Hughes & Kettner Coreblade

Name: Hughes & Kettner Coreblade
Price: 139 USD
Author: Nembrini Audio

by Nembrini Audio · Amp Sim · Four-channel high-gain amp sim

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Hughes & Kettner Coreblade by Nembrini Audio

An officially branded plugin of the Hughes & Kettner Coreblade four-channel high-gain amp, from Nembrini Audio.

It adds stomp and post effects, six cabinets, an IR loader and a standalone app, and is on sale for $29.99 (regular $139).

Best for: Guitars. Genres: Metal, Rock & Indie.

Keywords: aggressive, electric guitar, modern, impulse-response based, standalone app, heavy, enhancement, hardware emulation, licensed emulation, punchy, tube, visual feedback, wide.

What it does

Hughes & Kettner Coreblade is Nembrini's licensed model of the Coreblade, a four-channel modern high-gain tube amp, built with what the developer calls hybrid modeling. The goal is "crushing modern tone" with clarity and punch.

Four channels: modern high-gain tone shaping for metal and hard rock.
Pre-amp stomps: noise gate, filters, a Screamer overdrive and a Doubler that widens the sound with panning, pitch detune and time offsets.
Post effects: a graphic parametric EQ and a studio compressor; the effects can be dragged to change their order.
Cabinets and mics: six cabinet models and four microphones with selectable positions, plus a mixer with volume and pan.
IR loader: up to three impulse responses at once, with a waveform display.
Standalone: a standalone version is included for playing without a DAW.

The current version is 1.0.3, and a demo is available. It was on sale when checked.

Source: Nembrini Audio product page

When to use it

Coreblade suits players who want one modern high-gain amp, with its pedals and post effects in a compact rig, for little money on sale. Compared with Archetype: Gojira X or Archetype: Nolly X it offers a similar one-window chain of stomps, amp, effects and cabinets, but with a single amp design and no delay or reverb. Unlike AmpliTube 5 MAX or Helix Native, it gives you no choice of other amps, so it is a specialist rather than a toolbox. Its four channels and Doubler still cover rhythm and lead parts in one instance.

Best for: modern metal rhythm and lead guitar, double-tracked heavy parts.
Genres: metal, hard rock.
Look elsewhere if: you need vintage tones, ambience effects or a wide choice of amps; AmpliTube 5 MAX or Helix Native cover more ground.

Where to buy

Nembrini Audio: $139

Tutorials and reviews

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