From Brainworx! Introduction to The Amp Simulator that Shows The True Dedication of The Craftsmen

Hello everyone! I'm Kito, a guitar instructor in Nagoya.

Recently, I've been recording a lot by connecting an interface to my Eleven Rack (because I can play with no latency), but it's been a bit out of order and I've been getting noise. I'm in the middle of a dilemma: “Should I send it in for repair... or should I buy a new one...?”

I think that this is a common problem for people who record electric guitars and electric basses on a DAW, but don't you find that the amp simulator that comes pre-installed on the DAW is difficult to use or doesn't suit you?

For some reason, the “character” of the amp is expressed in a different way, or it has a slightly digital feel...For those of you who feel this way, I'd like to introduce you to the amp simulators from Plugin Alliance, which are named after the authentic original amp manufacturers.

I use Friedman and FUCHS products on a regular basis, so I think I can talk about them in quite a specific way. I'm also happy to see that all of these products are very reasonably priced, at just under 5,000 yen.
(As of March 2023)

1. Plugin Alliance / Friedman BE-100

First, let's introduce the amplifiers we use on a daily basis. I will introduce the BE-100, the original of the BE-OD, a distortion effect pedal that is quite famous and standard in the guitar players.

If you use BE-OD, you probably don't need an explanation. It is a very pleasant gem with a rock distortion sound that is very much like Friedman, who is known as a major brand of modified Marshall series.

My impression after using it was that the distortion quality was very good overall, from the crunchy distortion of SRV to the deep, gritty distortion. I'm not very good at metal-style distortion, but I'm grateful that the noise gate included with it takes care of the distortion even when you create extreme distortion...!

This is true of all the amp simulators from Plugin Alliance (manufactured by Brainworx), but what's great is that there are so many cabinets to choose from. The sounds of cabinets recorded with expensive microphones such as the ribbon microphone and U87, and captured through a Neve mixing console, are all distinctive.

Even though it's just one amp, you can make it sound rougher by choosing the cabinet. For example, you can search for your favorite cabinet. You can choose not only Friedman cabinets, but also ORANGE and ENGLAND (probably Marshall) cabinets, and you're sure to find the perfect one for the time and occasion from over 100 items.

2. Plugin Alliance / Fuchs Train II

My personal favorite. Some of you may have heard of the company's Overdrive Supreme. Compared to the Overdrive Supreme, the gain range is wider, and it also excels at producing a more energetic but delicate sound that is characteristic of FUCHS.

Although not quite as extensive as Friedman's, the cabinet still has a good selection of over 80 types.
When I tried playing it, I found that the single-coil front pickup in particular produced a beautiful overtone, which made it very pleasant to play.

In addition, all of the amp simulators in the Plugin Alliance lineup come with a delay, so you can also make the sound dirty, like an analog delay.

3. Plugin Alliance / Diezel VH4

The VH4 from Diezel is a very famous high-gain amp. It has four channels that can be used fully, from clean to modern high-gain.

I was also surprised by how surprisingly clear the clean sound was. It seemed to have a different flavor to the clean sound of FUCHS.

As a side note, I once tried out a Diezel amp at a music store. I remember that it had a surprisingly high-fidelity clean tone. However, I was young at the time, so I was acting all weird and saying things like “I have to play it with a Fender to understand it!”, which I don't really understand myself now.

The distortion is of a quality that is truly impressive, and I would like people who are familiar with metal to give it a listen. To put it simply, it has a heavy sound that is reminiscent of Metallica.

Like the products mentioned above, it has a large number of cabinet IRs, and the VH4 has a choice of about 120 cabinets.

Also, I've never actually tried this, but I think that if you connect a MIDI switcher or something like that to the interface, you could assign the VH4 channels to MIDI and control them on the spot.

In this article, I have talked about three amp simulators sold by Plugin Alliance!

It's hard to say which is better, the modified Marshall-type Friedman, the modern high-gain Diezel

The Plugin Alliance also has a wide range of other useful plugins, so please check them out. Thank you for reading this far.

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