Also worth mentioning is that it's perfect for folks who live in countries with insane import and duty taxes! Growing up in Belize the only "brand name" guitars you could find were the bottom of the barrel Ibanez RG and Gio's. Amp-wise, we had starter kit amps or digital pedals like a Digitech RP90 (but only if you had a rich relative visiting for xmas from the USA). Access to computers is fairly common and while not the perfect DI signal, guitar jack to USB connectors do exist now so that opens up a world of options for musicians growing up in countries with no access to proper gear. I myself remember rigging up a guitar jack into the headphone/mic input of my PC tower to get a DI signal to use with guitar rig 3 back in the day. I didnt even know what a tube amp was until I moved to the US and bought a Marshall DSL. 😂
An hour of watching Lee come up with various reasons why he actually doesn't like what he sees and hears despite clearly liking it a fair bit 😂 It's like the "but it doesn't feel the same!" thing is hardwired into him at this point ;)
@@RaelThomas I bought Guitar Rig 7 and Amplitube around 3 months ago. Guitar Rig 7 is, what can I say.....amazing. I've been playing for over 30 years, many of those professionally and this is the first time I've been so impressed with modelling software.
I am super intrigued by GuitarRig now! Awesome video and Lee is the perfect person to test this out. He never hides his feelings and emotions, so it's easy to tell when he's in to or turned off by something! Thanks for putting this video out!
I got a compliment on my tone from my AC30 when my band played on a side stage of a national festival a couple years ago. What the guy didn’t know is the real AC30 on stage was just for looks. The actual rig was Guitar Rig 5 running on a laptop that sat behind the amp running through a Rig Kontrol 3 interface/midi controller pedal. I still have it as a backup rig in case something goes wrong with my Helix I now use. It’s all about knowing how to work what you have.
I've heard of more and more musicians doing the dummy amp thing. Definitely a good way to go cause some people get UPSET if you do anything but play through tubes.
Guitar Rig is the Swiss Army Knife of plugins. In terms of amp modelling or FX, it may be overshadowed now but the ability to stack the modules and automate from the DAW means you can use this on any track or bus and really get some interesting things going on. It means you can create very bespoke effects in a mix that would be much more difficult to achieve without.
100% - I'd never use Guitar Rig for my main amp tone (other plugins like the Neural DSP ones blow Guitar Rig out of the water in that department), but it's a lifesaver for those situations where you need a weird combo of pedals - same way you might buy a digital multi-effects pedal for playing live, not cause it sounds amazing, but because it covers all your bases.
Yeah and all it will cost you is 24% or higher CPU to run one instance of this plugin that is IMO not even as good sounding as the free Brainworx Rockrack plugin.
It's not worth spending money on .They're being greedy almost 150 CAD for just an upgrade from GR5 to GR7 is insane .You can find way better deals than this crap Plugin Alliance for example they have 70% up discount during sale
Guitar Rig was one of my first plugins years ago and I love it! I used to play hours and hours and just experiment with all the cool presets and play my favorite songs along with Winamp or some other media player or actual CD's hahah! It really is a fun tool to have!
It's pretty good as a live amp alternative - to overcome the lack of "speaker cabinet" sensation of playing experience, I use a Keyboard Amp as a monitor & DI into the desk too. It feels like I'm stood in front of my old (and rediculously heavy) Fender amp. Also, had some photos taken playing at a Festival (stood in front of a Marshall stack which I wasn't plugged into) & everyone who was there said what a great sound I had....until I told them it was from a Toshiba 😂
I feel like I'm as much of a tube snob as lee, but software has finally been able to capture that tube amp feel for me. This is coming from someone that didn't love the katana's sound. The sounds in this video sound way better than any helix, valeton, me-90 I've heard on youtube.
Always make me laugh how Lee is always hesitant/skepticle with anything digital. "We're in danger here of getting too deep too quickly, take me back to an amplifier" haha! You can take the camel to water, but you can't make him drink it I guess. Yes, of course we'd all love a £10k valve amp and guitar setup, with home studio with no neighbours... but sometimes a plugin will do haha!
Yep. I would also point out that the monitors are clearly not set-up optimally in the vid (likely due to recording the vid). It would still feel different to a real amp, but that has waaaay more to do with room dynamics and speaker size that anything else. However the audio quality might be close to indiscernible tot he ear. Amp sims have comes a long long way and they are scary good now.
Best thing I did with plugins and interface in general was run a tube preamp first before sending it to the interface. It brought back some of that "feel" lee is describing
I bought an audio interface and Ableton Live and Guitar Rig came with it. I messed around with Guitar Rig a little but now I want to dive in it more! Great video!
I’ve kept my distance from using plugins, but this thing is really cool and easy to use. The integration with Logic looks really easy. And this fellow’s approach with Lee was killer. I love that there’s a moment where Lee is suddenly like “That’s pretty good, isn’t it? I could play with this all day!” Lee, I went on a journey with you, I’m down for this now too. Well done, Guitar Rig fella! ✌️😌🎸
How did you get around the 20 or so millisecond delay. I'm running high end system also I7 36 gigs of ram. 2 TB solid state drive. I play with the buffer settings. I use Reaper and FL studio. Might take the plunge into Ableton if it would help get rid of that delay. I'm looking to use it in a live setting. Because of this delay with USB interface and the DAW I only use plugins right now for post. I would love to be able to use it live.
Yes Lee, we know an amp model played through studio speakers doesn’t sound like an amp and cab in the room! It likely never will, it’s just a different thing.
Depends on your monitoring setup. I have a pretty powerful Amp and tower speakers working like a presence on the side of my room, feels and sounds like an Amp in the room.
I am a night kind of person, active at night, so I play a guitar in headphones at least 50% of time. The main trick is to have room reverb included in IR. I use Two Notes CAB M+, and I always have studio room reverb on. Not much, but noticeable amount. I also cannot stand dry in your face guitar tone in headphones, but proper room reverb fixes it for me and I really enjoy playing through the headphones. P.S. and I use ping-pong delay (with high cut for analog feeling) for wet lead tones. And I also add a spacious stereo revebrs on top of room reverb when needed. So headphones give me that great stereo experience.
I have a small home office cum music room, and am a keen DAW user (Reaper) for composing. To cut a long story short, I no longer have a guitar amp in the room. When I fancy a strum at home or want to jam along, compose etc. I simply fire up Reaper, load up a model project with various virtual amps on a track and off I go. I monitor through a Marshall Acton powered speaker or cans. Virtual amps sound great these days, even some free ones, and the amp is reserved for rehearsals, jam sessions and gigs. Very handy for players with neighbour/space problems.
Lee hit the nail on the head, even if he didn't realize it. The purpose of amp sims is to get the sound of the recorded amps, not the live amps. And latency exists even with real amps if they're sitting at the back of the stage, but that's another story. If it's all about chasing the tone and feel you're looking for when you're playing live with real amps, then maybe software isn't your thing. But if you're looking to record guitar tracks that sound really good in the full band mix, you're missing out if you're discounting plugins.
I would think that at the price this would be great for people wishing to move away from there beginner rig and upgrade. You could use this to find the sort of sound you like before investing large amounts into your own new rig (and maybe not drive your local music shop staff mad in the process).
Had Guitar Rig at version 4 and stuck with it. I am telling you it is insanely good for a hobbyist guitarist and producer like myself. It really does have everything you need - including a crazy looper that you can do all sorts of things with. Yes, it's not the same sensation as playing in a room with an actual amp and cab - but once you get your head around what you can do with this software you won't look back. BIAS FX and BIAS Amp are also a good shout btw...
I got heavily into using amp plugins and so on during Covid because I was limited to just a guitar, a laptop and some headphones. There's some fantastic stuff out there like Scuffham's S-Gear which I think Lee would really like.
Happy upcoming holidays, Anderton's. Maybe, someday you would review some interfaces of the ending year? Your videos are my guide for guitar gear, and now I'm in research of interfaces market. Cheers.
I feel like Guitar Rig has been underrated. It is a very capable plugin, which is on par with the best modellers out there. I know it because I spent too much time comparing plugins against each other and against real gear. Don't take my word for it, try it yourself, but make sure to use all competing plugins with the same IR.
What is this, where am I? Digital John presenting Tube amps and Lee knee deep in software? Are you TRYING to bring the world as we know it to an end? ;-)
Im absolutly with you, nowadays amp simulation are really great and i use them for recording with headphones - but for playing i really like to use my amps, even for practicing it just feels different.
I used Guitar Rig 5 with an FCB 1010 midi foot controller and got some brilliant results. I switched to Helix Native after using a Helix LT for a few years but I'm very tempted to go back to this for that amazing price. It was so easy to create amazing sounds and then control multiple effects with a single midi command.
I think it’s the usual nothing is wrong nothing is right scenario, you buy what you like and you play what you like and that’s all that matters, if it’s acoustic or an electric or if it’s relic or as new or if it’s a valve amp or it’s plug ins or a custom shop £8000 guitar or a £150 guitar as long as you’re making the noise you like and enjoying YOURSELF nothing else matters. Everyone has and is entitled to their own opinions, just do your own thing and enjoy it thats the only reason any of us play in the first place just don’t bring other people down because you don’t like something not everyone likes what you like either we just don’t feel the need to put your rig or opinions down, if you don’t like something just don’t buy it 💁🏼♂️
Until a few years ago, Chris Buck was using Guitar Rig for all his videos. It sounded absolutely brilliant, so I bought it. Unfortunately, I’ve really had trouble getting it to work for me, but I’m no Chris Buck.😕
Hey David, I don’t use it, but just downloaded it after this video. I imagine the monitors and cabs used are very important to the overall tone and satisfaction.
For me, plugins or computer-guitar-amping was a great way to get into electric guitar! After 35+ playing strictly acoustic, I got my first electric... Just the guitar... no amps, no effects, no nothing else. I did not have any clue in what amps or effects do - really. Starting with the home hifi and my iPad was a great way to learn about all the different effects and amps there are. Now I settled - for now - to a Headrush Looperboard and two frfr108 speakers. I hear Lee say, it is not the same as a real tube amp - yep true but a tube amp does not sound as my guitar blasting in stereo through the frfr108's. The fun of electric guitars is that it gives you many options.
Most of us compare guitar sounds to what we hear on records/albums/songs. The nice thing about these softwares like Guitar Rig, Amplitube etc. Is at the end of the chain you can add studio grade effects like an 1176 compressor, a Neve Eq emulation, studio reverb etc. I use ToneX and Amplitube together and my patches are constructed like that, as you would hear them on a record.
I use guitar plugins such as Guitar Rig and Neural DSP plugins 99% of my time at home. I still live with my parents so dont have a lot of space in my room. The ability to have endless configurations of amps, pedals etc with very little storage space is what sold me on making the switch
I live in a flat and have recently picked up my guitar again. It's impossible to use an amp without annoying the neighbours so plug in have become a life safer. I can play though my headphones as loud as I want and also record into my pc to make music. Plus I don't need to spend a fortune on pedals. Only downside I've found is you need to invest time finding the sound.
For the price you really can't beat Guitar Rig 7. It is super fun to play around with and has some GREAT SOUNDS! The recording function is a little clunky IMO but at its price point and with how easy it is to get inspiring sounds to practice and write with it's fine.
I own a katana 100, and i also own guitar rig 7. I love them both equally. I like guitar rig bc I can just plug in my headphones and play. I also run my katana into gr7 with my pedal board and still have fun. Its very versatile. And just a great fun tool if you're a musician
Yeah I've been somewhat using guitar rig since GR3, but it's really only appealed as a way to practice in relative quiet. When I have the option of going through my AMP I just always will. It's certainly in part due to that in the room feel, but the models have always been missing something in the character of the sound.
Mr. Lee I was doing IN THE BOX back in 1997, I never really recorded amps but a few times. All my buddies did amps. Now all my buddies do in the box and maybe once in a while amps. This in the box has massively got better and depending on interface and timing when recording is still great. I use bother Helix and in the box 'guitar rigs' and let it be safe to say using midside controls etc you can come up with some exciting stuff. And yes I already own this. And with plugins you can add other plugins for reverb or other distortions not in that package.
that is what those rigs sound like through studio monitors...and honestly, I think Captain's playing sounds better than I've heard him on previous videos.
I've used GR since the first version with the original Rig Kontroller. Each update takes us to the next level. One of the simplest statements that you can make is that "Guitar Rig can be a replacement for the entire wall of amps and cabs under the Andertons signage." And, yes, you can gig with it - I've done it for years - just the Mac Book Pro, the Rig Kontrol 2, and the PA. Our bass player did use Bias FX 2 because he preferred the bass option there, but we were Instrument -> Mac Book Pro -> PA -> 2,000W of Crown goodness -> our Kustom PA speakers or the venue's Speakers. We could crowd the 5 of us onto even the smallest of venue corner stages.. @21:00 - I think you meant "subjective". Remember, you can connect your interface output to a 4x12 cabinet if that's what you have and want, while the Genelecs are great, you can't expect "crush your chest" sound out of a pair of Genelec 8s :). On the other hand, I don't need a power soak for GR like I do if I'm using my '59 Twin in a small venue (or my home studio). On the other side of it, you guys did hit the rabbit hole quite early, and THAT can be either a horrific time sink or a wonderful path to discovery. The good news is that you can discover your best sound for a situation and save it. Long live Guitar Rig!
I saw someone using Guitar Rig live, and it sounded so good, I asked him where the amp was because I couldn't see one. It sounds pretty good from where I'm sat. So, for recording, it seems like a no brainer. Live, I think it would be possible to setting it up to be plug and go. My fear would be option paralysis. I'm a bit simple. At $300 CDN, I'm tempted. 😮
Someone please blindfold Lee and set him up with a GuitarRig, NDSP ToneKing or UADs Unison Amps and one of those new Fender FRFRs and see what he feels. :)
The reason you don't have that real amp feeling in the room is the same as not being in front of your amp on stage or having a monitor on stage or only hearing yourself through in ears. If you want to do a " does this feel real " comparison, you should run the interface output to a power amp and then into a guitar speaker cab behind you or close to you. That's the only way that doesn't feel the same in the room critique holds any logic. For perspective of value and worth, this is the price of one decent stomp box. For the money the fun value and potential use value is unmatched.
There are some great amp sims out there. Still like and use guitar rig 5. Recently bought the tonex pedal and amplitude 5 great software and pedal not quite as user friendly as guitar rig imo though.
Amp modelers are not supposed to simulate the amp next to you in the room. They will only ever simulate the sound of a mic'd up amp... Players who are expecting it to "feel" like the amp pushing air right next to you through a large cab are missing the point by miles...
I really didn't like plugins until Guitar Rig 6 came out. Now I have the Neural plugins of John Petrucci, Rabea and the Tone King, along with Guitar Rig 6 Pro. When recording, you cant tell in the mix.
I know what you mean, fun experiment you can do with a boss gt, play through it normal through the direct outs, then do it through your daw but mute the direct out and monitor in the daw, it's literally the same sound but the change in response makes it suddenly way less fun, I never realised that even with good audio interface the OS adds an amount of overhead that even in the best cases makes it feel worse than a good dedicated unit.
I use Logic Pro which of course comes loaded with a plethora of plugins which I use with my guitars and synths...but it's always fun to use 3rd party offerings that differ from what your DAW has....i.e. Strymon, Cherry Audio, Eventide, Arturia, Soundtoys, Native Instruments, etc.... I really dig Blue Cat's Axiom or Amplitude.
I use a helix live and helix native as my main plugin, but this looks like it would be an excellent option for those who don't have helix hardware to get the discount on Helix Native. I really like the idea of the various filters/sorting options. That makes it much more friendly to beginners or those who just want a good sound and don't care to learn to make tones. It seems much easier than helix in that respect.
Very late to the party... but... Is ok if you own a large musical instrument store and can go and grab whatever amp and pedals off the shelf to suit what you want to play. But in the real world, most of us don't have access to a myriad of gear. But with something like Guitar Rig, we do. If I want to play something super clean with a classic fender amp sound I can. And follow it up with some great AC30 or Marshall sound for the next thing I play. I have all the pedals I need to play with without emptying my bank balance. It just opens up a world of tones and experiences when you haven't got access to a warehouse full of goodies.
I don't have any prejudice when it comes to what kind of rig I'm using- I simply want whatever sounds the best and is efficient and practical enough to use. I haven't been able to try a plug in yet because I have to upgrade my computer before I can- I'm out of memory and processing power already and I doubt I would ever even get it installed. Right now, I'm using the Headrush MX5- and after adding some York Audio IRs I am super impressed with it. I go the Headrush 1x12 cab with it as well- solid state, class D amp- it sounds pretty good. I think it would sound better using the 4-cable method and my old tube amp but- the tubes are shot right now. I think eventually someone will make a tube powered cab for modelers- it's not FRFR, but it sounds amazing. If you've ever heard a good modeler run through a tube power amp- it sounds great.
I first heard of Guitar Rig when Phil from Def Leppard mentioned how he used it for some demos and songwriting stuff. The last I read he runs with an Axe FX III live. I use a Helix.
It's not. In this video look up in the corner and their is a meter that shows you he is using up to 24% or higher CPU at times. Yes that is correct he is using a quarter of his entire CPU power to run one instance of this plugin that is IMO not even as good sounding as the free Brainworx Rockrack plugin. They have made this plugin this way for years and they never fix it.
I have had a very different experience using Guitar rig. I have used guitar rig for more than 7 years and found it to be quite efficient on CPU. I tend to use it on everything (guitar, drums, piano, strings, synths,vocals, masterbus, etc) because of its relative efficiency.
@@rorymccloskey2022 so did I with GR5. I assumed incorrectly that GR6 is the same. It's not. And as demonstrated here with GR7, his CPU meter reaches as high as 24 percent. Luckily I already bounced all the tracks I ever did with GR5 so now I can stop using Guitar Rig from now on, but I wish I could have my money back on it. I only use NI for their samplers now. And I prefer other Amp Sims anyway so...
Been using g rig for years. Keeps getting better with every version. You would spend millions to buy all the amps and effects in real hardware and you would need a bigger house. Lee should get native to put a victory amp.
me too but it's all over now. I had GR5. I assumed incorrectly that GR6 is the same. It's not. And as demonstrated here with GR7, his CPU meter reaches as high as 24 percent. Luckily I already bounced all the tracks I ever did with GR5 so now I can stop using Guitar Rig from now on, but I wish I could have my money back on it. I only use NI for their samplers now. And I prefer other Amp Sims anyway so...
@@ishmaeljohnson9481 G rig as a stand alone insert is very efficient but if you run it inside komplete kontrol it doesn't always behave. Also depends a lot on the computer, sound card, background apps and a hundred other things. It's a hella plugin with more things than anyone will ever use.
I perfectly know what Lee says. You could record a Soldano-like sound even with a violin. The point is you don't feel the same when you play it. A Squier strato may sound the same as an american one in a record, but does not play the same. If you have 20min to play the guitar, and you open a VST and start to play you feel like...ok I quit. If you plug your guitar in a real amp and you play, you will look a the clock, you realize that an hour has already passed. The feel is such important to have inspiration when playing.
Plugins are very impressive nowadays, I never used Guitar Rig but it sounds great in the vidéo ! I use a lot a Neural DSP and Blob Audio Fat Blob, they're all amazing for recording purposes. But for fun playing situations I prefer using my amps instead of beeing locked under my headphones, maybe I would change my mind with monitors but I'm still "amp team" 😂 Great vidéo by the way 😜
Guitar rig I must admit sounds bloody great, I've used it on and off for a while. It does admittedly take a bit of time to get used to, it's not for beginners I would say, and if your not comfortable with computers then it's going to be a lot to learn. It's fun though and it's as intuitive as it could be, it's a good time to play with
Feel sorry for Sam. The Cap's thoughts were unbearable to listen to. I'm all for tubes and vintage gear but I use the plugins and Katanas and all the modern stuff and it's great. Lee sounded and acted like the GuitarRig was the worse thing ever 😂
Couldn't you send the signal out to a powered cab Lee if you want the full volume/room experience. Using guitar rig with studio monitors is a very different use case to playing live through an amp. If you record your amp into a daw and play it back through the monitors it will be the same. The other main benefit and main intended use of plugins is in recording, every setting can be automated and tweaked after you have recorded your flat base. You can listen back to the same track with completely different sounds to fit a song better etc.
Please invite Mike Scuffham. I think with the right questions asked, he would be the most informative, no BS person you can talk to about modelling. Also probably the only plugin maker without any pushy agenda. Just humble and honest. Also his own story might be quite interesting.
Guitar Rig is quite ok, but for not much more you can get Line 6 Helix native, which is suoerior in the selection and modelling (but doesn't have the modulation capability)
Pays no attention to the clipping on VU meters, should run wet/dry setup with 2 amp & cab models using "split" feature for that "big" sound you're missing. 😉👍
Lee looked so out of his depth 😂. At 56 I would have probably been the same. Saying that, I imagine this software would help create some amazing rig setups to save and would be great fun in the process. The learning curve would be long for someone like me but worth it in the end.
I think we all prefer a real amp with big cab, but we can't use it every time because of family, neighboors... And we're not able to record it properly cause it's a job lol. For jamming, training etc i will use a little cheap combo or micro amp, but for recording, trying different gear, it's a great tool.
Lee in every plug in / modeller / amp sim video - but it doesn't sound like a guitar amp sitting behind me! Yes Lee, that's because it's NOT a guitar amp sitting behind you. It's not trying to be.
