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Best Free VSTs: Guitars, Harps, Lutes & Zithers

Posted November 6, 2021

Yeah, pianos and xylophones are cool or whatever, but when do we get to attract girls by playing (free, virtual) Wonderwall? :/

Acoustic guitars

Bass Guitar
Audio Ollie The E-String offers some bowed articulations and unusual hits on a Takamine G Series. NKI
Classical guitar
Pettinhouse ClassicFREE has sustains with a few round robins and fret noises. NKI
Resonator guitar/Dobro
DSK World StringZ has one… kinda… VST AU
Rubber band guitar
spacedad KiTR Win VST
Toy guitar
Rwi’s Booth KonKon Toy Guitar NKI (BOOTH)

Steel-string guitars

12-string guitar
Angus Hardiman’s Monster Guitar’s “12-String Shine” patch VSTAU
Egor Kurdello’s 12 String Guitar Piano EXS dspreset (account)
Solo sustains/hammer-ons/pull-offs/mutes/pops
Ample Guitar M Lite II is a Martin D-41. VST AURTAS
Solo chords
Angus Hardiman’s Monster Guitar’s “Popcorn Time” patch VSTAU
MSLP Guitar Chords Acoustic for Kontakt and Reason has strums of major and minor chords. There’s 3 RRs and they sound very good! NKI SXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist)
Kralc’s Soft Guitar Chords has gently played major, 7, m7, and sus4 chords. NKI (account)
Cordaro Rodriguez’s CAGED Guitar in E lets you play strummed patterns based on 5 common open chords. See the readme file for instructions on how to use it. NKI (account)
Solo mutes/glissandos (up)
Indiginus Guitar Freepack‘s “DoubleTrack Ac Picked Special” patch has wholetone slides into each note. NKI (newsletter)
Solo mutes
Jon Meyer’s Acoustic Guitar Plucks NKI6 dspreset (account)
Solo harmonics
Spitfire LABS Harmonics VST AU AAX (Spitfire)
MG Steel String Harmonics is a little stronger-sounding than the LABS option. NKIdspreset (account)
Riccardo’s Romantic Guitar Harmonics sounds more like a muted snap on the loudest layer. EXS dspreset (account)
Solo body percussion
Crypto Cipher Terry & Bells‘s “Terry Guitar Perc” patch includes a variety guitar body hits. NKI (Woocommerce)
Solo lo-fi + sustains
Atom Hub Cryptar Free is one of my favorites for moody, almost clean-sounding guitar. NKI

A comic ad reading "It's great fun to play a guitar. And it's so easy, too!"

Semi-acoustic guitars

Archtop guitar
Karoryfer Samples Shinyguitar SFZ
Hollow-body guitar
Eoin O’Dowd’s Plucky dspreset (account)

Electric guitars

Not all libraries list the model of guitar used, so I’ve organized these by sound character.

Baritone guitar
Justin Merdsoy’s Baritone Guitar is a Danelectro. NKIdspreset (account)

Funk guitars

Guitars that go “bow-wow bchow bam wuwewoo wow” and stuff like that (official music terminology).

Solo legatos/sustains/pops/thumps/glissandos/brushes/fret noises/natural harmonics/ghost notes
Unreal Instruments The Slapper‘s “EG_Slapper” patch SFZ
Solo picks/mutes/ghost notes
RJS Guitar is a Stratocaster. The Kontakt version comes with some clean presets for an out-of-the-box funk sound. NKI6 dspreset (account)
Solo picks/mutes/patterns
Pettinhouse FunkyGuitar 1.0 is a Stratocaster. NKI
Solo mutes/slaps
Pettinhouse Mute&Slap NKI
Solo body percussion
Muletone Audio Strashed has some body hits as well as the sounds of smashing a Stratocaster with and against various objects. Great if you hate guitars. NKI (account)

Moody guitars

Clean guitars that are a little bit sad…

Solo sustains
Spitfire LABS Peel Guitar VST AU AAX (Spitfire)
Eddie Breeg’s Soft Ibanez is an Ibanez RG. SFZ (account)
Solo bowed sustains
Richard McCormick’s Bowed Electric Guitar is a Stratocaster. EXS dspreset (account)
Solo harmonics
Klang Guitar Harmonics NKI
Solo pinch harmonics
George Svedov’s Pink Harmonics is a synthesized harmonics instrument with options to warp playback speed and drench the sound in reverb! NKIdspreset (account)

Metal/rock guitars

Solo alt picking/hammer-ons/pull-offs/mutes/glissandos/portamentos/brushes/bends/trills/harmonics/chords (major, minor, 7, M7, m7, mM7, m7♭5, 7sus4, M9)
Unreal Instruments Standard Guitar is a truly deeply sampled SFZ bank. Don’t bother reading that whole mess of articulations. Just download it! SFZ
Solo sustains/hammer-ons/pull-offs/mutes/slaps/pops/natural harmonics/fret noises
Malaclypse the Younger’s BJAM is designed for guitar players who are also perfectionists. SFZ VST
Solo sustains/mutes/chokes
Shreddage 3 Stratus FREE is a touch less DIY with a built-in effects console and intelligent (read: keyboard player-friendly) fretting/voicing. NKI (Woocommerce)

Bass guitars

Solo alt picking/mutes/staccato/hammer-ons/pull-offs/portamento/fret noises/scratches
Unreal Instruments Standard Bass SFZ
Solo alt picking/tapping/mutes/glissandos/harmonics/fret sounds
Wilkinson Audio ZomBass 2 is an American Standard J Bass. NKI (Shopify)
Solo alt picking/mutes/glissandos (up, down, bow-wow)
Wilkinson Audio ZomBass 3 is a 6-string BTB designed for chunky low metal basslines. Its articulations are controlled by velocity. NKI (Shopify)
Solo sustains/mutes/slaps
Project16 Rickenbacker 4001 NKI SFZ
Solo alt picking/pops
Shreddage 3 Precision Free is a 5-string P Bass guitar with a built-in console for effects, making it a good choice if you don’t have your own amp or cabinet sim plugins. NKI (Woocommerce)
Solo sustains/glissandos (bow-wow)
Gregjazz’s Xmas Bass is very lightweight at around 30 MB. See the Cherry Slides pack for extra glissandos. NKI
Solo sustains
Karoryfer Samples Pastabass is a 6-string Squier Classic Vibe Bass VI. SFZ
Solo slaps
audiolatry FunkBass‘ “slap” preset VSTAU (Gumroad)
Solo harmonics
Orange Tree Samples Free CoreBass Cherry Harmonics NKI

Comic ad reading "Can you hold your hands like this? Why not play the guitar? The illustration shows a hand on guitar frets.

Guitar-likes & lutes

Don’t tell my dad I found a virtual balalaika. He will not shut up about balalaikas.

Balalaika (large Russian lute that looks like a rake)
EdgeSounds SF2: Balalaika SF2 (EdgeSounds)
Banjo
ニボシ好き’s Banjo F uses Philharmonia’s free samples, but I won’t tell anyone if you don’t… (Ctrl + F “Banjo” and use the last link. You’ll need something like 7-Zip to open the LZH archive.) SF2
Hugo Kant’s Banjo NKI ALP (attribution @ Hugo Kant)
Bouzouki
Fred Poirier’s Ideal Bouzouki dspreset (account)
JustMog’s Bouzouki SFZSF2SF3bwpresetALP
Bowed bouzouki
Eamon’s Bowzouki NKI (account)
Charango (Andean guitar)
Spitfire LABS Charango VST AU AAX (Spitfire)
Ronroco (bass charango)
Samplephonics Ronroco NKI
Cavaquinho (Brazilian guitar)
João Paulo Alves’ Cavaquinho Waves NKI (account)
Cittern (Renaissance guitar)
Soundbytes Cister includes regular and “bass” sustains, as well as basic (4th, 5th) chords. SF2 S3P
Cuatro (Central American guitar)
matrix12x’s Cuatro Puertoriqueno EXS dspreset (account)
Bowed cuatro
Elias Serpa’s Bowed Cuatro NKI (account)
Cümbüş (Turkish banjo)
DSK World StringZ VST AU
Bowed cumbus
Samplephonics Bowed Cumbus SFZEXSSXT ALP M5Pvstpreset (account)
Dan tranh (Vietnamese zither)
VCSL‘s Dan Tranh patch (SFZ and samples) SFZ
Mandolin
MSLP Mandolin Nilsson for Kontakt and Reason has sustains, staccatos, tremolos, and some chords. NKI SXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist & Jonas Nilsson)
Spitfire LABS Mandolin has fingered and picked sustains as well as tremolos. VST AU AAX (Spitfire)
Oud
Native Instruments Kontakt Factory Selection has one. NICNT (account)
Soundbytes Ud SF2 S3P
Pipa (long Chinese lute)
DSK Asian DreamZ has plucks and tremolo. VST AU
Ruan (round Chinese lute)
DSK Asian DreamZ VST AU
Sarod (sitar-like)
DSK Indian DreamZ Win VST
Shamisen
yukinisuzume Shamisen as a Kontakt instrument and a soundfont has legato/pull-offs, alternate picking, sukui, and pizzicato. NKI SFZ
Sitar
Brendan Bonsack’s Abecedarian Sitar NKI dspreset (account)
Syntar Win VST
Strumstick
VCSL‘s Strumstick patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZ
Tanpura (long-necked Indian droning lute)
DSK Indian DreamZ Win VST
Tar (Egyptian lute)
TAQSIM Free‘s “Tar Plucky” patch NKI (newsletter OR account)
DSK World StringZ includes a Tar patch of questionable quality. VST AU
Tres (Cuban guitar)
Jon Griffin’s Cuban Tres NKI GIG (email)
Tzouras (bouzouki-like)
Demetri Forakis Tsouras EXS dspreset (account)
Ukulele
little-scale’s Ukulele SF2
James’ Ukulele EXS dspreset (account)
Pettinhouse UkuleleGuitar FREE demo ranges from B♭3-D5. NKI
See ronroco for a decent soundalike
Ukulele body percussion
abominable’s Ukebox SFZ (email)
Ukulele texture
Thrumming Textures: Amped Ukulele NKI EXS dspreset (account)
Veena (Indian lute/zither)
Girish Patro’s Saraswati Veena NKI EXS dspreset (account)
Yueqin (Chinese “moon guitar”)
Spitfire LABS Moon Guitar has regular plucks and a sort of labored tremolo. VST AU AAX (Spitfire)

Harps & lyres

Aeolian harp/wind harp
Quilcom Sim-Windharp models both wind ambience and air harp string sounds. Win VST
Celtic harp
VCSL‘s Folk Harp patch (SFZ mapping and samples) SFZ
Subaqueous Celtic Harp – Live Instrument Rack is a physically modeled harp. ALP (email)
Celtic harp harmonics
Kalen Smith’s Harp Harmonics NKIdspreset (account)
Concert harp
VCSL’s Concert Harp patch SFZ SF2
Enanga (Ugandan bow harp)
Hugo Kant’s Nanga NKI ALP (attribution @ Hugo Kant)
Jew’s harp
Not actually a harp. See Idiophones: lamellophones.
Lyre
abominable’s Lyre lyre, pants on fire SFZ dspreset (email)
Bowed lyre
Mark Reuter’s Kit Lyre SFZ (account)
Gabriel Visser’s Distressed Bow Lyre NKI6 (account)
Toy harp
Subaqueous (aq) Toy Harp Instrument Rack ALP (email)
Welsh harp
Hollow Sun St. David’s Harp NKI (FastSpring)

Zithers

Ajaeng (bowed Korean zither)
CATSNU Gugak LE has sanjo and two jeongak varieties. NKI EXS ALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)
Autoharp
Spitfire LABS Autoharp VST AU AAX (Spitfire)
Bowed Autoharp
Joshua Meltzer’s Dusty Old Autoharp NKI (account)
Dulcimer
Embertone Arcane‘s “Seance” patch is a dulcimer with sustains and some fun aleatoric glissandos when played at max velocity. NICNT (Cartloom)
Charles’ Dulcimer offers more mic positions and round robins. NKI (account)
Dulcimer tremelos
Penelope Atena’s Sufjanwho NKI6dspreset (account)
Epinette des Vosges (old French zither)
boscomac EPINETTE ENS
Gayageum (feminine Korean zither)
36Play Samhyeon-Yukgak has a sanjo gayageum with sustains, mordents, and glissandos. NKI
CATSNU Gugak LE has sustains, octave arpeggios, pops, and mordents for sanjo, jeongak, 18-string and 25-string gayageums. NKI EXS ALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)
Geomungo (masculine Korean zither)
CATSNU Gugak GeoMunGo LE NKI EXS ALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)
Guitar zither
Hugo Kant’s Zither NKI ALP (attribution @ Hugo Kant)
Solo body percussion/scrapes
pumodi’s Antique Zither NKI6 EXS (account)
Guzheng
SampleScience Nu Guzheng (not compatible with macOS 10.15+) VST AU RFL (email)
Kong Audio ChineeGuZheng Classic Win VST
Kantele (Finnish zither)
MSLP Kantele Persdotter for Kontakt and Reason is a 5-stringed version retuned to get a greater range (B3-C5). NKI SXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist)
Koto
Unreal Instruments 13Strings Koto includes sustains (with and without vibrato), tremelos, brushes, and various slide techniques (notably ato-oshi and yuri-iro) SFZ
FluffyAudio Koto NKI (FastSpring)
decent|SAMPLES Banjolele is a decent soundalike ranged C4-C6. NKI SFZdspreset (newsletter)
Marxophone (hammered zither)
decent|SAMPLES Mandolin Guitarophone NKI SFZ (account)
Psaltery
LEGATONE Psaltery for KONTAKT Free Demo is a functional plucked psaltery with a limited range (C5-C6). NKI (account + LEGATONE)
Bowed psaltery
Bolder Sounds Medieval Psaltery NKI EXS (Zen Cart)
Qanun
Sika Oriental Scale as a Kontakt instrument or VST has three kanouns. Deselect the red keys on the little keyboard to use Western tuning. NKI VST
Santur (Persian hammered dulcimer)
Subaqueous Santur — Hammered Dulcimer ALP (email)
Taishogoto/Nagoya harp (Japanese keyed harp)
Unreal Instruments Physical 5Strings SFZ
おとわび Taishogoto has a more percussive, realistic sound, but less range. NKI
Bowed taishogoto
decent|SAMPLES Bowed Nagoya Harp (Taishogoto / 大正琴) NKI
Valiha (Madagascan tube zither)
Jan Sutti’s Valiha NKI
Yanggeum (Korean hammered dulcimer)
CATSNU Gugak YangGeum LE NKI EXS ALP (attribution @ Gugak VSTi by CATSNU, see notes)

Comic ad clipping that reads, "Without knowing a single note of music, you play instantly on sight!"

Free virtual instrument series

View the main page or learn more about 📕 plug-in formats. licenses and download requirements.

  • 🎹 Pianos, organs, & keyboards
  • 🎤 Solo vocals, choirs
  • 🎻 Orchestral strings
  • 🎸 Guitars, harps, lutes, & zithers
  • 🎷 Woodwinds & free reeds
  • 🎺 Brass & horns
  • 🔔 Idiophones
  • 🥁 Drums, percussion
  • Synths & drum machines – Coming soon! (❛◡˂̵ ̑̑✧)
  • DAWs, samplers, & FX – Coming soon! (❛◡˂̵ ̑̑✧)

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Last updated on February 13, 2022

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