How do i get a good guitar tone in a home studio?

[OskarF]

Hey yall!

I find it hard to get a good answer by googling and it's a pretty intimidating subject to get into and start learning about, just because there is so much information out there.

In my home studio all i have is a sound card (focusrite 2i4) that i plug directly into. I use BIAS software - don't remember exactly which one right now. The amount of space i have is also pretty limited so i don't really have the option to mic up an amplifier.

But to my question: is this all i need to get a good professional sounding guitar tone? I know there is additional external equipment you can use but i have no idea what to look for or if it's even needed.

 

[Filip Tomiša]

Plug your guitar into your interface, open your daw (digital audio workstation) if you have one and then open bias in your daw (not sure if you have bias fx, bias amp or bias pedal) and then select the correct input in your daw and then you should get a signal. After that try a bunch of presets on bias and you should get a good tone. Bias has a lot of great presets from famous artists and from community members so you just have to find the one that you like.

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

I have watched quite a few videos on this from guys who are very knowledgeable. What I understand is, you can get pretty decent software to generate great guitar tones ( like amp simulators, cab simulators for free etc). But if the guitar itself is not good enough, then even the best software cannot save the day. And so far, I am experiencing it first hand. My simulators are satisfactory but my actual guitar has very old rusty pickups, so I am facing problems getting clean tight tones. Its just my opinion though.

 

[Ezequiel Romanko]

Its important to have really good pick ups, they make a really huge difference from the generic ones, search in google any pickups you like vs the generic pickups and you'll see what im talking about. Theres a video of a guy comparing the generic ibanez vs seymour dunca invader pickups, watch it

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Moving this to the proper forum category

 

[Ed Seith]

So, yeah, what Filip said. There are a LOT of different software-based amp emulation tools out there. Bias is one, Amplitube is another, and there's also a GTR 3.5 from Waves, which I believe also has a free PLAYER version that has reduced functionality but can still be effective. Of these, Bias is probably the best, but also the most expensive.

You can open the application and dial in your guitar tone there, building it like you would on a real amp, save it, and then open it as a plug-in in your DAW - it will sound exactly the same.