Fender Studio Pro 8: How I Reamp Guitars for a Thicker Mix
What's Included in This Reamping Breakdown?
You'll see the exact reamping workflow used to reshape a bass DI, an acoustic guitar DI, and two electric guitar DIs using nothing but Fender Studio Pro 8's Mustang and Rumble plugins, no reamp box required!
This all comes from a real mix built for a lesson on the new Mustang guitar and Rumble bass plugins, plus one move most engineers wouldn't think to try: running a bass plugin on an acoustic guitar.
Below, we break down FOUR real reamping decisions made track by track, explain why they worked, and show how to apply the same logic to your own session!
So don't worry if you're not on Fender Studio Pro 8 yet; this concept can be applied in any DAW with a quality amp-sim plugin!
This session comes straight from a video David filmed for the Home Recording Made Easy YouTube channel, mixing real multitracks from James D. Cooler's tune "There's a Feeling."
Watch the video to hear each reamping move in context, or click here to see the whole thing yourself.
Table of Contents
- How to Blend a Bass DI and Amp Track with the Rumble Plugin
- Running the Rumble Bass Plugin on Acoustic Guitar (Yes, Really)
- Reamping Clean and Distorted Guitar DIs with the Mustang Plugin
- Reamping an Already-Amped Guitar Track for Extra Dirt
- What Worked, and What to Watch For
- FAQ
- Quick Recap
How to Blend a Bass DI and Amp Track with the Rumble Plugin
For this mix, James D. Cooler sent over both a mic'd bass amp and a bass DI for the same part, the two signals every bass player should try to capture if they can. David's default move with a pair like that is to lean on the DI for low end and let the amp carry the top.
"Typically when I get a bass amp and a DI track, I like to use a DI track to kind of focus more on the low end."
He opened Rumble on the DI track, cycled through several amp models to get a feel for the range, and settled on the Bassman TV model through a 2x10 Rumble V3 cabinet, then added a small room reverb for glue.
"It just sounds great. Focuses more on the low end. We'll let the amp track work on the top end."
The result: a bass DI, reamped clean and simple, doing exactly the frequency job a DI is best at, while the original amp track keeps its natural top-end character.
Try This In Your Own Mix
Next time you print a bass DI alongside the amp, don't throw the DI away once the amp is recorded. Reamp it through an amp-sim plugin dialed toward a clean, low-end-forward tone, then blend it under the amp track instead of EQ'ing either one in isolation.
If you want the fundamentals of DI-and-amp blending down before you touch a reamping plugin, the Free Mixing Course is the place to start.
Running the Rumble Bass Plugin on Acoustic Guitar (Yes, Really)
David had a pair of acoustic guitars recorded with microphones in James's studio. On their own, they sounded fine but a little thin and inconsistent between the two channels.
"It just cleaned up the sound a lot, which I really like."
Instead of reaching for a guitar plugin, he opened Rumble, the bass plugin, and loaded the Rumble 800 preamp model on both acoustic channels. The Rumble 800 is built like a simple studio preamp, gain, volume, treble, mid low, mid high, and bass, plus a straightforward EQ section that gave David fast, musical control without a dedicated channel strip.
"I used a little bit of a compressor, right? And then I also used a spring reverb, and it just changed the sound completely and sounded perfect in the mix."
Using a bass amp plugin on acoustic guitar is not the obvious move, a bass preamp is voiced for low end, not sparkle, but on a slightly thin or noisy acoustic take, that low-mid warmth and simple gain staging turned out to be exactly what was missing.
Try This In Your Own Mix
If an acoustic guitar DI or mic track sounds thin, boxy, or a little noisy, try running it through a bass preamp plugin's clean channel before you reach for your usual acoustic EQ chain. The simplified controls make it fast to dial in warmth without hunting through a dozen guitar-amp presets.
Reamping Clean and Distorted Guitar DIs with the Mustang Plugin
James sent over a full stack of guitar parts, clean rhythm guitars and distorted rhythm guitars, each with both an amp track and a DI. David used the Mustang plugin differently on each pair.
Clean Guitars: Picking a Similar (Not Identical) Amp
The original clean guitar arrived already recorded through an amp with a Studio Verb on it. Rather than reamp the DI to match that amp exactly, David picked something close but different.
"I just tried to get something that was similar to the amp that he kind of used, but not exactly the same, because I wanted to have something just to give it a little bit more thickness and a little bit more fullness."
He reamped the DI through Mustang's '65 Deluxe Reverb amp model, added a touch of compression, then ran it through the plugin's '65 Spring Reverb pedal. Blended underneath the original amp-plus-Studio-Verb track, the reamped DI added body and width without turning into a phasey double of the same exact tone.
Try This In Your Own Mix
When you have a DI and an amp take of the same clean part, resist reamping the DI through the identical amp model. Pick a close cousin instead, same amp family, different specific model, so the blend adds thickness and width instead of just doubling one sound on top of itself.
This exact reamp-for-width move is one of dozens covered start to finish inside The Mixing Academy, where you can watch this whole mix built in real time.
Distorted Guitars: Panning Pairs for a Big Stereo Sound
For the distorted rhythm parts, David worked with two guitars panned hard left and right, each with its own amp and DI. On guitar one, he reamped the DI through Mustang's 60's British amp model into a 2x12 Blue cabinet, then added compression and a spring reverb.
"It sounds bright on its own, but in the mix it cuts through really nice."
Blended with the amp track and panned hard, that brightness stopped being a problem and became exactly what let the guitar cut through a dense mix instead of getting buried under the rest of the band.
Try This In Your Own Mix
If a reamped guitar tone sounds too bright or thin soloed in isolation, don't automatically dark it down. Pan it hard opposite its partner guitar and listen in full context first, a bright tone that cuts on its own often earns its keep once it's sitting inside a busy stereo mix.
Reamping an Already-Amped Guitar Track for Extra Dirt
The most unusual move in the session: David's second distorted guitar part had already been recorded through an amp, not just a DI, but it came in on the clean, low-gain side for a song that needed more grit.
"What I was showing inside the course is that you could even reamp something that was already recorded with an amp. Typically, you wouldn't do that, especially if it's really high gain, but in this particular case, it worked out well."
Instead of leaving it alone or re-tracking, he sent the already-amped signal back through Mustang, this time using the British Watts amp model into a 4x12 V30 cabinet, purely to add a little more dirt on top of what was already there.
"Just a little more dirt, cuz in the mix it blended in really nice."
This only worked because the source track was low gain to begin with. Reamping an already-distorted, already-high-gain track through another amp model tends to collapse into mud rather than add character.
Try This In Your Own Mix
If a recorded amp track came in too polite or too clean for the song, try feeding that same track (not the DI) back through an amp-sim plugin on a duplicate channel and blending in just enough extra drive. Save this move for lower-gain source tracks. On something already hot and distorted, it usually makes things worse, not better.
What Worked, and What to Watch For
What Worked
- Printing a DI alongside every amp track gave David full control after the fact, no re-tracking needed to change a tone.
- Splitting the low end to the DI and the top end to the amp on bass kept both the punch and the character.
- An unlikely bass preamp added real warmth to a thin acoustic take.
- Picking a related-but-different amp model when doubling clean guitars added natural width instead of phasey doubling.
What to Watch For
- Reamping an already-amped track works on lower-gain, cleaner source material and gets messy fast on anything already hot and distorted.
- The exact amp models and cabinets here (Bassman TV, '65 Deluxe Reverb, 60's British, British Watts) were chosen for this specific song and these specific DI takes; a different genre or a noisier DI might call for a different model entirely.
- Mustang and Rumble are exclusive to Fender Studio Pro 8. If you're still on an older Presonus Studio One license using the legacy Ampire plugin, these models won't be available to you.
FAQ
1) Can you reamp a guitar or bass DI track without a reamp box?
Yes. Fender Studio Pro 8's Mustang and Rumble plugins let you reamp a DI track directly inside the DAW, no outboard reamp box, extra interface outputs, or re-tracking session required.
2) Can you use a bass amp plugin like Rumble on acoustic guitar?
Yes, and it's not as strange as it sounds. David ran the Rumble 800 bass preamp model on acoustic guitar channels to clean up a thin, slightly noisy take. The simplified preamp controls and low-mid warmth worked well even though it isn't the obvious plugin choice for acoustic guitar.
3) Can you reamp a guitar track that was already recorded through an amp?
Yes, but it works best on lower-gain, cleaner source tracks. David reamped an already-amped guitar part through Mustang's British Watts model to add extra dirt, and noted this typically doesn't work as well on already high-gain, heavily distorted tracks.
4) Do I need a DI track to use these reamping techniques?
Yes. Reamping only works on a dry, unprocessed signal. Record a DI alongside your amp track whenever you can, even if you're happy with the amp tone in the moment, since it gives you the option to reshape or blend the tone later without re-tracking.
5) What amp models did David use for the bass and guitar reamping in this session?
The Bassman TV model through a 2x10 Rumble V3 cabinet for bass, the Rumble 800 preamp for acoustic guitar, the '65 Deluxe Reverb model for clean guitar, the 60's British model into a 2x12 Blue cabinet for distorted guitar, and the British Watts model into a 4x12 V30 cabinet for the already-amped reamp.
6) Does this reamping technique only work in Fender Studio Pro 8?
The underlying idea, blending or replacing a tone using a DI and an amp-sim plugin, works in any DAW with a quality amp-sim plugin. The specific Mustang and Rumble plugins used in this session, and their exact amp models, are exclusive to Fender Studio Pro 8.
Quick Recap
- Blend a bass DI and amp track with Rumble: DI for low end, amp for top end, for full control without losing character.
- Run the Rumble 800 bass preamp on acoustic guitar DIs to add warmth and clean up a thin or noisy take.
- When reamping a doubled clean guitar part, pick a similar-but-different amp model than the original for natural width, not exact doubling.
- Reamp an already-amped guitar track for extra dirt when the source is low gain and clean, not when it's already hot and distorted.
Final Thoughts
None of these moves are complicated once you see them; they just require recording a DI alongside your amp in the first place, and knowing which plugin to reach for when a take needs to change after the fact.
If you're working in Fender Studio Pro 8, or considering the upgrade from Presonus Studio One, and want to see this entire mix built from the ground up, The Mixing Academy walks through every one of these decisions in real time.
Ready to Mix Like This Yourself?
Watch every reamping decision in this post get made in real time, on the full multitrack session, inside The Mixing Academy. Use code ME25OFF for 25% off any single-title course.
Useful Links
- Watch the full Mustang and Rumble reamping walkthrough on YouTube
- The Mixing Academy
- Related: Fender Studio Pro 8: How I Reamp Guitars for a Thicker Mix
- Related: How to Mix Bass & Guitars with SSL Native Plugins (Part 2 Guide)
- Related: UAD Plugins: Best UAD Plugins For Mixing
Every setting shown here reflects one engineer's real-time decisions on one specific mix. Treat it as a fast starting point for your own ears, not a preset recipe to copy blindly; your source tracks, genre, and gear may call for a different amp model or a different call entirely.
