less is more when it comes to vst plugins... daws.. and audio software in general.  there is way too much out there, to ever learn it thoroughly...

what you want is a small kit, of high end tools, that you have learned to use.

"How many plugins do I need?"

Well if you're like most of us.............
As many as you can get.  


Then eventually you reach a point that you're tired of scrolling through 300 compressors (or whatever) and narrow it down to just the ones you find yourself using most often.
Hell, I knew it was time for a clean up a few years ago when it seemed that whenever someone started a thread looking for people's favorite 'go to' EQ.
Voxengo's GlissEQ kept coming up.
I decided, what the hell, I'm gonna buy it. When I logged into my Voxengo account I noticed that apparentlly I'd purchased it about 7 months prior.   


Seriously tho, some good advice above, carry on  .


Mike

How Many Plugins do I Need?

This has never entered Bapu's mind.

Mesh


How Many Plugins do I Need?

This has never entered Bapu's mind.

Sure it has.


All of them of course. 


Mike

How many?
 
Hmm... I love to experiment with different plugins and buy them just to have fun with.  I think you could do fine with just the included Sonar plugs if it came down to it.  I have a ton of them and here are a few of my favorites:
Kush UBK
Slate VCC
Slate FGX
UAD2 Neve collection
UAD2 Manley Massive
UAD2 EMT 140 and 250
Waves Vocal Rider
Voxengo.... I have virtually all of them and they are all darn good.
 
I use the Sonar Vintage Channel on my acoustic guitar tracks all the time and use the Channel Tools plug as well. Their tube limiter is nice too.
 
The Sonnitus plugs that CW includes are  cool.
You mentioned the Softube Plugs... The current CW deal for these is a stunning no-brainer. These all are simply outstanding.
Enjoy!

BTW.... if you just get the Kush UBK and CW Softube package, you will never regret it and have a lot to play with for cheap!
 
The way you make a mix come together:  For different sourced stuff like a backing track I would do the following:
Set up a buss and put a simple ambience reverb in it set at 100% wet.
Set up an insert for your guitar and the backup track that is routed to this buss.
stick a compressor on the main mix buss with a mild compression setting.
Mix to taste...   The reverb buss should be used very lightly... you are just "hinting" at the same space for your sources.

Listen carefully to the backing track, especially during pauses (if there are any) - try and get an idea of what reverb(s) are being applied, then try and set up one up as identical as possible to what you're hearing and apply it to your guitar track.

Be careful with the send amount, you don't want to overdo it, but it might help to blend the guitar in with the backing track.

Wow,so many replies,thanks everyone.

To answer a question,I use Guitar Rig Pro 5 and D.I the guitar through an M-Audio Profire 610 Interface.

I have some Universal Audio Plugins,Pultec EQP1A - LA2A - 1176LN - 1176SE - CS1 - and Roland RE201 Echo,and of course the stuff that comes with X1 Expanded.

I guess I am looking for that Magic Bullet that when I use it I will say "Thats" what I was looking for,but I guess you guys
are gonna tell me it does not exist.

I think I am short of some EQ plugins,but I will go watch the X1 video I bought from Groove 3.

Any more suggestions appreciated.

Alan

I don't think you need any plug-ins to fix that issue. 

A couple of suggestions: 

Pan the guitar so that it is positioned in the mix as if it were being played on stage. Either left or right depending what else is on that side. 

Use reverb to move the guitar from the front to the back of the stage or wherever you want it to sound like its coming from. 

Use EQ to narrow the bandwidth so that the guitar doesn't hog all the frequencies and mask the other parts. 

And, as Frank Zappa once said, "a little bit of distortion goes a long way in a mix". So go easy on it. 

"I have some Universal Audio Plugins,Pultec EQP1A - LA2A - 1176LN - 1176SE - CS1 - and Roland RE201 Echo,and of course the stuff that comes with X1 Expanded."

The LA2A is a lot of fun!