It’s understandable why Jens Bogren would want to team with Trivium for a new Bogren Digital Ampknob plugin, and it’s equally easy to see why Trivium would join forces with the master metal producer and engineer. But the resulting product, a series of three plug-ins marketed to emulate Trivium’s rhythm guitar, lead guitar, and bass tones, is somewhat misleading… And that’s a good thing.
Some metal fans love Trivium. Others don’t. For guitarists that want to play like Trivium, the new plugins can easily be set to replicate the band’s rhythm and lead sound. Guitarists Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu, and bassist Paulo Gregoletto worked directly with Bogren, who modeled their Ampknob tones after handpicked sounds from the various amps they use. However, there’s more to the Trivium Ampknobs than the collective sounds of Trivium. In other words, guitarists who hate Trivium – or even dislike metal – should be pleased with the clear, crisp tones programmed into these plug-ins.
The Rhythm Ampknob can be dialed in to deliver tight, crunchy tones and bowel-shaking chugs, but when the three-position rhythm guitar switch is set to low (green), the gain knob captures a range of mostly clean tones with just a bit of echo perfect for glassy, reflective strumming or rich, orchestral arpeggios (the reverb can easily be turned off, if desired). When cranked, it delivers enough dirt to please raucous blues players and rockers alike. In the overdrive (yellow) setting, tones run the gamut from lightly dirty to raw and gritty, and even Metallic (think Marshall Plexi). And, of course, in the high-gain (red) switch setting, the Ampknob can be dialed between JCM-800 or EVH5150-style crunch and Engl or Soldano grind.
Similarly, the Lead Ampknob settings can vary from soft to searing, and provide requisite sustain in any mode. The cutely labeled “Chorey” switch adds a chorus/doubler effect and a “Delay” switch adds character to a variety of solo styles when used in tandem with the “Gain” knob. The sound of the Bass Ampknob can be punched up with the drive button and the gain knob delivers resonant tones that can capture Gregoletto’s bright, percussive style, but can also deliver more conventional bass tones.
Like Bogren Digital’s other Ampknobs, players can choose between modern and vintage cabinets, and can tweak sound settings, but they don’t offer a wide variety of modulation options or wet/dry options. What the Ampknobs excel at is creating great tones with minimal effort. All the amps use Bogren’s patented IRDX technology, which, to paraphrase the technical promo jargon, adds dynamic speaker behavior to impulse responses, enhancing the realism of the knobs and making them sound more like tube amps. In addition to the authentic amp components, each part of the Trivium Ampknob package (which can be purchased together or separately) can be used with or without at DAW, and each features a tuner, metronome and riff recorder. Trivium fans who want to capture Trivium’s tones can’t lose with these Ampknobs. Those who don’t like or are oblivious to the metal band can ignore the name on the label and still enjoy the benefits of Bogren’s wizardry. – Jon Wiederhorn
