Processing guitar

I have used just about every hardware unit out there. Boss units, Yamaha, Digitech, etc.. The Line 6 POD series is probably the most affordable for the quality out there. If you can afford it, the next step up would be a Kemper or Axe-FX but they are pricey. For the last several years I have used nothing but software plugins and have loved every minute of it. Amplitube 4 is getting used on just about everything I do now. I much prefer using the software because you can record the track and if you want to change the amp later you can without the hassle of reamping or recutting the track because the sound wasn't right.
Short answer is hardware units: Line 6 Helix or POD HD500X. (You can pick up older POD HD500s for a very reasonable price if you can find one!) Kemper, Axe-FX.
Software: Amplitube 4, BIAS Amp, S-Gear, TH3, Guitar Rig.
I personally prefer Amplitube 4 but you really need to add the Fender, Fender 2 collections. They really are the crown jewels of Amplitube!! I hear the Mesa Boogie collection is astounding. I have never been much of a Boogie guy but I have heard so much good about that collection I might have to invest in it.

Sanderxpander
If you pick a sim it can also help to get one that allows you to use custom/3rd party cabinet impulse responses. 

FWIW TH3 Cakewalk Edition can load IRs, and comes with a bunch of them.
 
I've worked with amp sims for a looooooooong time and I feel what's most important isn't the amp sim itself, but what you put before and after it. For example, I use a multiband compressor to "de-ess" the guitar's highs when running distortion...tune the output with notch filters...restrict the range of frequencies going in...that sort of thing.
 
I'm creating a new set of CA-X amp FX Chains based around TH3 Cakewalk Edition. The original set was kind of a disaster because there had to be two different versions, one for SONAR Artist/Professional and one for Platinum, and whether they worked or not depended on how TH2 was installed. So some people thought they sounded fantastic while others thought they sounded horrible...both were right 
 
The new chains will be unlocked so you can reverse-engineer them. IIRC one of them has 24 filter stages at the output and if you remove any one, it doesn't sound as good (although I also use them to create tone stacks, not just for tuning purposes). For example here are the modules used in a new high gain CA-X amp head called Fat Gain.
 

• Sonitus Multiband
• Sonitus Gate
• Sonitus Equalizer
• Overloud TH3
• Sonitus Multiband
• Cakewalk Multivoice Chorus/Flanger
• Sonitus Equalizer
• Sonitus Equalizer
• Sonitus Equalizer
• Sonitus Equalizer
• Sonitus Reverb
• Sonitus Equalizer

S-Gear is very good indeed. Just make sure you don't overload the input, but that's true of all amp sims.

Slugbaby
Guitar Rig doesn't seem to mimic specific amplifiers as proficiently, but I use GR when I want a more complicated setup.  You can drop in their "marshall sim", split the signal and send one line through a noise gate, which then routes to a different amp, which then splits again and has the upper frequencies panned Left and the lower frequencies panned right, with separate Delays on each.*
 
* I've never actually tried this, I just made it up as an example.

 
I have, and it works fine. The Crossover and Splitter modules are the key to multiband processing in Guitar Rig.
 

Line 6 "Helix Native" (VST, AAS) just came out last week.  There is a free 15 day trial.  Check it out. 
 
http://line6.com/software/index.html?hardware=All&name=Helix%20Native&submit_form=set
 
Same sounds and engine as the Helix hardware. Some great stuff in there, except that it is a little light on cleaner sounds. Still, I bought it and am happy with it.  I can use the other stuff that comes with SONAR Platinum to get a good jazz or acoustic sound.
 
I like the Line 6 stuff for hardware and software.  The PODPro line works good for live and re-amping.  I have POD Farm 2.5 and Guitar Rig and use both with good results.  Sometimes I even run them in serial in the FX bin.  You can probably buy a used POD of some sort pretty cheap these days.  In fact, I have an old PODPro and a PODPro-HD (both with pedal-boards) I'll sell you real cheap, but shipping from Hawaii might be a bit spendy.  You can PM me if you are interested.
 
As far as the recording chain goes, I record through a preamp which sends a clean signal to SONAR and another to my Line 6 hardware which then feeds a little Fender tube amp for monitoring.  That way I can play/record with the inspiration of the processed sound (no latency) and yet record a clean signal that can be tweaked later with a plug-in or sent back out to the hardware for re-amping.

I agree that the Fender amp sounds that come in Amplitube are not very good but I own both of the Fender Collections and own most of those amps and I can tell you that while not the real thing they are very close. The Marshalls, of which I own 3 of those amps, in Amp4 are a vast improvement.
I really like the capability in Amp4 to change multiple speakers IN the cabs!!!! A 4X12 loaded with JBLs or EVs!! Holy crap!
Never been much of an Orange fan or the Boogie for that matter. Thought about picking up the Jet City.
Anyway, I think everyone has given good solid info here! Now, go make some racket.

Some great posts here,i was wondering if you all had any tips for getting a better sound when using something like Amplitube.
i have just read somewhere that adding a De-esser before the amp sim is a good step,anything else i can try ?
i have the audiobox usb audio interface, are there correct steps for the levels on my input on the audio device and then inside the actual amp sim for a better sound ?
 
Dan 

tlw

Slugbaby
Amplitube excels at simulating specific amps.  If you want that '65 Fender Twin or Marshall JCM800, that's what you get. It's very straightforward and simple.  They're licensed to Fender, Orange, Ampeg, and others, so they have to be great recreations.

As a present or past owner of several of the modelled amps, including two out of the Orange pack and one out of the Fender I'm afraid I don't entirely agree with that.

That's entirely fair.
When I had my Fender Twin, it was so damned loud that I could almost never push it.  With the sim, i can get the sounds I THOUGHT I was getting at a usable volume.  Same with the JCM800, but maybe my ears just aren't catching the deficiencies.

danbottomburp
Some great posts here,i was wondering if you all had any tips for getting a better sound when using something like Amplitube.
i have just read somewhere that adding a De-esser before the amp sim is a good step,anything else i can try ?

I think you'll find the article How to Make Amp Sims Sound More "Analog," and the audio examples, very helpful. Avid adopted these ideas in the Eleven Rack expansion pack.
 
You might also enjoy How to Avoid "Hidden Distortion" in Amp Sims.

mudgel
Things have evolved a good bit since then but it does me fine for anything live and/or recording. Of course I've got all the other Software sims except Scuffham which I hear is the best.

IMHO Scuffham set out to do a limited number of things really well as opposed to trying to be everything to everybody. Both approaches have their merits. What I find most interesting about amp sims is that they're as different as real amps 

I played the same exact guitar for all my lead guitar work on both of these songs .
 
One features amp sim only recorded direct . The other clip is Hardware into amp sim recorded direct ...
 
Can you tell which is which ?
 
https://soundcloud.com/guitarist-kenny-wilson/come-dance-with-mytele
 
https://soundcloud.com/gu.../my-good-tele-gone-bad
 
Kenny

Hi guys. First of all thanks for so many great and informative posts. Frankly my skill on the electric guitar is very very limited. I've had a fender 90s Deluxe tele for a long time just don't really have the skill to get a bunch of different and varied sounds out of it. One sim I really liked was Way Way Back when I had a Roland 2480. By the way I've had Cakewalk ever since version 3 on a floppy disk... In one of those Roland FX cards was a set of guitar presets many of which I really like the sound of. Tweaking things to a huge extent doesn't really appeal to me all that much but that's kind of what I had in mind.
I will try the Sims that come with Platinum though.

Thanks again!

As for the acoustic I have a Fishman blender in my Martin and I can get a pretty decent basic track why putting that about halfway but if there is something good for messing with an acoustic guitar tone in a FX plug I'd like to play with that too.
WSS

Been playing around with the Overloud th3 and it seems great.
It turns out Roland no longer makes that set of plugins and universal audio had one called Nigel but they decided to take it away.

Thanks guys.
WSS