Waves GTR3

What Waves GTR3 Is For

Waves GTR3 is a plugin for simulating amplifiers, cabinets, and effects designed to record, produce, and mix guitars and basses directly within your DAW, without the need to re-mic a physical amp. It is suitable both for direct recording in a home studio and for more demanding productions, thanks to a wide sonic palette: clean funk, vintage crunch, metal riffs, ambient textures, and bass tones ranging from precise solid-state to more aggressive rock grit. In both studio and composition settings, GTR3 allows you to quickly build a mix-ready sound while maintaining the flexibility to adjust amp, cab, and effects at any time.

Main Features

A Collection of Amps Focused on Feel and Versatility

The core of GTR3 is based on a selection of amps designed to cover a wide range of styles. Sounds range from clean, detailed dynamics to thick, powerful saturations, with a response that prioritizes the "feel" under the fingers. The plugin also includes modern models, including custom models associated with Paul Reed Smith and Neil Citron, for more contemporary and cutting tones.

Cabinets and Virtual Miking Like in the Studio

GTR3 replicates the logic of a recording session: cabinet choice, microphone selection, then tone adjustment. You have 12 miking options for 16 guitar cabinets and 6 bass cabinets. To go further, you can stack cabinets in series or parallel, and even bypass the virtual cab to feed a physical cabinet (useful for hybrid setups).

A Pedalboard of 25 Stompboxes, Tailored for Production

The effects module includes 25 pedals covering the essentials of a pedalboard: distortion and other drives, compressor, chorus, delay, reverb, wah, octave divider, pitch bender, and more. The effects rely on Waves' "studio processing" approach, helping to achieve mixable and stable sounds in a busy project. For real-time playing, MIDI Learn and multipoint sensitivity management are available, useful for expressive parameter control.

Advanced Routings and Performance

The plugin allows stacking of 2 amps in series or parallel, with in-phase or out-of-phase options, opening possibilities for double-amping, widening, and harmonic sculpting. For live use, the ToolRack module is optimized for standalone operation, enabling quick access to a ready-to-play guitar chain. Finally, GTR3 is compatible with StudioRack to push parallel processing further, by split or even frequency, creating more modern sounds such as articulated multiband distortion.

Technical specifications

Type

Full software

Downloadable

Yes

Systems	macOS Catalina 10.15, Big Sur 11, Monterey 12, Ventura 13, Sonoma 14	Bass Cabinets	6
Memory	8 GB	Virtual Miking	12 options
Disk Space	16 GB	Stompboxes	25 effects
Plugin Formats	VST-2, VST-3, AU, AAX	Included Effects (examples)	distortion, compressor, chorus, delay, reverb, wah, octave divider, pitch bender
Amps	30 guitar amps, 7 bass amps	Tempo Functions	tap tempo, tempo sync
Amp Stacking	2 amps in series or parallel	Control	MIDI Learn
Phase Management	in-phase or out-of-phase	Compatibility	supports StudioRack (free host) for advanced parallel processing
Guitar Cabinets	16	Performance Mode	ToolRack module optimized for standalone live use