Strum GS-2
by Applied Acoustics Systems · Instrument · Physical modeling guitar
Not rated yet
Strum GS-2 is a modeled acoustic and electric guitar played from a keyboard, with automatic chord voicing and strumming.
It includes 700+ strumming loops and built-in amp and effects, for $199.
Best for: Guitars, Acoustic Instruments. Genres: Pop, Rock & Indie, R&B & Soul.
Keywords: guitar instrument, chord generator, physical modelling, clean, arpeggiator, leads, crunchy, drum machine, heavy.
What it does
Strum GS-2 is a physically modeled acoustic and electric guitar that turns keyboard chords into guitar voicings and strums. AAS pitches it as "your new session guitarist."
- Guitar models: 103 acoustic presets with nylon or steel strings and different body shapes, and 150 electric presets with single-coil or humbucker pickups, from clean to distorted.
- Chord recognition: detects the chord you play and maps it onto the fretboard, with basic and extended chords in open, movable, power chord or drop voicings.
- Keyboard mode: play chords on the keys and the voicing is applied automatically.
- Guitar mode: hold a chord with one hand and trigger downstrokes, upstrokes, scratches and mutes with the other.
- Loop mode: 707 recorded strumming patterns (406 acoustic, 301 electric) play over the chords you hold, grouped in packages of seven covering one technique each.
- Expression: slides and bends from the pitch wheel or aftertouch, vibrato from the mod wheel, palm muting, and natural hammer-ons and pull-offs when playing single-note lines.
- Amp and effects: electric models get a two-channel amp, spring reverb and speaker cabinet; three effect racks add reverb, delay, distortion, phaser, chorus, flanger, filters, EQ, compressor and tremolo.
The current version is 2.46. A bundle with 20 sound packs is also sold. A 15-day fully working trial is available, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Source: Applied Acoustics Systems product page
When to use it
Strum GS-2 is aimed at rhythm parts: you play chords and it handles the voicings and the strumming, with recorded patterns to fill a part quickly. That sets it apart from Heavier7Strings and MODO BASS 2, deep, specialised string instruments for metal guitar and for bass. It is modeled rather than sampled and covers both acoustic and electric guitar in one instrument. Reviewers found it strongest on strummed chords and arpeggios, and less convincing on solo leads, where a sampled or dedicated lead guitar instrument does better.
- Best for: strummed acoustic and clean or crunchy electric rhythm parts, chord arpeggios and songwriting sketches.
- Genres: pop, rock, folk, country and R&B.
- Look elsewhere if: you want high-gain metal guitar (Heavier7Strings) or realistic lead lines; a sampled guitar library suits leads better.
- Tip: Computer Music suggested running the electric models into a dedicated guitar amp plugin instead of the built-in amp.
What producers say
Users and reviewers rate it highly for rhythm guitar; the common reservation is a slightly uniform, synthetic tone on leads and some presets.
- Computer Music (via MusicRadar) praised the "vastly improved interface" over version 1 and the chord recognition, but found solo leads "not totally convincing," the amp only OK, and many presets heavy on EQ and effects.
- KVR users rate it 5 out of 5 from 3 reviews; one uses it "on just about every project" and likes dragging its MIDI into the DAW, another calls it "quite realistic as electric rhythm guitar."
- Criticisms: one KVR user found a hum-like string sound hard to mix out; another found the acoustic and lead sounds less convincing than the electric rhythm.
Where to buy
- Best Service: $168.29
- PluginFox: $189
- Applied Acoustics Systems: $199
- AudioDeluxe: $199
- Plugin Boutique: $199
Tutorials and reviews
- Strum GS-2's Keyboard, Guitar, and Loop modes
- Presenting the acoustic side of the Strum GS-2 guitar plug-in VST AU AAX RTAS
- Presenting the electric side of the Strum GS-2 guitar plug-in VST AU AAX RTAS
- Strum GS-2 Tutorials—MIDI loops advanced techniques
- Virtual Guitar VSTi - Applied Acoustics Systems - Strum GS-2 2.2.4 - Demonstration
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