- A faithful emulation of the Kerry King Signature amplifier, Marshall 2203KK a.k.a. “The Beast”
- Two studio setups and one live stage setup recorded respectively by producer Terry Date and FoH engineer Chris Paccou
- Over 25 finely tuned Kerry King-inspired presets that define the sound of Kerry King
- Amp Room Ready: works as a native plug-in and as a module in Amp Room, our pro audio guitar platform. Learn more
Guitar Amp / Amp Room Ready
Kerry King Signature
Thrash metal is visceral, energetic, aggressive. Getting the right depth and texture of sound, the right bite in the attack, the right snarl on the tail, is essential. You need an amp like a wild animal, like a fighter, like a beast.
Kerry King has spent four decades at the vanguard of the scene, blazing trails and busting guts with his edgy in-your-face sound, so naturally his signature amp – the custom Marshall 2203KK, a.k.a. “The Beast” – is the only place to start if you’re after super high gain and punchy articulation in a single rig.
Have a listen
Beast Mode
"Beast Mode" engages Kerry's own signature EQ-boost-and-gate combo for an extra million percent of awesome.
Expert engineers
We brought in Kerry's own engineers, Terry Date for studio setups, and Chris Paccou for live, to give the most authentic, mix-ready version of Kerry's sound possible.
Component-modeled for perfection
Close enough is not good enough for Kerry, for Marshall, or for Softube. So we go component-by-component to build the most detailed software models possible.
This product supports
Extended Features
We love VU meters, Bakelite knobs, and analog quirks. But we want modern precision and workflow. The answer? Softube Extended Features. Easy-access panels with the innovations you need close at hand.
More than an amp
Signature amps are nothing new – this plug-in is a model of the custom hardware Kerry King signature amp from Marshall, closely recreating Kerry's very own unit with all its quirks and special sauce. What's extra-special about this plug-in is the detail beyond the amp itself – down to the cab, the microphones, the engineers, the spaces, we've built a complete mix-ready workflow.
The amp’s four KT88 power stage tubes have been expertly modeled, along with every other individual component of this premium unit, to give the most accurate software emulation imaginable. But that’s only the beginning of the signature experience.
Top experts in thrash tone
We recorded impulse responses from Kerry’s own Marshall Mode Four 4x12” cabinets (featuring Celestion G12K-100 12” speakers) at the famous Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles with multiple professional mic selections and placements designed by iconic producer/engineer Terry Date, famous for his work with Deftones, Pantera, Dream Theater, and Overkill. So down to the cab, the room, the microphones, you’re getting all the top-quality studio sound of a mix-ready thrash setup.
On top of that, we visited with Kerry at a stadium show in Stockholm in 2018 to capture his on-stage live setup too, overseen by FoH engineer Chris Paccou. There’s huge variety in this plug-in, and yet at every setting it sounds phenomenal; curated by the world’s leading engineers in these tones.
The Kerry King Cabs panel
In addition to the amp itself, the plug-in provides a complete setup and workflow for getting mix-ready sounds. Both studio and live setups are represented in the side panel with cabs and microphones recorded in real world situations for the greatest depth and authenticity of sound.
You can take the recommendations of Terry Date, engineer for some of the greatest bands in the history of heavy music, or tweak and combine them in the 'custom' section, with a channel for each specific microphone placement offering pan, volume, and phase. Explore every fantastic facet of this amp's sound.
The real thing
Making great music requires a mix of hard work and inspiration. We've done a ton of hard work on this plug-in so you can get inspired by using the very same gear as a verifiable colossus of the thrash metal scene.
So whether you’re engaging “Beast Mode” and smashing a stadium with Kerry’s own signature EQ-boost-and-gate combo, or laying down gutsy layers in the studio, you can rely on the Softube Marshall Kerry King Signature amp to get you sounding bigger, better, and beastlier than any mere human should.
Perfect for Amp Room
Kerry King Signature comes with modules that are fully integrated into the Amp Room ecosystem and sound exactly the same as the native version of the plug-in. If you already own Amp Room, you definitely need this amp.
Amp Room is the pro audio guitar and bass platform, designed with sound quality as top priority. It’s just like having a real amplifier with a miked up speaker cabinet in a high-end studio – with the added convenience of more options to patch in any kind of studio tool you need anywhere in the chain.
Softube & Marshall: A partnership based on quality sound
Our first-ever prototype was a hardware DSP box running a Marshall amp model and a loudspeaker model. That got the attention of Marshall Amplification and led to a successful long-term partnership. Marshall Cabinet Collection comes with the only software amps and cabs officially licensed and endorsed by Marshall.
Learn more about our partnership with Marshall.
Amp Room Ready
This plug-in can be used within Amp Room, Softube's pro audio guitar & bass platform. Click to learn more.
In short
- A faithful emulation of the Kerry King Signature amplifier, Marshall 2203KK a.k.a. “The Beast”
- Two Marshall Mode Four cabinets recorded in two studio setups and one live stage setup
- Both a native plug-in and a module for Amp Room, the pro audio guitar and bass platform
- The studio setups 'Studio' and 'Custom' are recorded by the famous producer Terry Date in Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles
- The 'Live' setup is recorded by Chris Paccou at Hovet Arena in Stockholm, Sweden
- Over 25 finely tuned Kerry King-inspired presets that define the sound of Kerry King
- Three different cabinet recording options: Studio, Live and Custom
- 'Studio' has five different mix-ready microphone combinations to choose from, 'Live' has Kerry King’s live setup as one setting with two microphones and 'Custom' has seven different microphone choices to combine freely
- The cabinets and microphone options are presented in pictures and graphics in 'Studio' and 'Live'. In 'Custom', each microphone is controlled as a studio channel strip that includes pans, volume faders, on/off, and phase
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System requirements
- Monterey 12, Ventura 13, Sonoma 14
- Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 11
- Softube account
- iLok account
- Computer with AU, VST, VST3 and/or AAX compatible DAW host software
- Internet access (for downloading installers and managing licenses)
Read full System Requirements and our Terms and Conditions