Bass Distortion VSTs

thegummy

Any recommendations for VST versions of bass distortion pedals?

Have loads of them for guitar but not that many for bass. Can be part of a suite (e.g. Helix Native) as I already have a couple and even if I don't they're still often the price of a pedal for the whole package.

Even if you've found particularly effective ways to distort bass guitar using plugins that weren't specifically designed for that, I'm all ears. Preferably actual pedal sims though if you know any. Or sims of guitar pedals that work well for bass as well.

p90fool

I tend to use guitar fuzz pedals, but I usually copy the bass track and mash the hell out of one of them with fuzz then blend it in to taste, leaving the original bass track un-effected so I don't lose all the important frequency content to the pedal. 

It's amazing how filthy you can get while retaining clarity if you balance the clean and dirty channels carefully. I often have an octave down track too, then send all three to a bass group channel for overall mixing. 

Shark_Eyes

I tend to utilise the gain settings on reverb or delay VSTs and just turn the rest off.
I'd also suggest blending a clean track in with it so you can go as distorted as you like and it still have punch.

Snap

Good stuff already posted. i use Guitar Rig for bass stuff. Also worth looking at is a free crusher VST. I use one called BiFilter, it's great.

Winny_Pooh

Sansamp plugin works well, also on a bus for blending purposes. Tchad Blake used the hardware units for years to process drums, vocals etc.

thegummy

Snap said:

Good stuff already posted. i use Guitar Rig for bass stuff. Also worth looking at is a free crusher VST. I use one called BiFilter, it's great.

Which pedal models in guitar rig do you find work well on bass?

Bod

I normally use a multiband distortion plugin which allows different types of distortion to be used on different parts of the frequency range.  Izotope Trash 2 is on sale for about £9 here - https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/2-Effects/30-Distortion/438-Trash2-Expansions well worth the dosh IMO  

p90fool

Winny_Pooh said:

Sansamp plugin works well, also on a bus for blending purposes. Tchad Blake used the hardware units for years to process drums, vocals etc.

He still does occasionally. 

guitarfishbay

Neural DSP Darkglass (B7K Ultra and Vintage Ultra) and Parallax (which is like an expanded X7).

I like them so much my bass pedals have sat in a drawer for months.

thegummy

guitarfishbay said:

Neural DSP Darkglass (B7K Ultra and Vintage Ultra) and Parallax (which is like an expanded X7).

I like them so much my bass pedals have sat in a drawer for months.

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for and I've actually wanted that real pedal.

Seems slightly pricey for a pedal sim but think I'll go for it.

Nice one, cheers.

Bod

thegummy said:

guitarfishbay said:

Neural DSP Darkglass (B7K Ultra and Vintage Ultra) and Parallax (which is like an expanded X7).

I like them so much my bass pedals have sat in a drawer for months.

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for and I've actually wanted that real pedal.

Seems slightly pricey for a pedal sim but think I'll go for it.

Nice one, cheers.

I was surprised to see that it's only 99 euros, I thought it was much more expensive.  Definitely adding them to my arsenal!!

thegummy

Just thought I should add here, in case anyone's reading this and doesn't know about it, the TSE BOD plugin is a free Sansamp BDDI copy and it sounds very good for what it does.

p90fool

Will check it out, cheers.

Snap

thegummy said:

Snap said:

Good stuff already posted. i use Guitar Rig for bass stuff. Also worth looking at is a free crusher VST. I use one called BiFilter, it's great.

Which pedal models in guitar rig do you find work well on bass?

I'll use the actual amps to overdrive the bass. I've also used the Demon Distortion. that's in one of my distorted bass patches. Fuzz works well too. Depends what you want really. If it's just a bit of edge, then the amp's gain will do it, but if it's full on rasping then add in a pedal. Trial and error for me really, but all the drive/distortion type components in Guitar Rig do a good job. Much easier than getting the right hardware.