MusicRadar

GR4 comes with both new amps and effects.

View in gallery

• Review

Guitar amp modelling has come a long way since Native Instruments released Guitar Rig 3 in 2007. IK Multimedia in particular has impressed, with its AmpliTube Fender setting new benchmarks in authenticity, proving just how far software can go towards recreating the indescribable vibrancy and responsiveness of a genuine valve amplifier.

This level of authenticity, sadly, is something that's been slightly lacking in Native Instruments' offering. Guitar Rig's trump card, though, has always been its flexibility, with the previous versions offering a far broader range of tonal options than its contemporaries.

True to expectations, v4 is packed with new features - but have NI made a concerted effort to improve its tone?

There are a number of bundles available, the top-of-the-range one being Guitar Rig Kontrol (£351), which includes the Guitar Rig 4 Pro software along with the Rig Kontrol hardware (a foot controller and audio interface all in one). While we also tested GR4 Pro with a Rig Kontrol unit, the hardware hasn't changed since we reviewed GR3, so our review here is essentially of the software-only edition, as reflected in the price quoted.

Amps

Guitar Rig 4 Pro's headline act is its trio of new amp models: Hot Plex, Cool Plex and Jump. The Hot and Cool Plex are two variations on the classic Marshall Plexi-type sound (still on offer as the Plex model).

Hot Plex is a slightly higher gain amp, which also seems richer in harmonics compared to the original Plex. Setting the volume controls low offers just-breaking-up tones that sound far hotter and more 'loaded' than the standard Plex, whereas cranking the gain yields that extreme, vintage tube sag-style drive favoured by players like Jack White.

Cool Plex goes the other way, offering crystal clean sounds, but with more saturation. The tones you can wring out of the model really do sparkle compared to those of its antecedent, but still retain the classic Plexi sound, being thick and full rather than harsh or twangy.

"Guitar Rig 4 Pro's headline act is its trio of new amp models: Hot Plex, Cool Plex and Jump."

Finally, we come to Jump - our favourite of the new models. Jump is a lower gain version of the Lead 800 (the Lead 800, of course, being modelled on Marshall's rock mainstay JCM800), which really comes into its own for clean tones. In fact, Jump is the first of GR's models that can really deliver the kind of chest-thumping punch and body of a clean valve amp - a quality sadly lacking in the Twang Reverb model (based on Fender's Twin Reverb combo that, in the flesh, is one of the hardest-hitting amps you'll ever hear).