Ace

Name: Ace
Author: Shattered Glass Audio

by Shattered Glass Audio · Amp Sim · Tweed amp sim

Not rated yet

Ace is a free amp sim from Shattered Glass Audio that models a 1950s American all-tube tweed 5W amp, with two common amp mods.

It uses full-circuit modeling with 12AX7 and 6V6GT tube models and low CPU use. It is free.

Best for: Guitars, Bass. Genres: Rock & Indie, R&B & Soul.

Keywords: electric guitar, free, 50s, clean, tube, circuit-modelled, CPU-light, hardware emulation, crunchy, bass, creamy, live performance, mixing, oversampling, vintage.

What it does

Ace is a free model of a 1950s American, all-tube, 5-watt tweed amp. Shattered Glass Audio models the whole circuit so the amp stages interact as they do in hardware, with "conservative" CPU use for live playing and re-amping.

Circuit modeling: the whole amp is modeled as one circuit, so the preamp and power stages respond to each other and to your playing dynamics.
Tube models: 12AX7 preamp and 6V6GT power tubes.
Input boost: adjustable input strength with up to 12 dB of boost to push the amp into breakup.
Amp mods: two common switchable mods, an adjustable feedback amount and grid stopper resistors, which can be turned off for the stock circuit.
Cabinet: built-in cabinet simulation that can be switched on or off.
Quality: selectable 2x, 4x or 8x oversampling.

KVR lists version 1.1.0. It is free.

Source: Shattered Glass Audio product page

When to use it

Ace is a single, free, light circuit model of a small tweed amp, best for warm clean tones and edge-of-breakup crunch. Compared with AmpliTube 5 MAX or Guitar Rig 7 Pro, it offers one amp instead of a full rig with pedals and many amps, but it costs nothing and has very few controls to learn. Neural Amp Modeler is also free and can load captures of many amps, while Ace needs no capture files and gives you real circuit controls like the feedback and grid-stopper mods. It is not built for high gain, unlike the Archetype plugins.

Best for: tweed-style clean and crunch tones, blues and roots guitar, and re-amping.
Genres: rock, blues, indie, pop and soul.
Look elsewhere if: you need high-gain tones or many amps; Neural Amp Modeler or AmpliTube 5 MAX cover more.

What producers say

Ace is well liked as a free clean-tone amp, though it has had little coverage beyond its 2014 release.

Bedroom Producers Blog praised its "nice creamy clean tones" and low CPU use, calling it "a must-try for guitar players on a budget".
KVR users rate it 5 out of 5 from one review, calling it "a GREAT plugin".
Criticisms: at release its name clashed with u-he's ACE synth and caused install conflicts, which the developer promised to fix.

Where to buy

Shattered Glass Audio: Free
Plugin Boutique: Free

Tutorials and reviews

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Ace