Best software amps for jazz

[tjmicsak]

Looking for what is the best software plugin or stand alone for jazz guitar. I am debating on choosing between an Ox Box for a Mesa Mk series or going with a great sounding software option that works in real time as opposed to a vst something that revoices recorded tracks. Basically a modeler for windows 11 that has awesome jazz tones. A pedal to do the same is also an option.

[RyanM]

I think the Universal Audio amp pedals are better than any software.

[dconeill]

I haven't tried lots of software apps, but of those I've tried, I liked Scuffham S-Gear well enough to buy it. It has a couple of Fender emulations ("Custom 57" and "Wayfarer") that I use most of the time. It comes with both standalone and VST (DAW-snapin) variants. I continue to enjoy playing through it. I use a FocusRite Scarlett 2i2 version 3 as my audio input interface to Windows 11.

This app provides me with Fender-like sounds without a lot of effort. Some of the other manufacturers' offerings had a lot more adjustment available, but I wasn't looking for tweaking, I was looking for good sounds without much fuss.

Today (2023 11 16) the offered price was US$129. I think it goes on sale from time to time.

[Doug B]

UA Dream 65

[Spook410]

You can't do post processing quite so easily with a pedal..

[st.bede]

I am presently falling down this rabbit hole… I think an analog solution will work best for me: DSM simplifier mkII is what I think I am going to purchase next.

[tjmicsak]

I will also add that I would like something that can go direct to DAW AND/OR into an amp.
Hoping that Jazzmuse is still making the Brute EQ as that looks like a winner too.

Something that works into head cans or IEMs and still sounds like a good fat tone without having to move any air.

[tjmicsak]

To explain a bit more.
When I practice and learn I go through my computer. I can pull in any mp3 I wish and side track along to it.
I am trying to embark on learning some jazz and developing my understanding of the language.
I can start figuring out stuff in steps, as I have been playing many years of blues and rock, but what always happens is that I get distracted on not having THAT JAZZ tone.
My typical strings have been 10-46 rounds so the next thing I am setting out to do is get some 13s flats on an Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor. Meanwhile the amp sim is the second half of that formula.

[m_d]

I would look at the Amalgam Audio thread on the Gear Page and check out AA's YouTube channel - rock and blues demos only but tasteful. They are AI-generated sims that to me sound like they are in the league of the best modellers. I haven't tried them personally, I bought a couple of packs from them but still need to get an audio interface. Some packs run on Tonex and other pedals and some on a free piece of software that's available on Github.

[jorgemg1984]

The Helix Native is great, but it has a learning curve and it needs a few tricks to make it sound good for jazz. But it's a great modeler.

The only other one I tried was the Overloud, it has great IRs and a great Fender model.

[fep]

I'd get your feet wet with something free to see if software amps are truly something you'd use. Amplitube has a free version that is a vst and also has a stand alone app. If you try that, ignore the default settings and adjust like you would on a hardware amp. Then later you can go on a cork-sniffing journey if you so choose.

Here are a couple of examples I did of getting a jazz tone with Amplitube:

[wzpgsr]

For a clean straight-ahead jazz tone, you’re not going to find massive difference between any of the modern modelers or amp sims as long as they offer either a tweed or blackface Fender model. Speaking from experience, beware that paralysis from too many options for chasing the perfect tone is a real thing with modelers and can become quite a distraction.

[tjmicsak]

The second example on the Mesa is similar to what I am looking for, It has a bit more low end, but at the same time compared to the first example, it breathes dynamically much more.
I have a Vox Tonelab LE and can get tones like the first example, but to me they are missing that note bloom and punch, which is not only in the amount of bass, but in the overall character of great recorded jazz tones-that sense that the notes are a fuller 3 dimension and jumping out of the speaker. Its not just a sense of realism but almost a sense of punch to the notes that the second example has a bit more of that you don't sense in the first one.
To my ears it is a combination of the tone settings that puff up the notes and give them more body, but at the same time are balanced so that they are not at all muffled in character.
The minute someone says "punch" to a note the immediate reflex is to think of compression, but at the same time, compression can also steel away all the dynamics that I am looking for.
One might suggest that only a live speaker moving air would be what I am talking about, but there are many many recordings that actually capture that pulse of the notes that I just can't get out of the tonelab.

Here is a great example

There is a real substance to the notes as they bloom in my headphones.
Most modelers just dont seem to capture that physical audio fidelity dynamic. The two examples you made illustrate that perfectly.

[Jabberwocky]

Two Notes Opus.

[sm80808]

I will also add that I would like something that can go direct to DAW AND/OR into an amp.
Hoping that Jazzmuse is still making the Brute EQ as that looks like a winner too.

Something that works into head cans or IEMs and still sounds like a good fat tone without having to move any air.

Brute EQ into DAW with a cabinet IR is great.

[stevus]

As a plugin I am using Neural Cory Wong. Now with the Black Friday sale I also will buy the Neural Tone King. Both are great for clean jazz tones and pretty cheap now in the sale. I like these more than Amplitube, which I have too. The UA Dream 65 is great, if you prefer a pedal.