If you have ever recorded live guitars before then you probably know it can be a struggle at times. The room, the microphone, microphone placement, the amp, the guitar, the guitarist, the pick all affect the overall sound.
In the home studio environment it is often easier to record a DI (direct input) as this mitigates a lot of the difficulties. For most people that would be plugging an electric guitar into an audio interface. It also allows greater flexibility as you can add an amp simulator to the sound later on and change the tone around a lot more.

An amp simulator is a virtual amplifier that you can run the dry guitar signal through. They often emulate popular amplifiers, cabinets and heads from Fender’s to Marshall’s. Here’s a list of what I consider to be some of the best options out there:
IK Multimedia Amplitube - This is the best one that I have used. It has a nice interface, it sounds great, and there are many, many emulations to chose from. They also have the exact model name and look so you know which exact amp you are modelling.
Native Instruments Guitar Rig - I used this amp sim for quite a while. The sound quality is pretty good but not as good as Amplitube. The amps are not the exact models and are approximations rather than licensed models. It is definitely a step up from stock amp simulators, but the sound quality or modelling wasn’t as good as Amplitube.
Logic Pro’s Amp Designer - As a starting point, honestly it is okay, but It’s not amazing. For best results, you should combine it with the pedalboard audio effect. You will also need to apply EQ and reverb to clean and then thicken out the sound. The sound quality isn’t amazing and it definitely suffers if you want heavier rock or metal sounds. You tend to end up with high gain but without the clarity.
Alternatively to using guitar amp simulators. You can use a sample library. I created a guitar sample pack of one-shots called Total Telecaster. Intended for producers who can’t play guitar but want a realistic sounding guitar. It requires a little more patience than using guitar loops, but you can drag and drop a bunch into a sampler to create your own guitar riffs!
You can find more information here and also download some free samples if you like.

Comments