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Struggling to get decent bass guitar sound
I am struggling to get a decent bass guitar sound on iOS. My electric bass is decent with good Seymour Duncan pickups - sounds great and deep through my (real) Warwick amp. On iOS I’m using ToneStack (Ampeg imitation stack with compressor pedal) through a Roland Duo-Ex (hi-z input). Am not mic’ing my real amp, just DI to the amp simulator in TS. Interestingly guitar sounds great in this setup (albeit with different amp choice), it’s just the bass I struggle with. I’m at the point where I’m not convinced Tonestack does a great job of bass sounds. Am considering trying Stark or Bias but thought it’d be wisest to get opinions from the learned iOS music community first. Any views or suggestions appreciated.
Comments
I wouldn't bother with Stark.
Try not using a cab in ToneStack and run the output through Thafknar or other convolution app that has been loaded with a bass cabinet.
When you say DI, do you mean your bass is going straight into the iPad or you are taking the amp's signal and going DI with that?
Cheers. Bass straight into iPad (via Roland audio interface)
IMHO on iOS nothing is better than the in-app Ampeg bundles inside AmpliTube CS (which is free). But lately I discover that the brand new Nembrini Audio PSA1000 add a real warm analog vibe to bass guitar as its an emu of the mythical Sansamp PSA 1. You still need and amp sim with the latter since it’s a (great) saturator unit, so together with AT Ampeg the results are amazing!
The PSA 1000 Jr is basically a mono version of the big brother but it should be ok with a bass guitar which is usually mono, so you can save 5.00€.
This ^
Impulsation is nice too. If you need a little more oomph and don't want to spend $20 Shaper is a nice waveshaping alternative.
Ok thanks, will look at these.
@espiegel123 I had heard Stark is not great at producing decent distortion on electric guitar, but are the bass tones poor as well? Not read anything about quality of Stark for bass specifically
I'm not a sound designer so don't take my word. I use the free CuSnP plugin with the Phrygian mode and it makes my bass feel a bit more authentic. I haven't tested it with combinations but it did help liven up stock bass sounds.
Well what kind of tone you after .. what kind of genre’s do you play?
+1 for what @Faland said. Amplitude is great. PSA1000 is nice for sat... Nembrini also just released a Rack EQ for Bass and it's cheap. 3.99 i think.
How's the PreAmp on the Duo EX ?
It’s decent, no problems there
Split the signal out of your bass, mic your cab and also do a DI. If you record the sound you like at the source then you have it. Then use the DI and whatever as sugar on top.
I can’t get a decent clean bass tone for any genre lol
Here is an example of the kind of sound I am after currently
Yep, this is the fallback plan. But trying to figure out first if there is any way to improve on my sound without mic’ing amp.
That example sounds like a DI'd Jazzbass with flatwound strings.
A P-Bass with SD 'Quarterpounders' would sound more gritty/dirty even on DI alone.
(the difference is the magnetic bar below the coil plus focussing screws, while the classic Fender design uses single magnets for each string within the coil)
Stark’s problem (IMO) is not limited to the distortion. There is pretty universal agreement among people that have experience with amps that the overall simulation is poor ... particularly their cabinet simulation...even for clean sounds. It is even evident in their posted demos. It can be made passable by running its output through a convolution app with a good cab IR. There are some people not looking for amp simulation who like it on keyboards and synths, but even there I don’t know of more than a few people that would use it in preference to other alternatives because they think it sounds better than the alternatives.
Based on what you have said, you need a decent compressor and EQ and a convolution app like Thafknar or Impulsation and a decent bass cab IR. There are some free decent cabinet IRS to be found on the web. The ToneBoosters EQ is first rate and inexpensive. The Blue Mangoo compressor is inexpensive and clean and CPU-efficient. That might get you where you want.
The free amplitude options n is somethings not you might try first since it is free.
You might find ReAmp useful for adding some subtle saturation. The Magic Death Eye Compressor is pricy but colors the sound in a way that some find very pleasing on guitar and bass.
Flatwounds
I agree it sounds like a jazz bass with the neck pickup almost off, or a Stingray. Not convinced using flatwounds is the answer. You’ll get less string noise obviously but rolling back the tone with roundwounds can also help with that.
FWIW I thought Stark was pretty good for bass (but lousy for guitar).
I somehow manage to get a good bass sound just with Reamp and a bit of compression beforehand. Jazz bass with passive Fender USA pickups.