7170 Lead
Key Features
- A single high-gain guitar amp voice keeps the signal path focused for heavy riff and lead work.
- Drive sets preamp gain for moving from restrained saturation into heavier distortion.
- Low, Mid, Sweep, and High controls shape the tone stack, including movable midrange focus.
- Power Amp gain adds a second gain stage for changing the amp's response and density.
- Output provides final level control after the amp processing.
- Designed to pair with a separate cabinet emulation or impulse-response loader after the amp stage.
- The official developer page offers Windows VST plus Mac VST and AU downloads in 32- and 64-bit builds.
Description
7170 Lead is a high-gain guitar amp simulator by Nick Crow Lab, designed around a single aggressive amp voice rather than a multi-channel suite. Its Drive, four-part tone stack, Power Amp, and Output controls provide the basic gain staging and tonal contour needed to shape heavy DI guitar parts inside a compatible host.
The plugin is intended to sit before a separate guitar cabinet emulation, so it works best as the amp-head stage in an existing amp-and-IR chain. The mid control includes a Sweep parameter, giving players a focused way to move the midrange emphasis while balancing low and high frequencies for riffs or lead lines.
7170 Lead favors saturated guitar sounds over clean versatility: its official documentation specifically recommends a cabinet emulator after the plugin, while an independent amp-sim resource characterizes the modeled sound as a simplified EVH 5150 III-style lead amp. That makes it a practical fit for metal and hard-rock sessions where a deliberately direct, high-gain starting point is more useful than a broad selection of clean channels.
Nick Crow Lab currently supplies 32- and 64-bit VST downloads for Windows plus VST and AU downloads for Mac OS X. The developer's official product post and download site make the release available without a purchase or time-limited promotion; the original author also retains copyright and restricts resale, modification, and unauthorized redistribution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does 7170 Lead include a guitar cabinet simulator?
No. Nick Crow Lab recommends placing a guitar cabinet emulation after 7170 Lead, so plan to use it with a cabinet simulator or IR loader for a complete amp-and-cab signal chain.
What does the Sweep control do?
Sweep is part of the tone stack alongside Low, Mid, and High. It changes the midrange area addressed by the Mid control, helping you place the guitar more deliberately in a dense mix.
Is 7170 Lead suitable for clean guitar sounds?
It is primarily a high-gain amp-head design. A third-party reference describing the model notes that it is made for heavy sounds and is not the best choice when clean-channel flexibility is the priority.
Which plugin formats does the developer currently provide?
The official download page lists VST for Windows and both VST and AU for Mac OS X, with 32-bit and 64-bit downloads. Use a compatible plug-in host and select the build that matches your setup.
