John,

First of all, I'm not using PTPA.

Second, I'm not using MIDI - but rather automation controls.

I'm doing this in Tracktion. In Tracktion, with any plugin - if that plugin has automatable controls - they are immediately visible to Tracktion when you instantiate the plugin on a midi or audio track.

Tracktion has a little 'A' on each track and when you click it, you can see all of the controls for the track and the plugins for that track. Sometimes, this list is HUGE for one particular plugin. I don't have AT3, but rather AT1. From memory, I know I can control the gain settings, the overdrive amount, the tone controls, I believe the amp type and cabinet type, reverb setting, etc. with automation controls.

There MAY be Midi CC values assigned to these - I'm not sure - I don't really end up with a need for doing Midi CC because I can do it all with automation control curves.

Automation control is something that's been fairly standard in even the least expensive DAW software for the last 8-10 years at least. You really need it for stuff like this. PG better get it in place (if it isn't) because more and more users are going to expect it. It's one of the reasons I quit using and updating PTPA/RB. Expected plugin functional support gets farther and farther behind.

I'm still hoping that will turn around - there are features that I do miss (notation for example), but they haven't been as big as what I use on every single song I do. I do automation in every song, whether it's fader settings, reverb sends, filtering, VST/VSTi automation, you name it. It's just part of the mixing activity for me now.

I do agree with rharv that if it's simple preset change through the song, then there are other easier ways to control this - just set up multiple instances on different tracks and set the different song sections on the different tracks, with the different presets enabled.

Like I said, the only stuff I do with automation as it pertains to guitar amp/signal simulation is filter kind of stuff: Wah, overall filter bandwidth and resonance automation; sometimes reverb send stuff (like making it sound like I'm walking away from the amp at the end of a song by adjusting the wet/dry mix for reverb as a faded situation).

-Scott