In a recent App Smart column, I highlighted apps for guitarists who want an alternative to a crate full of effects pedals. Since then, one of the leading developers of guitar-related software, IK Multimedia, has introduced a new app, AmpliTube Fender ($15 for iPhone and iPad), which should make the short list of any guitar player.

IK Multimedia worked with Fender, the amplifier and guitar manufacturer, to digitally reproduce the tones from five classic Fender amps, including the 1965 Deluxe Reverb, the Super-Sonic and the 1959 Bassman LTD. Six Fender stompbox effects, like the Phaser and Tape Echo, are included.



Browse all the mobile app coverage that has appeared in The New York Times by category, and see what Times writers have on their phones and tablets.



To my ear, the tones were excellent, and were better than the Fender amp reproductions offered in competing apps. You can test it yourself with the free versions of the apps. (You’ll need to buy a piece of hardware to connect your guitar to the device, like Griffin Technology’s GuitarConnect, for $30, or IK Multimedia’s iRig, for $40.)

Speaking of free guitar apps, Met Guitars (for iPhone) is a must-have. Even non-musicians will appreciate the videos, text and photography from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s special exhibition on the craftsmen who helped build some of the early, legendary examples of the instrument.