RipToneZ Is Moving Beyond Preset Packs—And Its New Sevendust Collection Shows Why

Sponsored feature: RipToneZ is a paid advertising partner of The Guitar Plugged and supplied the GP-200 and preset packs used in our earlier coverage. The listening impressions below come from that published evaluation; the new offerings are described from RipToneZ’s current website, not a new hands-on test. Artist references describe tonal inspiration, not endorsements.

The most useful thing a preset can do is make you forget about presets.

You select a sound, hit a chord, and suddenly the question stops being which cabinet or gain setting to change. You start thinking about the next riff. Or the next bend. Or the song you have been meaning to learn.

That was the thread running through our first RipToneZ review. The Valeton GP-200 already had plenty of ingredients. RipToneZ’s job was to turn them into something you actually wanted to play through.

Our second feature looked beyond the sounds themselves: free downloads, individual purchases, a monthly Tone Club, and help for players who have a tone problem rather than a shopping problem.

Now there is another reason to revisit that story. A check of RipToneZ’s current store on October 15 reveals a Sevendust GIG READY collection built around specific song parts, alongside the broader library and services we covered previously. Put those pieces together and the direction becomes clearer: less anonymous preset scrolling, more sounds with a job to do.

What Our Original 53-Preset Test Actually Showed

In our original hands-on review, we explored five collections: Guitar Heroes Vol. 1, Classic Rock & Hard Rock, Modern Metal & High-Gain, Ambient & Atmospheric, and Adam Jones Inspired. Together they contained 53 presets.

The breadth mattered. This was not a folder full of slightly different distortion settings. It moved between British crunch, atmospheric cleans, smooth leads, heavier rhythm sounds, and TOOL-inspired combinations of clean, rhythm, and lead voices.

Three sounds made the point especially well.

Ether Clean stood out for the way its ambience worked with the guitar rather than simply sitting on top of it. In the earlier review, the repeating delay gave individual notes movement and depth without swallowing the original signal. It encouraged slower phrases and space between notes—the kind of sound that makes you wonder what you could write with it.

Plexi Crunch went in the opposite direction. The original review identified the GP-200’s UK SLP amp model paired with the UK GRN 2 cabinet. The attraction was the mid-forward British crunch and restraint: enough bite for rock chords, without treating a Plexi-style sound as an excuse to pile on modern high gain.

Eric J’s, from Guitar Heroes Vol. 1, delivered the smooth, sustaining lead character we discussed in that first evaluation. The delay helped extend the notes rather than turn into an obviously separate guitar behind them. It was an Eric Johnson-inspired musical direction, not an official artist preset or a claim that a download can supply someone else’s touch.

Those remain impressions from the original test. We have not newly auditioned the Sevendust collection or the latest Tone Club drop. But they explain why a fresh look at the catalog is worthwhile: the earlier library already showed an ability to make different playing styles feel like different musical worlds.

The New Addition: Sevendust GIG READY Vol. 1

The clearest addition compared with our September 30 feature is Sevendust GIG READY Vol. 1, currently listed as an 11-tone collection for the GP-200.

The interesting part is not just the band name. It is the way the sounds are divided.

The store describes separate patches for the opening heavy-tremolo riff and main rhythm of Black, main rhythm and volume swell for Waffle, and clean, main rhythm, and modulated/underwater sounds for Follow. It also names Bender, T.O.A.B., and Praise.

That is a more practical proposition than one broad ‘Sevendust-style’ patch. A convincing sound is useful. Having the right sounds for the different parts of a song can be more useful still.

It also extends an idea we liked in the earlier Adam Jones collection: treating a player’s sound as a set of rig pieces rather than a single snapshot. Heavy rhythm, textured clean passages, and effects-led transitions do not necessarily belong on the same patch with the same settings.

There is one catalog detail worth flagging: the Sevendust listing advertises 11 tones, but its visible song-part breakdown names 10 entries. We are reporting the advertised total, not inventing an eleventh patch. If that distinction matters to your purchase or download, confirm the contents with RipToneZ.

And ‘GIG READY’ is the company’s product name, not a live-performance certification from us. You still need to check levels, switching, tuning, and monitoring before putting any downloaded collection into a set.

Want One Song Rather Than the Whole Collection?

The Single Song Tones page carries Sevendust GIG READY singles as well. At the time of checking, Black, Follow, and Waffle were listed at $2.99 each; Bender and T.O.A.B. were listed at $1.99 each.

RipToneZ explains that a single-song purchase includes the presets for the guitar sounds it has recreated for that song. Some songs need one main tone; others need several. That does not mean every possible recorded layer has been reproduced, but it does make the buying unit more useful than a vaguely named patch.

If you only want to work on Waffle, you can look at the Waffle listing. If the broader Sevendust vocabulary appeals to you, compare it with the complete collection. Check the current pack price first, because the latest store listings complicate the old per-pack-versus-single calculation.

Free Packs—and a Pricing Detail to Check

Our September feature reported paid collections at $9.99 and the Adam Jones collection at $14.99. Those historical prices should not be treated as today’s price list.

On October 15, the complete-pack catalog displayed $0.00 for Classic Rock & Hard Rock, Ambient & Atmospheric, Guitar Heroes Vol. 1, Modern Metal, Adam Jones – TOOL Inspired, Guitar Gods From The 80s – Vol. 1, and Sevendust GIG READY Vol. 1.

“A convincing sound is useful. Having the right sounds for the different parts of a song can be more useful still.”

Classic Rock & Hard Rock and Ambient & Atmospheric explicitly describe themselves as free downloads. The other named packs also display zero prices in the storefront we checked, but their descriptions do not establish whether that reflects a promotion, a temporary setting, or a pricing-display issue. We cannot confirm a change to their actual selling prices and have not completed a checkout. Check the product page and final checkout before relying on those listings.

Guitar Gods From The 80s was already part of the catalog in our second article. Its current description names John Sykes, Vito Bratta, Brad Gillis, Nuno Bettencourt, George Lynch, Jake E. Lee, Reb Beach, Randy Rhoads, Warren DeMartini, and Neal Schon as the inspirations behind its ten sounds. The update here is the current listing, not a claim that the pack itself just launched.

For a newcomer, the two explicitly free genre packs remain a straightforward place to start. They let you learn the import process and hear how RipToneZ’s approach behaves through your own guitar and speakers before deciding what else you need.

Tone Club Still Offers a Different Kind of Discovery

The RipToneZ Tone Club continues to advertise 10 new GP-200 presets each month for $4.99, with cancel-anytime membership.

It is not simply a monthly selection from the visible shop. The advertised format is a surprise drop: clean, high-gain, lead, rhythm, ambient, classic, or modern sounds, without advance previews or individual choices.

When the next collection arrives, the previous collection leaves the club. Members keep the tones they received, and RipToneZ says past drops will not immediately move into the regular shop. Members also get one free RipToneZ Roulette spin every Friday; the site explicitly says not every spin wins.

The cost works out to roughly 50 cents per monthly preset. But dividing dollars by downloads is not the most important calculation. If one unfamiliar sound gets you writing, practicing, or approaching the guitar differently, it may matter more than nine patches you never use.

Conversely, if you know exactly which song or sound you want, a targeted download may suit you better. Tone Club is for players who enjoy discovery, not those who want to approve every item before it arrives.

Sometimes You Need Help, Not Another Preset

The other thread from our second story still deserves attention: what happens when the tone is almost right, but you do not know which setting is letting it down?

Fix My Tone remains listed at $4.99 for one tone diagnosis. You send a 20–30 second WAV recording, explain the problem and the sound you want, and include your modeler or amp, guitar, and pickups if known. RipToneZ describes a personal review followed by specific settings changes to try.

The page covers fizz, mud, harshness, excessive gain, weak palm mutes, thinness, and noise. It asks for a direct processed modeler recording or a properly mic’d amp where possible, without extra processing afterward that conceals the problem. Its ‘most diagnoses within 24 hours’ wording is a stated typical turnaround, not a delivery guarantee we have tested.

For a defined target rather than a diagnosis, custom tone requests remain advertised at $9.99 each, with requests reviewed before payment and a clear song, video, or audio reference requested.

The store and Fix My Tone page also still list RIP-LIK8 Beta Tone Analysis at $0.00: one analysis of a 20–30 second isolated guitar recording per person, with recommendations but no follow-up tweaking or custom preset creation. It was already visible in September. Its continued presence does not establish a finished-product launch date or features beyond the beta description.

One older promotion deserves caution. The Heroes Club page still describes six months of regular-pack access for the first 25 qualifying buyers of a pack priced at $9.99 or more, with artist-inspired packs excluded from the included library. That threshold does not line up neatly with the zero-price pack listings we saw. Ask RipToneZ about current eligibility rather than assuming a free download qualifies.

Make the Sounds Work for Your Rig

The practical advice from the original review has not changed: back up the GP-200 before importing new presets, and use the Valeton editor to load the supplied .prst files into slots you are happy to overwrite.

Then listen through the system you actually use. A preset through headphones is not the same listening experience as that preset through a powered speaker, studio monitors, or an amplifier setup. Your guitar and pickups matter too.

Start by checking output level, gain, EQ, cabinet choice, and the noise gate. If you plan to switch between clean and heavy parts, compare their apparent loudness as well as their meters. A change that feels dramatic at home may need adjustment before it sits comfortably with a band.

That is not a failure of downloaded presets. It is the last part of making someone else’s starting point into your own rig.

The Point Is Still to Play More

Our first article asked whether a ready-made library could change the experience of owning a GP-200. The standouts gave us a persuasive answer: atmospheric cleans, useful British crunch, and singing leads that made the processor feel less like a menu and more like an instrument.

Our second article widened the picture to the ways players could explore that approach. The current Sevendust collection pushes it toward a more specific destination: not just a sound you like, but the sounds you need to work through a song.

That is the part worth watching. A preset company does not need to replace your hardware to improve the time you spend with it. It needs to help you get from ‘I wonder what this box can do’ to ‘I want to play that again.’

What would help you most: one great all-purpose preset, a complete set of sounds for a song, or a fresh monthly collection? Tell us in the comments.

Store descriptions and advertised prices checked October 15, 2026. Listings and offers may change. No new Sevendust listening test, download fulfillment test, or service evaluation was performed for this update.