Scuffham Amps S-Gear v.2

[henge]

Originally Posted by johnnynash

Yep, I'm eqing on the inway as well, just makes it sound so much better, especially when switching guitars. This sim is the best so far!

It's funny, we bought Komplete a while ago and I never tried Guitar Rig that came with it. Put GR and Scuffham up side by side and the first thing that struck me was how drenched in fx gr is. Can't even hear the freakin guitar, just....AMBIENCE....
Scuffham has really nice delays that serve the tone instead of cover it up compared to GR. imo

[guavadude]

Originally Posted by henge

Right then! On a separate note, I'm definitley eqing on the way in from now on. Man does it smooth out the sound. My guitars have some annoying frequency humps and when those are removed the sim sounds even better to my ears. I'm sure guys are doing this but it's a new revelation for me!LOL
Wish I would've thought of this years ago!!
Excellent amp sim!

Have you ever considered changing the pickups?
I think a good pickup is the most important part of the signal chain.

[henge]

Originally Posted by guavadude

Have you ever considered changing the pickups?
I think a good pickup is the most important part of the signal chain.

Yes I have, but it's not at the top of the to do list right now! The pup's that came with the axe aren't the best and eqing on the way in really helps.
Funny, never had this problem with a real amp! Hmm.
My other guitar has the SD P Rails and even they benefitted from eq going into the S-Gear, so I would guess that a little eq on the way in certainly helps.

[DSK]

Originally Posted by henge

Funny, never had this problem with a real amp! Hmm.
My other guitar has the SD P Rails and even they benefitted from eq going into the S-Gear, so I would guess that a little eq on the way in certainly helps.

Hmm maybe this info could be of use to the guys that make S-Gear.

I think giving attention to any behaviour could bring them even one more step closer to achieving ITB amp sounds...

[elambo]

Originally Posted by DSK

Hmm maybe this info could be of use to the guys that make S-Gear.

I think giving attention to any behaviour could bring them even one more step closer to achieving ITB amp sounds...

It sounds like the issue lies within the pickups, not the software, which is stellar with most guitars. Mediocre pickups have a tendency to show their faded colors more noticeably through a computer and studio monitors than through a real amp and cabinet. That's been true for every guitar software I've ever used, and for every mediocre guitar. Scuffham, being especially articulate, might make dull signals more noticeable. I'd hate for them to dumb down the software to compensate. The fix, as mentioned above, is to eq the signal going in, or to upgrade the pickups.

[guavadude]

it sounds great with all my guitars except the newest one with the stock pickups, which I'm replacing this week. I'm a big fan of Duncan Antiquities, mostly because of Alnico II magnets which are a little smoother sounding and also because they are very lightly wax potted, so they sound "alive". Although the demo I attached previously used mostly the JB pickup which is neither of those so it varies.

I never eq on the way in. I might add an eq plug but I wouldn't want to lock myself down when tracking.

[henge]

Originally Posted by elambo

It sounds like the issue lies within the pickups, not the software, which is stellar with most guitars. Mediocre pickups have a tendency to show their faded colors more noticeably through a computer and studio monitors than through a real amp and cabinet. That's been true for every guitar software I've ever used, and for every mediocre guitar. Scuffham, being especially articulate, might make dull signals more noticeable. I'd hate for them to dumb down the software to compensate. The fix, as mentioned above, is to eq the signal going in, or to upgrade the pickups.

Totally agree. Lollar's or whatever great pup would probably not need eqing on the way in.
But as elambo states mediocre pup's seem to benefit from eqing. Makes sense.

[Night Stalker]

If your into really heavy high gain then perhaps look elsewhere, but boy oh boy, gotta try this for all other settings......amazing and so much fun to play...

[javahut]

Originally Posted by Night Stalker

If your into really heavy high gain then perhaps look elsewhere, but boy oh boy, gotta try this for all other settings......amazing and so much fun to play...

Yep. I personally felt Kuassa couldn't hold a candle to Scuffham when I first demoed them a year or so ago. Wasn't close IMHO.

[skiltrip]

One of the biggest advantages I have found with S-Gear over other amp sims, is I finally feel comfortable committing to a sound (and bouncing/rendering) pretty quickly. Because it is easy to get the sound you're looking for, and when you get your tone dialed, it really does satisfy.

With other amp sims, I never truly loved the sound, and I was endlessly tweaking and could never commit.

My CPU thanks you Scuffham!

[grabovsky]

very true

[skiltrip]

4 days left on the demo and I made the purchase. This thing really is fantastic. Really hoping the Mac VST gets released soon too!

[Dave Polich]

I didn't want to try Scuffham because I was afraid it would blow away my
Amplitube 3 collections (I have all of them). Finally I took the plunge, downloaded the demo, and within 5 minutes of trying it I bought it.

And yes, I think it might be the best amp simulator on the market.

I tried the "high-gain" presets - I disagree that it doesn't do high-gain well.
The "Pleximonster" preset was perfect for a demo of Pat Benatar's "Promises
in the Dark" which I recorded for my Pat Benatar tribute band. It sounded like
a bitchin' Marshall recorded with great mics and mic preamps!

[mtalavera]

Originally Posted by Dave Polich

I didn't want to try Scuffham because I was afraid it would blow away my
Amplitube 3 collections (I have all of them). Finally I took the plunge, downloaded the demo, and within 5 minutes of trying it I bought it.

And yes, I think it might be the best amp simulator on the market.

I tried the "high-gain" presets - I disagree that it doesn't do high-gain well.
The "Pleximonster" preset was perfect for a demo of Pat Benatar's "Promises
in the Dark" which I recorded for my Pat Benatar tribute band. It sounded like
a bitchin' Marshall recorded with great mics and mic preamps!

I too hesitated because of the same reason. I read a post, maybe earlier in this thread, that suggested using the pedal and rack effects of Amplitube and turning off the amp head and cab sections. This was a great suggestion, and I bought S-Gear after one day of demoing. I have found the compressors and fuzz pedals in Amplitube to be really good. I even went as far as to buy the full Redwirz collection and use their IR plugin. I have a heavenly signal path now of Amplitube with bypassed head and cab section, S-Gear 2.0 with bypassed cab section, then Redwirz MixIR2.

[javahut]

Originally Posted by mtalavera

I too hesitated because of the same reason. I read a post, maybe earlier in this thread, that suggested using the pedal and rack effects of Amplitube and turning off the amp head and cab sections. This was a great suggestion, and I bought S-Gear after one day of demoing. I have found the compressors and fuzz pedals in Amplitube to be really good. I even went as far as to buy the full Redwirz collection and use their IR plugin. I have a heavenly signal path now of Amplitube with bypassed head and cab section, S-Gear 2.0 with bypassed cab section, then Redwirz MixIR2.

Sounds like a great signal path!

I'm doing the same thing, minus the Amplitube. Been using the Vertigo VSC-2 into S-Gear for compression. Sounds killer! Next I'm gonna try my fairly massive pedal board as an input to AD conversion, then into S-Gear, instead of the software compression. Gotta make sure to keep the levels down.

Also, be sure and try the Redwirez impedance curves before the speaker sims in mixIR2. Makes a HUGE difference to me. Blend in room, ambient, different mics and distances, all phase compensated... killer ITB tones!

[PapaSon]

First I'm hearing of this software, and I'm interested. Any comparisons to Guitar Rig 5?

[markham]

Originally Posted by PapaSon

First I'm hearing of this software, and I'm interested. Any comparisons to Guitar Rig 5?

Best idea is just to download the S-Gear demo and give it a whirl. I've found it's pretty easy to get good tones fairly quickly.

[johnnynash]

Originally Posted by PapaSon

First I'm hearing of this software, and I'm interested. Any comparisons to Guitar Rig 5?

I've been playing Marshall amps for 30+ years and more recently Bogner Shiva, I've tried every ampsim out there and I tell you, S-Gear is the one that gets closest to the sound AND feel of a tubeamp. Very happy with it indeed! Give it a spin and you'll know!

[elambo]

Software amp sims is a subject which typically gets crushed on internet forums. Many will pounce on each and every attempt to emulate a tube amp on principle alone. Others will listen but never truly give it a chance.

For that reason, the fact that Scuffham has received so many compliments and so few sour grapes says more good than the posts reveal. Just steering clear of all the obligatory hate is an accomplishment on its own.

[PACHAMAMA]

Muy mono mt3 by Lutaluggren on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

[AndrewSimon]

I am a big fan!

Simple...... Les-Paul + S-Gear + Reverb
Gain variations are from picking soft and hard.
www.andras-shimon.com/S-Gear/AS_Marshall.mp3

[Mike Scuffham]

Hi folks!

S-Gear MAC VST3

I just want to let the people here know that S-Gear is now available as a VST on the MAC. It's a VST3, so you will need a recent build of Cubase or Nuendo, and it is still at Beta status - but I believe that it is quite solid.

I'm currently working on reverb rack device. Protools support is also in the pipeline for release this year.

Cheers,
Mike.

[feck]

Awesome news Mike! Thanks. Psyched to finally be able to use this in Nuendo.

[Den]

Great amps software.
Just purchased and great support!
Thank you for this great software Mike.

[.walktothewater.]

too many positive quotes to quote on this one.
Wow's all I have to say. The best and most musical amp sim I've used to date.
trying other instruments through it as well really separates this company from others. Chances are, when running keys (i.e.) through an actual amp, a certain vibe along with the sound is obtained (that's why I do it, at least) and that really was never found using any amp sim-until know. My first demo experience was actually running a VSTi synth through S-Gear. I was sold then but after tracking my Tele through it, there really is no question.
Thanks Mike

[Min7sharp5]

Any updates available for when this brilliant program will be compatible for pro tools? Thanks very much in advance-I can't wait to dive in on a few new tracks where I think this will shine...

[.walktothewater.]

this one is so good, it'll be having me track in Logic and bounce audio to mix in PTs

[Min7sharp5]

Originally Posted by .walktothewater.

this one is so good, it'll be having me track in Logic and bounce audio to mix in PTs

I'm with you- I just am stuck to recording my tube amps now during available times of the day. I think I'm more excited about this then any recent other guitar-based product Looks like Mike indicated a week ago on their forums that he has made "significant progress" towards AAX... Hoping these bumps will maybe yield a more definitive answer than what I could personally uncover...

[.walktothewater.]

wrd. thanks for the knowledge

[DSK]

Originally Posted by .walktothewater.

too many positive quotes to quote on this one.
Wow's all I have to say. The best and most musical amp sim I've used to date.
trying other instruments through it as well really separates this company from others. Chances are, when running keys (i.e.) through an actual amp, a certain vibe along with the sound is obtained (that's why I do it, at least) and that really was never found using any amp sim-until know. My first demo experience was actually running a VSTi synth through S-Gear. I was sold then but after tracking my Tele through it, there really is no question.
Thanks Mike

+1

Exactly my experience. This is the first SW I found that actually emulates not "guitar sound" but amp + speaker sound.

I only demo-ed it with mostly instruments other than a guitar (go figure) and it was one of the few SW pieces I felt I was missing on (even a few months) after the demo expired.

Instead of trying to emulate great guitar sounds they went the hard way and created a suite of great signal processors ITB.

I don't have a lot of funds due to my location on this crazy planet... but when I do have resources I choose to support companies who take this stuff seriously and with passion like S-Gear does