Help me decide which is the best electric guitar library for mostly heavy rhythm stuff while also suitable for leads.

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So I've gathered all my VI electric guitar decisions and am asking for help deciding which one is the best for me. I apologize in advance if I sound like I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to virtual guitars, I am a newbie to the subgenre. Please forgive me. Obviously a sampled guitar can't replace a real guitar but the thing is, I can't play real guitar, let alone afford one.

Lack of an amp sim is not a con as Tonelib GTX takes care of that.

Shreddage 1:
PROS:
- Really good for heavy rhythm stuff
- You get a free amp sim with it
- Only $60
- Works with SFZ
- Drop Ab tuning
- 8x round robins to reduce the "machine gun" effect
CONS:
- Amp sim is a little outdated, not sure if I can still get the discount to upgrade
- SFZ and Kontakt version have different functionalities, the latter requiring a $400 sampler
- Only goes up to B4 (Not B6 as listed on their site, FL studio lettering is a bit misleading, I have Cubase)

Shreddage 3 Serpent:
PROS:
- Good price
- Built in FX
- Works with Kontakt Player
- Drop A tuning
- 7-string guitar
- Well-rounded tone
- Prerecorded power chords
CONS:
- FX sound kinda fake, but can be bypassed
- Thin for leads

Ample Metal Eclipse
PROS:
- Cheaper than Shreddage
- Standalone and VST, requires no sampler
- Built-in pedals
- Riffer which allows you to create patterns
CONS:
- No prerecorded power chords
- Tuning is drop C and I'm debating if that'll be good enough
- Can sound a little machine-gunny

The Odin II
PROS:
- Lotsa round robins
- Sounds great
- Drop Q tuning (Reference to Rob Scallon, can be tuned really low)
- Neat interface
CONS:
- Kinda pricey

RealEight
PROS:
- 8 string
- Nicely priced
- Has a great sound
CONS:
- Machine-gunny

METAL-GTX
PROS:
- FREE!!!
- Works with SFZ
- Many round-robins and articulations
- Neat tone
CONS:
- Is it even viable?
- Kinda machine-gunny
- Info is in Japanese
- Beggars can't be choosers


This is all based off of info I heard around.

Willing to spend no more than $160 (excluding tax). So Prominy, Orange Tree Samples, Electri6ity, and anything that requires the full version of Kontakt is out of the question.

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Take a look at Strum GS-2.

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Yes, take a look at Strum GS-2.

And IronAxe also.

I don't use any sample for guitars. Exclusively these two physically modeled synthesis instruments. And they are both awesome, with an incredible quality, without having to purchase always new samples to change the guitar... and without having to store hundreds of Gigabytes on the hard disk. Everything is done with just a few Megabytes and with a much better reactivity than with samples due to the very small RAM used (RAM hence saved for other instruments).

With the physical modelling:
  • you save tons of Gigabytes on your hard disk (you could even put all the complete plugin on an USB stick!) 'cause everything is done with just a few Megabytes.
  • you save your RAM for all the others instruments and effects of your score.
  • you get many other realistic effects that you will never get with samples (as the interactions between neighbor strings, tweaks on the body, tweaks on the neck, tweaks on the head, tweaks on your hammer-on and pull-off behaviors, tweaks on each magnet of each pickup, tweaks on the strings themselves, etc.), you can even make your own weird guitar, transform it to a sitar, a koto or any plucked strings instrument...
  • you have all the 127 levels of velocity at your finger for each note (how many do you have with samples, hmm? :wink: )
  • and you save your money! Hundreds dollars spent samplesets after samplesets... replaced by the lonely price of a single plugin!
I use Strum GS-2 and I make almost everything with it. Tons of different guitars!... + the ability to create mines!

And I occasionally use IronAxe, not because something would be lacking in Strum GS-2... but simply because I had IronAxe before Strum GS-2 and i still like to play with it sometimes. But in fact you can make everything with Strum GS-2 and can reproduce any type or model of guitar.

Listen to the demos and watch the tutorials...

AAS Strum GS-2 acoustic and electric guitar plug-in VST AU AAX RTAS

Note: there is a 50% deal several times per year.

There are some additional presetbanks, interesting models made by some excellent and very known sound-designers if you don't think that you can create them yourself. And note that each year almost every AAS customer is invited to get any AAS presetbank for free at the beginning of the year.

Honestly, you have everything to gain by taking an interest in the physical modelling for the guitars.

I can't finish without adding that the support service at AAS is one of the most reactive and the kindest ever!
Build your life everyday as if you would live for a thousand years. Marvel at the Life everyday as if you would die tomorrow.
I'm now severely diseased since September 2018.

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There are other instruments where the physically modeled synthesis remains very poor face to the sample-based synthesis (bowed strings instruments, winds...) or at prices again way too high for my wallet, then for these instruments I keep on using the sample-based synthesis. But definitively no longer for plucked strings instruments.
Build your life everyday as if you would live for a thousand years. Marvel at the Life everyday as if you would die tomorrow.
I'm now severely diseased since September 2018.

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yellowmix wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:55 am Take a look at Strum GS-2.
BlackWinny wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 12:09 pm Yes, take a look at Strum GS-2.

And IronAxe also.
Thanks for the suggestions. Strum GS-2 is kinda pricey though but it's a neat plugin, however I don't think I'll be using the acoustic guitars anytime soon.

And Iron Axe is more like a DIY Stratocaster plugin which is cool, but I'm unsure if it's good for heavy metal, and it's 32 bit so I'll need a plugin bridge.

Thanks anyways.

EDIT: Seems there's "sound packs" for Strum GS-2 that are kinda like DLC. I think I'll pass for now.

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AAS sales can bring the price down considerably, especially if you get one of the Session versions for cheap. I suggested it also due to the breadth you are demanding, which you can reach yourself by changing parameters under the hood. Sample-based libraries are obviously limited in breadth.

Also, a lot of electric guitar tone is due to the processing chain and amp/cab after it. There's a wide range of styles in the factory presets to get you going for a wide variety of guitar types. I usually turn off its internal effects and put my 3rd party processing chain and cab IRs after it. I pretty much do the same to Orange Tree as well. If you're not familiar with guitars and processing and rely on presets then yeah, this wouldn't necessarily be the best path for you. I still encourage you to try the demo and see if you like what you hear.

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yellowmix wrote: Fri Sep 20, 2019 9:49 pm AAS sales can bring the price down considerably, especially if you get one of the Session versions for cheap. I suggested it also due to the breadth you are demanding, which you can reach yourself by changing parameters under the hood. Sample-based libraries are obviously limited in breadth.
I took a listen to Strum GS-2, and while it does sound nice, and definitely not like a guitar being played with a keyboard, it doesn't sound... real. Sounds kinda like a synthesizer made to emulate a guitar sound (kinda what it is), instead of an actual guitar. This might not matter with a electric guitar clean tone that's gonna go through post-processing, but for an acoustic guitar, doesn't sound like one I've ever heard.

So I think I'ma skip this one. Plus out of the price range I set.

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I'm confused. You're listing electric guitar products in the first post that are geared towards metal, ask for both "heavy" rhythm and lead tones, but you also want the same product to include an acoustic guitar?

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yellowmix wrote: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:43 pm but you also want the same product to include an acoustic guitar?
No, was just sharing my thoughts on GS-2.

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Hi there, I have RealEight and V-Metal. V-Metal is out of the price you mentioned - I got a special deal - and bought it then. So, to me V-Metal sounds better compared with R8, when sustained. (open chords etc.). As for tremolo picking R8 is much better. Did you tried the "humanize" funktion of R8? It is (beside the tremolo picking usability) the best feature, no other VI guitar has ...

Edit: Odin II have a humanizer to, I think ... did not try it

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