Getting a good guitar sound

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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sfeucht
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:21 pm

Getting a good guitar sound

Post by sfeucht » Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:28 pm

Hi! I'm completely new to Live, and music production in general. I have a focusrite scarlett solo I'm using to record electric guitar in Ableton Lite right now, but I'm not super happy with how the guitar sounds at all just using the free amp simulators that are in Live. I've tried messing around with lots of different settings, but it all just kind of sounds really bad.

I saw a tutorial on youtube that recommended using the Ableton's Amp and Cabinet features. I definitely can't afford Suite, but would it be worth it to buy Standard and then separately buy the Amp/Cabinet software instrument on the website? With education discounts, that might be possible.

Or is it possible to get a nice guitar sound without having to pay so much for extra software instruments? Are there any third-party plugins that are popular for this, that would work with Ableton Lite? Thanks so much.

slow.robot
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:06 am

Re: Getting a good guitar sound

Post by slow.robot » Wed Apr 14, 2021 5:03 pm

sfeucht wrote:
Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:28 pm
Hi! I'm completely new to Live, and music production in general. I have a focusrite scarlett solo I'm using to record electric guitar in Ableton Lite right now, but I'm not super happy with how the guitar sounds at all just using the free amp simulators that are in Live. I've tried messing around with lots of different settings, but it all just kind of sounds really bad.

I saw a tutorial on youtube that recommended using the Ableton's Amp and Cabinet features. I definitely can't afford Suite, but would it be worth it to buy Standard and then separately buy the Amp/Cabinet software instrument on the website? With education discounts, that might be possible.

Or is it possible to get a nice guitar sound without having to pay so much for extra software instruments? Are there any third-party plugins that are popular for this, that would work with Ableton Lite? Thanks so much.
not sure what your budget is like, but there are plenty of decent affordable options for guitar amp sims. one option that won’t break the bank is Kuassa—highly regarded, and very affordable, especially if you have a favored tone you’re going for, and don’t need a ton of different amp models. they may have a sale going on right now, too (not totally sure). there are probably some good free options as well, if you don’t mind doing a little bit of digging.

the amp sims in Live Suite are okay, but not great, so I wouldn’t recommend that route.

I will caution you, stay away from Positive Grid plugins. they sound great when they work, and can seem like a good deal when they go on sale, but they’re buggy as all get out.

sfeucht
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2021 4:21 pm

Re: Getting a good guitar sound

Post by sfeucht » Wed Apr 14, 2021 6:48 pm

Oooh thank you so much! Looking into some of the Kuassa plugins right now, they're 50% off! Will definitely consider this. Probably gonna download the free trial and make sure I know how to use it before buying, but pretty high chance that this is what I'm going to go with. Thanks so much!!

Greenapples2019
Posts: 283
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 6:43 pm

Re: Getting a good guitar sound

Post by Greenapples2019 » Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:41 pm

You can get a few free amp sims in AmpliTube or Guitar Rig, or you can get 30 day trials at PluginAlliance. PA's sims are pretty good and there's lots of different amps available, so just using the free trials gives you months of recording for nothing, and they have sales quite often so you can pick a sim up pretty cheaply.

slow.robot
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:06 am

Re: Getting a good guitar sound

Post by slow.robot » Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:29 pm

I haven’t used Plugin Alliance’s amp sims, but that’s a good call. I bought the SSL-E a couple of months ago, and if that’s any indication, their stuff sounds excellent. normal price was like $250, but yeah, if you can wait for a sale there, I think most of their stuff can be had between $30 and $50.

I tried Amplitube, but hated the UI—ended up with Guitar Rig 6, which is fantastic, but pricey, by comparison (though you do get a LOT for the money).

that said, I have a number of Kuassa sims (mostly in Reason’s Rack Extension format), and they’re great. :)

[jur]
Site Admin
Posts: 5307
Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2015 3:04 pm
Location: Ableton

Re: Getting a good guitar sound

Post by [jur] » Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:41 am

Amplitube's Custom shop is great. No need to buy the full overloaded version.
Ableton Forum Moderator

zsazsa
Posts: 376
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:31 pm
Location: Deventer

Re: Getting a good guitar sound

Post by zsazsa » Thu Apr 15, 2021 3:01 pm

Free stuff:

Amplitube free:
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/i ... eesoftware

Guitar Rig:
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... -6-player/


Ignite amps has free stuff but the website isn't loading for me at the moment.

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