When it comes to famous bass amps the most famous manufacturer has to be Ampeg. A handy tip is that using command (control on PC) offers fine control over the mic position making this much easier to use with precision. The virtual miking offers predictable results and I really like the fact that it offers one mic but continuously variable positions. On bass where the mic is is at least as important as what the mic is.

Of the three cabinets the 4x12 is my favourite, offering just the right combination of depth and speed. The sounds on offer range from clear and deep to very dirty. Rather than just modelling an amp and cabinet, this plug-in offers simple but effective tools for shaping bass sounds including high and low pass filters, a one-knob EQ and limiter on the DI input and importantly there is a DI/Amp mix control, acknowledging the common practice of combining DI and amped sounds, something not usually done on guitar amp sims. The three cabinets available are an 8x10, a 4x12 and unusually a 1x12. The Amp Room format is highly visual and intuitive with a choice of three cabinets and a wide variety of mic positions on the click-and-drag mic stand. Softube aren’t saying what it is and while I have my suspicions I have no more info on this than anyone else. Complementing their vintage and metal amp room products for guitar, Bass Amp Room is modelled on an unspecified 70’s guitar amp. Given their wide range of classic studio gear plug-ins available it’s easy to forget that Softube started as an amp modelling company. Let's look at the options available for bassists. The negligible latency while tracking through UAD plug-ins combined with the quality of the sounds on offer means that for me, plug-ins are no longer a convenient compromise.

That's not to say that the amplifier used isn’t important but the job of a bass amp is to be powerful and relatively flat. Part of the reason that bass doesn’t get the same attention guitars do when it comes to amplifiers is probably because when it comes to classic bass amps the list is rather shorter than it is for guitars. I’m a big fan of re-amping but the simplicity of tracking through a bass amp modelling plug-in has left me leaving my (lovely) TC bass amp gathering dust more and more recently. Bass players haven’t ever had the variety of choices on offer to their guitar playing cousins and while DI bass has its place, I for one haven’t used a straight DI bass on its own in a track for years. Everyone seems to make one, ranging from free generic emulations such as Eleven Free through to lovingly crafted emulations of classic amplifiers like the UAD Marshall Plexi 1959. Bass is my first instrument and as a bass player I’ve always been aware of the bewildering choice of guitar amp modelling plug-ins available.

Uad softube metal amp room aps