Best Jazz Bass Vst Plugin

24.12.2020

Ample Bass P Lite II aim to bring the Fender Precision Bass sound to your studio. The Ample Bass VST plugin is an electric bass vst plugin great for some groovier and more rock-centric bass sounds.

Last Updated on December 17, 2020 by

Free Bass Amp Simulators are really hard to find. There are some, but most of them are terrible.

The original NI Massive was arguably the best best VST plugin soft synth on the market for many years. With MASSIVE X, it’s newest version, you can expect some improvement on the industry standard. They have over 170 wavetable options available. And the plugin gives you two different oscillators so you can layer your sound within the plugin.
The (depreciated ) Kontakt version of Adam Monroe's Upright Bass is cross-platform. The VST, AU, and AAX version are programmed by us. The goal in any sample library that is also a VST (virtual instrument), AU (Audio Unit) or AAX plugin is to attempt to match the performance of the Kontakt Player.

So, in order to save you some time, since I already did some research on the topic, I’m going to share the ones I found that I think are worth trying.

I will also be including a Cabinet simulator at the end which will enhance the sound you can get quite a bit, especially for the plugins that only work as a preamp.

GK Amplification 2 LE
Ignite Amps SHB-1
TSE BOD v3
Amplitube Custom Shop
Bass Grinder Free
Ronald Passion Bass Preamp

Free Cabinet: NadIR by Ignite Amps

Nr. 1: GK Amplification 2 LE

Modelled after the Gallien-Krueger MB150 amp, the GK Amplification 2 LE can be used as a standalone application or as a VST/AAX/AU plugin.

It is the light version of the GK Amplification 2 Pro, which means that it only includes a single amp model with a single speaker and mic option compared to the full version which has more.

GK Amplification 2 LE includes all the functions and all controls of the original amp.

The great thing is that it can be used for recording in the studio or at home, for band practice, or even live performances since the delay isn’t noticeable.

It is available both for Windows and Mac OS.

Here’s the link to the official website.

Related: If you’re in need of better-sounding Bass VST plugins, then check out this post I wrote about the best Premium ones.

Nr. 2: Ignite Amps SHB-1

The SHB-1 is based on the real SHB-1 Extreme Bass Head which is a custom-built amp designed for the bass player of the band “Subhuman”.

Just like the previous amp on this list, the SHB-1 can be used for practice, recording and also for live performances.

This amp sim can do anything, from thick bass tones, to very tight funky sounds, all the way to heavy metal distorted sounds.

It works both on Windows and Mac OS.

Features

Dynamic 12AX7 / ECC83 coupled triode stages analog modeling
Mono / Stereo processing support
Selectable oversampling rate
Global input / output level controls
Double precision (64-bit) floating point mathematical model
Fully automatable controls
Zero latency

You can download it here.

Related: Here’s a list of the best FREE Guitar VST Plugins that sound great!

Nr. 3: TSE BOD v3

The TSE B.O.D. is a digital replica of the SansAmp Bass Driver DI pedal, which is a very popular bass preamp DI box with distortion, presence, and EQ controls.

This is a very simple plugin which works great and doesn’t really use much CPU power.

The free plugin is available in VST, AU, and AAX formats, with support for both 64 and 32 bit.

You can download it here.

Nr. 4: Amplitube Custom Shop

Amplitube is a standalone program, which means that you can run it on its own without the need of a DAW.

It’s also available, however, as a plugin for VST/AU/AXX format.

It is primarily a Guitar amp simulation program, since most amps and effects you get are geared towards guitar sounds, however it also comes with a bass amp simulation which sounds quite good.

One of the features of the Custom Shop is the ability for you to “try before you buy” individual pieces of gear. You can demo fully working gear for a period of 72 hours.

You basically get a Free version of AmpliTube 4 with 24 models including a digital chromatic tuner, 9 stomps, 4 amps, 5 cabs, 3 mics, 2 rack effects.

If you’d then like to add more effects you can simply purchase them directly from the app itself.

Here’s the official Website.

If you’re also interested in Free Drum VST Plugins, make sure to read this article I wrote on that topic!

Nr. 5: Bass Grinder Free Edition by Audio Assault

This must be one of the simplest plugins out there.

It comes with two amplifiers and three cabinets, nothing more.

It’s incredibly easy to use thanks to the simplicity of the controls.

Available in VST/AU/RTAS/AAX for Windows and Mac OS.

You can download it here.

Related: I love free plugins, so I put together a list of the best Free Synth VST Plugins out there which you can check out here,

Nr. 6: Ronald Passion Bass Preamp

This Bass Preamp is an analog tube bass preamp effect plug-in which is really simple to use, sounds great and you get the cab-emulation built into it which is great since you can activate and de-activate it whenever you want.

If you don’t want to use the built in cab emulation simply add the one I recommend at the end of this list.

Controls

Active Switch (On/Off).
Cab Switch (On/Off).
X-tra Lo/X-tra Hi for additional body.
Drive in preamp input section.
Bass/Mid/Hi tone controllers.
Mid frequency selection knob.
Master output.

You can download it here.

Here’s a list of two affordable and high-quality audio interfaces which will allow you to get a better bass sound.

Free Cabinet

NadIR by Ignite Amps

NadIR is a zero latency, dual Impulse Response convolver, designed to be used as a cabinet simulator for guitar and bass (pre)amplifiers.

In this video you hear how the guitar tone changes drastically. Same thing happens to the bass tones.

It has been designed to perform extreme quality convolution in real time, while being light on the CPU and easy to use, providing advanced built-in filters and delay controls to let guitarists and bassists shape their tone with ease, without the need to be professional audio engineers.

NadIR is meant to be used as a cabinet simulator for live playing and jamming, tracking or mixing inside hosts capable of VST or AU Plug-Ins support.

Features

Zero Latency.
Low CPU usage.
Three routing modes: Mono, Dual Mono and Stereo.
Selectable quality control for max IR length (up to 0.185 seconds).
Automatic high-quality resampling for IRs with different sampling rates.
High-quality analog shaped filters.
Selectable delay for phase interactions between loaded IRs.
Continuous morphing control between loaded IRs.
Global input level and single IR level controls.
Fully automatable controls.

Here’s a link to the official Website.

How to learn to Mix Bass properly

Well, even though you could just go by ear and learn by simply listening to what’s happening, which definitely isn’t bad, there’s a way to fast-track your progress and learn how to properly mix a bass guitar in no time.

There are a couple courses out there which teach you this, but this one I found is excellent and super affordable, so make sure to give it a try.

Conclusion

Finding free bass amp VST’s is already hard, but finding good ones is REALLY hard.

The two I liked the most are GK Amplification 2 LE and Ignite Amps SHB-1 simply because of their overall sound quality.

Adding the NadIR free cabinet to the chain can also do wonders for your tone. Just try them all out, since they are free, and see which ones you like the most.

Have a wonderful day!

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Which are the Best Bass VST Plugins?

Are you ready for my 5 Top Recommendations? You can Watch the Video version here. Here we go!

808 Studio by Initial Sound

As you can hear from its name. 808 Studio is focused on the classic 808 sound. But this plugin is so much deeper. You can create anything from earth-shattering 808 kicks tuned to the key of your track, to deep powerful sub basses, to sub drops suitable for both EDM and Cinematic music. When I want low and powerful sub bass, I go to this plugin.

My 3 Favorite Features are:

The Sub section: For that extra bit of low end, including Fat mode and drive.
The Pitch slide: Where you can adjust the speed, range and shape of the slide.
The Modular Effect Chain: with an Amp, Compressor, EQ and Chorus.

Phoscyon by D16

This plugin is modeled after the classic Roland 303 bassline synthesizer, which many people consider to be the grandfather of electronic music. If you want that edgy drive in the bass, and if you want to add lots of energy and character to your music. The 303 will never let you down. Yes, it is limited in its sound. But what it does, it does in a great way. And this plugin will give you access to the sound of this classic vintage synthesizer, without having to break the bank.

My 3 Favorite Features are:

The Arpeggiator + Randomizer: These add-ons make a great synth, even more fun to use, and opens up more possibilities.
The Distortion Mode: This is in fact also an add-on, but its great to have access to a distortion unit right inside the plugin.
The Host Mode: You can use the plugin in MIDI host mode, which means you can actually sequence the patterns from MIDI inside your DAW if you wish.

Jazz Bass Vst Free

Monark by Native Instruments

The name means King, and this is probably due to the fact that it is modelled after a synth that many consider the king of analog synthesizers. Minimoog Model D. Even though this is technically not a dedicated bass synth, it has always been one of the go-to synths for that creamy, fat low-end.

My 3 Favorite Features are:

The Ease of use: Due to the classic and simple analog synth layout.
The Performance control: over legato, glide, pitch-bend and mod-wheel.
The Analog character control: over drift, de-tuning and leakage.

MODO Bass by IK Multimedia

If you like electric bass guitars, you will love this software instrument. It is my go-to plugin for electric bass. Because not only do you get lots of electric bass guitars to choose from, you can go extremely deep in the customisation of tone, character and performance. This is made possible because it is physical modelling technology. Which gives you extremely deep control over the sound.

My 3 Favorite Features are:

The Performance Mapping: You can map almost every aspect, like palm mute degree, slides, slaps, vibrato, bends and so on.
Playing Style Options: You can switch between finger, pick and slap. And even control slide noise, detach noise etc.
The Electronics Section: Where you can switch pickups, control their position and tone control.

Trilian by Spectrasonics

Jazz Bass Vst

This is the complete bass plugin, because it has it all. Electric Basses, Sampled Basses from all the classic synths, as well as a built in deep synth engine. Not only does it have the classic analog and digital synthesizers, but it also comes with many rare synths that can produce really interesting bass sounds with lots of character. If you also own Omnisphere, you can load Trilian patches inside Omnisphere and all the extra deep features this gives you..

My 3 Favorite Features are: