The Best Joey Sturgis Tones Plugins for Your Mix

Joey Sturgis Tones plugins are a staple in modern metal. They’ve shaped the sound of an entire generation of metalcore, post-hardcore, and djent, delivering mix-ready tones straight out of the box. If you’ve ever cranked an Asking Alexandria, Of Mice & Men, or I See Stars record, you’ve heard the JST sound in action.

But here’s the thing: grabbing a plugin is just the start. It’s not about having an arsenal of 20 different amp sims or compressors. It’s about knowing which tool to grab for a specific job and, more importantly, how to use it. The best producers can get a killer mix with a minimal set of tools because they’ve mastered them inside and out.

Let’s break down some of the most essential Joey Sturgis Tones plugins that can make a real difference in your productions, and how to dial them in for max impact.

The Foundation: Amp Sims That Define a Genre

For a particular guitar sound, the amp sim you choose matters. A lot. JST’s Toneforge series gives you the DNA of legendary metal tones, but it’s what you do with it that counts.

Toneforge Misha Mansoor

If you need versatility, this is your monster. Modeled on the setup of Periphery’s mastermind, the Toneforge Misha Mansoor plugin is an entire guitar production suite in one window. It packs three different amps, a comprehensive cab block with official Celestion IRs, a built-in gate, a pedalboard with a compressor and an incredible model of a Precision Drive, and a full post-processing section.

How to Use It:
The secret to a tight, modern rhythm tone isn’t just gain; it’s control.

1. Start at the Input: Don’t slam the plugin with a super-hot DI signal. Aim for peaks around -12dB to -6dB to give the virtual amp some breathing room.
2. Gate and Tighten: Before you even hit the amp, engage the built-in gate to kill any noise between chugs. Then, use the “TIGHT” knob on the pedalboard. Start with it around 10-11 o’clock. You’ll hear it instantly clean up low-end mud and make your palm mutes way more articulate.
3. Drive, Don’t Drown: On the overdrive pedal, keep the DRIVE knob low (even at 0) and the TONE knob somewhere past noon. The goal is to boost and shape the signal, not add a ton of fuzz. Use the VOLUME knob on the pedal to push the front end of the amp.

Toneforge Ben Bruce

While Misha’s plugin is a multi-tool, the Toneforge Ben Bruce model is a sniper rifle aimed directly at the polished, massive sound of Asking Alexandria. It’s designed for huge, wide, stereo guitars that sit perfectly in a dense metalcore mix.

How to Use It:
This plugin excels at getting a finished sound quickly. The key is in the post-processing.

1. Dial the Core Tone: Switch between Amp 1 (the rhythm workhorse) and Amp 2 (tighter, more aggressive) to see what fits your riff.
2. Use the Built-in EQ: The EQ section is incredibly powerful. Instead of reaching for another plugin right away, do your main surgical cuts here. Use the parametric bands to notch out any harsh fizz (often somewhere between 4kHz-8kHz) or boxiness in the mids. This is a foundational step for properly EQing metal guitars.
3. The “Tuk” Compressor: The “Tuk” compressor is a unique one-knob tool designed to add punch and aggression. Try it on your main rhythm bus to help glue your quad tracks together and give them a unified, aggressive character.

Drums That Punch Through the Mix

A weak drum sound will kill a metal track. JST plugins offer some of the most straightforward and effective tools for adding smack, weight, and aggression to your drum bus.

Gain Reduction Deluxe

This isn’t your typical compressor. Gain Reduction Deluxe is a one-knob vibe machine designed for pure character. It’s meant to be pushed hard. With modes like “Slam” and “Wall,” it’s perfect for adding that over-the-top energy that makes a drum kit feel explosive.

How to Use It:
Parallel processing is your best friend here.

1. Set up a new aux track and send your main drum bus to it.
2. Put Gain Reduction Deluxe on the aux track.
3. Set the mode to “Slam” and turn the big knob until the meter is getting hammered. You want to hear it pumping and breathing.
4. Now, slowly blend that aux track back in underneath your main drum bus. You’ll find you get all the energy and aggression of a heavily compressed sound while retaining the punch and transients of your original drums. It’s a classic metal compression secret that works every time.

JST Bus Glue

While Gain Reduction Deluxe is a wrecking ball, the JST Bus Glue series offers more nuanced control for gluing your mixes together. The pack includes compressors specifically designed and calibrated for different instrument groups.

How to Use It:
Put the BG-Drums compressor on your main drum bus after any parallel processing. The beauty of this plugin is that the attack, release, and ratio settings are optimized behind the scenes. Your main job is to set the threshold to get a few dB of gain reduction and use the makeup gain to match the level. It’s designed to gently cohere all your individual drum elements—kick, snare, toms, cymbals—so they sound like one cohesive kit, not a collection of separate samples.

Vocals That Cut and Command Attention

Getting a screaming vocal to sit right in a wall of distorted guitars is one of the biggest challenges in metal mixing.

JST Clip

Clipping is one of the most powerful and misunderstood tools in modern production. Unlike a limiter, a clipper simply shaves off the tops of your waveforms. This adds perceived loudness and harmonic saturation without the pumping artifacts of a fast compressor. JST Clip is a dead-simple and effective way to do it.

How to Use It:
Place JST Clip first in your vocal chain, even before EQ or compression.

1. During the loudest part of the vocal performance, turn up the input knob until you see the gain reduction meter barely flicker. You’re not trying to destroy the signal, just tame the wildest peaks.
2. By shaving off just 1-2 dB from the very top, you’re creating a more consistent signal for your compressor to work on later. The compressor won’t have to overreact to huge peaks, resulting in a smoother, more controlled vocal.

The Secret Sauce: It’s Not the Plugins, It’s the Producer

You can have every JST plugin ever made, but the magic happens when you know why a producer is reaching for a certain tool and what they’re listening for.

That’s the gap between having the gear and having the skills. You can learn a ton by twisting knobs, but seeing how a world-class producer uses these exact same plugins on a real song is a game-changer.

Many of the developers behind these plugins, including producers like Joey Sturgis and Howard Benson, are also instructors at Nail The Mix. In our monthly sessions, you get the actual multitracks from bands like Lamb of God, Gojira, and Trivium and watch the original producer mix the song from scratch, explaining every single decision.

You don’t just see them slap JST Clip on a vocal; you understand the entire chain and the context for that decision. You see how they use EQ to make a Toneforge patch fit perfectly with the bass, and how they automate their bus compression to make a chorus explode.

These plugins are powerful starting points. But if you’re ready to learn the techniques that will truly elevate your mixes, check out the Nail The Mix sessions catalog and see how the pros build their signature sounds from the ground up.