How To Get Great Guitar Tones In MainStage

Creating a great rock guitar tone with MainStage, Studio Devil, and Redwirez.
Having created a new laptop guitar rig to replace my hardware amp setup, I found that there wasn't a lot of helpful information on how to use MainStage effectively. I created this to help other guitarists who are looking to go the laptop and MainStage route without compromising their ability to get a great guitar tone.
Learn my little secret sauce combination of creating a guitar tone that literally makes it impossible for someone to know if its a laptop or a computer in a blind sound test.
studiodevil.com... (Amp head)
www.redwirez.com (Cabs & Mics)

[@onzkicg]

I have other good more pricey guitar vst plug in, but DAW is stuttering already you know it’s taxing the cpu a lot. What’s amazing with MainStage is very light and not cpu hungry. I will try this one.

[@jodywhitesides]

It works a charm. But as guitar plugins update, they do tend to get more CPU hungry, eventually requiring more powerful computers. Also, the sample rate at which you run your plugins at will also make a difference.

[@briankenneyfresno7955]

Thank you. I just opened the thing up today, that was very helpful.

[@michaelneal900]

Logic has both mic and cabinet simulation. One might think when you go to the MixIR it is because logic doesn't have this feature. It does.

[@jodywhitesides]

Micheal, there is a difference between what the MixIR is doing and using a mic/cab simulator in Logic. The difference is that MixIR is using Impulse Responses of the actual mics and cabs. The simulator in Logic is exactly that - a simulation. You are correct that Logic has something like it. However, the Impulse Responses in MixIR are better.

[@michaelneal900]

Good information. Thanks.

[@jamessuraciart]

Okay, I am new to this program, as in bought it today new, and I am just trying to figure out how to assign a sound to the buttons on the Apogee GiO footswitch. I created two different patches, but when I press the buttons on the pedal it doesn't switch between them. Can you direct me to a how o guide because the user guide for the footswitch is like 4 pages and doesn't tell me how to do anything. Basically, I have three sounds I like in mainstage, but I can't get them to work with the pedal.

[@jodywhitesides]

James, you need to look for the "MIDI" section in prefs and make sure your pedal is connected. Then, for the patches you need to go into Assignments & Mappings to actually map the GiO's switch to a button or function in MainStage you want it to operate.

[@jamessuraciart]

@@jodywhitesides Yeah, I ended up finding that out from a video some guy made using an older version of mainstage. I had all my settings right and it was working input and output-wise, but when I went to map the buttons it wouldn't read it as one of my interfaces despite it being set as as the midi device (both in Mainstage and in my computer's midi settings) and after a few hours, and a call to Apple's Customer Service number (which was of no help-they sent me to Apogee's website, and their customer service isn't available on the weekend). I ended up doing some digging, and Mojave is the last version of Mac OS that the GiO is functional with and I have Big Sur, so basically if I wanted it to be compatible, I would have to downgrade my OS, but that would make it so Mainstage wouldn't work since it requires the latest version of Mac OS. I ended up returning the GiO and am looking into finding something similar that will work with Big Sur while still providing the same functionality and still being comparible in price to the GiO.

[@jodywhitesides]

@@jamessuraciart I hear ya. Apogee does make great stuff, but I never used the GiO. Bummer about the situation. But sounds like you're getting it figured out.

[@scottmacdonald4633]

What guitar (pickups?) are you playing through?

[@jodywhitesides]

Using a Joe's Guitar Diner with Seymour Duncan Custom Custom in the bridge position.

[@carlosandchrlys7889]

Mainstage?or pedalboard like Helix ?...

[@jodywhitesides]

This is MainStage. My preferred approach as it is much more flexible.

[@sammypaulofficial]

bro I want that Patch

[@jodywhitesides]

If you have those plugins, I'm happy to send you the patch.

[@thecolourwhiteproductions3391]

i liked watching your video. Think you have a strong knowledge of the software and lots of technical knowhow but im not gonna lie i really didn't like that tone

[@jodywhitesides]

Hard to represent all tones at once. Plus, that's got my string sound (from the open microphone I was speaking into) mixed in with the guitar sound. I need to figure out a way to remove that next time I do a video. That way it will be more obvious what the sound is. Also, what type of guitar tone are you looking for? This is just one possibility out of millions available.

[@thecolourwhiteproductions3391]

Something a bit more bright i suppose. Id like to hear a good quality marshall crunch if you can manage it. Im thinking about buying main stage and maybe perhaps playing with it live. Ive heard good things about it. But you're right there isnt much in the way of good quality videos demoing this sort of thing. It would be nice to hear it in a live scenario. Or at least in your house with a good quality mic picking up the sound somewhere in the room. Good video other than that.

[@jodywhitesides]

In the next video I can do a marshall type of vibe - but what type of marshall are you looking for (there's a lot fo them)? Are you looking for a marshall with a foot pedal in front of it for crunch? Straight marshall with nothing else (if so, what head)? Gotta be a bit more specific than "marshall crunch". Part of this concept in this video is leading up to combining multiple sounds to all play at once. Or being able to have multiple sounds in a single song. Plus, I'll figure out how to run just the output of the guitar into the video, without my non-amplified guitar in the mix. That way you can hear what it will be like coming out of a PA or Recording situation.