Best Free Vst Plugins For Acoustic Guitar
- Best Free Vst Plugins For Acoustic Guitar Tuner
- Best Vst Plugins For Guitar
- Best Free Vst Plugins For Acoustic Guitar Strings
This article features the best free guitar samples you can find online. We focused on multi-sampled guitar sound libraries that allow the user to play each guitar note individually. We didn’t include sample libraries that only provide guitar loops and guitar riffs.
Best Free Compressor VST A compressor is a must have plugin for any producer or engineer. Fortunately, some of the free plugins we’ve listed below are pretty much at the same level of the state of the art paid plugins made by waves and others. Our favorites are the Density mkIII and the Klanghelm MJUC Jr.
- Yes, you read that right- 400 VSTs completely free of charge! We’ve spent countless days digging through the web to find the very best free plugins. We found close 400 free VSTs of all types, including one VST whose sole purpose is to crash your DAW.
- Best Sounding Acoustic Guitar VST Plugin Review. It can be very difficult to get the acoustic guitar part right when it comes to your music recordings. Unless you play, you’ll need an acoustic guitar VST. The problem is that there are many options out there, and some of them just won’t give you the true acoustic sound that you need.
When it comes to freely downloadable multi-sampled guitars, there are surprisingly few high-quality libraries online. For example, there are dozens of excellent piano sample libraries you can download for free, but that is not the case with guitars.
That said, the recently released Shreddage 3 Precision FREE guitar instrument by Impact Soundworks sounds amazing. It is easily the best guitar sample library you can download for free and it rivals some premium offerings. Unfortunately, the library requires the full version of Native Instruments Kontakt and it won’t work with any other sampler VST plugins. You can only use Shreddage 3 Precision FREE in demo mode (for fifteen minutes) in the freeware Kontakt Player.
The two libraries that everyone can use for free are the amazing Standard Guitar by Unread instruments and Shinyguitar by Karoryfer Samples. Both are available in SFZ format and also feature a graphical user interface for the Plogue Sforzando plugin. Read on for more info about these and some of our other favorite free guitar sample libraries.
Shreddage 3 Stratus FREE (Kontakt)
Shreddage 3 Stratus FREE is a free guitar sample library for Kontakt. It is based on the premium Shreddage 3 Stratus guitar virtual instrument by Impact Soundworks.
The free version of the instrument features a much more modest set of articulations, but it’s still a very powerful virtual guitar. You get deep-sampled sustain samples, palm mutes, and choke articulations, with three full octaves of playing range. There are up to 24 samples per note (including dynamic layers and round-robin variations), with the same performance engine for NI Kontakt as in the full version of Shreddage 3 Stratus. The library also features a virtual mixer with built-in effects.
Again, keep in mind that the full version of NI Kontakt is required to use Shreddage 3 Stratus FREE. It will only work for fifteen minutes in the freeware Kontakt Player plugin. If you like this library, be sure to check out the excellent Shreddage 3 Precision FREE bass guitar instrument from the same developer.
The download of this library is delivered using the Pulse Downloader app which needs to be installed first. You will also need to sign up for a free Impact Soundworks user account. After signing up and adding Shreddage 3 Stratus FREE to your user account, you will receive the download key for Pulse Downloader.
More info:Shreddage 3 Stratus FREE(60.1 MB download size, EXE installer)
Standard Guitar (Sforzando)
Standard Guitar is a free guitar library in SFZ format with a custom user interface for Plogue Sforzando. It was created by Unreal Instruments, a Japanese sample developer. The download page is in Japanese, but you shouldn’t have much trouble locating the download button.
The library is based on DI recordings of a humbucker pickup guitar. This means that you will need to use an amp simulator plugin to achieve proper guitar sound. The captured guitar tone is very versatile. It can fit a wide variety of genres, from rock and metal to indie rock, pop music, and more.
Standard Guitar features multiple articulations for different playing styles like sustains, palm mutes, natural harmonics, pull-off, and hammer-on. The different playing styles can be accessed via key switches. The attention to detail and the amount of content included in a free sound library like this one is almost too good to be true. There are over 2,400 samples in total, with up to 16 round-robin variations per sampled note. In addition to a variety of playing styles, the developer also included a set of various guitar noises like muted slides, pickup noises, etc.
Furthermore, the user interface provides a lot of control over the sampled sounds. The user can adjust the picking volume, tone resonance, magnet tone, and various sample properties like the note length, release time, slide speed, and vibrato depth. A set of built-in effects is also included.
The library can be downloaded directly from the product page. You don’t need to sign up for a user account before downloading.
More info:Standard Guitar (715 MB download size, RAR archive)
Shinyguitar (Sforzando)
Shinyguitar is another free guitar library in SFZ format. It comes with a custom user interface for Plogue Sforzando, which is an advanced free sampler plugin for SFZ libraries. The library was developed by Karoryfer Samples.
Featuring the sounds of a hollow steel-stringed semiacoustic guitar, Shinyguitar is suitable for use in genres like jazz and blues, as well as pop, acoustic music, and ambient music. It won’t be a good fit for heavier music styles like rock and metal.
Acustica plugins not showing up vst site forum.acustica-audio.com. This is not the only free guitar library released by Karoryfer Samples, though. Browse their website to find the Emilyguitar library (based on an Epiphone guitar) and the Secret Agent Guitar (which comes with a $39 price tag).
More info:Shinyguitar(351 MB download size, ZIP archive)
Peel Guitar (LABS)
Peel Guitar is a free guitar sound library for LABS, a free sample player VST plugin. Developed by Spitfire Audio, the LABS sampler plugin has quickly become one of the best virtual instruments for sample playback. The reason for this is that the team at Spitfire Audio keeps releasing high-quality sample libraries for the LABS platform. These are often professional-quality sound libraries that could easily cost $50 or more.
Best Free Vst Plugins For Acoustic Guitar Tuner
One of these sound libraries is Peel Guitar. It features the iconic sounds of a Fender Telecaster electric guitar. The signal was fed through a vintage tweed amp with a small amount of vibrato, tremolo, and distortion effects applied. The sounds are instantly usable and perfectly suitable for use in indie rock music.
A big thank you goes to our reader Synthiemental for suggesting Peel Guitar in the comments section!
More info:Peel Guitar(requires LABS plugin)
Pettinhouse Guitars (Kontakt)
Pettinhouse offers several free guitar sample libraries for Kontakt. Although the full version of Kontakt is required to use the included NKI patches, each library also contains the samples in WAV format. This means that they are compatible with virtually all sampler plugins and digital audio workstations on the market.
A library called FunkyGuitar is pictured above, but you can also grab a free acoustic guitar library, a nice collection of guitar mutes and slaps, and more. The samples can be downloaded directly from the Pettinhouse website without signing up for a user account.
More info:Pettinhouse(multiple libraries available, approx. 100 MB download size per product)
Free Guitar Samples – Honorable Mentions
Here are a few additional free guitar sample libraries for you to download:
- Guitar Freepack by Indiginus Sample Libraries is a set of three compact guitar instruments for Kontakt (a 24 MB download). A valid email address is required to download.
- Natural Concert Guitar by Markus Fiedler is a great classic guitar sample library. Many thanks to our reader Greg for the suggestion!
- Modest Guitar by YummyBeats is another tiny guitar library for Kontakt. It is a 50 MB download and you will need to watch a YouTube video to access a key that unlocks the download link.
- Plucked Acoustic Guitar by Thomas Field is a free guitar sample library for EXS24, the sampler instrument that comes with Logic Pro. The library was recorded in stereo using a pair of AKG 214 microphones and features up to four round-robins per sampled note.
If you know of any other good-quality guitar libraries, let us know in the comments section. Thank you!
Want more free samples? Check out our free sound effects article.
Disclosure: When you buy through our links, we may get a commission at zero cost to you.
An acoustic guitar is one of a member of the guitar family, it differs from an electronic guitar that uses an electronic amplification system, so, in the real world, an acoustic doesn’t rely on electronic amplification.
If you don’t want to go over the hassle of learning to play a guitar, tunning, adding effects, and setting up a good studio recording room, then you can opt-in for a virtual acoustic guitar that has been designed to work close to a professional guitar.
Before I recommend you to some of the best virtual acoustic guitars, here are some reasons you should use one…
- You don’t have access to a professional acoustic guitar
- Want to quickly lay down a track without the hassle of setting up a studio recording session, finding the perfect angle, and tuning a guitar.
- You have a guitar but want to use it as MIDI-Controlled guitar for electronic manipulation.
That said, let us look at the best virtual acoustic guitar VST instrument plugin in the music production scene.
Starting with…
1.) Virtual Guitar Amber ($129.00)
First on our list is Virtual Guitarist Amber by Ujam. Amber features a vastly expanded realism guitar library, easy to use, intuitive, and built for musicians of all levels.
Practically, when setting up a real acoustic guitar for recording, you would want to make sure your mics are properly positioned, your guitar is properly tuned, and you are recording in a good studio recording room, I guess you can imagine how complex that would be if you are just getting started, with Amber, all you need is a laptop, your Daw, and to be creative. It is designed to produce a realistic great acoustic guitar sounds without distracting you from the complexity of setting up a real guitar.
The way Amber works is using patterns and styles, You press a key on the keyboard or a piano-roll, and then Amber play strum chords in designated phrases combined into styles & determined by the notes you play.
With over 600 phrases & 50+ styles, you can experiment and unleash the power of various playing styles and rhythmic sounds.
So, if you aren’t capable of owning a professional guitar, or you can’t record a live acoustic guitar professionally, then Amber is what you need. Keep in mind though, Amber is mostly based on strum chords.
Video Sneak Peek
Key Features
- Steel-string acoustic guitar strumming
- More than 50 Styles and 600 Phrases
- From full-bodied warm to metallic-sparkling bright
- Select or mix between a microphone and pick-up signal
System Requirements
- Windows 7 or higher, Mac OS X 10.9 or higher
- VST/AU/AAX/NKS
- Minimum requirements of 4 GB of RAM, 6 GB of Disk Space and 1280×768 px Display
2.) Ample Guitar M III ($169.00)
Ample Guitar M III is an acoustic guitar by Amplesound and a model of Martin D-41 acoustic guitar, which is where the M comes from. It features an astonishing library of more than 3800 sound samples in 24-bit / 44.1kHz.
Unlike Amber that is mostly based on Strum Chords, Ample Guitar M III includes complete strum samples for each chord and every music style, which can either be played by fingers or picking. What makes this guitar stood apart from other virtual guitar is the way you can control the resonance sound, Legato Slide, Slide in & out, Palm Mute, Pop, Natural Harmonic, and many more you won’t think of.
Another super interesting feature of Ample Guitar M is the Random Riff Generator, which is built to summarize the rules through analyzing a bunch of music scores, this could quickly give you the inspiration to lay down a good track.
Video SneakPeek
Key Features
- Strum, Finger two sample libraries.
- 14 Strum notes + 28 ways to play for every chord.
- Strum Legato – legato articulations can be played while strumming.
- Strum SEQ with customized rhythm.
- 4 humanization settings.
- Controllable Resonance Sound.
- Rich Fingering Sound.
- Multiple Capo Logics – providing various options of automatic fingering logic to cover different performances such as solo, chorus, and so on.
- CPC (Customized Parameters Control) – any controller can be controlled by MIDI CC or Automation.
- and so much more
System Requirements
- Windows 7/8/10, 64-bit only (32-bit not supported) and Mac 10.9 or higher.
- VST2, VST3, AU, AAX, and Standalone host.
- 10 GB Hard Disk, Intel i5 or higher.
3.) Taylor Acoustic Guitar ($15.00)
Taylor Acoustic Guitar is the most affordable guitar, it is around $15, but what do you get for this price?
The answer is a sampled model of the Taylor 810 Acoustic guitar for its pristine and soothing sounds. According to the manufacturer:
We sampled Taylor Acoustic Guitar with the excellent Lawson Tube microphone and it sounds amazing. To top it off we have included more than just single note samples. We’ve also included fret noise, harmonics, up and down strummed chords, and muted chord “chunks”.
This is one of the most popular virtual guitars out there, and honestly, I was forced to try it after seeing a couple of great reviews about it, for the price point, you won’t see anything better.
Key Features
- A model of Taylor 810 Acoustic Guitar
- Fret noise, harmonics, up and down strummed chords and a muted chord
System Requirments
- Windows 7 or higher, and OS X Version 10.8 or higher
- Minimum 2GB RAM, 4GB Recommended
- A VST 32/64 or AAX 32/64 compatible host application
- A FREE iLok account & manager is required for authorization of this software – no iLok USB key is required
4.) Fractured: Prepared Acoustic Guitar ($99.95)
Fractured is a Kontakt Instrument by Big Fish Audio. Whether you would be using it musically or sound designing, Fractures is the right Prepared Acoustic Guitar for you. It isn’t just an acoustic guitar instrument but an innovative new collection of instruments featuring creative and esoteric samples and manipulations of various acoustic guitars.
Big Fish Audio Fractured features 2.3GB of compressed samples and more than one hundred new instruments with numerous variations and effects built into each. One feature I dig about Fractured is the playable and dynamic rhythmic loops and patterns. If that isn’t enough for you, you still have multitimbral arpeggiated creations, huge cinematic impacts, gritty electronic drums, gnarly and much more.
What makes Fractured stood apart from others is the built-in Drum Kits made with mallets, fingernail scrapes, metal scrapes, cardboard scraps, and pouring rice over the guitar.
Video SneakPeek
Key Features
- Sub-divided Instruments: Chromatic Kits, Drum Kits, Melodic, Pads & SFX and Tempo Synced
- You can tweak the instrument further using: Quantization, Envelope controls (attack and release), Stereo spread, Effects (reverb, delay, drive, flanger, vibrato, rotator, wobble, and others), AutoPan and more
- 2.3GB of Compressed samples.
- Over 100 patches of creative and esoteric samples and manipulations of various acoustic guitars.
- The library includes the free Kontakt Player 5
System Requirements
- Windows 7 Intel Core Duo or higher, and Macintosh OS 10.6.8 Inter Core Duo or higher
- A minimum of 2GB Ram and requires at least 3GB of free hard drive space.
- Fractured will run in standalone mode and is also compatible with the Major DAW such as Fl Studio, Apple Logic & GarageBand, MOTU Digital Performer, Digidesign Pro Tools (8 and higher), Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo, Ableton Live, and more.
5.) Blue Cat’s Re-Guitar ($99.00)
The last acoustic guitar on the list is the Blue Cat’s Re-Guitar, which is design to emulate many kinds of guitar tones, be it an acoustic or an electric guitar, this is especially handy in a project where you wouldn’t like to be switching various guitar instruments.
The way Blue Cats Re-Guitar works is letting you choose from a selection of popular guitar pickups, and it emulates the electric guitar pickup without you needing to modify them. You can also dig and expand the body “in the box” to craft your own hollow body guitar tone thanks to the body simulator. In addition to that, it includes a selection of acoustic guitar simulations, and you can craft your own too.
Video SneakPeek
Key Features
- Guitar tone modeler with electric pickups, acoustic guitars, and hollow body emulations.
- Built-in single-coil pickups: single hot, vintage, modern, active, tele, neck+mid, bridge+mid, P90, P90J.
- Built-in humbucker pickups: vintage, classic, ricky, modern, rails, bright, wide, wide(jazz), jazz box.
- Built-in piezo & acoustic guitars: solid body piezo, acoustic sim pedals, modern & vintage dreadnought, jumbo, mini jumbo, 000, small.
- Create your own electric pickups or acoustic guitar emulations with the custom electric and custom acoustic models.
- Adjust hollow body thickness and amount.
- Adjust simulations brightness and gain.
- Built-in virtual volume and tone pots.
- No latency.
System Requirements
Best Vst Plugins For Guitar
- Windows Vista or higher (Pentium 4 or newer), and Mac OS 10.7 or higher(intel processor.).
- Any VST/AAX/AU compatible host software (32 or 64 bit).
- Any sample rate supported.