“Gives you the keys to a studio full of classic tube amps, speaker cabs, stompboxes, and effects”: Universal Audio’s amp-emulating pedals have been a huge success – now they’ve arrived in plugin form via the all-inclusive Paradise Guitar Studio

Universal Audio has introduced Paradise Guitar Studio, a new amp sim plugin featuring 11 hand-picked vintage and modified tube amps for boutique clean and crunch tone chasers.

Packing classic amps, cabs, mics, pedals, and studio effects, it offers “an entire pro guitar recording chain in your DAW,” and aims to be all a player would need for a studio-grade recording session.

The plugin’s six amps essentially mimic its celebrated amp-in-a-box pedals, which have even won over tube amp fanatic John Mayer. Its Woodrow ’55 is based on Fender tweed combo amps from the ’50s, the Dream ’65 Reverb on a Fender Deluxe Reverb, and the Ruby ’63 channels a Vox AC30.

There are also carefully modelled takes on a ‘68 Marshall Plexi, and a Dumble Overdrive Special, made famous and legendary by Stevie Ray Vaughan, and brought to pedalboards by UA via the Enigmatic ‘82.

Its speaker cabinet spread is just as impressive, with Fender-inspired and Greenback-infused cab sims included in its arsenal. Effects-wise, toys include a Klon clone, Ibanez’s green tube screamer, Phase 90 phaser, Memory Man-inspired delay, and a 1176 compressor, which draws directly from its iconic rack-mounted unit.

Paradise has been designed to take the rocket science out of tone sculpting, with Universal Audio saying players can “capture the perfect sound in minutes with curated speaker cabinets and expertly-placed studio mics.” Post-amp effects like tape echoes and plate reverbs offer the finishing touch.

A tasty 300+ presets, ranging from blues and indie to metal and funk, also make diving into its tonal offerings super accessible, especially for those who love to reverse-engineer their plugins.

Finally, the plugin also offers a built-in tuner, noise gate, and limiter to stop clipping. It compounds UA’s desire for this to be a one-stop shop for guitarists.

Introducing: Paradise Guitar Studio - YouTube

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As far as the interface on the native plugin is concerned, it’s guitarist-friendly – putting the amp and cab front and center, with pre- and post-effects slots nestling at the top, between its input and output level controls. The slots are limited to five on each side, and the effects are not restricted to a particular side of the amp, which helps each pedal double its diversity.

“Guitar tone is an endless journey to find your voice, so we designed Paradise to give you the keys to a studio full of classic tube amps, speaker cabs, stompboxes, and effects,” says UA's tone guru, James Santiago.

There’s a lot to like about the Universal Audio Paradise Guitar Studio, and its $199 asking price (currently reduced to $149) is sure to widen its appeal, too.

See Universal Audio for more.

The release comes hot on the heels of its Showtime '64 plugin, emulating amps championed by Keith Richards and the Beach Boys, as well as a major update to its pedals that meets surging user demand.