New Will Putney STL Tones suite brings amp modeling to a new level

Putting a microphone on an amp results in a unique, highly configurable tone every time. Unfortunately, sometimes the amp, the mic, or even the schedule does not allow for a great recorded tone in the studio. The solution? Amp modeling software. Modeling plugins and even modeling hardware, like the Kemper amps, are increasing greatly in popularity. Over the years, the sound of these emulations has improved significantly as well. To many audiophiles, studio engineers, and vintage gear lovers, however, modeling amps still aren’t quite perfect. For that reason, some producers have released emulations of the exact setups that work best for them in the studio, like Glenn Fricker and his custom IR pack. Customized modeling in this way brings about great, usable guitar tones at the speed of your computer’s RAM.

New Jersey based producer, Will Putney, has just released a plugin suite with STL Tones. The bundle comes with everything you need to make awesome metal tones. Distortion, delay, and reverb pedals start out the formula. These feed one of five available amp heads (six including the bass amp), each modeled off of one of Will’s favorite amps in his studio. Next is a virtual replica of a cab room so you can adjust mic placement on a simulated cabinet, one per amp head. You can even blend the sound of two amps and cabs within one instance of the plugin.

Much of the aforementioned features of the Will Putney software are included in pre existing amp modelling softwares. This brings us to the coolest part of the STL-Will Putney collaboration, its mixing capabilities. When the amp sounds right, there’s still usually some fine tuning before a tone is ready for the mix. This is where buss processing comes in to play. Will Putney’s STL Tones plugin suite is completed by a powerful bus EQ. This part of the software looks alot like the Focusrite ISA EQ. Two parametric bands, high and low shelving, lowpass, and highpass filters let the user make any necessary tonal changes right within the plugin. Among other things, this should save on computer taxation by circumventing the need for lots of plugins to finish just one track.

The new plugin suite is available straight from the STL Tones website, and comes at $149.99.