Neural DSP amp modelers seldom get a discount in the Black Friday guitar deals, and unfortunately, this year is no different thus far. If you want some extra value for money though, there is a great deal on the Nano Cortex, where if you buy one from an authorized dealer, you can bag yourself a free plugin of your choice from the entire Neural lineup.
You can grab a Nano Cortex at the following qualifying retailers, and those who buy from Sweetwater in the US will bag a free Eminence Impulse Response Sampler pack too:
To claim your Neural DSP plugin, you’ll need to submit proof that your unit was purchased in the Black Friday window between November 21 and December 3 by uploading a receipt in .jpg, .png, or .pdf format. Once validated you’ll be able to hop into your Neural account and choose your free plugin. You can’t use plugins on the Nano Cortex itself, but you can use the Nano Cortex as an audio interface in order to use your plugin on your computer or laptop.
If you need more information on how to claim your free plugin, head over to the Neural DSP website for more detailed instructions.
Having been hands-on with the Nano Cortex, it’s one of the most powerful pieces of guitar gear around right now, and thanks to the popularity of Neural DSP products, it’s no surprise they don’t feel the need to discount them. The captures sound sublime, and there’s an excellent array of effects to choose from.
Plenty of guitarists I know have one of these on their ‘board, including our reviewer who gave it four and a half stars out of five in our Neural DSP Nano Cortex review. It works great if you don’t want to ditch any of your existing stompboxes, but want the convenience of amp modeling when playing live. For those who don’t want to go full modeling, it’s a great way of getting quality amp tones in a compact enclosure.
The lack of a screen takes a bit of getting used to, but honestly once you’ve used it for a little bit you soon forget that you even need a screen; it’s that intuitive to use. The tactile control of buttons and knobs will appeal to certain types of players, and you can use a companion app to make deeper settings changes when you need to.
It’s incredibly lightweight and compact, meaning it’ll fit on busy pedalboards, and I love that you can power it via USB-C or via pedalboard power supply. You can capture your favorite amp tones with it; the sounds are so good that our reviewer ditched their tube amp in favor of using one of these instead.
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