Voltage Amps Guitar

Guitar Amp Bundle

User Guide
 Introduction
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Voltage Amps Guitar

Voltage Amps Guitar is a set of five iconic guitar amplifiers and cabinets. Each amp has its own distinct sound. The
controls for all five amps are the same, in position and values, so guitarists have a quick way to compare and
choose the right amp sound. Voltage Amps are quick and easy to use—that’s the whole point. Whether you’re a
seasoned guitarist, familiar with the intricacies of amps, or a novice who simply wants to find the right sound, right
now, Voltage Amps makes it easy. And it can be used by keyboardists who don’t play guitar at all.
The five amps are not modeled from specific hardware models, but rather are designed and categorized by styles of
music and often by decade. Amps range from giant lead sounds emblematic of the ‘70s to aggressive modern-
sounding amps. Each amp has three channels: Clean, Drive, and Lead.
Voltage Amps Guitar combines five amps in a single plugin, so you can choose an amp immediately, without loading
a new component, and without losing settings.
There are three Voltage Amps Guitar components: mono-to-mono, mono-to-stereo, and stereo.

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 Quick Start
More than likely, you’ll learn Voltage Amps Guitar by plugging in your guitar and turning knobs until you get a sound
you like. This will get you off to a good start, and it may be all you need. If, however, you’d like more order as you
get started, follow the steps below.

There are three different interrelated sections: amp select (top), preamp and EQ controls (middle), and cabinet
controls. Each section affects the overall sound, so adjustments to one section will invariably influence the other
sections. Since the controls are the same for each amp—in purpose and location—you can easily compare amps
while adjusting specific controls.

1. Load an amp. This choice defines the personality of the amp, around which other decisions are made.

2. Choose an amp channel (Clean, Drive, or Lead). This defines the attitude of the amp.

3. Adjust the focus. Focus is precisely what it sounds like: it optimizes the guitar’s DI signal, and lets you
control its tightness. It’s like having an assortment of pedals. Turn the knob until you find the sweet spot of the
guitar. You may need to readjust Focus when you change amps.

4. Set the gate. This eliminates unwanted input noise.

5. Adjust the EQ controls (Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, and Volume).

6. Adjust the cabinet. Select one of the matched cabinet pairs. Use Cab Tone to mix between the two cabinets.
Use Room to add early reflections to the cabinet.

Now, switch between amps or amp channels to hear how these settings will play in different combinations.

Everything is explained later in this manual.

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 Controls
Controls are identical on all Voltage Amps; only the look is different.

Input Level from Audio

Interface
Amplifier Select

Plugin Output Gain Control

Amp Channel Select

Noise Gate

Guitar Focus

EQ Controls

Master Section

Cabinet Controls

WaveSystem Toolbar

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 Controls
Input
Used to set the input level from the audio interface. Click the Lock icon to prevent the input setting
from changing when loading a preset. Control range: -12 dB to +12 dB
The LED meter displays the input level. An occasional red LED is probably not a problem, but if the
indicator is constantly red, your input level is too high.
Meter range: range: -12 dB to +12 dB
(blank=no input; green= signal present, low; orange=acceptable; red=hot)

Amplifier Select and Amp Channel

AMPLIFIER SELECT
Use the Select buttons to choose an amp. These represent significantly different types of tube amps. Their mood is
more iconic than specific: from the pristine, the clean of sound of Royal-X to the aggressive lead tone of Aggro.

AMP CHANNELS
Each amp has three different gain structures that define the basic tone and response. In tube amps, after which Voltage
Amps are modeled, signal flow is from one tube to the next, in series. This cascade determines the amount and
character of the amp’s harmonic distortion. When a guitar is played into a Clean channel, the first tube is moderately
excited, so the signal it forwards to the subsequent tubes is relatively free of added harmonics. The Drive and Lead
channels deliver increasingly more signal to the first and second tubes, thus providing more distortion to the later tubes.
This strongly affects the overall sound. Amp channel selection in each of the five amps yields very different results, so it’s
worth experimenting with various combinations of amps and channels.

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 • Clean provides a clear sound without a lot of drive. Fewer tubes are used, and those tubes
that are used are driven colder, so the sound is not hard hitting.
• Drive has more gain, more bass, harder driven than Clean, and are usually a bit less
articulate.
• Lead Provides a heavy music sound with modern high-gain distortion. This is the hardest-
driven channel.

Amp/Amp Channel Combinations

Era: Late ‘90s to modern day guitar sounds with sparkling tones and punch.

• Clean channel is fat and chime-like.

• Drive channel has added breakup-style gain.
• Lead channel retains chime, while adding lots of gain.

Era: Late ‘90s to current day guitar tones. This is an aggressive amp for aggressive music.

• Clean channel runs from very clean to mid-crunchy tones.

• Drive responds very quickly and is very responsive.
• Lead is smooth and less percussive.

Era: ‘80s to current day. Can range from pristine clean to mild crunch.

• Clean channel ranges from fat/clean to pleasing overdrive.

• Drive channel is tight, aggressive, but not so percussive.
• Lead is horn-like, with a nice top end, lots of gain, with a singing lead tone.
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 Era: Late ‘70s to current day. Hot rodded British sound.

• Clean channel has a mild crunch with a fair amount of gain.

• Drive is articulate, thick with top-end bite.
• Lead is open sounding with lots of gain.

Era: ‘60s to current day. Fat, punchy, and clear. A versatile amp that’s between mild
and aggressive amps.

• Clean ranges from pristine clean to mild crunch.

• Drive is touch sensitive, with mild overdrive when played harder.
• Lead is big, fuzzy, lost of low end. Classic ‘70s hero guitar sound.

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 Noise Gate
The gate removes system noise, such as pickup buzz and hiss, to provide a clean signal for the
processor. It is located between the amp’s tubes and the EQ section.
With threshold settings of less than -40 dB, hiss and other low-level noises should be eliminated
without impacting the notes themselves.

Threshold: Sets the level at which the gate opens and closes. Range: -60 dB to 0 dB
Speed: Controls attack and release times. Range: 0 to 10

Focus
Use the Focus control to find the “center” of a guitar’s sound. If you find the amp too muddy, or
you’re hearing unwanted harmonics, or the guitar doesn’t feel “there,” fine tune with the Focus
control until the instrument is right where you want it. The Focus control sits before the EQ section in
the signal flow, so it can function much like an overdrive pedal before the amp.1 Don’t think of Focus
as just a “finishing tool.” It’s a key element in creating the best guitar sound.
Focus addresses the selected amp and amp channel, so when you switch amps or channels, Focus settings change
accordingly.
Range: 0 to +10

1
Focus is a sweepable bell that controls the low-frequency and high-frequencies that enter the amp. This affects the color of the early tubes in the amp; the
signal hitting the initial tubes greatly influences the overall harmonic structure of the amp.

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 EQ Controls
The EQ section is after the noise gate and Focus in the signal
flow. EQ settings apply to the current selected amp and amp
channel, so settings change with these selections. So, if you
change amp channels during a song, the EQ settings will
change accordingly.

• Gain Input level to the preamp

• Bass Clean/Lead/Drive channels low frequency control
• Middle Bass Clean/Lead/Drive channels mid frequency control
• Treble Bass Clean/Lead/Drive channels high frequency control
• Volume Output of the EQ section for the selected amp channel
Use the Volume control to match the levels of different amps and channels. Let’s say that you play part of a song
using the Clean channel, and then you switch to the Drive channel. This will naturally result in different
compressions and distortions, which influence the relative volumes. Use the Volume control to balance the two
channels.
Range (all controls): 0 to 10

EQ Lock
EQ Lock sets the behavior of EQ settings when moving between amps.

When EQ Lock is set to ON, each amp’s individual settings are maintained
when you change from one amp to another or choose another Channel
type. This lets you compare different amps, each with its own EQ.

When EQ Lock is set to Off, EQ settings remain the same regardless of

the amp selected.

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 Master Section
This is the last harmonic stage before the cabinet speakers.
Depth shapes the low end sent to the loudspeakers. Range: 0 to 10
Presence shapes the high-end. Range: 0 to 10

Cabinet Controls
The Cabinet controls govern the acoustic characteristics
of the speaker cabinet, after the amp. There are six
pairs of cabinets. Each pair has its own unique sound.

Use the six-way Cab Select switch to select a pair of cabinets. Generally, selections to the left provide darker
cabinet sounds, while settings to the right are brighter.
Cab Tone adjusts the mix between the two selected cabinets. Turn the Cab Tone knob counterclockwise for fatter
and darker tones; turn clockwise for a brighter and thinner cabinet sound. When the knob is at its midpoint, there is
an equal mix of the two selected cabinets.
Use Room to increase the air around the cabinet by incrementally adding early reflections. It does not add a reverb
tail. With higher settings, the size of the space increases. To bypass the room effect, turn the control completely
counterclockwise.
Select Cab Bypass if you want to forgo the built-in cabinet and use your own.
To use another cabinet, make sure that the Cab is bypassed. Instantiate an IR loader, such as
IR1, after Voltage Amps Guitar in the DAW’s plugin rack. Load the cabinet.

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 Output Gain Control and Meter
The knob sets the level of the plugin output.
The LED meter displays output level. The output signal is limited to -0.1 dB. When this level is
reached, a red LED lights up. Click on the clip LED to reset it.
Meter range: -24 dB to +24 dB (blank=no input; green= signal present, but low; orange=acceptable;
red=hot)

WaveSystem Toolbar

Use the bar at the top of the plugin to save and load presets, compare settings, undo and redo steps, and resize the
plugin. To learn more, click the icon at the upper-right corner of the window and open the WaveSystem Guide.

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