Guitar Rig 2.0


PRICING: $499 street price

PROS: Amplifier and effects emulator software that includes a foot controller, with assignable expression pedal. Has a wide variety of effects, including tons of distorted sounds, excellent clean sounds. The system is very flexible, with many modulation possibilities. Built in slow-downer works great, as does tuner.

CONS: I couldn’t get a signal from the built-in sound card that wasn’t noisy. Re-assignable footswitches aren’t marked, so you have to remember what they are supposed to do.


REVIEW: I got Guitar Rig 2.0 to use in my home studio. Prior to making that decision, I had downloaded the 30-day trial from the Native Instruments website:

http://www.native-instruments.com/

I would encourage anyone to do this, even if you aren't looking for this kind of product. The download is free, and you will learn a thing or two just by trying it out. Guitar Rig includes simulations of several classic ampliers, with simulated cabinets, simulated cab mics, simulated distortion pedals, simulated everything. Basically, it simulates the entire inventory of a guitar store. You can have a lot of fun just trying the different distortion boxes, and the different amp heads and cabinets, etc. You can use it to answer the question “what do all these different amps sound like?”

The software also has some unique features, which allow you to split your signal and send it down several different chains of processing. So, you could send the highs to a Fender twin emulation with a chorus, and the lows to a Marshall emulation with a delay.
Or you could split the signal and delay one side to get a doubled effect. Or you could split it, and assign an LFO to rotate from one back to the other. I haven’t fully explored this feature, but the presets have some interesting applications of it.

The trial download has the complete software, but the full version comes with the software and a very sturdy pedalboard with six stomp switches and one expression pedal. The switches and expression pedal can be assigned to just about any knob. So, you could have the expression pedal turn the distortion up/down, or the volume, or the delay time, or the compression ratio, or whatever you like. This is very flexible.

I am not using the included audio interface. It was noisy when I tried it, and I didn’t want to go to the trouble to find out why. I already have an audio interface, so I really didn’t need that part. Native Instruments is marketing this as a stage tool, which explains the audio interface and the use of the super rugged footswitches. The software is stable enough to use for the stage. I think their idea is this and a laptop would be your rig. I don’t know how popular that idea will be, but I do like using it in the home studio very much.

SUMMARY: Overall, I like this product a lot. The software is very easy to use. It has encouraged me to play around with my sounds more than I have done in quite a while. There are so many different pieces to mix and match. I can’t vouch for all the amp emulations, but I love the Fender Twin emulator. It is the only one I have ever heard that sounded like a twin.

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Jon Broderick
Guitar Tricks Instructor

www.GuitarTricks.com - Home of Online Guitar Lessons

Any idea how this compares with say a PodXT Live Jon ?

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My instructors page and www.studiotrax.net for all things recording.
my toons Brought to you by Dr BadGAS

Do the simulators actually label the real name or are you left to decrypt what "lefty haze" means? That's been a frustration for me with other software. Instead of labeling it "Fender Twin" or "Marshall", it's always something like "stadium" or "Stones". Rather frustrating, but I can imagine it's hard to get approval from all those companies without having to pay some serious royalties.

I have been using Guitar rig for a year or so.
I upgraded GR1 to Gr2 6 months or so ago.

I don't use the outboard GR2 foot pedal or that soundcard, I still use the GR1 foot pedal just to switch things and for a wah/volume/parameters pedal.

I use an SB Audigy Platinum sound card and an external M-Audio firewire solo card. I get and get zero noise and 2ms latency with my sound cards.

I have recorded many tunes using Guitar Rig, it is the ultimate Guitar studiio tool. Not just for the amp tines but the multitude of effects are awesome too.
I have made everything from Camel belching noises to space ship sound effects using GR and my guitar.

The only real competitor to GR that I know of is Amplitube. A pod is not even close to having all the features and so I don't put them in the same category.

The only con I have is that Native Instruments is very lacking in customer service. Not that I need any service but people on the official GR2 forum always complain about NI.

Here's a link to the GR forum
Guitar Rig forum

Does this software facilitate re-amping? For example, you play a piece of lead DI to soundcard where the first pass is a clean signal (which can be recorded as such) and the second pass is effected (through the speakers). So, you can get you clean take and then manipulate the effects, distortions and amp settings etc in real time? I know you can do this on the GT-Pro but I havent been able to get it working yet... reamping was the reason I got it in the first place.

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Listen to Superhuman shred on MP3Unsigned

You do that in your recording program. GR can be used as a VST plug-in and a couple other plug-in formats also. You record dry in your software and then apply GR as a VST or what ever plug-in as an effect.

I don't record that way, I record the exact sound I want as if I was doing it in a studio, but lots of people do record dry and apply Gr as an effect.

I have used GR as a VST effect for stuff other than guitar. It has a zillion effects that don't have to be used for just guitar.

They don't use the real names. I think that is a legal/copyright issue, and so it probably will be the same for all simulator software. In this case the fender twin is called a twanger. However, the GR2 interface has a picture of the amp with all it's controls, and that picture looks like the familiar amp head, so that should help you figure out what is what.

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Jon Broderick
Guitar Tricks Instructor

www.GuitarTricks.com - Home of Online Guitar Lessons