So far, the best plug in have heard is Native Instruments Guitar Rig. And once I added a decent pre-amp to plug my guitar into prior to using the plugin, the sound got all the more better.

Amplitube is decent also, and yes, you can record them and get pretty realistic results. I know people are going to say it's impossible, and yes, they are not perfect, but you can get a tone that is worthy of recording into a final mix.

Have you looked at the Line 6 Pod line? I know they are outboard, but I really love the results of mine.

Yes, Guitar Rig is quite nice and you can get all kind of useable tones out of it; however, all of these products are best used for textural supporting guitar parts rather than prominent foreground work. There's something that's not quite right with the attacks and releases.

Thumbs up on NI's Guitar Rig. change mirophones, placement, amp, all inside the plug-in. Great emulator.

Juan

Sorry, my opinon but software guitar models sound like.... welll complete ass.

At bare minimum, I would at least track with one real guitar, whether it is thru the desk or mic'd- then for color, maybe add a emulaotr.

You can get great sounds using Guitar Rig. It compares favourably to other emulators and compares favourably to real amps with mics. I wouldn't say the same for my Pod.

cheers,
Greg

Although it has an ugly interface and only two amps (fender twin and marshall jcm900) the free simulanalog guitar suite sounds astonishingly good. http://www.simulanalog.org/guitarsuite.htm

Of course Guitar Rig is a different level, and is probably the best modeler currently available. The POD XT is ok as well.

guitar rig is the best IMO
amplitube just sounds fake IMO
guitarrig is especially great for the effects in it. you can use them over other instruments, such as 'the rotator' over an organ track.
it does have some cool vocal presets too.
it's much more value for your money than the other software-emulators

I have got to agree with heyman. Buy a Shure 57 or a Sennheiser 421 and record real tone, not some generic model of one that suddenly sounds the same as everyone else. A guitarist spends years and a pile of money gettin their sound and the engineer says "don't bring your amp, we will just run it it through the computer""?? I get a lot of work because of "engineers" like that.

Software modelling for guitars

A friend of mine gets some pretty impressive results with a pod pro XT. Keep in mind that he has several good guitars which is a nice place to start from. Gibson Les Paul, 60s Fender strat, etc,... The SRV models are pretty good. I have used Amplitube. I think it may be overpriced for what you get. I prefer using it on Bass.

Best of luck! :wink:

I agree that NI's Guitar Rig is better (i.e., less fake) than Amplitube, but Nomad's ROCK-AMP LEGENDS can create some fairly realistic Marshall tones. I have found that when using Guitar Rig, Amplitube, Rock-Amp Legends, or other modelers, I can tell a difference in the results depending on the software application I have them plugged into. That is, I like Guitar Rig and Rock-Amp better with Sonar 3 or 4, but not as well with Samplitude. Maybe it is ear fatigue... for one is endlessly tweaking the controls to try and get a decent sound with the modelers and for me, ear fatigue sets in quickly. My bottom line is that they are all fun toys, but for any serious sound... get the real thing.
SG

NI Guitar Rig is the cat's pyjamas as far as amp sims are concerned. Setup correctly and with your own settings or even edited presets this thing rocks.

I totally disagree with some of the above comments that suggested it can't be taken seriously or that it's a mere toy. Sure Guitar Rig or any other amp sim or amp aren't going to make you a better guitar player but IMHO seriously pro results can be had with this plug if you're careful enough and take the time to setup it up for a tone that not only suits your playing but also your guitar. After all different guitars and players and even amps sound different and I don't think Guitar Rig was meant to be a preset solution for all those that are too lazy to modify presets or create their own patches.

Listen to Dead Soul Tribe´s "A Murder of Crows" to listen to real great results with guitar rig!