Something worth mentioning is that both programs produced a
warm, focused and dynamically responsive sound. I was able to
adjust my tone by simply adjusting the volume knob on my guitar
– setting it full on for a great lead tone and then cleaning up for
chunky rhythm playing by rolling it down. Many tube fanatics look
for this dynamic capability in an amp, and it’s a thing of beautiful
simplicity to have these applications replicate that – no footpedals
to dance on or to get to from across the stage. Both Guitar Rig
2 and Ampli Tube 2 have impressive dynamic response, to such a
degree that it brought a smile to my face.
In the midst of testing all of these amp and cab variations, I happened upon a preset with an auto wah sound in Guitar Rig 2. It
was warm, sustained and would be great for a unique lead solo.
Both applications had something similar, but not quite the same.
The G2 wah preset followed the rhythm of the way I played each
defined sound is great for strumming of power chords. The resulting SSCrunch clips are different but both are very useable (figs
11-12). Another very popular sound with the metal crowd is the
so-called “dual rectifier” sound made popular by amps from Mesa
Boogie. These are ultra high-gain sounds with more mids than
the above-mentioned solid-state crunch sounds, and are dripping
with attitude. Check out the DualRecto clips (figs 13-14) and you’ll
see what I mean. Just for fun, I took my DualRecto preset from
Ampli Tube 2 and produced a variation called “DualRecto Rotary.”
It took all of 10 seconds to add the Leslie rotary effect to this preset and the sound was fantastic.
When all is said and done, both programs serve up a huge dose
of great amp and effects tones. How do these applications differ?
I observed that Guitar Rig 2 had a longer list of effects, some classic and quite unique called Modifiers. The Modifiers can con
Figure 9
Figure 11
Figure 10
note and the A2 version applied a wah that fluctuated at a predetermined tempo. With that tempo locked to your track, the sound
is cool and “in sync.” Both are very useable sounds. Check out
Auto Wah G2 and A2 (figs 9-10) and decide which you prefer.
For the modern rocker, I went in search of a solid-state metal/nu
metal amp sound – the type of high gain rhythm sound with
a tight, focused bottom-end that works well with drop tunings
and often has a “scooped” midrange. The tight bottom and well
Figure 12
trol various parameters in real time, yielding sounds that change
dramatically over time. An example would be a tremolo that starts
fast and then slows down, or delays that create an arpeggio. The
Modifier effect can follow the tempo of the internal metronome
or it can follow the master tempo of a song you are creating in
an application such as Pro Tools. The results can be quite wild.
There are also two included audio file players and a fun-to-use
Looping tool. Simply load a rhythm track into an audio file player
