“I think a lot of this stuff is tailored towards big gearheads”: Sophie Lloyd shares her ambitions to make amp modelers “more accessible”

As Sophie Lloyd continues to establish herself as a bona fide solo artist – an era marked by last year’s debut album, Imposter Syndrome – the guitarist now has her sights set on amp modelers and crafting a Sophie Lloyd-approved plugin.

“I think it would be really cool to do something with an effects company like Neural DSP to make some kind of [plugin],” she tells Guitar.com. Lloyd has been a dedicated proponent of the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, so a signature plugin very much seems like the next logical step.

Discussing what her envisioned plugin would bring to the guitar community, she asserts, “I like things to be as simple as possible, [and] I think a lot of this stuff is kind of tailored towards big gearheads. I think it’d be cool to make a slightly more accessible version to people that doesn’t seem so intense.”

In a 2023 interview with Guitar World, Lloyd revealed that she has largely replaced her pedalboard – and, at times, traditional amps – with amp modelers like the Neural Quad Cortex and Kempers.

Sophie Lloyd – Runaway (feat. Michael Starr) Official Music Video – YouTube

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“I’m using Blackstar a lot. They’re a great amp company. I’m still using my Diezel for tones, but I also use the Neural Archetype [particularly the Nolly plugin]. When I’m out with MGK, we use Kempers; they’re very convenient for flying overseas and stuff,” she shared.

“There’s pedals, but we are using the Neural Quad Cortex [referring to her pedalboard for the MGK shows]. It’s cool because it’s got the pedals built in. I still have a kind of pedalboard, but I don’t use much other than some reverb.”

In September, Lloyd announced her debut US show at Los Angeles’ legendary Whisky a Go Go, which sets her up for a busy 2025 that also includes a slot at the UK’s Download Festival.