I started off this review a while ago by focusing on AmpliTube Slash and iRig Stomp. However, I quickly realized that IK Multimedia’s products are more than their separate parts to me.

When I listened to people talking about AmpliTube Slash, the conversation inevitably came around to the one big question — “can you sound like Slash?” I’ll answer that for you right now — no, you’ll never sound like Slash. Not even if you walked up on stage and used his gear.

Playing guitar is more than the gear you use, it’s about the person that plays the guitar through that gear.

The more relevant question is along the lines of “how did the gear sound?”

This is a question I can answer and this is the reason I love IK Multimedia’s products. IK’s gear sounds great and it’s modeled using real amps, like the ones that Slash owns. That’s important to get the tone that your looking for from your software amp modeler.

In addition to AmpliTube 3, I also own AmpliTube Fender, Metal, Jimi Hendrix, Ampeg SVX and Slash.

What I like more than each of these individual products is that IK gave me the ability to use them all at once. They are completely interchangeable, which means I can use any component with any other component.

For instance, I can use a Metal amp and a Jimi Hendrix Marshall in the same preset. I can add an effect from the Fender line right beside an effect from the Slash product.

That folks is the beauty of AmpliTube. Being able to mix and match amps and effects from so many products gives you the ability to create your own sound. AmpliTube has a lot of effects and amps, so the number of combinations you can come up with are almost limitless, not to mention the variety of sounds that you can create.

IK also opened the AmpliTube Custom Shop, which is basically an amp and effect store on your computer. I’ve purchased quite a few amps on here, but my favorite so far is the German Gain. It’s based on the Engl Powerball and it will kick your ass.

The Custom Shop allows you to try all of the gear before you buy it too¹, so you know what your getting before you pay anything. It’s just a winning formula for guitar players and IK.

I mentioned iRig Stomp earlier and I use it, along with AmpliTube, on my iPad. This is the first iPad guitar accessory that I honestly feel was made to help me as a player.

With its versatile outputs, I can plug my iPad into an amp or external monitors and get a much better tone than using the iPad alone.

IK’s gear is meant to give you options for your tone whether you’re on your desktop, recording a new song, or away from home with your iPad.

As a guitarist, I want that kind of versatility.