Native Instruments Guitar Rig Pro 7

With new models, new effects, an IR loader and the return of the looper, this latest version of Guitar Rig has plenty to offer guitarists and producers alike.

Whether you prefer your virtual guitar rigs in software or hardware form, we’re now spoiled for choice. But I think that’s a good thing! All the leading products have different strengths, but for me, one of Guitar Rig’s main selling points has always been its breadth: there might be more focused options if you’re chasing tones for particular songs or genres, but if you’re looking for a ‘do it all’ option, capable of creating virtually any style of guitar or bass tone, Guitar Rig is a very well stocked one‑stop shop. Guitar Rig Pro 7 takes this even further and, I think it fair to say, extends its applications well beyond the bounds of guitar tones.

Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock, it won’t have escaped your attention that iZotope, Brainworx and Plugin Alliance are all now part of the Native Instruments stable. Thus, as well as being available as a product in its own right and as part of NI Komplete, Guitar Rig 7 also forms part of iZotope’s impressive Music Production Suite 6, along with Ozone 11 Advanced and Nectar 4. The software can run either standalone or as a plug‑in hosted by your DAW. VST3, AU and AAX plug‑in formats are supported on both Windows and macOS. An Intel i5 (or Apple Silicon) processor and Windows 10 or macOS 11 (or later) are required. Of course, for playing through the amps in real time you’ll need a system that’s capable of running at low latency, but Guitar Rig Pro itself is very efficient in that regard.

Plug In, Rock Out

Guitar Rig was already one of the most comprehensive offerings on the market, but this release brings us more. In terms of new amps, cabs and effects, there are four new amps (with matching cabs) and five new stompbox‑style effects options. These have NI’s machine‑learning technology (ICM) under the hood, and NI claim this adds greater depth and realism. The amp models themselves include both Fender and Vox inspired options, the Super Fast 100 (I assume based upon the SLO100) and Bass Rage (I think inspired by the Ampeg Venture), and these new models are a real step up in quality — I’ll be interested to see if NI eventually apply the same process across the breadth of Guitar Rig’s amp collection. Compared with the earlier Fender and Vox models, the newer versions are a significant improvement, particularly in terms of their feel and response to your playing dynamics. The new bass amp is also impressive — it can do a lot more than just the ‘rage’ I’d expected.

GRP7 adds four new amp models, including the Reverb Delight and Super Fast 100 shown here, and all were built using NI’s ICM technology.

The same can be said of the new stompbox‑style effects, which include a new take on the Skreamer (a Tube Screamer model) called Skreamer Deluxe. The sonic differences are for the better if a little more subtle, but this new pedal also boasts three modes and is more versatile as a result: Chainsaw is a distortion for metal tones; Seattle Fuzz is a great grunge‑style fuzz; and the IVP Stomp is a preamp with simple EQ that’s excellent for dialling overdrive into a clean amp in a very controlled fashion.

IR loaders are now a regular feature of guitar modelling environments, and in a sensible move NI have added one in v7. It works very well too, allowing you to blend up to four IRs with independent control over level and pan, amongst other things. Guitar Rig already ships with a good selection of IRs from the likes of Bogren Digital, Eminence, Lancaster Audio, cabIR and 3 Sigma Audio, but you can also load your own, whether home‑brewed or bought from another company.

With the new cabinet IR loader, you can blend between up to four cab/speaker IRs.

Get Creative

The looper feature, which had been present in Guitar Rig 5, went missing in v6. This time around we’re treated to the new Loop Machine Pro, which is found in the Tools section of the components. What’s more, you can configure hardware control for the looper, so if you have a suitable external MIDI controller it would be possible to use that in the same way you might a hardware pedal. However, with options to set the bar count, sync to your host tempo, and use a count‑in, it’s also fully functional without the need for external triggering.

You can configure hardware control for the looper, so if you have a suitable external MIDI controller it would be possible to use that in the same way you might a hardware pedal.

In addition to the usual record and overdub options, you get the ability to export both the mixed loop and the individual loop layers, making Loop Machine Pro a neat scratch‑pad for developing new musical ideas. Another useful feature is that if you add the component to your Guitar Rig signal chain, and then clear the signal chain, the looper and the existing recordings automatically remain in place. You can then build a further guitar amp, cab and pedal chain to play back the same loop content, which is great for creativity.

There is yet more on the creative front, though: Guitar Rig Pro 7 includes four new lo‑fi‑themed rack‑style components, called Tape Wobble, Noise Machine, Vintage Vibrato and Kolor. These are really cool, and there’s a very good crop of presets that demonstrate the additional sound‑design options they open up. The first three of these effects do pretty much what you’d expect (and do so very effectively), while Kolor provides a great selection of saturation, overdrive and distortion options, and with a very analogue‑esque sound it can be an inspiring sound‑design tool.

Finally, we see some fruit of the link between NI and iZotope: the list of components in the Dynamics section now features a compact version of Ozone’s Maximizer. I’m not sure I’d want to track through it, but if you need to ensure your guitar doesn’t get lost in a busy mix it can be very effective when mixing.

While Guitar Rig’s UI provides a perfectly logical workflow, there are so many features on offer that things can get pretty busy in both the Browser and Rack displays. The new Sidebar view is therefore a very welcome addition — this provides a useful visual overview of your signal chain (including for dual signal paths). It allows for easy navigation within the Rack: just click on a component in the Sidebar and it is automatically selected within the Rack, and you can drag and drop Sidebar components to reorder your signal chain, activate/bypass components or delete components should you wish.

With its routing options, some impressive new lo‑fi effects and a version of iZotope’s Maximizer included, Guitar Rig Pro 7 is capable of multi‑effects jobs that stray well beyond the realms of guitar and bass!

Ride In The Rig?

What are the key features a user generally looks for in a software‑based guitar rig? Well, first, it has to sound great. Second, I reckon most users appreciate a logical, easy‑to‑grasp workflow. Third, for some, and perhaps many users, versatility might be important. And finally, for some users, though perhaps not all, it’s important that models emulate all the subtleties of the sound and behaviour of the specific make/model of hardware being emulated.

In the context of this wish list, Guitar Rig Pro 7 makes for an interesting comparison with other products made for broadly the same market. For me at least, it comfortably sails over the bar for the first three criteria: it sounds great; the UI offers a good workflow (and, thanks to the new Sidebar, better than what was offered previously); and it is undoubtedly versatile. When it comes to the question of the accuracy of specific models, NI definitely take that side of things seriously, hence the new ICM technology built into many of the new components in this release. All the amp models capture the essence of their hardware inspirations very well, and the newer models are a clear improvement in this regard. That said, I’m not sure it will entice the ‘absolute guitar gearhead’, for whom a big part of the attraction is the efforts to match the exact behaviour (both good and bad) found in the original amps and cabs being modelled. Tone junkie guitarists and those working in guitar‑led music styles such as rock and metal may be better catered for by more niche, specialised options.

However, if you just want great guitar tones, ease of use, and sonic versatility from a single software solution, and absolutely faithful models of specific amps are less important to you, Guitar Rig Pro 7 could well prove an excellent choice. Indeed, any songwriter or music producer who includes guitar elements in their work could find a whole world of excellent tone‑creation options here: grab your guitar and bass parts via DI, and then shape the sounds you want afterwards to best fit the final mix. And the fact that it can also serve as a very creative sound‑design platform for non‑guitar/bass sound sources should definitely not be overlooked. Considered in that context, Guitar Rig Pro 7 is an excellent one‑stop solution.