Guitar Amp Classics poor tone

Steinberg Hardware
#1

This is probably not solely connected to my 242, but that’s what I’m using:
Today I purchased and registered a UR242. I’ve heard many demos of this on YouTube and the Guitar Amp Classics sound really good on them - but when I play through mine it sounds really, really bad, like the cheapest of transistor amp distortions. Of course, I’m making sure that the gain is set just below peaking, and the clean amp sound fine. It’s the other three amps that sound terrible, and also the clean amp does when adding distortion.
Connecting to Cubase, the built-in Steinberg amp simulator sounds much better than those.
By the way, these amps sound the same whether used as DSP or VST.

So, is there something I’m doing wrong? I’m just playing through a good pair of Yamaha headphones or through powered speakers via the headphones out. I hope someone can suggest something because the Amp Classics are just unusable, though everything else seems to work fine.

#2

calling from 2018 … :laughing:
Sounds like there is no speaker emulator in the Guitar Amp Classics.
Try the VST Amp Rack after them in the inserts racks and bypass the head in the VST Amp Rack.
Select “No amplifier” and then you can use the speaker emulator in VST Amp Rack to filter out the nastiness.
I poked around with what’s in my UR824 and rediscovered the amp suite, and there are some useful sounds in there.
But a guitar amp without a speaker sounds like … fertilizers! :open_mouth: :laughing:

I had a Roland Guitar Processor in the 90s and it had a speaker thing as the last link of the chain.
Disable it when you run it through an amp and enable it for recording etc …
That’s probably why I happened to think of it almost immediately when I heard the sound of the Guitar Amp Classics.

Guitar Amp Classics also need some EQing and stuff so it’s probably best to save their setups as Track presets with other FX, EQ and stuff you need.

#3

After some more poking I arrived at the cabinets in the VST Amp Rack. Not bad … not bad at all.
You need to whip a bunch of misfits into obedience but after that you have a lot on new guitar tones.
Don’t overlook the cabinets !!! :sunglasses:

#4

I’m pretty sure the Guitar Amp Classics do include cabinet simulation. All of the demos in this video use only the Guitar Amp Classics plugin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hiNn9_ZztM

Are you sure everything is setup correctly?

#5

hehe, I actually saw that video earlier tonight.
Sounds like when you run a guitar through a Tascam PortaOne input circuits so hot it distorts. Don’t ask me how I know! :blush: :laughing:
And I know, Yamaha wouldn’t put their name on something they haven’t checked and double checked.
To say there is NO speaker emulator code in there is maybe wrong but the tone is a dead fuzz buzz no matter what Guitar Amp Classics unit I try.
Maybe I just stumbled across what I find to be the weakest link in the Guitar Amp Classics series?
Try removing the cabinets from some presets in VST Amp Rack and they start to sound like Guitar Amp Classics?

VST Amp Rack sounds fine in itself and I have Amplitube and GuitarRig which I paid extra for so if they don’t sound spectacular I would be pissed … but they do!!!
And Guitar Amp Classics is not … radio ready if you ask my ears.
But maybe I’m just strange ???

#6

Hi all

Kind of agree that I found the clean GAC ok, the crunch, average, the lead I just didn’t like and the other one(can’t remember what it’s called) I thought only the vintage settings were OK. I generally use guitar rig, though the Steiny guitar amps and cabs are pretty good too I think.

Best Regards, Dave

#7

The OP may have been plugging a guitar into the Line input and not the Hi-Z input…