St. James EL34 by Blackstar valve amp simulator plugin interface

St. James EL34: Valve Amp Simulator Plugin by Blackstar

Rated 4.3/5 on Plugin Boutique (16 ratings)

St. James EL34 is an amp simulator plugin from Blackstar that models an EL34 valve amp, paired with the CabRig speaker and microphone simulator. It is available as VST2, AU, AAX and standalone on Windows and macOS.

VST2AUAAXStandaloneWindowsmacOS

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01Overview

The St. James EL34 is a guitar amp plugin built around a valve amp voicing. The developer describes its tone as British crunch combined with clean US-style sound, with a focus on warmth and the power-stage breakup that comes when the amp is driven hard. The plugin also includes CabRig, a DSP speaker simulator that models a speaker, cabinet, microphone and room, with a choice of nine Blackstar cabinets and six microphones. A noise gate is included.

Best for

British crunch guitar tones
Clean US-style amp sounds
Recording guitar with CabRig
Live guitar performance
Pedal platform amp tones

Developer: Blackstar
Category: Amp Simulators
Store: Plugin Boutique

02Key features

What you get

St. James EL34 valve amp model
CabRig DSP speaker and microphone simulation
Nine classic Blackstar speaker cabinets
Six industry-standard microphones
Noise gate
VST2, AU, AAX and standalone formats
Windows and macOS support
iLok License Manager authorization

03In depth

Amp Tone and CabRig Speaker Simulation

The St. James EL34 amp model is designed around the EL34 power tube. Blackstar says it covers both British crunch and clean tones with a sound it associates with amps from the 1960s.

CabRig is the companion speaker simulator. It is built on a DSP algorithm that models the speaker, cabinet, microphone and room together rather than relying on a fixed impulse response. The developer says this avoids the latency and phase problems associated with snapshot IRs. The package includes nine classic Blackstar speaker cabinets and six industry-standard microphones to choose from.

Formats, System Requirements and Authorization

The St. James EL34 is available in VST2, AU, AAX and standalone formats for Windows and macOS.

On Windows, the plugin requires Windows 8 or later, an AMD Quad-Core processor (R3 2200G or higher) or an Intel Core i3 (i3-4130 / i5-2500 or higher), 8 GB of RAM and 350 MB of drive storage. On macOS, it requires macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later, an Intel Core i3 (i3-4130 / i5-2500 or higher), 8 GB of RAM and 700 MB of drive storage. Authorization uses iLok License Manager, and an internet connection is required.

04Specs

Will it run?

Formats, systems and requirements as listed by Plugin Boutique. Missing details are left out, not guessed.

Developer	Blackstar
Type	Plugin
Category	Amp Simulator
Formats	VST2, AU, AAX, Standalone
Operating systems	Windows, macOS

05FAQ

Questions, answered

What formats does St. James EL34 support?

St. James EL34 is available as VST2, AU, AAX and standalone. It runs on Windows and macOS.

What do I need to run St. James EL34?

On Windows you need Windows 8 or later, 8 GB of RAM and 350 MB of storage. On macOS you need macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later, 8 GB of RAM and 700 MB of storage. Authorization uses iLok License Manager and requires an internet connection.

What is CabRig?

CabRig is the speaker simulator included with St. James EL34. It models a speaker, cabinet, microphone and room, and includes nine Blackstar cabinets and six microphones.