We are still working with the Virtual Guitarist from 2002. It’s a guitar plugin that outputs chord progressions that were actually played by a real person. Because of this, the plugin sounds incredibly realistic, and back in the day, it saved you from having to hire a guitarist. Of course, the plugin had its limitations, but as backing for an arrangement or when used cleverly with layering and fine-tuning, you could generate excellent guitar tracks. You can read about its functionality and history in this article.
Notice: We offer guitar tracks made with the (Vintage) Virtual Guitarist for your production. Contact us!
There was a time in music production when “guitar on a computer” meant you either had to be able to play it yourself or desperately try to create some semblance of realism using rigid MIDI samples. But then, in 2002, everything changed. A plugin stepped onto the stage and altered the way we write songs forever: the Steinberg Virtual Guitarist (VG).
The Secret of the “Real” Sound
What made Virtual Guitarist so special? While modern plugins try to calculate every single string individually, the development team at Wizoo took a different approach: real phrases.
Instead of recording individual notes, professional guitarists were brought into the studio to record entire rhythmic patterns (slices). These were cleverly embedded into an engine that automatically adapted them to any tempo and key. When you pressed a chord on your keyboard, the plugin started “strumming” away—complete with all the grit, string squeaks, and dynamics you would otherwise only get from a live musician. For the average listener, the difference in the final mix was simply unnoticeable.
The Legend: Acoustic & Electric Edition
The Virtual Guitarist came in two flavors:
- Acoustic Edition: The ultimate weapon for ballads and campfire vibes. Everything from 6-string steel guitars to nylon guitars was included.
- Electric Edition: The go-to tool for pop and rock. With integrated effects like wah-wah and distortion, you could dial in anything from clean funk rhythms to roaring rock chords.
History: The Rise of a Revolution
The story began in Bremen, Germany, at a company called Wizoo, led by minds like Peter Gorges. They realized that musicians didn’t want “guitar samples”—they wanted a “guitarist inside the computer.”
- 2002: Release of Virtual Guitarist 1. It hit the market like a bombshell and instantly became a standard in almost every project studio.
- 2005: Virtual Guitarist 2 was released. It brought an even larger library, more styles, and the long-awaited “Part Editor,” which finally allowed users to tweak the rhythms in detail.
It was the golden era of VST plugins. The Virtual Guitarist was the flagship product of the close cooperation between Steinberg and Wizoo. It seemed as though this plugin would occupy the throne of accompaniment instruments forever.
The End: A Political Earthquake
Why can’t we just buy Virtual Guitarist in stores today? Why is there no Version 4 or 5 for Windows 11?
The end did not come from technical failure, but rather from a corporate earthquake. In 2005, Wizoo was acquired by Digidesign (now Avid, the makers of Pro Tools). This strategic buyout had fatal consequences for Steinberg users:
- Rights Freeze: The technology behind the engine now belonged to a direct competitor. Steinberg lost the rights to the plugin’s core infrastructure.
- Development Halt: Avid had no interest in continuing to develop plugins for the competing Cubase platform. Work on Virtual Guitarist was frozen.
- The 64-Bit Wall: When the computing world transitioned from 32-bit to 64-bit, there was no one left to update the VG’s code. The plugin became “legacy software.”
What Remains?
Today, the Virtual Guitarist is a rare treasure. Anyone who still owns an old Windows XP system running something like Cubase SX3 or Cubase 5 guards it like a valuable vintage car. Although the original creators released new guitar plugins years later under the company UJAM, the original from back then—with its very special early-2000s sonic character—remains unmatched.
The Virtual Guitarist was more than just software. It was proof that technology can have a soul when you put real musicians at the heart of development.