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10 Guitar Plugins That Ditch the Tubes

10 Guitar Plugins That Ditch the Tubes

From low-gain American tones to high-powered gain machines, this collection of plugins can cover nearly any tone you can dream of.

Thanks to modern technology, you can chase the sounds in your head with a rather minimal setup. Each of the 10 guitar plugins listed below offer unique features, a wealth of options, and—maybe most importantly—less chiro visits.

Neural DSP Archetype: Petrucci

As one of the company’s most comprehensive plugins, it features four amplifiers, a pre-effects section with a wah, compressor, and four stompboxes, and a post-effects section with rack-design stereo chorus, delay, and reverb.

$169 street

neuraldsp.com

Universal Audio Friedman Buxom Betty

This plugin aims for an exact representation of the original EL34-powered amp. It includes 100 recording chains, a host-syncable vintage delay unit, and preamp and power amp bypass.

$149 street

uaudio.com

STL Tones Tonality: Andy James

Developed from Andy James' signature guitar sounds, this plugin suite uses advanced modeling algorithms to provide real-time simulations of his amps. You can also employ an 808 emulation and James’ signature preamp pedal.

$119 street

stltones.com

Softube Amp Room

Softube's professional audio guitar and bass platform offers a wide range of precisely modeled amplifiers, cabs, pedals, studio effects, and more, as well as several IR Producer Packs.

$149 street

softube.com

Blue Cat Axiom

A fully customizable amp simulation based on Blue Cat's Destructor, this software has a flexible routing system with two parallel amp simulation channels, input and master sections, and more than 70 built-in effects.

$199 street

bluecataudio.com

Waves GTR3

This collection of amps comes with Fender, Marshall, Mesa/Boogie, and Vox plugin models, in addition to over 30 different cab simulations and 25 stompboxes, including distortion, delays, and modulation.

$129 street

waves.com

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 6 Pro

Here’s a setup that offers a range of classic vintage tones and modern high-gain sounds, and artist presets from Yvette Young, Vernon Reid, Pete Thorn, Zola Jesus, and Eric Krasno.

$199 street

native-instruments.com

IK Multimedia TONEX

TONEX is a standalone application that allows users to create, play, and share 400 of their own Tone Models of amps, cabinets, combos, and pedals. It comes with 40 amps and 20 pedals.

$149 street

ikmultimedia.com

Line 6 Metallurgy Collection

Using this collection of Metallurgy’s Modern, Thrash, and Doom plugins, you can select a variety of high-gain tones drawn from the company's HX line of amps and cabs.

$199 street

line6.com

Overloud TH-U Eric Gales Expansion Pack

One of the most astounding blues guitarists of his generation, Eric Gales, has collaborated with Overloud on this plugin that emulates his live rig. It includes three amps, three cabs, and 15 effects.

$59 street

overloud.com

Improved tracking and richness in tones. Stereo panning potential. 100 presets.

Can be hard to use intuitively. Expensive!

$645

Electro-Harmonic POG III

ehx.com

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EHX’s most powerful polyphonic octave generator yet offers guitarists, sound designers, and experimental musicians an endless maze of pitch-shifted effects to explore.

It’s been a very rainy, moody couple of weeks, which is to say, perfect weather for getting lost in the labyrinthine depths of the new Electro-Harmonix POG III polyphonic octave generator. The POG III is yet another evolution (mutation?) within EHX’s now rather expansive stable of octave effects. But to those who know the POG through its original incarnation, or one of several simpler subsequent variants, the POG III represents a pretty dramatic leap forward.

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Vox’s Valvenergy Tone Sculptor

Two new pedals from the Valvenergy series use a Nutube valve to generate unique dynamics and tone ranges that can be used to radical ends.

When tracking in a studio or DAW, you’re likely to use compression and EQ on most things. Many enduringly amazing and powerful records were made using little else. And though many musicians regard both effects as a bit unglamorous and utilitarian, EQs and comps are as capable of radical sounds as more overtly “weird” effects—particularly when they are used in tandem.

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Significantly smaller and lighter than original TAE. Easy to configure and operate. Great value. Streamlined control set.

Air Feel Level control takes the place of more surgical and realistic resonance controls. Seventy watts less power in onboard power amp. No Bluetooth connectivity with desktop app.

$699

Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander Core

boss.info

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Boss streamlines the size, features, and price of the already excellent Waza Tube Expander with little sacrifice in functionality.

Many of our younger selves would struggle to understand the urge—indeed, the need—to play quieter. My first real confrontation with this ever-more-present reality arrived when Covid came to town. For many months, I could only sneak into my studio space late at night to jam or review anything loud. Ultimately, the thing that made it possible to create and do my job in my little apartment was a reactive load box (in this case, a Universal Audio OX). I set up a Bassman head next to my desk and, with the help of the OX, did the work of a gear editor as well as recorded several very cathartic heavy jams, with the Bassman up to 10, that left my neighbors none the wiser.

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Darkglass Electronics unveils ANAGRAM, a flagship bass platform designed to redefine tone, flexibility, and performance. The pedal’s extraordinarily deep feature set includes multiple effects and modeling, an on-board looper and tuner.

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