Source
r/NeuralDSP•
SubbDeep

Clean bass guitar tone (Parallax / Darkglass / Others)

So I've been trying to get a halfway decent bass guitar tone with the guitar plugins I already own (Cory Wong, Plini, Soldano, Tone King) but it is always lacking.

Is anybody here using Neural DSP sims for clean bass tone? Every demo I hear with Parallax and Darkglass is great for modern Metal or Hardcore inspired genres, which is fantastic.

But what are you guys using for smooth tones?
Think neck pick up with the tone rolled off a bit kind of vibe.
Or am I looking in the wrong section of amp sim-land? I'm open for suggestions. Even if it's non Neural DSP.

I wish I wouldn't have wasted my trial on the two Bass plugins when I first started messing with them. The bass I had back then was rocking garbage pick ups that couldn't pick up low end for the live of them and I couldn't really boost something in the signal that wasn't there.

Posted Aug 30, 2023, 1:49 PM UTC

120
HentorSportcaster•

Cory Wong + a bass IR.

Also you can get clean bass out of Parallax, though it takes work.

1
SubbDeepOP•

Thanks for the insight. Seems like getting a simple bass tone is a bit more work than it should be. FFS.

Also thanks for the advice on asking for another trial period.

1
shredystevie•

As the other user stated, I found Cory Wong to be best clean bass tones

1
millennial_fulcrum•

Neither. Parallax is by far my favourite bass sim, but for clean and punchy bass I still use ML sound labs amped bass. It's based on an SVT and isn't that far off my real one when I mic it up. You can get a decent bit of dirt with it if that's your thing but it gets a bit flubby in the lower frequencies

1
SubbDeepOP•

I'd rather add the dirt with parallel processing after the fact. I'm really looking for thick, round, low end bass.

I'm gonna check out the ML VSTs, thanks!

1
sirotoiho•

Not Neural DSP, but get Ampeg amp emulations through Plugin Alliance I personally use those and love them. I have the V4b and the SVT-VR classic and add a boost/comp pedal (physical or emulation) in the front end and it would sound great.

Alternatively for driven sounds one can try the Nembrini Blackice Beta Gamma which is the Alpha Omega 900 emulation.

1
SubbDeepOP•

Awesome, I will check all of that.

I think I even got the Ampeg SVT VST but didn't remember it. It came as an freebie back then.

1
Zeller_van•

Ampeg from plug in alliance and bassknob.

1
Threadkilla•

I've gotten good results with Cory Wong for vintagey bass sounds. I used the P Bass preset as a starting point and then fiddled with the EQ until it was where I wanted it. I had to turn the overall plugin volume up while keeping the amp volume relatively low, but I've got weird pickups on my bass so YMMV.

1
SubbDeepOP•

I got a weird affordable JP 5 String Bass atm and the Jazz (bridge) pick up on it is absolute trash. No low end, ever. Can't EQ boost something that wasn't ever there to begin with.

The Precision pick up on it is better but still kinda dull. I need to try your way.

I was planning on getting a fretless Jazz bass and mostly use the neck pickup with slightly rolled off tone pot.

1
MonkyDeathRocket•

The Ampeg vst (made by Ampeg) is great for clean tones.

I've been able to get them with the Darkglass Ultra vst and even with Parallax to some extent but it's not as easy or super clean.

1
SubbDeepOP•

Update: The Ampeg SVT from Plugin Alliance does a great job. Especially if you put a compressor before it. (I just used a Glue/VCA Comp)

1
SubbDeepOP•

Will give the Ampeg a spin for sure.

It really seems N-DSP's plugins aren't geared towards what I'm trying to accomplish here.

1
MonkyDeathRocket•

I think they make great overall metal and rock vsts for guitar, with some decent clean options as well, but the bass offerings are somewhat limited and for other genres you can get there but it's more work.

1
und3rtow623•

Amped SVT Suite for quick cleans, Nembrini Blackice or the newer Nembrini Bass Driver might be what you're looking for does take a little time to dial it in. Check out their trial. Bogren Bass Knob is pretty slick too

1
SubbDeepOP•

Yea, the One Knob series of Bogren seems fun for quick results. Will give these a shot.

Never heard of Nembrini, so will check them out 100%.

Thank you!

1
addisonbass•

I’m a bass player and made a preset available with a bunch of scenes. Everything from clean and compressed to distorted and crazy. My Cortex Cloud un is @addisonbassist … still a work in progress, but let me know what you think.

1
SubbDeepOP•

That sounds very cool and helpful but honestly, what the fuck is Cortex Cloud? :D

Is this a Quad Cortex only thing? Because I'm 100% PC bound because I just plan on using it in my home studio to make music nobody ever will hear.

I'd still love to check it out if you have any audio material where it's prominent on.

1
addisonbass•

Ahhhh … I was switching back and forth between some other posts doing research and thought you were running a Quad Cortex. My bad! I don’t have anything recorded … yet … but I can probably do something if you’re really interested.

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SubbDeepOP•

I would love to hear it. If they ever get the QC and NDSP VSTs synced up I might even buy a QC some day. It seems like a great piece of gear. A great piece of gear that I honestly probably do not need. But that didn't stop anybody from buying gear, ever.

1
AvengerTT•

wong for sure, and bogren bass knob is pretty good, but i really like a few of the neural amp modeler captures. specifically i've been using the tech21 steve harris preamp pedal.

1
SubbDeepOP•

So I got the NAM setup today and tested with guitar because most of it is obviously geared to it.

Do I need to set up extra IR or are these captures including them? (I got the captures off of Github.)
Also, where do I get the Tech21 capture? Google ain't helping me.

1
AvengerTT•

https://tonehunt.org/

​

the ones that say 'full rig' don't require IR. the ones that say amp do. but for bass, i've even used just a pedal capture with no amp or IR: https://tonehunt.org/JZ1978/a88f89d7-ed28-4cb5-b84d-86c24e0408f9

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SubbDeepOP•

Thank you so much.

I will try it as you did it. Super curious about the result.

1
SubbDeepOP•

I never tried the NAM. Might have to give it a spin.

1