Limp Bizkit guitarist and all-around gear aficionado Wes Borland has partnered with STL Tones for a new plugin suite, Tonality: Wes Borland.
The plugin pros at STL say the collaboration has successfully captured “the sonic and visual anarchy that Wes has become so renowned for”, serving up three different amps and a virtual pedalboard.
To achieve that, its most advanced hardware modeling algorithms were put to the test to trace the schematics of Borland’s most beloved – read: used and abused – amplifiers, pedals, and cabinets. The result is a careful recreation of Borland’s live rig in an affordable digital format.
The three-amp package digitizes the sonic souls of Borland's Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus, Diezel VH4 and Selmer Zodiac 50 MKII Tremolo.
The two-input channels and three-band EQs on the Roland have seen it become many a player’s preferred clean amp, and this digitized version is said to be just as transparent. Diezel’s “extremely versatile” 100-watt head, meanwhile, satisfies the heavier end of Borland’s tone-chasing thanks to four distinctly voiced preamps, all of which have independent gain, EQ, and master controls.
The amp trio is rounded out by the “chime and saturated breakup tones” of the Selmer Zodiac, which offers a nice middle ground between the transparency and grunt of its stablemates.
Five pedals are on offer here. The Big Wezz is based on Electro-Harmonix’s Big Muff fuzz pedal, the Mini Filter on EHX’s Mini Q-Tron, and the WB7 two-in-one chorus/flanger on the Ibanez CF7.
There are also two delay pedals to get suitably spacey with. The Borland Delay is based on Dunlop’s revered Echoplex tape echo, while a take on Boss’ ever-flexible DD-8 digital delay completes the one-two.
The collection of combo amps, heads, and pedals have been paired with digital repro’s of Borland’s favorite speaker cabinets, which have been measured and scrutinized to provide “the ultimate in realism and accuracy”. For good measure, and to mimic Borland’s artistry, the cabinets have been adorned with some typically weird paintings.
Five different microphones were used in 156 different positions for tireless Impulse Response captures, and they can all be adjusted within the plugin.
Tonality: Wes Borland helps to strengthen and diversify STL Tones' plugin roster. Previously, the brand has worked with producer Will Putney, Josh Middleton, and Andy James, among others.
Of why it has singled out the Limp Bizkit riff-monger for its latest Tonality plugin, STL Tones says: “Borland isn't just a guitarist; he's a living, breathing art piece, redefining what it means to be a rock star.”
The STL Tones Tonality: Wes Borland plugin costs $149, but is currently reduced to $99.
Head to STL Tones to learn more.
