Until just a few years ago it was very hard (if not impossible) to get a decent guitar sound without miking a real amp. But things are different now – guitar amp sims are getting closer and closer to perfection and many talented developers are releasing amazingly accurate sounding virtual guitar amps as freeware plugins! The list below is split in two parts – the main section with my favorite plugins and the bonus section which features some older or more peculiar plugins which are still pretty cool and definitely worth checking out. IMPORTANT: Please keep in mind that some of the amp sims listed below come without built-in cab sims. That is like listening to a guitar straight through the amp, without using a cabinet.

Download free Amp Simulator VST,VSTi,AU,RTAS music software plugins. Guitar amp 2 free edition is a virtual rack of effects and amplier for guitar and bass,.

Which is actually a good thing, since it gives you the opportunity to use your favorite virtual guitar amp with your favorite cabinet. I will soon be publishing a list of free guitar cab sims and IR loaders.

Until then, I advise you to install or (both are zero latency and work well for tracking and live performances) and pair them up with the IRs listed in BPB’s round-up of the best. Place the cabinet emulation after your virtual guitar amp and jam away! Follow the links for screenshots & download info: • by Nick Crow (Windows) • by Kuassa Amplifikation (Mac, Windows) • by Audiffex (Mac, Windows) • by IK Multimedia (Mac, Windows) • by Voxengo (Windows) • by Ndzeit (Windows) • by Audio Assault (Mac, Windows) • by Plektron (Windows) • by Native Instruments (Mac, Windows) • by BTE Audio (Windows) • by Poulin Amplification (Mac, Windows) • by Mokafix (Windows) • by Ignite Amps (Mac, Windows) • by SimulAnalog (Windows) • by TSE Audio (Windows) Extended list:,,,,,,,,. HyBrit and SoloC are my two favorite Poulin Amplification plugins, but pretty much everything in the LePou Plugins series sounds absolutely amazing! That’s why I’ve simply included them all in the list and I recommend you to try them all. Definitely among the best free amp sims out there! Anyone serious about grabbing a good free guitar amp simulator should also visit this blog: The guy is a guitar nut (in the good sense) and has demos of what most of the amp sims sound like.

He also has some of the older free versions which don’t seem to be available elsewhere (ie. Acmebargig which seems to have vanished). Personally, my favourite amp sim at the moment is the wagner aharp from Nick Crow It doesn’t have the nicest looking interface but to me it sounds great. I found the lecab sounds good but it is too CPU intensive (for my machine) when I have multiple instances of it so I use reverberate LE instead. You have to tweak the settings with the IR’s but you can make it sound good if you do.

Hello, Great article, just a few comments. Overloud’s TH3 really should have been added your Paid Recommendations listing.

TH3 is not just “for fans of guitar-heavy sound’s”. Th3 does equally well for clean, jazz, blues and so on. Note: I own most of the ones mentioned, and have tried Fractal, Eleven Rack and Helix, which I bought and then returned – and have always kept coming back to TH3. I am now just “staying there”. Lastly, any idea why Scuffham’s S-Gear was not mentioned? At the very least, this sim earns an “honourable mention”? Dlya portfolio semejnoe derevo 18.