How to get a specific Stratocaster sound with the new Pro 8 Mustang plugin?

[brmichael]

Hi,

I'm not a guitar player, so for guitars I have to rely on VSTis.

I wanted to use the new Fender Mustang plugin in Fender Studio Pro 8 to create a specific, clean Stratocaster sound. Here's an example for what I'd like to create:

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As VSTi I'm using a Native Instruments Kontakt library called "Electric Mint". This is supposed to be a sampled Fender Strat. In order to get the pure guitar signal, I disabled all built in effects, the amp sim and the mic signal in this VSTi and routed its output directly to the input of the Mustang plugin, where I selected the Twin Reverb amp and cabinet simulations.

The results are quite good, but still need improvement. It doesn't sound like the guitar in the video, but somehow shrilly and less "twangy".

Is it possible to get the "real thing" out of this combination? If yes: how?

Any hints appreciated.

Regards, Michael

 

[John Vere]

In the video he is flipping through the different switch positions.
Position 2 which is the bridge and middle PU gives you the Quack. Position 4 is also a bit Quacky but it isn’t used as much.
Otherwise The Bridge PU is closest to a Telecaster. Mostly used for overdrive or twang and solos. Middle PU is I what I call the normal rhythm sound. The neck is for fat blues tones.

The Strat definitely has a wide palette of sounds. And you can even add more with stacked PU.
And then no 2 Strats will be exactly the same because there are a lot of different types of PU available,
So just calling a patch “Strat” means nothing.

So you want to use a sample player that would give you access to all these options.
Or at least one that is labeled as such.

Then he clearly shows the Amp settings which is probably more important than the actual guitar.

 

[brmichael]

@John Vere Thanks for your response. I appreciate your hints as a Stratocaster expert.

The NI "Electric Mint" instrument simulates a 1960 Stratocaster with all its features and options. Here's more information about it. The instrument also has built-in amp/cabinet simulation and effects which I used before, but these also didn't give me the sound I want. So I disabled them in order to get the pure Strat sound and let the TwinReverb do the job instead. The results were better than with the built-in amp, but I wonder if I can make it sound even more like the Strat in the video.

Of course "Electric Mint" allows you to select all pickup combinations that are possible on a real Strat. I also noticed that position 2 is the most "quacky" one. But until now I didn't get the sound I wanted (like the one in the video) from any of the five combinations. I think I'll have to continue experimenting. Maybe the fact that I'm forced to play on a keyboard rather than on a real guitar affects sound, too.

 

[John Vere]

Maybe the fact that I'm forced to play on a keyboard rather than on a real guitar affects sound, too.

Absolutely. If there’s a huge difference in how a guitar sounds just from picking technique.
So that will vary depending on how the actual sample is captured.
In my opinion every guitar vst sounds more like a piano than a guitar.
Because I play guitar I’ve never used vst guitar much. But I am actually just learning about it now.

Anyway that is a demo of a top notch Strat in top condition played through the most desirable Fender amp ever made. In other words it doesn’t get much better than that!
If you can figure out how to even come close using a VST you will be a genius.

 

[brmichael]

In my opinion every guitar vst sounds more like a piano than a guitar.

You're probably right. However, the demo songs for "Electric Mint" sound rather authentic. I guess I'll have to experiment with modulation and other controllers.

I could improve the sound of the VSTi a bit by correcting a mistake I made: picking style was set to "Finger". I changed that to "Pick". That improved sound. I also inserted the "Tube Overdrive" effect in the Mustang plugin, but set the "Drive" control to a very low position in order to add only a little bit of distortion. I think I'm moving in the right direction, but my playing technique needs improvement, too.

The funny thing is: I have a cheap Stratocaster-style guitar (no Fender, though, but it sounds quite good), and there are Fender-designed instrument inputs on my interface. I think these are perfect prerequisites to record a good Stratocaster sound. But my guitar playing skills aren't good enough to get something decent out of this combination. Maybe I should start practicing

Edit: Craig Anderton has posted a tip to "de-harsh" the Fender amp sim. I'll try that. However, he doesn't mention if he's playing a real guitar or a VSTi instrument. I guess he uses the Fender amp sim with a real guitar.

 

[John Vere]

Just a tip for trying to get your parts a bit more like a guitar.
Piano chords all start at the same time because that is how you play them.

Guitar chords if you look at them in the Midi editor look like a ramp. Each note is a split second later.
Take your guitar and play the part best as you can.
Then convert it to midi.

Im not sure about Pro 8’s audio to midi because I haven’t tried it yet.
I use a ARA plugin called Prism which is deadly accurate.
Then with midi you can fine tune the mistakes and blunders.
It might come off as sounding more like a guitar if you play it on one.
The beauty of converting to midi is then you can experiment with different sounds. Like I double my acoustic guitar with a Rhodes with some tremolo.

 

[brmichael]

@John Vere Thanks for your reply.

I've been aware of notes in a guitar chord not being triggered simultaneously all of the time and I take this into account when recording guitar chords.

But mainly I record finger-picking styles and single note solos, where the problem doesn't exist. In fact, not many of my projects use strummed guitar chords. The only thing I tried the Mustang plugin with yet was a guitar solo with single notes only. In that solo, I tried to imitate the sound of a real guitar player I know who used a Stratocaster and a TwinReverb. Unfortunately, that player is not available at the moment.

 

[NoBadMojo]

I think I can help. I have 'Mint' but I use 'Stratus' mostly and it does sound like a real guitar if you learn the articulations. In my case it sounds way better than a real guitar because I suck on a real guitar.

You are not going to get a Twin Reverb sound out of Fender Mustang own Twin reverb amp...It doesn't even have a Reverb knob on it! pretty ironic. I fooled around w. the Fender Mustang plugin a bit and found the sounds generally harsh/brittle/ice-picky. You will get a better result using the Mints built In amps and effects. Or maybe try the Ampire sim that comes with Studio One..their version of the Twin Reverb amp at least has a Reverb knob on it and I think Ampire sounds better than Mustang altho it doesn't have many amps and stomps.

As for me I use Impact Soundworks Stratus because it has all kinds of articulations and plays the entire range of frets and couple that with Amplitube 5 which is many levels above Mustang in my estimation

I really like Fender Studio Pro but kinda laugh because I think the Fender stuff is the weakest of all the new things in the DAW upgrade