Plug into John Mayer

Neural DSP has announced Archetype: John Mayer X, an extraordinary new addition to its acclaimed Archetype series and one of the most iconic collaborations in the company’s history. Developed in partnership with John Mayer and modelled on his personal studio and touring gear, the plugin offers an unprecedented opportunity to experience the tone, dynamics, and expressiveness behind some of the most influential guitar recordings of the last twenty years.

John Mayer’s sound is instantly identifiable – an interplay of touch, tone, and emotion that has carried through decades of recordings and performances. From the fluid precision of Continuum to the atmospheric textures of his live work, his artistry blends nuance and feel with unmistakable clarity.

Archetype: John Mayer X distills that identity into a single, deeply expressive tool built from the amplifiers, pedals, and post-processing chain that form his core tone – and includes an extensive library of presets created personally by John Mayer.

“John’s sound has inspired guitarists around the world, and it was a privilege to work with him directly to recreate the rig that anchors his tone,” said Douglas Castro, CEO and Co-Founder of Neural DSP. “There’s an intimacy to the way his rig responds – it breathes, it opens up, it carries emotion – and capturing that behavior was one of the most meaningful projects we’ve taken on.”

A Studio-Ready Extension of John Mayer’s Sonic Identity

Archetype: John Mayer X is grounded in the amplifiers that anchor his clean tones, lead phrasing, and touch dynamics. The plugin includes three standalone amps modelled directly from Mayer’s personal units: his 1964 Fender Vibroverb, his revered Dumble Steel String Singer #002, and his unique Two-Rock prototype Signature #83. Each amp was captured at an exceptional level of detail, preserving its headroom, responsiveness, and harmonic structure exactly as Mayer uses them.

The plugin also introduces a Three-in-One Amp – a recreation of Mayer’s blended amplifier configuration used in both studio and live environments. It merges all three amps and their matching cabinets with Mayer’s exact settings, mic placements, and EQ decisions, creating a unified, dimensional sound that reflects his full signal path without requiring individual amp balancing. The result feels immediate, open, and unmistakably connected to Mayer’s playing.

“John’s tone comes from a chain of choices made over years of playing and recording. We preserved those choices so players can begin where he begins – with a sound that feels settled, expressive, and familiar – and then make it their own,” concluded Castro.

Archetype: John Mayer X is available today for €169 incl. taxes. A 14-day free trial is available.

To learn more about Archetype: John Mayer X and to purchase, click here