Reamping is one of those studio tricks that feels like magic the first time it works: you record a clean, dry guitar signal now and decide on the amp, the pedals, and the whole tone later, without asking the player to perform it again. Learning how to reamp a guitar separates the performance from the sound, which means you can commit to a great take and then spend all the time you want chasing the perfect tone. This guide covers both the hardware reamping workflow and the plugin-based approach that needs no amp at all.
What reamping actually is
When you record a guitar, you can capture two signals at once. One is the miked amp, the finished sound. The other is a clean, unprocessed DI (direct injection) signal taken straight from the guitar before it hits any amp or effect. The DI is dry and lifeless on its own, but it is a perfect, editable recording of exactly what the strings did. Reamping means sending that DI back out of your interface, through a reamp box, and into a real amplifier so you can record a fresh amp tone from the original performance.
The reason a reamp box exists comes down to impedance and level. Your interface outputs a balanced, line-level signal, but a guitar amp expects a high-impedance, instrument-level signal. Plug a line output straight into an amp and the tone is thin, harsh, and wrong. A reamp box (a passive Radial X-Amp or ProRMP, or similar) converts the line signal back into something the amp reads as a guitar, restoring the correct feel and frequency response.
How to reamp with a real amplifier
The hardware path gives you genuine amp tone and the physical interaction of a speaker moving air. Here is the signal flow and the settings that matter:
- Capture the DI cleanly: During tracking, run your guitar into a DI or the instrument input on your interface and record that dry signal on its own track. Set the input gain so peaks sit around -12 to -6 dBFS; leaving that headroom keeps the DI clean and avoids any clipping you can never undo.
- Send the DI out: Route the recorded DI track to a spare output on your interface and patch that output into your reamp box. The reamp box output goes into the amp’s normal instrument input.
- Match the level: Reamp boxes usually have a level control. Set it so the amp reacts the way it would to a guitar plugged in directly, not overloading the front end unless that is the tone you want.
- Mic the cabinet: A Shure SM57 on the grille is the classic choice. Place it right up against the cloth, angled at the edge of the dust cap for a balanced tone, or dead-centre on the cap for more bite. Move it 2-3 cm off-centre to tame harshness. Many engineers add a room mic 1-2 metres back for depth.
- Record the return: Arm a new track for the miked amp and set its input so peaks again land around -12 to -6 dBFS. You are now recording the same performance with a completely fresh tone.
The huge advantage is iteration. Do not like the tone? Change the amp settings, swap the mic position, or try a different amp entirely, and reamp again. The performance never changes, only the sound.
How to reamp entirely in the box with amp sims
You do not need a physical amp or a reamp box to benefit from this workflow. If you record a clean DI, you can drop an amp simulator plugin onto that track and audition any rig instantly. This is genuinely how a large amount of modern guitar production is done, and the best sims are convincing enough for finished releases.
Modern amp-sim plugins model the entire chain, from the input stage through the power amp to the speaker cabinet and mic. Popular choices include Neural DSP for their artist-signature suites, Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig, IK Multimedia’s Amplitube, and Positive Grid’s BIAS FX. Because the plugin sits on the DI track non-destructively, you can change amps, cabs, and mic positions with a mouse click, then automate or tweak them at mix time. The trade-off is that you lose the physical air-moving character of a real cab, though for high-gain and clean tones alike the gap has narrowed dramatically.
A hybrid approach is common and powerful: reamp through a real amp for the core tone, and keep the DI so you can layer a plugin-based track underneath for extra tightness. Blending a real cab with a sim often gives a fuller result than either alone.
Level and latency housekeeping
Whichever route you choose, protect your DI. Record it at 24-bit with peaks around -12 to -6 dBFS and never let it clip. When you reamp through hardware, keep an eye on the amp return level for the same reason. If you monitor the plugin chain live while tracking and the latency bothers you, drop the buffer size to 64 or 128 samples; once you commit to editing and mixing, raise it back to 512 or 1024 samples so your system can run the full session comfortably.
Reamping rewards a simple discipline: capture a clean DI on every guitar pass, even when you think you will not need it. Storage is cheap, and a saved DI is an open door to any tone you can dream up weeks after the player has gone home.
To go further, our home recording guides cover cabinet miking in detail, the mixing cluster shows how to sit a reamped guitar in a dense mix, and the tools hub has utilities for checking signal levels and phase between your DI and amp tracks.
