# Best Guitar Libraries?



## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

*Please let me know your top 3 Guitar VI companies* in the poll (you can change your selection at any time). Also in the comments, any companies missed.

*I would really appreciate it if you could tell me any specific modals you like.*

With the Orange Tree Samples group buy I am thinking about whether that is a good option for guitar libraries. I have the ones that come with Komplete 13 UCE, but I am looking to see what option options are in the marketplace.

The ones we have so far are:

Native Instruments
Orange Tree Samples
Amplesound
MusicLab
Impact Soundworks
Indiginus
Pettinhouse
Ujam
Solemn Tones
8Dio
Audiofier - Riffendium
Musical Sampling - PLCK
Ilya Efimov
Acoustic Samples
Dream Audio Tools
VSL
Sketch Samples
Prominy
Vir2
heavier7strings
Applied Acoustic Systems: GS-2
SoundProps
Valiant Samples
From watching demos my preference is either Amplesound or MusicLab guitars. I would be looking to get 1 electric, 1 steel string acoustic and 1 classical, but in the case of Orange Tree Samples I would be tempted to go for a bundle at the 60% discount price if it gets to that level before the end.

If you have guitar sample libraries, I would be interested in what ones you have and your thoughts on it.


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## mscp (Jun 27, 2021)

They are all great. ISW and Orange Tree Samples do have a special place in my heart though.


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## rrichard63 (Jun 27, 2021)

Should you add Indiginus to your poll? I think Pettinhouse might also get a handful of votes.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

rrichard63 said:


> Should you add Indiginus to your poll? I think Pettinhouse might also get a handful of votes.


Thank you, I have updated it


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## dzilizzi (Jun 27, 2021)

I really like the UJam guitars. However, I don't know if they fit in this group because they are rhythm guitar only. No solo capabilities. 

AAS's GS-2 is also a good rhythm guitar VI. Not as easy to use as UJam, but sounds good.


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## KEM (Jun 27, 2021)

Solemn Tones Odin 2 is the best metal guitar library


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

dzilizzi said:


> I really like the UJam guitars. However, I don't know if they fit in this group because they are rhythm guitar only. No solo capabilities.
> 
> AAS's GS-2 is also a good rhythm guitar VI. Not as easy to use as UJam, but sounds good.


I actually have a couple of Ujam guitars, but forgot to add them


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## doctoremmet (Jun 27, 2021)

And here’sssss Johnny. Don’t sleep on 8Dio’s Guitalele. /fanboy mode


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

KEM said:


> Solemn Tones Odin 2 is the best metal guitar library


Thanks KEM, I have added Solemn Tones to the list


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

doctoremmet said:


> And here’sssss Johnny. Don’t sleep on 8Dio’s Guitalele. /fanboy mode


I was tempted to pick up an 8Dio guitar, but for whatever reason didn't do it in the end.


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## Consona (Jun 27, 2021)

I don't know why OTS never sample tremolo picking. I have Shreddage 3 Serpent from IS and it does everything I need. But I'll buy some another Shreddage so I have more tone variety.


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## kgdrum (Jun 27, 2021)

This is more than a bit left field as they’re not “playable” as a guitar vi in the traditional sense but I love the Riffendium Series and I wish Audiofier would expand the series.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

kgdrum said:


> This is more than a bit left field as they’re not “playable” as a guitar vi in the traditional sense but I love the Riffendium Series and I wish Audiofier would expand the series.


I have added Audiofier - Riffendium to the list. Whilst I am mainly looking for playable Guitar VIs, I am pretty open to most options.


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## kgdrum (Jun 27, 2021)

@Markrs
So the poll only gives a person 1 choice? IMO guitar VI’s
I use or choose are song dependent & always changing.
If there was a way for people to rate their top 3 choices I think you’ll get a better representation of what people like and are actually using.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

kgdrum said:


> @Markrs
> So the poll only gives a person 1 choice? IMO guitar VI’s
> I use or choose are song dependent & always changing.
> If there was a way for people to rate their top 3 choices I think you’ll get a better representation of what people like and are actually using.


Good idea, I have increased the number you can choose to 3


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## d4vec4rter (Jun 27, 2021)

Amplesound have a great feature-set with their Strummer, Riffer and Tab Import. They sound good too. OTS have some of the most authentic sounding guitars I've ever heard. Absolutely fantastic for solos and more complex arrangements. Sadly, their strum engine is the worst I've ever come across. It's far too unintuitive and faffy. I've never had much success with it at all.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

d4vec4rter said:


> Amplesound have a great feature-set with their Strummer, Riffer and Tab Import. They sound good too. OTS have some of the most authentic sounding guitars I've ever heard. Absolutely fantastic for solos and more complex arrangements. Sadly, their strum engine is the worst I've ever come across. It's far too unintuitive and faffy. I've never had much success with it at all.


OTS Group Buy ticks my natural bargain hunting desire, especially the Bundles, but I'm not sure about the interface after watching some walkthroughs. I prefer the layout of the Amplesound libraries. Great to hear that you find OTS the most realistic and it is for solos that I am most interested in the guitar, though I would like it to be able to offer great rhythmic strumming as well.


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## Trash Panda (Jun 27, 2021)

I haven’t tried ISW or OTS because AmpleSound Guitars just gets the job done for me. I suppose if I run into something they can’t do, I’d just plug my guitar in and play it myself.


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## Mike Fox (Jun 27, 2021)

Not a dedicated guitar library, but PLCK from Musical Sampling has an amazing acoustic guitar in it.


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## musicalweather (Jun 27, 2021)

Where is Ilya Efimov? Gorgeous tone.


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## rrichard63 (Jun 27, 2021)

Since a number of choices have been added to poll, it's worth mentioning that you can change your vote at any time.


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## AMBi (Jun 27, 2021)

Amplesound for acoustic and ISW for electric is the best combo to me.

Pretty impressed by the Native Instruments melody based guitars at the moment too. Tempted by the current OTS sale but Songwriter didn't click with me as much as I'd hoped so a bit hesitant.

Ilya Efimov would be a good addition to the poll too since they've sounded great from the demos I've heard


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

Mike Fox said:


> Not a dedicated guitar library, but PLCK from Musical Sampling has an amazing acoustic guitar in it.


Added


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

musicalweather said:


> Where is Ilya Efimov? Gorgeous tone.


Added


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

Wow, there are many more Guitar VI libraries and companies than I thought, which is great, really helps to see all the choice out there.


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## Frederick (Jun 27, 2021)

I'm missing Acoustic Samples in the list (UVI bundle). I'm using those as well as OTS and Amplesound.

I also have the usual NI guitars and a few 8Dio guitars, but I haven't really tried any of those.


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## Sarah Mancuso (Jun 27, 2021)

Impact Soundworks and Orange Tree are the best ones out there, they both have extremely flexible engines that allow your programming to be detailed enough for realism.

Every time I use an Ample Sound guitar, I love the sound of it but I wish I could be using it in the Shreddage or Evolution engine instead. And then I usually give up and swap it out for one of those, because it just never wants to cooperate.


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## d4vec4rter (Jun 27, 2021)

Markrs said:


> OTS Group Buy ticks my natural bargain hunting desire, especially the Bundles, but I'm not sure about the interface after watching some walkthroughs. I prefer the layout of the Amplesound libraries. Great to hear that you find OTS the most realistic and it is for solos that I am most interested in the guitar, though I would like it to be able to offer great rhythmic strumming as well.


I don’t think you’ll beat OTS for solo based work. Put the time and effort into keyswitching and cc and the realism is awesome. The award for the most realistic strumming goes to Musiclab in my opinion. The humanisation config is very good. I have, however, layered this with Amplesound to get some pretty good results.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

Thanks to Luca (@lux) from Dream Audio Tools for making me aware of his guitar library as well


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## el-bo (Jun 27, 2021)

Are you specifically talking about electric guitars?

Also, in case you don't know, ISW offer a really great freebie of their Strat library. From what I remember the only limit is it won't sound anything above the 12th fret.


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## sumskilz (Jun 27, 2021)

To me, the Native Instruments guitars are the most realistic for what they do well, which is strumming and picking patterns. That's because they are samples of actual performances chopped up. For example, the strums are actual samples of strums performed in a particular sequence, rather than picked single notes arranged to emulate a strum. For this same reason, they are limited. You can change the chords easy enough, but you're stuck with the patterns. To some extent, you can chop them apart to form new patterns, but again this is limited.

For mostly single note stuff, I prefer Impact Soundworks followed by Amplesound and Orange Tree Samples. My problem with all these VIs though, is that they only sound believable to me when they're playing a simple part, but if the part is simple, I can just pick up my guitar and play it, despite not being much of a guitar player.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

el-bo said:


> Are you specifically talking about electric guitars?
> 
> Also, in case you don't know, ISW offer a really great freebie of their Strat library. From what I remember the only limit is it won't sound anything above the 12th fret.


Not specifically electric, but any guitar, as I would like to get 1 electric, 1 steel string and 1 classical. Though I am in no hurry, just wanted to see the options out there considering the Orange Tree Samples Group Buy that is currently happening. If I don't go for that, I will just wait for some sales later in the year.


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## kgdrum (Jun 27, 2021)

Markrs said:


> Not specifically electric, but any guitar, as I would like to get 1 electric, 1 steel string and 1 classical. Though I am in no hurry, just wanted to see the options out there considering the Orange Tree Samples Group Buy that is currently happening. If I don't go for that, I will just wait for some sales later in the year.


Well from my perspective it’s not an all or nothing proposition. I think most users actually use several libraries,none are perfect and some do something’s better than others.
With that being said the Orange Tree Group Buy is one of the best sales of the year and even if you only want to get one or two, at 60% off they are great libraries at a wonderful price.


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## dunamisstudio (Jun 27, 2021)

I've been impressed with ISW Shreddage series and ones that came with my Komplete. I also have Gravity packs which sound good. But I don't go looking for much since I play guitar.


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## el-bo (Jun 27, 2021)

Markrs said:


> Not specifically electric, but any guitar, as I would like to get 1 electric, 1 steel string and 1 classical. Though I am in no hurry, just wanted to see the options out there considering the Orange Tree Samples Group Buy that is currently happening. If I don't go for that, I will just wait for some sales later in the year.


I have the RealEight and RealStrat by MusicLab. Both have had updates that i've yet to be able to afford. While the functionality improves on both, I'm most interested in updating the sound. However, version 4 of the Strat has too much of that 'pinched' clean sound, which I find gets annoying very quickly. The 'Deluxe' version is much smoother and seems like a more rounded instrument.

I also have the Efimov classical. I do generally like it, but it can a bit 'snappy'with higher-velocities:






As an alternative, perhaps also check out 'Sketch Nylon'. I don't own it, so can't advise:






Sketch Nylon & Midi Pack (41 types of accompaniment) – sketchsamples







sketchsamples.com


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## Pixelpoet1985 (Jun 27, 2021)

VSL also has a classical (concert) and electric (overdrive) guitar, both deeply sampled with many articulations.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

Pixelpoet1985 said:


> VSL also has a classical (concert) and electric (overdrive) guitar, both deeply sampled with many articulations.


Will add them to the list!


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## quickbrownf0x (Jun 27, 2021)

So I'm using both ISW Shreddage3 and Ample Guitar TC and they sound pretty good, but after a lot of tweaking and pushing notes around to get those to behave I've decided to still go for a live recording (still in the works) by one of our VIC members.

I'm a bit busy at the moment, but hopefully I'll have that up on here very soon.


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## Wally Garten (Jun 27, 2021)

For rhythm, UJAM is very easy to get pleasing results from. NI is a bit more flexible but is also more of a pain to set up. 

For melodies and acoustic strumming, I have actually gotten a ton of mileage from the guitars in Fluffy Audio’s Spaghetti Western. They are simple but have beautiful tone.

For special sounds/effects, I quite like Insanity Samples’ Offensive Guitar and Elementary Sounds’ Wremena.


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## AmbientMile (Jun 27, 2021)

dzilizzi said:


> I really like the UJam guitars. However, I don't know if they fit in this group because they are rhythm guitar only. No solo capabilities.
> 
> AAS's GS-2 is also a good rhythm guitar VI. Not as easy to use as UJam, but sounds good.


UJAM's Carbon offers a solo instrument along with the phrases. I think a couple of the basses do too. I think that UJAM will be making this standard for future instruments.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Jun 27, 2021)

A few thoughts...

First, for me there are two kinds of guitar libraries--ones that tend to be best for playing leads, and another that is better for strumming and picking. In the latter group I find Native Instruments to be the best, with ujam second, but I wouldn't put those guitars on the same level as those by OTS, AmpleSound, and Indiginus.

If people made lists of favorite steel string acoustic or nylon or and electric. they might come from different companies.

Second, there are at least another dozen, maybe even two dozen or more guitars out there. EastWest has a ton of guitars in their various libraries. Just search for guitars on sites like Loot Audio and you'll find stuff from Angel Cano, IamLamprey, Genera Studio, Martin Britz, Marcos Ciscar, etc. I've always been curious about the guitars SoundProps makes. They have the only SG outside of the one by AmpleSound. Are they good? I've never heard anybody mention them here.

One thing I find in discussions like these is that 99% of people don't have many of these, and they just say that the ones they happen to own are the best. There are a TON of people who own AcousticSamples guitars simply because they go on sale every few months. There's a big advantage to guitar freebies from ISW, AmpleSound, and free demos from ujam. Perhaps if I owned a guitar by Ilya Efimov it would be at the top of my list.

We are always comparing apples to oranges. There are features in Indiginus guitars (like harmony playing) which I don't think exist in many other guitar libraries, if any. Indiginus is in my top three, with OTS and AmpleSound, but I can see how many of you wouldn't include them--because you've never played one.  

I think the _results _of a survey like this are meaningless, but I think all posts like this (best piano, best violin, etc) are terrific because they spread the word about libraries people might not know about.


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## Trash Panda (Jun 27, 2021)

TigerTheFrog said:


> A few thoughts...
> 
> First, for me there are two kinds of guitar libraries--ones that tend to be best for playing leads, and another that is better for strumming and picking. In the latter group I find Native Instruments to be the best, with ujam second, but I wouldn't put those guitars on the same level as those by OTS, AmpleSound, and Indiginus.
> 
> ...


Then there’s also the question of what kind of guitar and what type of music? A Fender Stratocaster is going to sound VERY different from a Gibson Les Paul, which will sound very different from a Schecter 9 string Hellraiser.

Is the library a DI (dry) guitar signal or has it been run through effects and amps?

What kind of acoustic body? A dreadnought body will sound very different from a parlour or a classical body style. That’s before you even get into the differences in sound from what type of wood is used.

Then there’s playability, articulations, etc.

Long way of saying Mr. Frog is right.


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

TigerTheFrog said:


> A few thoughts...
> 
> First, for me there are two kinds of guitar libraries--ones that tend to be best for playing leads, and another that is better for strumming and picking. In the latter group I find Native Instruments to be the best, with ujam second, but I wouldn't put those guitars on the same level as those by OTS, AmpleSound, and Indiginus.
> 
> ...


I was reluctant to post a “best” post but couldn’t think of a better word, as I was interested in knowing which companies were out there and in general peoples thoughts on them. I agree a more specific poll, like best “steel string guitar“ would probably be more useful.

This thread has been super useful to know what guitar VIs are out there. Plus it has reminded me that I have the NI guitars, plus 2 Ujam and any guitars that come with EastWest. Still temped with the OTS Group Buy guitar bundle, especially if it goes 60% off the bundle price.


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## Polkasound (Jun 27, 2021)

For acoustic guitar libraries I own:

The top spot for solo playing is shared by *Orange Tree*, *MusicLab RealGuitar 5* (emphasis on 5) and *NI Picked Acoustic*. They're all phenomenal.​​The American Acoustic for *IK SampleTank* sounds good and is a definite step up from any stock SampleTank sound, but it's not quite deeply sampled enough to stack up against those other heavy hitters for more demanding tracks.​​*ISW's Django* guitar is unique and fits a niche like nothing else, so I'm glad I have it.​​*Realitone's Fingerpick* guitar is well-sampled, but the library's standout feature is the pattern player for those who prefer to make music with one.​​*Pettinhouse's* acoustic guitar sounds great out of the box and is fun to play, but the limitations of the scripting could make it feel kind of restrictive when trying to use it on a more demanding track.​​For strumming, the *NI guitars* sound the best, but *MusicLab's RealGuitar* is the most intuitive and easy to get instant results from. Their humanization controls add much needed life to rhythm tracks. As much as I love *OT guitars*, their strumming engine is designed for MIDI programmers rather than musicians, so I tend to avoid it. The *Pettinhouse Acoustic Guitar* has a handy strumming engine that produces a good sound, but lack of variation can leave an exposed track sounding programmed.​
For electric guitar libraries I own:

I get a ton of mileage out of *Orange Tree's* offerings. Texas Twang was a godsend for my country EP a couple years ago (literally one of my favorite VI purchases of all-time) and I recently used Rock Standard on a single and couldn't be happier with the results. I know I'll be using more of their guitars in the future.​​I recently upgraded *NI's Electric Sunburst* to the deluxe version, and it was worth it. NI simply knows what they're doing when it comes to sampling guitars, and I would put their Sunburst at the very top along with OT's guitars.​​Last year I released a classic '70s rock single, and my workhorse guitar VI, which gets almost no mention on VI-Control, was *VIR2 Electri6ity*. Some people pass it off as outdated since it's an older library, and it admittedly is outdated and convoluted as far as the GUI goes, but it's a deeply sampled library and sound-wise (when using third party amp plugins) it absolutely stands up against the best out there for both rhythm and solo.​​*Pettinhouse* guitars sound good out of the box and are fun to play, but like I mentioned earlier, the limitations in the scripting make them kind of like a poor man's Orange Tree collection — each library is definitely usable, but maybe not a go-to for more demanding tracks.​​I have ISW's Shreddage 2 libraries, and although I love how they sound, I have not yet found a spot for them in any of my productions, so I can't offer an opinion yet.​​


Markrs said:


> I was reluctant to post a “best” post but couldn’t think of a better word


I've always felt "your favorite" is a good substitute for "best."


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## Markrs (Jun 27, 2021)

Polkasound said:


> For acoustic guitar libraries I own:
> 
> The top spot for solo playing is shared by *Orange Tree*, *MusicLab RealGuitar 5* (emphasis on 5) and *NI Picked Acoustic*. They're all phenomenal.​​The American Acoustic for *IK SampleTank* sounds good and is a definite step up from any stock SampleTank sound, but it's not quite deeply sampled enough to stack up against those other heavy hitters for more demanding tracks.​​*ISW's Django* guitar is unique and fits a niche like nothing else, so I'm glad I have it.​​*Realitone's Fingerpick* guitar is well-sampled, but the library's standout feature is the pattern player for those who prefer to make music with one.​​*Pettinhouse's* acoustic guitar sounds great out of the box and is fun to play, but the limitations of the scripting could make it feel kind of restrictive when trying to use it on a more demanding track.​​For strumming, the *NI guitars* sound the best, but *MusicLab's RealGuitar* is the most intuitive and easy to get instant results from. Their humanization controls add much needed life to rhythm tracks. As much as I love *OT guitars*, their strumming engine is designed for MIDI programmers rather than musicians, so I tend to avoid it. The *Pettinhouse Acoustic Guitar* has a handy strumming engine that produces a good sound, but lack of variation can leave an exposed track sounding programmed.​
> For electric guitar libraries I own:
> ...


I really appreciate the time you took to write up your thoughts on the guitar VIs you own, it has been really useful. Whilst I am very tempted with the Orange Tree Samples guitar bundle as part of the group buy (my bargain hunting nature is my achilles heel, when it comes to sample libraries), I probably need to spend more time with what I have first.


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## VSriHarsha (Jun 28, 2021)

Sarah Mancuso said:


> Impact Soundworks and Orange Tree are the best ones out there, they both have extremely flexible engines that allow your programming to be detailed enough for realism.
> 
> Every time I use an Ample Sound guitar, I love the sound of it but I wish I could be using it in the Shreddage or Evolution engine instead. And then I usually give up and swap it out for one of those, because it just never wants to cooperate.


I love the tone of AmpleSound. But actually work outta Kontakt. Shreddage’s mostly for Rock-ish I think? OTS got some Acoustic libraries.


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## Trash Panda (Jun 28, 2021)

VSriHarsha said:


> Shreddage’s mostly for Rock-ish I think?


These types of sweeping generalizations REALLY don't work at all for guitar libraries.

The Hydra 8-string guitar, Legacy, Abyss, Serpent, Rogue and Jupiter are certainly more suited for rock because they're all sampled from guitars with dual-coil (humbucker) pickups and some of them are tuned down for lower, heavier sounds. That being said, they can be used for other purposes if you use the dry signal and add your own effects/amps.

The Stratus is sampled from a Stratocaster and can be used on anything from country, pop, funk, blues, rock and more because the twangy single-coil sound suits the sound profile that is popular in those genres.

The Precision is from a P bass guitar, suitable for pretty much everything.

The Archtop is sampled from a hollow body electric guitar, typically used in jazz, funk, blues and other lighter genres. That being said, one of my favorite metal guitarists uses a hollow body, so there are no hard and fast rules. 

I don't own any ISW guitars, but just wanted to clear up some misconceptions for those who aren't deep into the guitar world and trying to make sense of it.


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## castalia (Jun 30, 2021)

I think you should add Prominy. Their products are not the easiest to use, but sure are DEEPLY sampled (I have the Stratocaster, more than 50GB uncompressed...)!


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## Tralen (Jun 30, 2021)

Consona said:


> I don't know why OTS never sample tremolo picking. I have Shreddage 3 Serpent from IS and it does everything I need. But I'll buy some another Shreddage so I have more tone variety.


This is somethings that frustrates me as well, I use tremolo picking all over the place.

Are there other libraries, besides Shreddage, that have tremolo picking?


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## TracksInTheBox (Jun 30, 2021)

Tralen said:


> This is somethings that frustrates me as well, I use tremolo picking all over the place.
> 
> Are there other libraries, besides Shreddage, that have tremolo picking?


MusicLab.


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## lettucehat (Jul 1, 2021)

Tralen said:


> This is somethings that frustrates me as well, I use tremolo picking all over the place.
> 
> Are there other libraries, besides Shreddage, that have tremolo picking?


The Electric Sunburst Deluxe from NI. Surprised to hear OTS doesn't cover that articulation.


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## Lode_Runner (Jul 2, 2021)

Vir2 (electri6ity and acou6tics) is missing from the poll.


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## Denkii (Jul 2, 2021)

I voted NI, Ample and ISW.

I have more but these are the ones I usually go to.
Since you asked for specific libraries, the ones I like most are:
NI: picked acoustic, Electric Sunburst deluxe
Ample: Hellrazer and M III
ISW: Jupiter and Hydra

Edit: Wait a second...I totally forgot about heavier7strings because it is not on the list but it's worth mentioning since I often use that one, too.


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## Markrs (Jul 2, 2021)

Lode_Runner said:


> Vir2 (electri6ity and acou6tics) is missing from the poll.





Denkii said:


> I voted NI, Ample and ISW.
> 
> I have more but these are the ones I usually go to.
> Since you asked for specific libraries, the ones I like most are:
> ...


Thank you, have added vir2 and heavier7strings to the poll


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## wahey73 (Jul 2, 2021)

Absolutely love Hydra from Impact Soundworks but must admit, even if not the most realistic guitar library but it was never meant to be that, Quartarone Guitar Reveries from Valiant Samples has it's own sound and charme.


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## VSriHarsha (Jul 2, 2021)

Markrs said:


> Thank you, have added vir2 and heavier7strings to the poll


Why I never heard about the Heavier7Strings? That’s a new developer ?

Vir2 Acoustics I heard the samples & I love those.


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## anderslink (Jul 2, 2021)

wahey73 said:


> Absolutely love Hydra from Impact Soundworks but must admit, even if not the most realistic guitar library but it was never meant to be that, Quartarone Guitar Reveries from Valiant Samples has it's own sound and charme.


I agree Quartarone Guitar Reveries is awesome. As a guitarist / plucked string obsessed person it is very hard for me to enjoy sampled guitar that has bends, hammer-ons, vibrato, strumming, or anything performative that imitates real playing. 

Quartarone Guitar Reveries has a beautiful tone and is designed to be played in ways that MIDI excels at.

I'm curious if anyone can point me to the absolute best demos just out of curiosity though. What sounds expressive and human to you?

I do love Ilya Efimov's instruments. That classical guitar has the best tone I've found and it can sound surprisingly real. His must be the best demos I have heard.


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## zwhita (Jul 2, 2021)

VSriHarsha said:


> Why I never heard about the Heavier7Strings? That’s a new developer ?


Not new, in fact some are now saying it is abandonware with stability issues, including crashes during render in some DAW's. I think it sounds great, especially the palm mutes, but I only just play around with it. Getting your own midi tracks to sound like the included patterns usually takes alot of work, so it's not much of a performance VI.


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## VSriHarsha (Jul 2, 2021)

zwhita said:


> Not new, in fact some are now saying it is abandonware


Is it the new word for “Pirated”?


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## zwhita (Jul 2, 2021)

That means abandoned by its author


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## Denkii (Jul 2, 2021)

I guess it's performance is really hit and miss for some people. I never had problems with their plugin but I also heard bad things.
It's not an instrument for instant gratification but you can get great results.


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## DSmolken (Jul 3, 2021)

Tralen said:


> Are there other libraries, besides Shreddage, that have tremolo picking?


A funny story with a side of self-promotion: I decided Snowkiss really needed tremolo picking. But I'm no guitarist, and never really learned to use a pick properly, so I hired a funk guitarist who could tremolo pick decently but sloppily for it. I didn't want a metal guitarist who tremolo picks all the time and can do it consistently and smoothly, because that's not really "right" to go along with all the extended indie techniques.


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## chrisav (Jul 3, 2021)

Tralen said:


> This is somethings that frustrates me as well, I use tremolo picking all over the place.
> 
> Are there other libraries, besides Shreddage, that have tremolo picking?


The guitars in Wavelet's Senfine have several tremolo patches


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## Mason (Jul 3, 2021)

So which steel-string guitar should I get? And don't say a real one, we're talking about samples here


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## DSmolken (Jul 3, 2021)

"Depends" but for steel-string acoustics Orange Tree is a solid choice, Ample's engine also seems to do idiomatic acoustic stuff better than electric stuff, and Prominy's Hummingbird is as detailed as it gets if you have the time to work with it.


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## Markrs (Jul 3, 2021)

Mason said:


> So which steel-string guitar should I get? And don't say a real one, we're talking about samples here


Orange Tree Samples current 60% off plus an extra 17% off that if you do a quick survey (You find the survey in your account once you have registered) makes their libraries very cheap at the moment.


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## Mason (Jul 3, 2021)

Markrs said:


> Orange Tree Samples current 60% off plus an extra 17% off that if you do a quick survey (You find the survey in your account once you have registered) makes their libraries very cheap at the moment.


Thanks. What about Efimov's Acoustic Guitar? I think that is steel-strings as well.


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## lastburai (Jul 3, 2021)

I kind of posted on the Orange tree guitar deal currently going as I'm looking for an acoustic guitar sample library that is simple to use, simple to make up patterns and can do inversions and various chords like sus2, sus4? And possible to mix it with a real acoustic guitar?

Someone mentioned musiclab real guitar for strumming in this thread and I saw a video on that and it seemed cool but any others to recommend?

What about the orangetree stuff what do people think of their strum engine?

In the orange tree thread I posted I asked about special inversions that I do, like a Fmaj 1st inversion A on low E string fret 5 F on D string fret 3 and C on G string fret 5. If I want chords like that, what acoustic guitar library will cover those types of inversions while strumming?

Also does anyone know of an electric guitar library that has any whammy dive bombs FX? Or any fx’s that use a whammy bar? For example the FX where you create a harmonic on some notes say around the 12fret and dive down on the bar. My 7string guitar does not have the whammy bar.


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## Polkasound (Jul 3, 2021)

lastburai said:


> Someone mentioned musiclab real guitar for strumming in this thread and I saw a video on that and it seemed cool but any others to recommend?
> 
> What about the orangetree stuff what do people think of their strum engine?


MusicLab is the best for simplicity. It automates voicings on the fly. It's still my favorite acoustic guitar VI for laying down rhythm tracks from scratch.

But if you want custom voicings down to the string and fret level, that's where Orange Tree comes to the rescue. Orange Tree's strumming engine is a little more complex than some musicians may like, but its flexibility is unparalleled.

Regarding dive bomb effects, VIR2 Electri6ity has a whole bank of FX for their guitars. And like most libraries, among the many articulations, harmonics are included. But the FX are sampled, so you can't choose the notes on which to start or end the dives.


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## Consona (Jul 3, 2021)

a $49 steel guitar


AcousticGuitar for Kontakt


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## musicsound (Jul 6, 2021)

what is the best VI guitar for emotional and lively rock ballad solos with long distorted and sustained notes, noises, etc .... ? I am not a guitar but a keyboard player.
Hearing various Youtubes, I think heavier7strings or the Evolution Infinity from Orange tress samples might work quite well, but I am not sure at all and have no experience.


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## musicsound (Jul 6, 2021)

musicalweather said:


> Where is Ilya Efimov? Gorgeous tone.


Do you know if they ever do a sale or provide any discounts ?


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## Lode_Runner (Jul 6, 2021)

musicsound said:


> Do you know if they ever do a sale or provide any discounts ?


Yes. Russia's Victory Day (9 May) is historically his biggest sale, but I don't know if he does it every year. He also does Black Friday and Christmas sales.


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## musicalweather (Jul 6, 2021)

musicsound said:


> Do you know if they ever do a sale or provide any discounts ?


I got their entire guitar line (all electric and acoustic guitars) on sale on during Black Friday last year -- $237.


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Jul 6, 2021)

musicsound said:


> Do you know if they ever do a sale or provide any discounts ?


They do:



ilya efimov sale - Google Search



That's what I always do to check what sales a company has had in the past.


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## musicalweather (Jul 6, 2021)

lastburai said:


> I kind of posted on the Orange tree guitar deal currently going as I'm looking for an acoustic guitar sample library that is simple to use, simple to make up patterns and can do inversions and various chords like sus2, sus4? And possible to mix it with a real acoustic guitar?
> 
> Someone mentioned musiclab real guitar for strumming in this thread and I saw a video on that and it seemed cool but any others to recommend?
> 
> What about the orangetree stuff what do people think of their strum engine?


I'm not a fan of Orangetree's strumming. At least in my experience, the strumming alternated between strumming the top few strings and the bottom few -- very strange. It's true that you can create strumming patterns that give you a great deal of control, but if you don't want to use those and just do simple strumming, it's not great, imo. I would say Music Lab's strumming is some of the best. Ilya Efimov's strumming is also excellent, and in fact can be used with some of the Music Lab patterns.


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## Michael AD (Jul 6, 2021)

lastburai said:


> In the orange tree thread I posted I asked about special inversions that I do, like a Fmaj 1st inversion A on low E string fret 5 F on D string fret 3 and C on G string fret 5. If I want chords like that, what acoustic guitar library will cover those types of inversions while strumming?


Ample's guitars will let you design any chord you want, so your inversions would be easy to do. I suggest you try their Martin demo.


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## lastburai (Jul 6, 2021)

I missed the orange tree June/July deal, still was not convinced that it was right for me. It sounds good but seems overly complicated to get some strumming patterns going.

Cheers *Polkasound*, I have listened to some more of the musiclabs real guitar 5 and I am starting to really like it. I read the manual and nearly all the chords can play inversions apart from maj6, min6, min7/11 and maj6/9 so that is something that is good.

Is Musiclabs stuff ever on sale, like recently Native Instruments had a summer sale does Musiclabs do something similar?

The only thing regarding Musiclabs are some of chords (shapes) that I have mentioned like a F maj 1st inversion 5th fret with the 5th (C) as a high note or a Amin 1st inversion at fret 8 with the 5th (E) as the high. Something I am not sure musicalab chords will do however if the strumming is not complicated to setup it still would be worth it.

VIR2 Electri6ity is cool but I don’t think it is for me, it has a lot of content, I heard a few fx on some of the youtube tutorials but nothing that I could use. I kind of just want some FX’s of dive-bombs using a Floyd rose. VIR2 Electri6ity is also kind of expensive for me and I would only probably use the FX so kind of a waste for my intended use.

This was first video I could see, something like that at around 7.40s he does pinch harmonic dive bombs something that I would want to do. He is using a fender Tremolo system and not a floating bridge like a Floyd Rose but still gets the Dive Bomb effect I am after




Is there any other libraries that have this dive bomb FX and is relatively cheap?

*Consona*- Thanks Acoustic guitar2 pettinhouse is also great, I saw some videos on it, I do like it and it seems pretty easy to use and is not expensive compared to all the other guitar sample libraries I have seen which would really help me out.

*musicalweather*- Thanks for insight yeah, I missed the orange tree deal, the strumming part of it is all I am really interested in and I am not sure if it is the right thing for me. I like the musiclabs approach to it’s library so I am kind of leaning towards that for an acoustic guitar strumming library.

Would you happen to know of any sample libraries that contain some dive bomb FX using a Floyd rose trem system and that is reasonably priced?

*Michael AD*- Thanks for the information I have heard of ample guitars….yeah at the time I was looking for a Dizi sample library and Ample sound just released their Dizi called Qudi I watched some youtube videos of it. It did sound very good, the only thing is that it did not go to the high ranges that I wanted. I think it went up to a E6 something like that but I wanted the G above that which was a G6. In the end I went with Orchestra Tools Bangdi which goes to G6 which is also a Dizi and is for a piece not yet written but intended for that particular instrument.

Does anyone know if the native instruments East Asian library has a Dizi that goes to G6 or above just something I would like to know?

I like the Ample sound in their acoustic guitar range but not sure how easy it is to get some strumming patterns going with it. I think if musiclabs ever has a sale I might go with that library.

Regarding the dive bomb Fx, I am thinking to get my strat fixed up, and maybe try and install a Floyd rose in the Strat and see how much that cost. While the Floyd rose is expensive and to get someone to install it is even more expensive. I am just thinking of what options I have.

I have one more question. Has anyone ever installed a Floyd Rose in a Strat and how much did it cost if you did?

Also I know this is probably the wrong place but I can’t seem to find a 7str guitar with a Floyd rose that is not lower than 750 dollars and the one I can find is a Schecter 7string demon which is some make I have never heard of. I could be wrong but I remember Ibanez use to have a cheap 7 string with a tremolo system in their standard RG7 line up. What happened to these guitars they seem to have disappeared? Even on Ibanez website the RG standard series 7string now is only available using a normal bridge. If you want a 7 string from Ibanez with a trem system I think you have to get a prestige RG752A around 2200 dollars that is ridiculous and way beyond anything I could ever buy.


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## Markrs (Jul 6, 2021)

lastburai said:


> I missed the orange tree June/July deal, still was not convinced that it was right for me.


They have extended the deal until the 12th July if it was still of interest to you


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## Fleer (Jul 6, 2021)

dzilizzi said:


> I really like the UJam guitars. However, I don't know if they fit in this group because they are rhythm guitar only. No solo capabilities.
> 
> AAS's GS-2 is also a good rhythm guitar VI. Not as easy to use as UJam, but sounds good.


Yes, I believe AAS GS-2 should be added.


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## Markrs (Jul 6, 2021)

Fleer said:


> Yes, I believe AAS GS-2 should be added.


Added 😊


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## VSriHarsha (Jul 6, 2021)

dzilizzi said:


> I really like the UJam guitars. However, I don't know if they fit in this group because they are rhythm guitar only. No solo capabilities.
> 
> AAS's GS-2 is also a good rhythm guitar VI. Not as easy to use as UJam, but sounds good.


I think AAS are pretty friendly guitars I know.
Speaking of UJam, do you have Carbon? I have Iron. I have Carbon too but not installed, yet. I must say Carbon created quite a big hype. I love Iron, only it used to crash the DAW once in a while, but still good. How about Carbon? How does it sound?


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## Polkasound (Jul 7, 2021)

lastburai said:


> Is Musiclabs stuff ever on sale, like recently Native Instruments had a summer sale does Musiclabs do something similar?


Yes, they do have sales now and then, but offhand I don't know when they are. I'm pretty sure they have a sale around Black Friday. Maybe 30% off if I remember correctly.



lastburai said:


> I missed the orange tree June/July deal, still was not convinced that it was right for me. It sounds good but seems overly complicated to get some strumming patterns going.


But your strum requirements are kind of complicated, so the Orange Tree strumming engine might be exactly what you need.


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## dzilizzi (Jul 7, 2021)

Musiclab has sales every so often. And once you buy a product, the loyalty discount kicks in. So sales price plus loyalty discounts can be pretty good.


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## Double Helix (Jul 7, 2021)

Though I already have other guitar libraries (NI & OTS), I bought A|A|S Strum GS-2 with the sound packs on sale about a week ago.
Pretty intuitive interface with tweaking/looping options galore. Layered with other (sampled) guitar packs, they slot in nicely, and their clarity lends them to soloing, as well.
I am interested in the growing number of physically modeled instruments.


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## Tim_Wells (Jul 7, 2021)

For those who want a guitar library that does things easily, you may be a little disappointed. I've found it takes a fair amount of detailed and tedious work to get what I want and get it sounding acceptable.

Big exceptions would be looped-based libraries like the NI Session Guitars. Or certain parts that lend themselves to guitar libraries. For example, a simple sustained fingerpicked guitar part. 

As always, I'm speaking only for myself. Others may be able to work more quickly.


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## Rudianos (Jul 7, 2021)

Ample Sound won me over with their Ukelele and Banjo so I decided to buy their full line. IMO a great deal for the 23 remaining instruments. $45 a pop. Im not much of a guitar player but each of them have a character. One could spend hours in the intricacies. The engine is very flexible and they are always updating. So far I am using Les Paul guitar and YinYang Bass to a score.... Really have also enjoyed NI Electric Sunburst and Picked Strummed accoustic. They are all useful. 8Dio I have all of their guitars and Ethnic World. Those latter are for tone, mostly resonator guitar. I wish Ample would make a full slide Resonator.


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## Fleer (Jul 7, 2021)

As for Banjo, even though the actual instrument is not my favorite, OrangeTreeSamples’ take on it is simply mindblowing, so accurate that images of Deliverance are all over.


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## Markrs (Jul 7, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> I decided to buy their full line. IMO a great deal for the 23 remaining instruments. $45 a pop.


That is a good price. Did you get them on sale?


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## vidu3k333 (Jul 8, 2021)

VSriHarsha said:


> I think AAS are pretty friendly guitars I know.
> Speaking of UJam, do you have Carbon? I have Iron. I have Carbon too but not installed, yet. I must say Carbon created quite a big hype. I love Iron, only it used to crash the DAW once in a while, but still good. How about Carbon? How does it sound?


I have Ujam Carbon, played around with it. The sound is very synthetic but for its use case that fits perfectly. It sounds cool straight out of the box but is very limited in terms of articulations (similar to Iron and all the other Ujam guitar, considering that they are more targeted toward people who never know what does a "strum" supposed to mean). Carbon is much improved compared to all the other Ujam guitars because it has Finisher built in, doubling effects, several different "tones" (which are all pretty good) and a separate section for solo playing. The solo section however is also very limited with the articulation range is just from "short" to "long" with some "shreds" in different built-in speeds.

Overall, it's good enough if you want to use it as background elements in Hybrid scoring or heavy EDM, any other cases and it would fall flat. 

(oh and also, you will have to do all the chord voicings manually, only have 3 octaves for playing + 2 octaves for key switches, and the lowest it can go is F#)


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## Rudianos (Jul 8, 2021)

Markrs said:


> That is a good price. Did you get them on sale?


They have a bundle. Complete bundle - and a 10% loyalty discount. So buy 1 product ... get the 10% off and then go for complete. It works out to about 60% off!


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## Markrs (Jul 8, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> They have a bundle. Complete bundle - and a 10% loyalty discount. So buy 1 product ... get the 10% off and then go for complete. It works out to about 60% off!


Nice. The occasionally do a 20% off sale a couple of times a year including bundles. After getting quite a bit of Orange Tree Samples instruments including all their guitars, I will have to resist.


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## Rudianos (Jul 8, 2021)

Markrs said:


> Nice. The occasionally do a 20% off sale a couple of times a year including bundles. After getting quite a bit of Orange Tree Samples instruments including all their guitars, I will have to resist.


I am tempted to get a few over there. Having a feature rich Mandolin and Lap Steel are missing .. any other particular gems? Need to take advantage of that super sale ... That said the Ukulele... I don't think is covered by Orange Tree. The Chinese Instruments are groundbreaking too. Might be a good hook for you


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## VSriHarsha (Jul 8, 2021)

vidu3k333 said:


> I have Ujam Carbon, played around with it. The sound is very synthetic but for its use case that fits perfectly. It sounds cool straight out of the box but is very limited in terms of articulations (similar to Iron and all the other Ujam guitar, considering that they are more targeted toward people who never know what does a "strum" supposed to mean). Carbon is much improved compared to all the other Ujam guitars because it has Finisher built in, doubling effects, several different "tones" (which are all pretty good) and a separate section for solo playing. The solo section however is also very limited with the articulation range is just from "short" to "long" with some "shreds" in different built-in speeds.
> 
> Overall, it's good enough if you want to use it as background elements in Hybrid scoring or heavy EDM, any other cases and it would fall flat.
> 
> (oh and also, you will have to do all the chord voicings manually, only have 3 octaves for playing + 2 octaves for key switches, and the lowest it can go is F#)


Ok thanks @vidu3k333 !

That is really helpful ok I thought I should install or something but yea, that’s ok I am not into EDM and/or Hybrid Scoring.


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## Rudianos (Jul 13, 2021)

despite that I have all the ample sounds and native instrument guitar libraries I did pick up a few from Orange tree samples because they're so good at giving discounts. Sitar guitar Mandolin the former being very unique the latter being very well put together... added on the electric piano and the electric guitar I picked is the infinity. I feel like those ones fill some holes. Ample has many more options built in. Hard on my Ryzen 5800. Can def see sketching with Orange Tree. I need to invest in a better solution for pitch bend my Touche SE needs to ve through its proprietary software snd doesent always play nice Any ideas?


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## Markrs (Jul 13, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> I need to invest in a better solution for pitch bend my Touche SE needs to ve through its proprietary software snd doesent always play nice Any ideas?


There doesn't seem to be that many pitch bend devices as I have had a look around as my Roland FP-10 doesn't come with one. I'm the end getting a small 25 key midi controller seems the easiest and cheapest option.


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## Tremendouz (Jul 15, 2021)

I've tried most of the big name VSTi guitars (Prominy, ISW, Ilya Efimov, Three-body Tech, Vir2, Ample Sound, Orange Tree Samples, MusicLab) and the ones I keep coming back to after 5 years of extensive use and trial and error, are ISW Shreddage series and Ample Sound. Honorable mention to Ilya Efimov acoustic and nylon for gorgeous tones.


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## Markrs (Jul 15, 2021)

Tremendouz said:


> ISW Shreddage series and Ample Sound


Both of them do a couple of nice freebies each so you can try them out which has been very useful


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## zwhita (Jul 16, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> They have a bundle. Complete bundle - and a 10% loyalty discount. So buy 1 product ... get the 10% off and then go for complete. It works out to about 60% off!


Full bundle price for me is showing as $1549. Over twice the cost of OTS. Are they really twice as useful? I keep seeing mentions in this thread of OTS being great but still inferior to nearly any other V-Guitar product.

I only take issue with the two-key strumming in the Evolution engine. Absolutely terrible. Everything else about it seems great. Must be what Froggy said: It's whatever you have and get accustomed to using.


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## Sarah Mancuso (Jul 16, 2021)

Ample has some very nice samples, but their instruments are infuriating to program, in my experience. Even things like automating hand position seem impossible in Ample guitars, for some reason.


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## Fleer (Jul 16, 2021)

Well, I tried them out and I adamantly stand by OrangeTreeSamples. Best sound, best playability (for me). Kudos indeed.


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## Tremendouz (Jul 16, 2021)

Sarah Mancuso said:


> Ample has some very nice samples, but their instruments are infuriating to program, in my experience. Even things like automating hand position seem impossible in Ample guitars, for some reason.


There are a couple of ways:

- when the keyswitch for legato slide or hammer-on/pull-off is high velocity, then those articulations will change the hand position up or down. Eg. a 4 frets slide up will move the hand position up by 4 frets. If you want the hand position to not move, use low velocity keyswitches.

- for changing the hand position at any point, use CapoMan keyswitch (or whatever it's called in the current version) followed by another keyswitch. The low E note corresponds to fret 0 and then you just count upwards from that for the higher positions.

This sounds a bit complicated at first but imo it's very logical once you get used to it. I primarily use the first method and only touch the other one when needed.


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## Sarah Mancuso (Jul 16, 2021)

Tremendouz said:


> There are a couple of ways:
> 
> - when the keyswitch for legato slide or hammer-on/pull-off is high velocity, then those articulations will change the hand position up or down. Eg. a 4 frets slide up will move the hand position up by 4 frets. If you want the hand position to not move, use low velocity keyswitches.
> 
> ...


Thanks! I was aware of the first option but not the second one. I'll experiment with that -- though it still sounds more awkward than doing it with OTS or Shreddage, having the option is better than nothing.


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## Rudianos (Jul 16, 2021)

zwhita said:


> Full bundle price for me is showing as $1549. Over twice the cost of OTS. Are they really twice as useful? I keep seeing mentions in this thread of OTS being great but still inferior to nearly any other V-Guitar product.
> 
> I only take issue with the two-key strumming in the Evolution engine. Absolutely terrible. Everything else about it seems great. Must be what Froggy said: It's whatever you have and get accustomed to using.


Ehhh, depends on what you want to do. The bundle is too much. The Ukelele and the Guild Accoustic Bass fill a special place Orange does not cover... Very special tone... My favorites of the electric lot are the Les Paul (LP) the Ying Yang Bass Y, The Banjo also... The Chinese instruments are great if you need those. Best around actually.


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## Consona (Jul 18, 2021)

zwhita said:


> I only take issue with the two-key strumming in the Evolution engine. Absolutely terrible.


What's wrong with it?


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## Yogevs (Jul 18, 2021)

I honestly wonder - would the best guitar library be https://www.fiverr.com/?


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## zwhita (Jul 18, 2021)

Consona said:


> What's wrong with it?


I am specifically referring to the up/down stroke keys with chord mode off. It just doesn't sound right. It's easier to get a good-sounding strum in other libraries, imo


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## dariusofwest (Jul 18, 2021)

zwhita said:


> I am specifically referring to the up/down stroke keys with chord mode off. It just doesn't sound right. It's easier to get a good-sounding strum in other libraries, imo


I have also had issues with that too


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## Drjay (Jul 20, 2021)

I am undecided whether i should get the OT guitar bundle or Shreddage 3 Stratus in the current sales. I am a guitar player, but due to a skin disease I can‘t play my real guitars more often than not. That‘s why I got me a Linnstrument which works perfectly fine, especially with an OT guitar in midi mode and the Linnstrument in guitar tuning. But I‘m not fully satisfied with the strumming and chord engine of OT. I tried the free version of Shreddage Stratus 3 and was not overwhelmed by it‘s playability, but on the other hand, I like the strumming und chords better than OT. I have to admit I did not spend lots of time to learn the Shreddage engine, since I missed the instant gratification. Does someone like to share some experience with these two engines? Thanks


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## Fleer (Jul 20, 2021)

I have and like both. It’s a sound preference thing. I feel Shreddage is more metal inclined. You really should listen to them before deciding.


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## jonnybutter (Jul 21, 2021)

Sarah Mancuso said:


> Impact Soundworks and Orange Tree are the best ones out there, they both have extremely flexible engines that allow your programming to be detailed enough for realism.
> 
> Every time I use an Ample Sound guitar, I love the sound of it but I wish I could be using it in the Shreddage or Evolution engine instead. And then I usually give up and swap it out for one of those, because it just never wants to cooperate.


Agree w/the comments re Amplesound. The sound is just stellar - I don’t think any gtr VI has better sound. But yeah, I can never get the hang of it programming-wise. Glad it’s not just me


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## Rudianos (Jul 21, 2021)

jonnybutter said:


> Agree w/the comments re Amplesound. The sound is just stellar - I don’t think any gtr VI has better sound. But yeah, I can never get the hang of it programming-wise. Glad it’s not just me


Ample is now 20% everything summer sale until August 19th - even the bundles if people were into that.


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## Rudianos (Jul 21, 2021)

zwhita said:


> Full bundle price for me is showing as $1549. Over twice the cost of OTS. Are they really twice as useful? I keep seeing mentions in this thread of OTS being great but still inferior to nearly any other V-Guitar product.
> 
> I only take issue with the two-key strumming in the Evolution engine. Absolutely terrible. Everything else about it seems great. Must be what Froggy said: It's whatever you have and get accustomed to using.


Now 20% off


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## kgdrum (Jul 21, 2021)

jonnybutter said:


> Agree w/the comments re Amplesound. The sound is just stellar - I don’t think any gtr VI has better sound. But yeah, I can never get the hang of it programming-wise. Glad it’s not just me


@jonnybutter @Sarah Mancuso
As people that have used various guitar libraries my question to both of you and any other users that want to chime in.
I have the Orange Tree libraries and a few of the Shreddage libraries,I like them for lead type of playing and never seem to have the skill, time or patience to get good rhythm guitar tracks. I’ve heard great things about the Ample Sound guitar libraries especially in the rhythm department.
But seeing your comments I’m leery of buying another great sounding guitar library that I can’t get good rhythm guitar tracks created with it (I was thinking about the Ample Strat) but I already have the Strat’s from OT and ImpactSound. Will the AmpleSound Strat be any easier to get convincing rhythm guitar tracks from than the OT or the Shreddage Strat?
I’m not a heavy type of programming type of user, so while I want good results I don’t have the patience to go into deep programming,some tweaking of course but no deep dives(hopefully).
So are the Ample guitars too hard to program for a user like me? 😜


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## Tremendouz (Jul 21, 2021)

kgdrum said:


> @jonnybutter @Sarah Mancuso
> As people that have used various guitar libraries my question to both of you and any other users that want to chime in.
> I have the Orange Tree libraries and a few of the Shreddage libraries,I like them for lead type of playing and never seem to have the skill, time or patience to get good rhythm guitar tracks. I’ve heard great things about the Ample Sound guitar libraries especially in the rhythm department.
> But seeing your comments I’m leery of buying another great sounding guitar library that I can’t get good rhythm guitar tracks created with it (I was thinking about the Ample Strat) but I already have the Strat’s from OT and ImpactSound. Will the AmpleSound Strat be any easier to get convincing rhythm guitar tracks from than the OT or the Shreddage Strat?
> ...


I've personally never been able to get satisfactory results out of OTS guitars for any kind of rock and metal riffs that rely on palm muting, there simply aren't enough round robin samples.

Generally speaking for rhythm playing, the Shreddage guitars can sound very organic but they need some more massaging because the sound varies a whole lot between the different palm mute layers and fret positions plus sometimes you come across some imperfections such as a palm mute sample that is slightly more muted than its neighboring samples and thus sticks out.

Meanwhile Ample Sound guitars are far more predictable - true workhorses that do what you tell them to do - but they can sound almost too clean and pristine without humanization because the samples are so consistent in quality and honed to perfection.

Sometimes I find myself reaching for one developer's products, sometimes the other's cause each of these approaches has their pros and cons. That's why I can't decide a winner but lately I've been using Ample more and more because of the predictability and because I'm just used to the way they function, especially when it comes to programming lead lines.

As a little bonus, here's an excerpt from an earlier WIP I did with Ample Vintage Cherry. The guitars were later replaced with real ones so the rhythm especially was quite low effort, varying between sustains and palm mutes with no humanization, legato slides between chords or anything so you can hear how it sounds without extensive programming (although I did spend a lot of time coming up with nice tones)


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## zwhita (Jul 21, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> Ample is now 20% everything summer sale until August 19th - even the bundles if people were into that.


I got 3 of the acoustics and the stringray, thanks. Ended up being 48% off for the 4.



jonnybutter said:


> Agree w/the comments re Amplesound. The sound is just stellar - I don’t think any gtr VI has better sound. But yeah, I can never get the hang of it programming-wise. Glad it’s not just me


Dunno about this. Comparing AGM to OTS Steel String, Amplesound behavior is more realistic for strumming, but the tone is not nearly as pleasant, imo.

Evolution engine lets you do legato hammer-ons automatically anywhere on the keyboard for whatever range you set. I don't see where Amplesound lets you do this yet. I have to press F0 every time. I also cannot for the life of me get legato fret slides to work with any consistency. E0->Legato seems to only work randomly. I was really hoping for more intuitive real-time performance controls. So far, I'm not that impressed, but obviously I need to spend time with it and rtfm.

Seeing as it costs about 3 times more than what I paid for equivalent OTS products,(gotta love those slices) I hope the Amplesound acoustics do not turn out to only be useful for strumming. Even with the discount, I think the cost was about 15% higher than I had hoped. Surely there's more to discover.


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## Rudianos (Jul 21, 2021)

zwhita said:


> I got 3 of the acoustics and the stringray, thanks. Ended up being 48% off for the 4.
> 
> 
> Dunno about this. Comparing AGM to OTS Steel String, Amplesound behavior is more realistic for strumming, but the tone is not nearly as pleasant, imo.
> ...



EO make sure that gets hit down first... then start note then 2nd note. Works like a charm. I am no guitar player but I think it does not activate when that particular string does not contain the 2nd note.... but aside from that works if I am coordinated .... I ended up playing it quite a bit ... it is a coordination trick for sure.... going to dig into the key binding hmmm


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## Rudianos (Jul 21, 2021)

zwhita said:


> I got 3 of the acoustics and the stringray, thanks. Ended up being 48% off for the 4.
> 
> 
> Dunno about this. Comparing AGM to OTS Steel String, Amplesound behavior is more realistic for strumming, but the tone is not nearly as pleasant, imo.
> ...


I do notice that there is a legato option for Hammer On legato option you set to always on in the bottom left of the 4 boxes to the rights.


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## zwhita (Jul 21, 2021)

I can do that same E0->Legato action repeatedly and it only works some fraction of the time. I might need to set Windows power config from Balanced to High and see if it's a process timing thing. If so, we've got yet another sample playback engine that is less responsive than Kontakt.


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## Rudianos (Jul 21, 2021)

zwhita said:


> I can do that same E0->Legato action repeatedly and it only works some fraction of the time. I might need to set Windows power config from Balanced to High and see if it's a process timing thing. If so, we've got yet another sample playback engine that is less responsive than Kontakt.


another slide related to that legato box referred to D#6 legato ... with hard velocity will always slide from fret to fret... can control the speed of that slide a bit more.... Yeah Ample is a processor hog ... even on my 5800X I wish it was next gen already!


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## Trash Panda (Jul 21, 2021)

zwhita said:


> I can do that same E0->Legato action repeatedly and it only works some fraction of the time. I might need to set Windows power config from Balanced to High and see if it's a process timing thing. If so, we've got yet another sample playback engine that is less responsive than Kontakt.


There’s a toggle for auto legato on the right hand side so hammer ons/pulloffs should be automatic when you overlap notes with it on.


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## zwhita (Jul 21, 2021)

Thanks everyone. I need to rtfm.


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## sumskilz (Jul 21, 2021)

kgdrum said:


> @jonnybutter @Sarah Mancuso
> Will the AmpleSound Strat be any easier to get convincing rhythm guitar tracks from than the OT or the Shreddage Strat?
> I’m not a heavy type of programming type of user, so while I want good results I don’t have the patience to go into deep programming,some tweaking of course but no deep dives(hopefully).


Depends on what you think is easy. If you want to be able to play in an idea with minimal tweaking after the fact, then no, it won't really be easy. The way chords are comfortably voiced on a guitar tends to range from awkward to impossible to play on a keyboard, while the reverse is true as well.

The other problem, which is a problem for all guitar VIs of this type, is that the chords are being constructed from individually sampled overly tuned notes, but a guitar player doesn't strike the strings the same way when playing chords as when picking individual notes, and part of the natural sound of a guitar is its imperfect intonation.


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## sumskilz (Jul 21, 2021)

zwhita said:


> I can do that same E0->Legato action repeatedly and it only works some fraction of the time.


The most likely reason it's not working some of the time, is because you're attempting impossible slides. The two notes need to be on the same string.


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## jonnybutter (Jul 22, 2021)

kgdrum said:


> @jonnybutter @Sarah Mancuso
> As people that have used various guitar libraries my question to both of you and any other users that want to chime in.
> I have the Orange Tree libraries and a few of the Shreddage libraries,I like them for lead type of playing and never seem to have the skill, time or patience to get good rhythm guitar tracks. I’ve heard great things about the Ample Sound guitar libraries especially in the rhythm department.
> But seeing your comments I’m leery of buying another great sounding guitar library that I can’t get good rhythm guitar tracks created with it (I was thinking about the Ample Strat) but I already have the Strat’s from OT and ImpactSound. Will the AmpleSound Strat be any easier to get convincing rhythm guitar tracks from than the OT or the Shreddage Strat?
> ...


Other people love Amplesound, so don’t take my word for it. That’s just my experience. I find the chord recognition to be sluggish compared to some other VIs. And I don’t like the quantized patterns. But everything depends on many factors, so..YMMV


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## Rudianos (Jul 22, 2021)

Ample gets a win from me in customer service. Bought the full bundle 26 days ago. Messaged them about new sale price. Without hesitation, they credited 20%. Anyways I dont think Yahoo emails get through to China, used Gmail instead. They may be open to feedback in playability. But since I got 20% better digging in to slides last night, ill keep plucking. Might need foot pedals afterall!


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## zwhita (Jul 22, 2021)

sumskilz said:


> The most likely reason it's not working some of the time, is because you're attempting impossible slides. The two notes need to be on the same string.


To clarify, I mean if I press the exact same key sequence over and over again, sometimes it works the first few times, then stops working. Then I switch to a different key combination and the cycle repeats.


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## Tremendouz (Jul 22, 2021)

zwhita said:


> To clarify, I mean if I press the exact same key sequence over and over again, sometimes it works the first few times, then stops working. Then I switch to a different key combination and the cycle repeats.


Are you sure the hand position isn't moving? If the legato keyswitch is a high velocity note, the slide will move the hand position.

Let's say you do a 4 fret slide up on the lowest string, from note X to Y. Now the hand position has moved up 4 frets. If you now repeat the same slide, it will probably use the 2nd lowest string instead of the lowest to play the slide between X and Y because the hand position isn't the same as it originally was.

Sometimes this leads to a situation where the hand moves up (or down) so much that there isn't enough room to do the slide because the destination note would be on a higher or lower string than the first note.

If you don't want the hand position to be moved by the slide, use a low velocity keyswitch. However if a note is beyond the "reach" of the hand (eg. a high note that can only be played by moving the hand up), the hand position will move up when said note is played.

Basically, unlike some other guitars like OTS which has emulated slides (I'm assuming since they sound a bit like hammer-ons chained together), you can't do "impossible" slides with Ample guitars. That means you have to pay attention to the hand position.


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## zwhita (Jul 22, 2021)

Thanks for the advice. Can't say I approve of that limitation. It's not like a good guitar player couldn't quickly put his fretting hand back where it was to play the same slide again a second later. They shouldn't get to charge that much for software, then say, "Sorry you can't play that note right now, it's not allowed."
I noticed the reverb uses far too much CPU when just sitting idle, so it always gets disabled.


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## Tremendouz (Jul 22, 2021)

zwhita said:


> It's not like a good guitar player couldn't quickly put his fretting hand back where it was to play the same slide again a second later.


Oh, you absolutely can. As said, using a low velocity keyswitch will keep the hand position intact while high velocity keyswitch will cause the hand to move.

That said, I can't play keys so I'm always programming my guitars which is probably the best way to get a realistic performance since you can be more precise with the keyswitching. Live playing will often sound more like a keyboard with guitar sound than a guitar performance unless you're very very skilled.


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## Rudianos (Jul 22, 2021)

Huge Sales for Prominey at Best Service ... Sign up for Newletter ... how do these compare? https://www.bestservice.com/deals/prominy_summer_sale_up_to_50_off_3411.html


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## zwhita (Jul 22, 2021)

Tremendouz said:


> Oh, you absolutely can. As said, using a low velocity keyswitch will keep the hand position intact while high velocity keyswitch will cause the hand to move.


Ok, thanks I'll keep trying.
I did notice another problem in AGT though. With 'Automatic Hammer On and Pull Off' mode enabled, after a pull-off triggers, the tone of the guitar changes so it suddenly sounds like a low-velocity triggered note, regardless of played velocity, for subsequently played notes. It continues to play this "softer" tone for some random number of seconds, maybe 10 seconds or more, then suddenly switches back to the full dynamic-layer range. Haven't tried this mode in the other vi's yet.


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## Rudianos (Jul 24, 2021)

Put together this Over the Rainbow track and I need more guitar knowing people to gently help me make this more legit with constructive commentary ... Im just a guy at a keyboard. Noob to VI. Oboe player primarily, so never a cool guitar kid... Anyways I am thinking making the Ukelele a little more rough and unpredictable and add some Pedal Steel embellishments? I have to admit I did cut and paste each repeated Uke chord after recording 1 of each. Not cool? Using Impact Soundworks Pedal Steel on Ample Sounds Ukulele and 8Dio Steel Drum. Thanks for listening.


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## Braveheart (Jul 24, 2021)

MusicLab has a sale on their guitars. Trying the demo of RealGuitar 5. It seems quite easy to do strumming, but I can't figure out how to export the midi to be playable with another VI like a guitar from OTS. When I try to export the pattern, I hear nothing.


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## dzilizzi (Jul 25, 2021)

Braveheart said:


> MusicLab has a sale on their guitars. Trying the demo of RealGuitar 5. It seems quite easy to do strumming, but I can't figure out how to export the midi to be playable with another VI like a guitar from OTS. When I try to export the pattern, I hear nothing.


You have to match up the keyswitches. Exporting the midi exports the keyswitches as well. if they don't match, they won't work.


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## Dex (Jul 26, 2021)

zwhita said:


> Thanks for the advice. Can't say I approve of that limitation. It's not like a good guitar player couldn't quickly put his fretting hand back where it was to play the same slide again a second later. They shouldn't get to charge that much for software, then say, "Sorry you can't play that note right now, it's not allowed."
> I noticed the reverb uses far too much CPU when just sitting idle, so it always gets disabled.


You can put the command to move the hand to the correct position right before the legato slide key switch, just to be sure.

Personally, I hate managing the hand position in the Ample guitars (and I hate that it never resets unless you tell it to explicitly), so instead I always use them in midi guitar mode, where the midi channel of the notes tells the guitar what string to play them on.


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## Rudianos (Jul 30, 2021)

Finally figured out how to bind Pitch bend to my Touche SE outside of Lie app. Im so daft! Guitar here we come!!! ... Hey another great Library that I am having a blast with is Indiginus The Resonator ... What I like are the visuals on Velocity - can really fine tune a human performance with all the special effects. Best Dobro out there IMO.


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## Wally Garten (Jul 30, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> Finally figured out how to bind Pitch bend to my Touche SE outside of Lie app.


How did you do it? Is it fairly straightforward? I find Lie cumbersome and would love other options.


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## Rudianos (Jul 30, 2021)

Wally Garten said:


> How did you do it? Is it fairly straightforward? I find Lie cumbersome and would love other options.


Yes. Here are step by step. 1. Open Lie. 2. Click Menu in upper left. 3. Select Touche or Touche SE depending on model. 4. MIDI Setup. 5. Here you can select the options you like for external MIDI channels on your 4 main axis. 5. In upper right select toggle pitch bend. 6. Save setup. Now it activates the side to side snap back movement for pitch bend in all instruments without Lie. And for me CC 1 and 2 are on the primary forward backwards. It feels fantastic because you can be subtle and use pitch bend and vibrato etc in varying degrees separate or together.


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## Wally Garten (Jul 30, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> Yes. Here are step by step. 1. Open Lie. 2. Click Menu in upper left. 3. Select Touche or Touche SE depending on model. 4. MIDI Setup. 5. Here you can select the options you like for external MIDI channels on your 4 main axis. 5. In upper right select toggle pitch bend. 6. Save setup. Now it activates the side to side snap back movement for pitch bend in all instruments without Lie. And for me CC 1 and 2 are on the primary forward backwards. It feels fantastic because you can be subtle and use pitch bend and vibrato etc in varying degrees separate or together.


Wow! Thanks so much. This is extremely helpful!


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## Markrs (Aug 1, 2021)

Great look at a huge selection of virtual guitar by Ruben (3 hours long)


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## zwhita (Aug 1, 2021)

Was that question posed for the live-stream viewers or himself? I'm sure he'll be keeping his darling Amplesound electrics. It needs more than 2 OTS examples. Does Stratus really suck that bad? I haven't used it much yet.


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## Markrs (Aug 1, 2021)

zwhita said:


> Was that question posed for the live-stream viewers or himself? I'm sure he'll be keeping his darling Amplesound electrics. It needs more than 2 OTS examples. Does Stratus really suck that bad? I haven't used it much yet.


I believe he owns only 2 electric OTS as he is doesn't like them as much as Ample Sounds as Music Lab guitars. I think he has all the OTS acoustic though, which Ruben rates.


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## moon (Aug 1, 2021)

Markrs said:


> Great look at a huge selection of virtual guitar by Ruben (3 hours long)



Watching him play the OTS guitars is just infuriating...


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## SoundProps (Dec 2, 2021)

Good day everyone.
My name is Oscar Chamorro, and I'm one of the developers at SoundProps.








Soundprops


Kontakt Virtual Library



soundprops.com





We are no big company, in fact we are just two people doing all the stuff here, but I can assure you that the quality of our products is on par with other known companies making virtual guitars, both in sound quality and playability.

I'd like to encourage you to try our Direct SG model and judge for yourself. 
https://soundprops.com/guitar-series-direct-sg/
If you like this model, you can expect to find the same quality in the rest of the guitar collection.

For further information please visit our store








Electric Guitars


Guitar Series Direct SG Guitar Series vol.1 Guitar Series vol.2 Guitar Series vol.3 Guitar Series vol.4 Guitar Series Complete Bundle



soundprops.com




or if you have questions, you can write us an e-mail to
[email protected]

All the best. 
SP Team.


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## Markrs (Dec 2, 2021)

SoundProps said:


> Good day everyone.
> My name is Oscar Chamorro, and I'm one of the developers at SoundProps.
> 
> 
> ...


Welcome to VI-C! Your sale looks good with 13 guitar for €184. I will have an explore through your video demos


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## SoundProps (Dec 2, 2021)

Thanks you Marks for your welcoming 
I hope you enjoy your exploration through our demos.
Regards.


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## SoundProps (Dec 2, 2021)

Markrs said:


> Welcome to VI-C! Your sale looks good with 13 guitar for €184. I will have an explore through your video demos


Thanks again for adding us to the poll of preferred guitar libraries 
Would you mind correcting the little misspell in our company name?
It is SoundProps actually, instead of SoundPOPS.

Have a good day!


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## Markrs (Dec 2, 2021)

SoundProps said:


> Thanks again for adding us to the poll of preferred guitar libraries
> Would you mind correcting the little misspell in our company name?
> It is SoundProps actually, instead of SoundPOPS.
> 
> Have a good day!


No problems, I can't delete a poll entry but added it underneath.


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## SoundProps (Dec 2, 2021)

Thanks Marks. 
Much appreciated


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## Rudianos (Dec 2, 2021)

https://www.amplesound.net/en/index.asp By the way Ample sounds has sale - and new versions on 5 guitars. Some improvements including the Vibrato. That had been a concern with some before.


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## Rudianos (Dec 2, 2021)

SoundProps said:


> Good day everyone.
> My name is Oscar Chamorro, and I'm one of the developers at SoundProps.
> 
> 
> ...


Your Demos on Youtube sounds great and I love the way you but a pristine image of the guitar! Sure have a lot of articulations!


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## SoundProps (Dec 3, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> Your Demos on Youtube sounds great and I love the way you but a pristine image of the guitar! Sure have a lot of articulations!


Hi Rudianos, 
Thanks for your comments!
We are happy to hear that you liked our demos, and the pristine look of the guitars in the UI.

Regards


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## fearez (Dec 3, 2021)

Rudianos said:


> Your Demos on Youtube sounds great and I love the way you but a pristine image of the guitar! Sure have a lot of articulations!


I use them for my TV scores and they are great and works perfect inside the score, thank you! ❤️


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## fearez (Dec 3, 2021)

SoundProps said:


> Good day everyone.
> My name is Oscar Chamorro, and I'm one of the developers at SoundProps.
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you for your sounds, I make music for Spanish TV series, I use them all ways in my scores, very realistic and useful sounds.👍


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## SoundProps (Dec 3, 2021)

fearez said:


> Thank you for your sounds, I make music for Spanish TV series, I use them all ways in my scores, very realistic and useful sounds.👍


Hi Fearez,
Thank YOU for the good comments.
We are really glad to know that you like our guitars 

Would you mind telling us the name of the TV series you are writing your music for?

We would LOVE to hear how our guitars sound like in an actual TV score.

Regards


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## fearez (Dec 3, 2021)

SoundProps said:


> Hi Fearez,
> Thank YOU for the good comments.
> We are really glad to know that you like our guitars
> 
> ...


"Cuentame como paso" 
I have the honor to compose the score for this TV series since 10 years ago, it is one of the most relevant TV series from spain, with many awards, so I am a lucky composer as I can compose music for it. And soundprop guitars is one of my favorite sounds, very useful, I need to have sounds that make easier my work when you have to compose 30 minutes of music each week, and this is one of those.


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## SoundProps (Dec 4, 2021)

fearez said:


> "Cuentame como paso"
> I have the honor to compose the score for this TV series since 10 years ago, it is one of the most relevant TV series from spain, with many awards, so I am a lucky composer as I can compose music for it. And soundprop guitars is one of my favorite sounds, very useful, I need to have sounds that make easier my work when you have to compose 30 minutes of music each week, and this is one of those.


Awesome! 
Congrats for your position as a composer in such a good tv series.
We feel proud to know that you use our guitars so frequently in your workflow.
I will watch the series to see if I'm able to recognize our guitars in your tracks.
Thanks for letting us know.

All the best.
SP Team


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## fearez (Dec 4, 2021)

SoundProps said:


> Awesome!
> Congrats for your position as a composer in such a good tv series.
> We feel proud to know that you use our guitars so frequently in your workflow.
> I will watch the series to see if I'm able to recognize our guitars in your tracks.
> ...


Soon I will open my new homepage, there will be a few of the music I do, some orchestral, some more instrumental acoustic and electric, and I will tell you which ones are made with your guitars, thanks for doing great sounds.


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