Marshall® Bluesbreaker 1962
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An iconic combo that changed the sound of blues/rock guitar.
From the first notes of John Mayall’s 1966 album, Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, it was clear rock guitar would never sound the same. Clapton’s aggressive approach and singing, thick tone introduced the world to the glorious, cranked Marshall amp sound.
Developed by Softube — and available exclusively for UAD-2 hardware and Apollo audio interfaces — the Marshall Bluesbreaker 1962 plug-in is the first emulation of the legendary 2x12 combo used on this landmark session. Not only is it an expert emulation of this nearly unobtainable British classic, it also offers powerful multi-mic sounds to dial-in studio-perfect amp tones.Use your Apollo with Unison™ technology to track through the only authentic Marshall Bluesbreaker 1962 emulation — with no latency
Re-amp previously recorded tracks with any UAD-2 hardware
Dial-in perfect studio amp tones with seven mics in three different microphone combinations — FET, Valve, and Dynamic
Fine-tune your guitar tones with 50 presets by legendary AC/DC engineer Tony Platt
Take A Listen
UAD Tones & Techniques
Featuring the Marshall 1962 Bluesbreaker plug-in
The Only True Bluesbreaker Emulation
To model the legendary Bluesbreaker, Marshall loaned Softube’s engineers an original, all stock, Series 1 1962 combo — the exact type used on the historic Blues Breakers session. Valued at over $30,000, Softube thoroughly emulated the amp’s alnico speakers, tremolo circuit, and dual KT66 power section.
Classic Marshall Tones and More
WIth its open-back cabinet and ability to “jump” the inputs to dial-in high-powered tube tones. the Bluesbreaker plug-in is capable of more than Clapton-esque grind. From chimey clean tones to rich, on-the-edge of breakup textures, the Bluesbreaker thrives in pop and country settings.
Voiced by a Legend
Producer/engineer Tony Platt has recorded some of the most quintessential Marshall tones ever committed to tape — most notably AC/DC’s landmark albums, Highway to Hell and Back in Black. Softube enlisted Platt to capture exquisite cabinet and microphone simulations using his Platinum-approved, tried-and-true mic recipes. You can choose from 50 Platt-designed presets, or craft your own tones.
Mix Between Expertly Placed Microphones
Open the plug-in’s Channel Strip section, and select any of the three microphone combinations. You get pan and level control over each of the four microphones per combination, allowing precision fine-tuning — during tracking or mix down. No matter the genre, or type of guitar, you’re afforded tons of tweakable options, from pin-point single miked tones to roars of glorious room ambience.
Unison™ Technology for Authentic Bluesbreaker Tones
The interaction of your guitar’s pickups to an amp’s front end is crucial to capturing the tone and feel of the amplifier. With UA’s Unison technology, Apollo user's guitar pickups will see the exact impedance load as if they’re plugged into a vintage Marshall Bluesbreaker — a feature found only on Apollo audio interfaces.
“The Marshall Bluesbreaker 1962 plug-in is beautifully designed, easy to use, and sounds great. Having a classic guitar amp in my arsenal is awesome, and the channel jumping feature is a great touch.”
– Jacknife Lee (R.E.M, The Cars, Snow Patrol)Customer Reviews
C. Oppold
December 12, 2023
Breaking Blue
This has been great for tracking quick demos with a lot of flava. The sound manipulation with the different mics is excellent. Lot of different tones available here. Worth it, for sure....
Read MoreT. Hodson
December 10, 2023
Yep
Sounds great! Throaty and doesn’t get mushy on the low notes. Yay! Partners well with 1073 pre/eq.
Read MoreP. Wyer
December 5, 2023
Deep rich sounds
Love this plug in, really warm and rich. Takes single coils very well, have to do some tweaking with Humbuckers but sits so well in a mix. Wish I bought it sooner!
Read MoreK. Péter
October 15, 2023
Pretty good
nice, not harsh, many optioms for the mic placement, really useful tool. The result strongly depends on the quality of the input hardware. Mine is...
Read MoreR. Studio
July 13, 2023
Bluesy tones
Good but it takes some time to find the brightness of the sound.
Read More -
Key Features
Faithful emulation of Marshall's own vintage reference Bluesbreaker 1962 combo amp with tremolo, built in 1965
Microphone selections and placements by Tony Platt, captured in Strongroom Studios, London
Custom presets by Tony Platt and Marshall’s product expert Chris George
Three different microphone combinations available — Valve, FET, and Dynamic
Four separate mics per setting — two close and two room
Channel strip includes pans and volume faders for each mic
Physical input impedance and hands-on control of Gain staging with Unison technology
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Customer Reviews
Marshall® Bluesbreaker 1962
D. Ballantyne
Sounds nothing like the UA demo
This plugin is not fit for purpose. As A. Siegler commented, "What you hear on the UA site and what you actually get are two different things." The tonal balance is so bottom-heavy that even with extreme EQ adjustment it is unusable. There is not one single preset that sounds like a decent DI, let alone the mic'd presets which sound like they were recorded in a tunnel. I will gladly uninstall/deactivate this plugin in exchange for a refund, but I'm not holding my breath. Until UA offers a 14-day trial on all of its products I will not be buying any more Apollo/Unison amp sims.
C. Oppold
Breaking Blue
This has been great for tracking quick demos with a lot of flava. The sound manipulation with the different mics is excellent. Lot of different tones available here. Worth it, for sure.
T. Hodson
Yep
Sounds great! Throaty and doesn’t get mushy on the low notes. Yay! Partners well with 1073 pre/eq.
P. Wyer
Deep rich sounds
Love this plug in, really warm and rich. Takes single coils very well, have to do some tweaking with Humbuckers but sits so well in a mix. Wish I bought it sooner!
j. paredes
Increíble
He tenido uno y la emulación es muy buena
K. Péter
Pretty good
nice, not harsh, many optioms for the mic placement, really useful tool. The result strongly depends on the quality of the input hardware. Mine is RNDI, so the result is really good. Only con is the big dsp usage .
R. Studio
Bluesy tones
Good but it takes some time to find the brightness of the sound.
J. Williams
Great value! Great Blues Tones!
Unlike U2 I have finally found what I’m looking for. The tones one can achieve with this plugin range from sweet blues to dirty and super clean with loud and fat tones. The clean presets are my favorites and I use these everyday for practicing and recording.
c. rosario
Another Great Amp
Needs to be used on the right application
A. Siegler
Marshall Bluesbreaker 1962
I'm so disappointed with this plug-in. Got a good price on this plug-in, however, the amp sounds and the presets are all muddy and distorted. Played with it for hours and never got a good clean sound. What you hear on the UA site and what you actually get are two different things. I bought this plug-in based upon what I heard on the Demo site. Maybe I'm missing something. Same thing with the 57 Fender Amp.
J. Maasakkers
Marshall® Bluesbreaker 1962
Simply one of the best virtual amps I've ever heard.
S. Ramsey
Clapton, eat your heart out.
Who am i kidding but with this amp plugin its like owning the real deal amp. I can find the sounds i like, usually clean with mild breakup and I am happy.
I. Finney
One Of The Best
Simply one of the best virtual amps I've ever heard. Stunning.
S. Patterelli
What's up with this one?
I don't like to give bad reviews. Usually someone gives a bad review when they expected something unrealistic and it didn't happen for them. I really like UA products but I'd like to know what processing they use in their videos. Almost every preset for this plugin sounds muddy and dark. I've even gone online to the video and tried to match the settings on the screen to my setup with the same type of guitar. I can get close but mine still doesn't sound as bright. I've owned and used real Marshalls and most of the time they're brighter than you need. With this plugin, even if you crank the treble and presence, and lower the bass, it's still too dark. The Marshall sound is there, but it sounds like there's a piece of foam stuck in front of the speaker. There's plenty of stellar reviews from people, so once again, maybe I'm missing something...
A. Molinari
Great Amp!
Look like real amp! Very beautiful to use!
A. Onortac
Another Softube wonder!
Very well made plugin, close to the original Bluesbreaker tone… If you’re looking to add “woman tone” to your arsenal, look no further!
A. Lund
Only does one sound, but does it better than any other plugin
I have been searching for an old school Marshall sound with plenty of low end and this is the only plugin that I have found capable of this. Does not have the "fizzy" high end that makes it sound digital. The room mics do a better job than adding a convolution reverb to a dry plugin. Not very flexible, but I do not need it to be.
G. Yarber
Heaven for a plug-in
Test drive this thing for yourself.
I love it, but might not work for you.
Great tone in my book.S. Silbert
My favorite software amp
I couldn't find a sound I like with Apple Logic Pro's Amp Designer. I purchased and have used Scuffham S-Gear. It's good. The UAD '62 Bluesbreaker, even though it's kind of mucky, makes sounds I really, really like. It's the only software amp I've tried that I would describe as sweet.
D. Long
I needed it for the true tones
I wanted an amp with great clean tones. After sampling a number of virtual emulation amplifiers, I settled for the Bluesbreaker 1962. hardly any eq'ing needed after tracking. I luv the tones I'm getting.
