I also have the Amplug 2 Metal version.
The Blues has a much more tube-like, organic sound. It does a great imitation of a tube rectifier sag, like in the Tweed/Bassman/JTM45 amps. Fortunately this is not overdone. The noise floor on all settings is lower than the Metal version, which on the lowest gain setting has a pedal driven Blackface tone with no sag.
The 3 settings on the power button make the gain very controllable:
- Green goes from pure clean to slight breakup,
- Orange goes from slight breakup to a bluesy overdrive,
- Red pushes into warm heavy distortion.
The tone control is much more effective than in the Metal version. It adds a nice sparkle to the sound as opposed to the harsh treble in the Metal version.
The effects are essential and usable given the 3 intensity settings available.
As a reference I also use Amplitube for iOS and the sound quality is comparable, but the Amplug has much more volume on tap with a stronger bass. The bass may be bothersome to some, because there is no way to turn it down.
Amplug 2 is very comfortable with front jack socket guitars like Strat, SG or Duo-Sonic. With bottom jack entry guitars, like an LP, careful attention should be paid when sitting to avoid breaking the plastic casing.
