Waves GTR

[Stig Eliassen]

Let us know how you like it? once you've used it!! I have Amp farm and Sansamp and like them both. i stll have trouble getting guitarists to use them! but always take a D.I. feed just incase and often end up using this to feed a plugin in the mix! shuuush don't tell the guitar player

Sure. I can do that. I have asked a few of my guitarist friends to help me test GTR when I get it. It's gonna be a battle since they all use "real" hardware.



Jeremy, I love the guitar-out-of-the-mains trick. Never thought of trying that. Thanks.

[Stig Eliassen]

I promised to report back about GTR once I got it. I've used it a lot and I love it. I'll be back with a more specific post, but for now I'll report about a problem.

When using the 2stomp Buzz/Delay configuration I get a loud burst from that track if I:

1) De-activate/re-activate any track
2) Drag any track to a different position
3) Assign/change inputs/outputs for any track
4) Option-drag a send to copy it
5) Make new tracks

This happens approx. 9 out of 10 times. I've reported this to Waves Tech Support.

Anyone else seen this?

[PhilBuckle]

I was very cynical about GTR when I first saw the demo video. The whole thing sounded so dated to me. Not very cutting edge. No disrespect to the fine guitar player.
So I downloaded the demo and gave it a fly. I liked it very much and bought it.
I don't think it's the be all and end all but it's a fine plug to have in your collection. I've completed tracks where I still need Amp Farm, Amplitude and Guitar Rig 2 but GTR has its place.
I usually track elec guit through an Avalon M5 into the 192 and I can't hear any difference by using the Waves DI...........which says something good about the quality of the DI.

[bashville]

http://www.demeteramps.com/

look under speaker cabinets, and click on "silent speaker". I have one of these with the two mic option. Mic it up properly, and send a little of it through Revibe on a small room setting. You have to maybe raise your voice a little to talk over it, but it's definitely workable in my apartment setting. Not really louder than your stereo playing.

If you need quick and dirty, OK, AmpFarm. I haven't heard GTR; I wasn't bowled over by the ChromeTone when I tried the demo. For anybody who really loves distortion, the plugs are always a little disappointing.

Anyway, Phil, you said you've got an AC-30 laying around. For people who have a couple amps to play with already, I think you'd find it rewarding to try some of these enclosed speaker solutions. I think Randall also makes one.

You can always split the signal and record a direct channel to play with later with your plugs. Or re-amp!

Happy tone-hunting--

[PhilBuckle]

Thanks for the link but I think the issue of guit sounds is more about choice than one particularly "good" sounding amp. I need a bunch of different sounds. Some are quite nasty sounds and some are sounds that I don't particularly like on their own but they serve the track.
I'm not usually in the situation where I have to track a band. A situation where a guitar player may have been working on his ultimate tone for years and wants to have it recorded. More often than not that sound won't suit the track. Or there will have to be a compromise to placate the guitar player.
I have had situations where a player will bring his entire rig in and tell me how great it sounds live only to discover that it doesn't really suit the track or that in actual fact when you sit back from it and listen to it in context it's actually a pile of doo doo.

My Vox AC30 can sound great but only suits certain parts and not others.
In a situation where a band's sound is determined by the guitar player's tone then of course I'll have to make it work.
But 99% of the time it's about experimenting and finding the right feeling for the track.
So I don't believe that there is a killer guitar tone that will work in every situation.
It comes down to the track.
What initially turned me off the GTR video was that I could never find a place for any of those tones used in the demo. Not in the styles that I work in anyway.
But of course I discovered that GTR can do a lot more than that.
The only plug that doesn't work on guitar for me is Chrometone. I'm still trying to find a place for that.
On BV's no problem.
All these tools are so great and useful in some way.
It's a sonic playground.

[newburysound]

A new Waves thread! I just want everybody to know that this time, I'm not going to bring up you know what.

Back on topic, there's already been a lot written about this plug-in. Do some searching.

Also, be sure to keep in mind that when discussing any amp simulation plug-in, people have an absolutely enormous spectrum of different tastes because there's such a huge variety of opinions regarding what constitutes a good amplified guitar sound. Are you talking Korn? Are you talking George Benson? It makes a big difference. If you're not on the same stylistic page as the folks posting comments, the opinions are quite meaningless.

It would help if people responding to threads like this elaborated on the style(s) of music they're involved in.

Lee Blaske

Amen to that! NI Guitar Rig and Waves GTR seem targeted to two very different playing styles. IMHO, I've used Guitar Rig 2 and am not very impressed with its lack of dimension, when compared to my Marshall JCM 2000 half-stack, for down-and-dirty, balls-to-the-wall tracking. I can see using Guitar Rig for lower-prominent gritty-textured tracks, but not for brick ****house requirements. On the other hand, though I don't own it, I can see implementing the Waves GTR system for civilized, finesse-styled guitar tracking needs. Besides you get what's supposed to be an excellent guitar DI in the bargain and can attest to the difference a high-end DI can make.

AND...as long as I'm here, I think this rant against WUP is misguided, given that it does offer some software perk in the bargain along with continued upgradeability and support. Try maintaining a two-inch maintenance hog multitrack or muti-channel console like we used to do for years. Premium-priced, proprietary, short-lived, chintzy little who-zee-whats-it replacement parts were the rule, not the exception and there's no comparison-shopping allowed. You just had to bend over and take it like a yearly "digital" prostate exam...you little whipper-snappers! Fact is, studio maintenance costs have dramatically fallen since the inception of the all-digital environment and makes the cost of WUP seem like chump change!