Articles

Free guitar plugins

Introduction
Amplifiers
Effects
Cabinets & impulse response processors
Tuners
Links

Introduction

Plugins are software extensions and in this case we are talking about audio plugins for music production software (DAW, Digital Audio Workstation). They are dynamic link library (.dll) files and all it takes to use them is to tell your DAW software where to find them. Default location is C:\Program Files\VstPlugins and it's not a bad idea to keep your plugins right there.

Here's a quick how to scan new plugs in three popular DAWs:

Reaper: Options > Preferences > Plug-ins > VST > VST plug-in paths > Add > select plugins location > Re-scan or reset Reaper.

Cubase: Devices > Plug-in Information > VST PlugIns > VST 2.x Plug-in Paths > Add > select plugins location > OK > Update Plug-in Information

Sonar: Utilities > Cakewalk Plug-in Manager > VST Configuration > Options > Add... > select plugins location > OK > Scan VST Plug-ins

AMPLIFIERS

There are plenty free amp sims to choose from, they all sound different and have unique quality. Some are simple, other offer different channels and additional switches for more tonal versatility. Since cab simulation has become a more complex matter, most amp sims don't have this functionality and if they do it can be turned off so that you can experiment in this field.

GUI versions are usually made with SynthEdit (www.synthedit.com), if you have some issues with them then try out original versions.

TSE Plugins X30 high-gain guitar amp

Lots of gain and clarity, additional contour switch and transformer simulation that adds soft compression. Based on a well known german gear (ENGL E530). No cabinet.

Nick Crow 8505 Lead

Nick Crow hi-gain amps are popular, they work well witch boosters and external cabinet simulations.

Nick Crow 7170 Lead

Nick Crow Wagner MKII Sharp GUI

Nick Crow Wagner Sharp 0.6

Classic Nick Crow amp. What's interesting about it beside quality control is the semi-parametric middle eq. Low and high cut help to eliminate mud and fuzziness.

Nick Crow Simple Guitar Combo GUI

It's in fact a simple, interesting combo with lots of gain and a cabinet (no bypass).

Ignite Amps NRR1

NRR1 is a digital model of an actual tube amp built by Ignite Amps. Oversampling control, no cab.

Ignite Amps The Anvil

The Anvil is a digital model of an actual guitar tube preamp built by Andy Zeugs. Oversampling control, no cab.

NDZEIT Dirthead

ENGL simulation, 3 channels, switchable cab, cool compressed and tight drive sounds with voicing control.

NDZEIT TubeBaby

Versatile amp with four different cabs (bypass is possible also), three different preamps and more. Pleasant vibes.

BTE Audio Juicy77

Quite versatile high-gain amp sim with resonance control and cabinet simulator that can be bypassed. It's not that hot, so if your audio interface has a fixed input you'll probably want to boost your signal before Juicy77.

BTE Audio Juicy77 GUI

GUI version by Requietus.

Poulin LeXTAC

Inspired by Californian boutique amplifier. Great tonal versatility and quality.

Poulin Legion

Original LePou hi-gain amp. Two channels, two modes per channel (rhytm & lead), two tonestacks. Tight and sharp sound. The goal was to design an amp that wouldn't need a booster before it. No cab.

Poulin Le456

Hi-gain sim based on german gear (ENGL Powerball). Two channels, lots of switches, good quality tones.

Poulin HyBrit

Brit sounding hybrid from LePou plugins which comes in three versions: preamp, head, fullstack with two IR slots w/delay, hpf, lpf, balance controls.

Poulin LeCto

MESA Dual Rectifier simulation with two channels and three modes per channel. Ovesampling control, no cab.

Poulin SoloC

Three channel hi-gain guitar preamp. Clean, crunch, overdrive. Bright, quality and boost switches.No cab and power amp simulation.

Simulanalog Marshall JCM900 GUI

This one is a classic. It's a simulation of Marshall JCM900 with speaker cabinet that cannot be disengaged. Part of Simulanalog Guitar Suite. GUI by Requietus.

Original version - Simulanalog website.

Simulanalog Fender Twin GUI

GUI by Requietus.

Part of Simulanalog Guitar Suite.

Original version without GUI - Simulanalog website.

Smart Electronix Saro GUI

GUI by Requietus.

Original version without GUI - Smart Electronix website."

IK Multimedia Amplitube 3

Free version of a great sounding guitar plug-in. There's little to choose from, but the quality is impressive. There's a possibilty to upgrade witch specific amps, effects, cabs and microphones via Custom Shop application.

Kuassa Amplification Lite

Simple, quite versatile with cab simulation and impulse response loader.

Destructavator ScorchCrafter C120

Aradaz Amp 2 Green

Aradaz Amp 2 White

Aradaz Crunch

Very cool crunch tone - dynamic, bright and fresh. Optional cabinet simulation.

MOKAFIX NoAmp

Digital model of famous SansAmp GT-2 guitar amp simulator. Oversampling up to 4x, cab cannot be disengaged. 27 combinations plus drive, level, high and low controls. CPU friendly.

MOKAFIX Metal Clone

It looks like a BOSS Metal Zone MT-2 clone with speaker simulation. Oversampling control up to 4x, cab cannot be disengaged. CPU friendly.

Audiffex AmpLion

Decent quality MESA Dual Rectifier simulation. Channels: red vintage, red normal, orange modern, orange clean, orange normal. Rectifier is switchable between tube and semiconductor. Dual cabinet with panning control and freely adjustable microphone positions, angles and distances. Noise gate, reverb and quality control.

Ronald Passion RevolutionZ

4 channels, IR loader, quality control, voicing, shaping, semi-parametric middle eq... Lots to mess around.

Ronald Passion ReChrome

Ronald Passion ReGolD

Ronald Passion Bass Preamp

Studio Devil British Valve Custom

Very simple british head simulation with exceptional tone and dynamics. Speaker cabinet cannot be disengaged.

AcmeBarGig Preampus Metal C-15

Here starts AcmeBarGig head series. Pretty useful and original sounding stuff, bring your own cabinets.

AcmeBarGig Preampus Metal Razor

AcmeBarGig Metal Series 60

AcmeBarGig MeatHead

AcmeBarGig DickHead

AcmeBarGig TamlaHead

AcmeBarGig PeckerHead

AcmeBarGig KnuckleHead

Original plugin with six different heads, numerous additional features including awesome ambience simulation.

Here starts a series of Auraplug's free distortion units with cabs. They look like stomboxes, but offer full functionality. They are very CPU friendly.

Auraplug EddieVsHeaven EddieVsHeaven, Eddie Van Halen tones. Cab included (no bypass).	Auraplug California Sun Simple guitar combo, cab sim cannot be bypassed. Two channels, nice lows. CPU friendly. Cab included (no bypass).
Auraplug Whamdrive Modern hi-gain preamp and Digitech Whammy simulation in one plugin. It sounds not too bad, whammy can be automated. Cab included (no bypass).	Auraplug RedSkull Distortion Scooped mids, tight and pleasant high end, this is a must try it out for metalheads. Cab included (no bypass).
Auraplug FuzzStone Vintage fuzz sound, classic. Cab included.	Auraplug FuzzStone Germanium More drive. Cab included.

Following plugins are virtual versions of real gear - Heptode Crunch and Heavy Tone analog preamps which reacreate the sounds of 80's tube preamps (based on Soldano SLO-100). Both plugins offer optional cab simulation.

Heptode Heavy Tone	Heptode Deep Crunch
Fretted Synth FreeAmp 3	Cortex Stack GUI GUI by Requietus. Designed by Matthias Becker. Original dlls without GUI can be found here.

Effects

There's much more than just an amp that can be used to achieve an interesting guitar tone, however there aren't many free effect simulations other than distortions, overdrives and boosters that I've come across.

In reality most hi-gain tube amps have definite roundness in sounds that they produce, this is no different in digital world. Semiconductor overdrive/booster adds clarity and sharpness to tube tone. It's very popular within heavy players.

Ibanez Tube Screamer is a well known amp booster. It boosts middle frequencies, pushes the amp harder and gives some cutting edge. Not everyone likes to have it for rhytms because it tends to make them sound razor sharp, however it helps your lead parts to cut beatifully through the mix.

TSE Plugins TS808 High quality screamer with oversampling control and DIY tweaking capabilities.	Ignite Amps TS-999 TS-999 is based on famous 808 model but it has some additional features that make it more versatile.
BTE Audio TS' Secret	BTE Audio TS' Secret GUI
Simulanalog TS808 GUI	Simulanalog DS-1 GUI
Simulanalog SD-1 GUI	Smart Electronix MXR-90 Phase GUI
AudioDamage FuzzPlus 2	Distorque PlusDistortion
Simulanalog Univibe GUI	Simulanalog Oberheim GUI
GreenPreXpression GUI Gate/wah designed by Wurr Audio Engineering.	AcmeBarGig Red Shift IR based guitar pickup replacing plugin. Lots of popular pickups and additional guitar material simulation.

Cabinets & Impulse Response Processors

Nowadays it's very popular to use impulse responses to recreate guitar cabinet and microphone setup sounds. Impulse responses are audio files that you load to adequate plugins. There are lots of free impulses to choose, the topic is covered in another article - check out an article on free impulse responses.

Poulin LeCab2 6 IR slots, HP & LP filters, phase, pan, delay and latency control down to 64 samples.	Plektron IRcab It appears to be a zero latency plugin. It's simple and allows one IR.
Voxengo Boogex Boogex is an amp sim with an IR based cab sim which accepts external impulse files. To bypass the amp set all knobs to minimum except for volume.	Vladimir Titov Mercuriall 2 Original cab sim with 5 mic positions. Realistic and natural sound.
Aradaz Our Cabinet Simulator 8 internal impulses, 2 cabinets, phase, delay control for both cabs, overall balance control. There's no possibility to load external impulses, however this cab sim can do a lot.	Two Notes TORPEDO PI-FREE One mic, one cab, power amp section and rich post processing.