As far as free options go, there's def. a lot of tweaking to be done, and more than anything, the end result (IMO) rests A LOT on whether or not you use decent cab impulse responses.
As for audio interfaces - there's no free things there, but if you're only interested in recording one or two tracks, like any stringed instrument, any used $50-$100 interface from the past couple of years will do. No, it will not sound like a $xxxx setup, but good enough for recording demos and even amateur records. Obviously depends on the music you're going for, too.
Now, just for the discussion - let's say you own a guitar or bass, and a computer, and you want to record something for as cheap as humanly possible, one setup could be:
instrument -> audio/microphone input on computer using ASIO4ALL -> Reaper or Cakewalk -> Freeware plugins like LePou amp plugins -> IR loader + Free cab IRs -> built-in effects in DAW.
Obviously will not sound like pro quality, but could do the work, if money really is the pressing issue.
(Another option would be "free" plugins via pirating, but that's another discussion...though many pro-grade plugins offer free trial periods, or heavily stripped down plugins)
Lepou is one option: http://www.grebz.com/simulator_freeamp_poulin_eng.php
As for audio interfaces - there's no free things there, but if you're only interested in recording one or two tracks, like any stringed instrument, any used $50-$100 interface from the past couple of years will do. No, it will not sound like a $xxxx setup, but good enough for recording demos and even amateur records. Obviously depends on the music you're going for, too.
Now, just for the discussion - let's say you own a guitar or bass, and a computer, and you want to record something for as cheap as humanly possible, one setup could be:
instrument -> audio/microphone input on computer using ASIO4ALL -> Reaper or Cakewalk -> Freeware plugins like LePou amp plugins -> IR loader + Free cab IRs -> built-in effects in DAW.
Obviously will not sound like pro quality, but could do the work, if money really is the pressing issue.
(Another option would be "free" plugins via pirating, but that's another discussion...though many pro-grade plugins offer free trial periods, or heavily stripped down plugins)