Waves Software Edition

132 Guitarist July 2008
WAVES GTR3 & iGTR £275 & £69
RECORDING
GTR Solo (see boxout). On top of
all this, at the NAMM show in
January the company introduced
a hardware product: the iGTR, an
iPod-style amplification device
for guitar. High time then for us to
take a fresh look at just what
Waves has to offer to today’s
guitar players.
GTR3
There have been changes since we
looked at the first version of GTR.
Back then GTR came as a package
at £449 that included a high
quality DI box to convert your
guitar signal to an appropriate
level for input into an audio
interface’s microphone input – not
something universally useful as
many audio interfaces have a
dedicated instrument input
anyway. Now you can buy GTR3
as software only and can buy the
Waves DI box separately if you
want one. The package of the two
is still available with a small
saving over the cost of the
individual items, and the prices
are lower overall.
What you get with GTR3 is
software that is primarily
designed to be used as a plug-in in
a software recording package, but
can also be used independently in
standalone mode if you just want
to plug into your computer and
play guitar either for practice or
onstage use. There are various
possibilities when using GTR3 as
a plug-in, but in standalone mode
GTR3 appears on your desktop as
the GTR ToolRack, a rig where
you can have up to six stomp
effects and two amps that can be
combined in various ways. These
components can be chosen from
a grand total of 19 guitar amp
models and 26 stompbox effects.
For each amp model there is a
choice of 16 cabinets with each
cabinet’s sound defined by the
positioning of a virtual
microphone. Bass players are also
catered for with seven bass amps
and six bass cabs. Separate
windows can be opened to show
the amp/cabinet and stompbox
options and new models can be
chosen from drop down menus.
Stompbox positions in the signal
chain are changed by drag and
drop procedures and the amp also
appears in the stompbox window
so effects can be easily placed pre
or post. A comprehensive tuner
also opens on its own page and
there is a separate preset page that
lists a whole bunch of factory
presets and any of your own that
you choose to save.
Sounds – GTR3
Although nearly all are modelled
on real examples of classic makes
and models, GTR3’s amps are
categorised as either Clean, Drive,
High Gain or Bass and each given
a descriptive name which,
depending on your point of view,
may be useful in choosing a
particular type of tone for a
recording rather than going for
the usual suspects or may be
frustrating when you want, say,
a Fender Bassman but can’t
remember what Waves calls it.
The actual range of sounds
available should provide just
about everything a busy studio
recording various types of music
would need, especially in terms of
saturated and overdriven sounds
with nine high-gain amp models
alongside the five drive, five clean
W
aves is well known in
the professional studio
world for its software
plug-ins, used throughout the
industry for recording, mixing
and mastering. A couple of years
ago the company made a move
into the guitar side of things in
a collaboration with Paul Reed
Smith that brought about the
original version of the GTR amp
and effects software reviewed in
Guitarist issue 270. GTR is now in
its third incarnation as GTR3 and
Waves recently brought out a
more affordable version known as
Waves GTR3 software-
only edition & iGTR
£275 & £69
Waves updates its amp simulation software for recording
and releases a cute hardware personal guitar processor as
a spin-off by Trevor Curwen
GIT304.rev_waves 132 16/5/08 10:11:25