Bass Guitar:
Opto 32 (TimP)
alt skin: (Included in standard TimP package):
– TLDR Notes:
Very faithful LA2A. Opto compression.
2A = Very natural action, with a full, big low end.
3A = A little more grabby at same peak reduction settings.
Clicking “Edit” once toggles alternative (white) skin.
Clicking “Edit” again brings a description of features.
Clicking “Simple” toggles back.
Pre>COMP>Clipper (Optional clipper can be used to capture peaks)
– Review:
There are times where you just want the sound of a classic.
The LA-2A Leveling Amplifier by Teletronix Engineering Company from 1965 is one of the most famous, widely used vintage compressors in existence, heard on countless albums and hits through the decades.
If you’ve never used a good Nebula library on vocals or bass, the qualities will be obvious the first time you try the TimP Opto 32, which is actually two compressors in one; the legendary LA-2A and the less famous but equally useful LA-3A.
You get a big full low end with the 2A. If that’s too much of a good thing you can quickly switch to the 3A giving you a more neutral frequency response with more grabby compressor action.
It’s got a highly musical sound with frequency dependent attack.
It’s useful on a variety of sources, my favorite applications tend to be bass, vocal and for slower material even kick drum.
Don’t sleep on the included clipper – that one completes the puzzle by subtly taming the peaks. However, I suggest using it carefully to just catch the very loudest peaks.
I like the simple GUI and the ability to switch between the black and white skin is a welcome touch.
Requires the full version of Nebula (N4 or N4.5) from Acustica Audio.
In the LA-2a category, honorable mention goes to Waves CLA-2A, which is actually underrated. Usually the CLA76 gets the limelight, but the LA-2A is the more authentic sounding emulation out of the two, so non Nebula users that want a low CPU, high quality plugin emulation of the LA2-A, especially for vocals, might want to check out the CLA-2A from Waves.
VLA-FET (Black Rooster Audio)
– TLDR Notes:
An modelled compressor that gets close to retaining the low end like the Nebula compressors.
But it does it in part with a frequency tilt, resulting in a somewhat soft sound overall on bass guitar.
Nonetheless, interesting modeled comp.
– Review:
Here’s a low CPU, traditional plugin alternative to Nebula tech on bass guitar, the VLA-FET is an emulation of the 1176 Rev F.
It sounds different from other modeled plugins, and it almost seems custom made for kicks and bass.
It grabs the program material nicely on the attack end, and the controls make it easy to operate.
However, the meter isn’t doing it any favors in head to head comparisons with other plugins, as the compressor appears to compress before the needle moves, and when the meter shows only very slight compression, in reality it seems to compress a fair amount.
But all that really means is that the meter is underselling the qualities of the plugin.
You can get a nice, compressed sound with a big full low end out of this thing. Part of it is the frequency tilt it imparts, a bit of a trick to achieve the desired effect, but it’s well-played by Black Rooster as the boost seems to be just enough to give it an advantage on kick and bass without drawbacks becoming obvious.
It also works well on harsh digital sources that needs compression, almost like a compressor with a bit of tape emulation built in.
Head Crusher (Audio Assault)
– TLDR Notes:
Used for parallel bass track. Good dirty sound for bass guitar parallel.
Suggested use in parallel chain:
Head Crusher>CraveEq (Cutting lows and highs)>L1 limiter Mono
– Review:
If we look at the elements that make a bass guitar work within a mix context, in addition to performance it basically comes down to three things: Tonal quality, harmonic content and dynamics.
Assuming that the dynamics of the bass guitar is nicely and appropriately controlled in relation to the overall mix, and that the frequency content is appropriate, we’ll need to cover the harmonic side of things as well.
Harmonic distortion can be light saturation, overdrive or flat out heavy distortion. It all depends on the genre and what feels right. Finding good tools for this task becomes very important, because harmonic distortion is key when it comes to making the bass sit right and be audible on medium sized or small speakers. Even when you’re not meant to hear the distortion in the full mix, having it there blended in makes a difference.
The thing about distortion on low end material like a bass guitar is that it tends to shrink the bottom end, making things smaller and it ends up taking away more than it adds in terms of sonic benefits.
So ideally we want something that can leave those low lows untouched by distortion and simply have the benefits of the harmonics higher up the spectrum.
One way to do this is to split the bass in two (duplicate the track), with an EQ on each track doing the polar opposite of each other at the same EQ point; one only providing the lows, the other only the mids and highs. You can then add either an amp simulator or a harmonic distortion plugin on just the mid+highs bass track, letting the lows from the other track remain free from distortion, and perhaps add a bit of extra compression/leveling to the lows instead.
That is a valid approach. I often boost some some mids on a bass anyway, so I like simply sending the original bass to a separate track where I have my overdrive/distortion followed by an EQ cutting lows and highs, so I have an “ovendriven mids” track that I can blend in under the main bass.
The original main bass track will have a compressor and the overall EQ, and the extra track fader simply functions as “driven mids” to be added in.
Head Crusher by Audio Assault gives me a nice overdriven sound for the parallel bass track, with a handful of different drive modes to choose from. I find that ‘Vintage’ does the job very well.
The latest version supports up to 16x Oversampling, although when dealing with bass elements 16XOS is probably not exactly essential, but for other applications proper OS options are vital for a distortion plugin.
U76 (TimP)
– TLDR Notes:
Great go-to bass comp. Ratio 4 usually. Preamp can be used as well.
– Review:
There are few compressors that combines “distinct” with “versatile” on the level of the Bill Putnam designed UREI 1176 Peak Limiter.
With its fast attack and release potential the 1176 is tailor-made for applications like the bass guitar.
To nail a UREI 1176 the emulation needs to get the compression action right, the weight and the overall color. Many plugins struggle with at least one of those areas. After testing countless 1176 plugins, the TimP library for the full commercial version of Nebula is my favorite. It can be punchy or smooth, depending on your settings, without shrinking a bass heavy signal the way many other plugins tend to.
As a bonus, it’s a third party plugin for Nebula that doesn’t kill the CPU.
Using the preamp is optional here, and it can depend on how you record your bass. If you’re using a colorful DI box adding harmonics to the signal going in, you may not need the preamp.
But for the truest 1176 emulation, place the preamp instance in a separate instance of N4 after the compressor.
It does require the full commercial version of Acustica Audio’s Nebula (N4 or N4.5). If you already own N4/N4.5, the U76 is a no-brainer.
But even if you don’t currently own Nebula, the low price of the TimP compressors and the amount of times the U76 is likely to make it on all sorts of sources in your mixes, as well as the doors owning Nebula opens for fans of authentic analog sound, should in my opinion be taken into consideration.
RA6 (TimP)
– TLDR Notes:
Impressive, smooth bass comp. Preamp can be used as well.
Two Units, Unit 2 has slightly slower time constants.
Unit 1 is go-to.
Unit 1 or 2> Clipper> Preamp
– Review:
I find that a lot of compressors that work well on bass are also great on male vocals, such as the 1176, the LA3A and this one, the RCA BA-6A.
It’s solidly smooth, an elegant sound that brings a really nice low midrange tone to the bass guitar.
It does feel a little heavier on the system than other TimP libraries, so the option of freezing or rendering the track in the DAW might come into play.
It comes with two units – Unit 2 having slightly slower time constants.
The time constants are approximately 0.6ms attack, release around 300ms, and the ‘dual release’ mode injects an additional, longer release.
The best thing is just to play around with these settings to see what works best for the source. I like the included clipper from this one as well which should be place after the compressor, and the preamp should be last in the chain.
Requires the full version of Nebula (N4 or N4.5) from Acustica Audio.
Brighton 2 (London Acoustics)
– TLDR Notes:
Impressive and natural opto tube compressor sound. Ratio 3 or 4 usually.
Since the update to version 2 it handles the low end very well, and with the saturation control plus 3 different recovery (release) settings it’s more flexible than some other opto compressors.
– Review:
This is a custom built Opto Tube Compressor and a true desert island piece. You can get classic RMS opto tube compression out of it but also more add more saturation and punch when needed.
You can hit it hard while retaining qualities that are beneficial in a mix. Even if the meters were showing a tad more compression than is really happening, it would still be impressive as this one sounds premium.
It’s based on a Vactrol VTL5 optical photocell detector as well as a custom-built one with a custom-circuit tube preamp.
When London Acoustics released the first version of this beast of a compressor, it was heavily praised for it’s qualities on vocals. But it wasn’t a favorite for me on bass guitar, due to its low end retention being weaker than that of the very best alternatives.
This changed with version 2, released in 2023. It now handles the low end great, to the point where it is one of its strong suits now.
So if you want an extremely versatile tube opto compressor for vocals and low end heavy elements, you might want to seriously consider this one.
It’s not the lightest on system resources, but the sound of this thing makes it seem more like a natural trade-off rather than a pointless nuisance.
Requires the full version of Nebula (N4 or N4.5) from Acustica Audio.
Vari-Level v2 (TimP)
– TLDR Notes:
Classic tube compressor similar to a Fairchild. Natural and somewhat ‘broadcast compressor’-like in sound.
“Double” mode is go-to. “Single” is slower attack-release, Triple is fastest attack-release.
“Recovery” further shapes release behavior.
Clipper module is really nice. Can be used to get a very organic driven bass sound.
Comp>Clipper>Pre
– Review:
The Vari-Level v2 emulates the Retro Sta-Level, the re-creation of the iconic 1956 Gates Sta-Level compressor.
Throughout the 1960’s the Gates Sta-Level was all over the hits of the era, and it’s sound still highly sought after.
The TimP version does a great job delivering classy, smooth and full compression for bass guitar.
The main sound tweaking element comes via the 3 options you get with the “Mode” switch, along with the “Recovery Time” parameter. These options can provide impressive results of a variety of applications; vocals, acoustic guitar, piano and bass come to mind.
The hidden gem of the library is the clipper. It’s great even on its own for things such as achieving a musically driven bass, or just to catch stray peaks.
Requires the full version of Nebula (N4 or N4.5) from Acustica Audio.
RBass (Waves)
– TLDR Notes:
Good for adding extra low end to bass when needed.
Intensity is engaged even at the lowest setting (-24.0). Often that is enough.
– Review:
This is one of the most simple-to-use yet effective plugins for enhancing bass guitar.
The Waves Rbass can be thought of as an exciter for bass in the sense that it can add what might be lacking rather than just boost the selected frequency.
If your recorded bass lacks size to carry the tonal part of low end in the mix, try this plugin at its default 80 hz setting and set the “Intensity” as high as you need.
It should be noted that “Intensity” adds harmonics even when it’s turned down all the way, and I find that many times that’s actually the most appropriate setting, all the way down at -24.
At this lowest setting it also adds a little eq boost at the frequency in addition to the harmonics, a boost that increases as you turn up the intensity.
You can also select a frequency higher up the spectrum of course, which can make the bass more audible on smaller speakers, another useful application of the plugin.
For me, where Rbass shines is as a “make it bigger” plugin – the way it increases size when set at the default 80 Hz to 85 Hz.
You can now get tones out of your bass you wouldn’t quite be able to with normal eq.
For instance, if you like the ‘burp’ and punch of a solo’ed bridge pickup on a jazz bass, with the tone rolled off a little, but you find that it doesn’t provide enough solid low end without the neck pickup, you can now solo the bridge pickup and use Rbass to give you those lows by adding in the needed low harmonics, effectively creating a new pickup choice for you.
Knorr (Klevgrand)
– TLDR Notes:
Good for making the bass more audible on smaller speakers, including laptop speakers. Can add focus to the mids.
– Review:
Knorr from Swedish developer Klevgrand is a secret weapon for the bass guitar. It generates overtones to a mono source in way that isn’t possible with regular filtering or distortion.
It is my favorite tool to make bass audible on smaller speakers.
It’s very easy to use as well, you can choose between three algorithm intensity settings “Soft”, “Medium” and “Hard”, and then you just drag the circle around to find your sound.
The way it adds harmonics is great for making a P bass able to be heard better on smaller speakers along the lines of a jazz bass in that respect, and it can make a jazz bass that has the 1960’s pickup spacing sound closer to a 1970’s jazz bass pickup spacing by increasing the perceived loudness of the more biting mids.
For sure a plugin that deserves to be more well known for people who care about electric bass guitar sounds.
No1 Chorus (Free) (TimP)
– TLDR Notes:
Adds stereo width and chorus to bass.
Note that the “Mix” control is 100 % wet at 0.
Increasing the “Mix” blends in the dry signal.
– Review:
This is a very generous offering from Tim Petherick who decided to give his modulation suite away for free for all owners of Nebula.
I like the “No 1” chorus for bass guitar when a bass calls for a bit of chorus. The tone reminds me of hardware rack digital choruses from the 80’s, it integrates really well with the source in a way that feels different from standard chorus VSTs.
It does require the full commercial version of Acustica Audio’s Nebula (N4 or N4.5).