Best Electric Guitar Strum VST Plugins
How to choose the best electric guitar VST plugin for strumming which is most suitable for your taste? In this article, I am guiding you to choose it by analyzing the characteristics of them. It is difficult to find better plugins that are directly developed for electric strumming because most of VST companies are developed plugins for solo guitars. Fortunately, there are few plugins with great sound. Here is the best electric guitar strum VST plugin list which I ranked according to their main characters. I will try my best to update this article every month when the arrival of competitive new products.
Please refer to the following table which contains important things that we should consider an electric guitar strum VST plugin. I explained each character one by one after the table. I am a sound engineer and please note that all of these rankings, scoring, and reviewing are done according to my own 10 year working experiences in the music composing field.
| Rank | Name | Sustain quality (%) | Sound quality (%) | Sound Naturality (%) | Blend/Mix Quality (%) | File Size | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NI Session Guitarist - Electric Sunburst Deluxe | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 6.3 GB compressed | $149 |
| 2 | NI Session Guitarist - Electric Sunburst | 100 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 5.8 GB compressed | $99 |
| 3 | Steinberg Virtual Guitarist Electric Edition | 90 | 91 | 90 | 96 | 1.84 GB | - |
| 4 | Ilya Efimov TC Strum & LP Strum | 91 | 90 | 86 | 82 | 2.71 GB & 3.7 GB | €99 & €99 |
| 5 | UJAM - Virtual Guitarist IRON | 88 | 82 | 74 | 76 | 2.87 GB | $129 |
| 6 | 8dio Electric Guitar Strummer | 77 | 80 | 73 | 74 | 7.1 GB compressed | $48 |
| 7 | Indiginus Torch Electric Guitar | 74 | 82 | 71 | 80 | 1.8 GB | $50 |
what is Sustain quality of Electric Strumming guitar?
It is difficult to measure the sustain quality of an electric guitar sound. But if you listen carefully, you should able to identify the sustain. It is a reverb effect of a guitar. Sustain is not a major factor in electric strumming because it almost depends on the amp and effects modeling system.
what is Sound quality of Electric Strumming guitar?
In this character, I measure how much clear that the listener can hear the sound. Sound quality means, clear level of the sound. Here, especially we need to consider the sound of the chords and chord changes (the sound that we can hear when it changes from one chord to another). In a good electric guitar strum VST plugin, both of these sounds should be able to listen clearly and separately without any clash sounds.
what is Sound naturality of Electric Strumming guitar?
In this character, I measure how much electric guitar strum VST plugin can come close to a real sound of strumming. This can measure by comparing the VST strumming sound with real strumming sound. There are a lot of things that we need to consider to measure the sound naturality of an electric guitar such as slides and fret noises.
what is Blend / Mix quality of Electric Strumming guitar?
By looking at this measurement, you can choose the best electric guitar strum plugin which can blend with other instruments. It means that how much the electric guitar sound can hear separately and clearly when it playing with other instruments especially in songs. This is a very important character because mix quality is a major factor that affects the quality of a music track.
Let's take the best Electric guitar Strum VST plugins one by one in to action ...
1. NI Session Guitarist - Electric Sunburst Deluxe
This is rank number one which brings the sound of the finest electric guitars in the world. Electric Sunburst Deluxe is the best electric guitar strum VST plugin which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. This plugin consists of 237 patterns with 51 songs including realistic riffs, arpeggios, strummed intervals, and chords. The specialty is, it can access thousands of loops, single notes, and noises over numerous fret positions played both with plectrum and fingers in open, muted, flageolet, and tremolo articulations. This VST plugin has a remarkable sound quality and sound naturality which is almost close to a real electric guitar. The downloadable file size is 6.3 GB. Here I add the official video of Electric Sunburst Deluxe from Soundcloud by Native instruments channel. Take your time to watch to it. You will feel the excellence of it by yourself.
2. NI Session Guitarist - Electric Sunburst
This is rank number two which captures the sound of a classic electric studio guitar chosen for its rich, warm, and adaptable sound. This is the second-best electric guitar strum VST plugin which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. This plugin is almost the same as Electric Sunburst Deluxe library by characteristics such as sound naturality and sound quality, but this plugin has less number of patterns which is 154 patterns and 31 songs. Like the previous plugin (rank number 1), this VST plugin also has a remarkable sound quality and sound naturality which is almost close to a real electric guitar. The downloadable file size is 5.8 GB. Here I add an official soundtrack of Electric Sunburst from Soundcloud by Native instruments channel. Take your time to listen to the beauty of it.
3. Steinberg Virtual Guitarist Electric Edition
This is the rank number three and according to my knowledge, this is the first successful electric guitar strum VST plugin which introduced to the world. I have used this plugin a lot when I need strumming patterns for rock music and fingering patterns. Looking at the customization and controls, this plugin includes options to control shuffle, timing, dynamics, stereo width, and doubling. Furthermore, articulations include hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, mutes, and trills. The downloadable ISO file size is 1.84 GB. There are many styles and patterns which you can use especially for rock and pop music. Some people are saying that this plugin is out of the date now. But my idea is that Steinberg Virtual Guitarist electric edition is still a competitive plugin to use. Here I add a demo video of Steinberg Virtual Guitarist electric edition from YouTube by deri verul andi channel. Take your time to watch it.
4. Ilya Efimov TC Strum & LP Strum
This is rank number four, and I discuss 2 guitars in the same company which are TC strum and LP strum which delivers 2 sound colors. Both of these guitars have more than 30 techniques for chord strumming, 250 factory, and 70 custom patterns for auto strumming. Looking at the customization and controls, both of these plugins include options to control reverb, compressor, EQ, delay, double-track options, different FX, and noises. Furthermore, pattern editing and chord editing options are also available in both TC and LP strum. The file size of TC strum is 2.71 GB and LP strum is 3.7 GB. There are many styles and patterns which you can use for any kind of song. Here I add a demo video of Ilya Efimov electric guitar from YouTube by Stian Hammersland channel. Take your time to watch it.
5. UJAM - Virtual Guitarist IRON
This is rank number five which delivers powerful distorted chords and riffs. This is the fifth-best electric guitar strum VST plugin which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. This plugin is most suitable for hard rock music. The downloadable file size just only 2.87 GB which is lightweight comparing to other instruments. Looking at the articulations, Ujam iron guitar has options to choose and control drop d, doubling, delay, chorus, and reverb. It has over 1100 phrases and 100 styles. Here I add an official soundtrack of UJAM iron Virtual Guitar from Soundcloud by ujam instruments channel. Take your time to listen and feel the beauty of this plugin.
6. 8dio Electric Guitar Strummer
This is rank number six which is designed as a guitar bundle of both solo and strum. According to the standard measurements of characters, this plugin holds the sixth position in the list of best electric guitar strum VST plugins at the moment when I am writing this article. It contains over 4100 different real strums, sampled across all 12 keys with 13 different chord types and 13 different rhythm types. Also, this plugin has options to choose and control delay precision dial EQ, bit crush, or distort stereo delay or mess around with dual convolution reverbs. The file size is 4 GB. Here I add an official video of 8dio electric guitar strummer from YouTube by 8Dio production channel. Take your time to watch it.
7. Indiginus Torch Electric Guitar
This is rank number seven and this is the best customizable electric guitar VST plugin which I found at the moment when I am writing this article. You can use this plugin for any kind of music track because Torch electric guitar allows you to create your strumming patterns by using any chords you like, with the ability to create your chords as well. Looking at the customization and controls, this plugin includes options to choose and control compression, delay, distortion, flanger, and reverb. The downloadable file size is 1.8 GB. This VST plugin is perfectly customizable and user friendly. Here I add an official soundtrack of Torch electric guitar from Soundcloud by Indiginus channel. Take your time to listen to it and feel the power of this sound.
