Guitar effects on your iPhone

I’ve been watching this product from IK Multimedia for some time now. The iRig promises to deliver a guitar effects system on the iPhone / iPod Touch platform.

There are two components to the system, the first being the software AmpliTube that you run on your iPhone, the second being a hardware interface, iRig, that allows you to plug your guitar into your iphone then continue on to your guitar amp or other output.

For many years I had a trusty Boss ME-5. It was in its time a good all round guitar effects device. It was carted in and out of pubs, clubs and all sorts of places for a number of years – it always amazed me that for a piece of electronics it was amazingly resilient to beer spills.

It’s now listed on the Boss web site in the classic section, meaning that it’s now a museum piece.

The ME-5 has long since be relocated with the help of ebay, I’m sure it’s still going strong where ever it is.

Earlier this year I was looking around for something in the same style, a multi effects unit that with all the usual suspects: reverb, delay, chorus etc…  Certainly the choice has expanded over the years, but so many of them look like they have been inspired by watching too many episodes of Star Trek. Let’s not forget that generally these things are on the floor in a room that’s mostly dark and you have to use your feet to control it – let’s loose all the knobs!

Then I read a pre-release article on the iRig, so the shopping had been suspended. Being the iPhone tragic that I am, the opportunity to blend guitar playing with the iPhone was too much to pass over.

At this stage you can download the software AmpliTube from the iTunes store.

Because the hardware is not available just yet, you can play around with the effects with some build in guitar loops, that will play while you dial up different effects to try.

AmpliTube comes in three flavours. The free version has 3 effects, 1 amp simulation and 1 cabinet, a middle version that has more and the full version that is boasts a comprehensive range of effects:-

• Overdrive
• Delay
• Chorus
• Wah
• Flanger
• Octave
• Envelope Filter
• Phazer
• Fuzz
• Noise Filter
• Distorion

In addition to the effects are more cabinets and amps.

You can see the full details of the three version here.

The IK Media web site says that it will begin shipping the iRig from early July (that’s now!) so hopefully we will see the hardware in the wild soon and in turn some reviews of the hardware.

If you’re play guitar and have an iPhone this one is worth checking out when it becomes available.