John Mayer says he’s already used his Neural DSP plugin on records: “I’m just not going to tell you which ones they are”
For a player whose rig lore has spawned countless forum threads, gear rundowns, and YouTube deepdives, John Mayer has revealed that some of the sounds fans have heard on the record may have come from a plugin rather than a tube amp.
The guitarist says he has already used his Neural DSP signature plugin on professional recordings – he just isn’t telling anyone which ones.
The admission came in a recent video for Neural DSP discussing Archetype: John Mayer X, the plugin released last December that captures some of Mayer’s most sought-after amps, pedals and tones in software form.
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“If I were in a pinch, I would always use this plugin and I have already on records. I’m just not going to tell you which ones they are. And I don’t think you’ll know,” the musician teases.
Mayer says that part of the appeal is how naturally the plugin slots into both recording and practice setups.
“What’s really cool about using the plugin in a DAW is that the Archetype plugin works really, really, well as the first stage of a signal chain. It gives this kind of water pressure to the rest of the sounds you want to put on top of it.”
These days, he says, his home rig consists of little more than a laptop with the plugin on it, an interface, and a pair of studio monitors. That simplicity is a far cry from wrangling with dying 9-volt batteries, faulty pedals and amps that seem perpetually in need of maintenance.
“I’ve forward to the year I would be able to simply have one cable, a laptop, and two
speakers and have that be the whole rig,” Mayer says. “It’s such a natural authentic emulation of amps, it just does what amps do except it’s already chained in to [your DAW] and have all the flexibility.”
That said, the guitarist stresses that none of this should be interpreted as a declaration of war on tube amps. Despite joining a growing list of high-profile players embracing digital tools – with Joe Bonamassa recently admitting he’s been won over by Fender’s Tone Master series despite ‘really wanting to dislike it’ – Mayer says Archetype: John Mayer X was never intended as a replacement for traditional amplifiers.
“I think more options are better when it comes to technology taking the place of very heavy, expensive things that spend a lot of time in the shop,” he says. “There is always going to be a really good reason to use amps. I will always continue to use amps. I don’t believe you’ll see me on a stage playing in an arena with a laptop. I don’t think that’s that cool.”
“That is not meant to replace an amp,” Mayer continues. “It’s meant to give you more options. It’s meant to bring the experience of owning a tube amplifier and owning this gear into your home. No matter who you are, it’s meant to democratise the gear.”
Learn more at Neural DSP.
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