Garageband 'virtual' bass amps

DrewGK · #1 12-02-2010, 02:41 PM

hey guys,

im sure many of you have recorded into a mac and used garageband as the software.

In garageband, if your in a situation where say your...plugging in directly, they have "virtual bass amps"

They have generic names like 'American Deep' or 'American bright' of British deep'. Stuff like that.

I actually REALLY like the tone coming out of one of these virtual amps and was wondering...does anyone know what these amps are based off of?

Im trying to get the same tone out of my REAL amp now

RCCollins · #2 12-02-2010, 02:43 PM

American=Fender. British=Marshall. Generally speaking.

Spinal Tapper · #3 12-02-2010, 02:50 PM

Yeah< i found some REALLY sweet amp modeling in Gearbox that I run with Sonar 8 for recording at home. It's super easy to use and you can save new presets easily...

My favorite for bass in Gearbox is this one called "Citrus 30" which is basically Orange Rocker 30 (guitar amp, even has the same display as the Orange faceplate) but I combine it with an 8x10 cab through the software and it's friggin sweet for bass tone! Super heavy

PDGood · #4 12-02-2010, 03:15 PM

Just be aware that you can do things in a recording environment that are difficult to duplicate live.
You don't have to deal with all those reflections that are in a room/concert hall/bar/stadium

BassMasta1996 · #5 12-02-2010, 03:17 PM

hey how do you get to the virtual bass amps? ive been using the guitar amp and turning the bass all the way up

audiomitch · #6 12-02-2010, 04:17 PM

You might look in to Amplitube Ampeg SVX too. It's not free, but it sounds pretty good.

http://www.ikmultimedia.com/ampegsvx/features/

I also like the virtual bass amps in NI GuitarRig.

I used to use Logic, and it had surprisingly good sounding virtual amps built in. I'm guessing Garage Band has the same basic models.

Kwesi · #7 12-02-2010, 05:10 PM

Im glad somebody likes them because I can't stand 'em. They're all waaaay to extreme for me. They either muffle my sound into oblivion or make it too bright to be remotely usable. I prefer my bass going straight in without the help of Garageband's amp simulators.

theory028 · #8 12-02-2010, 05:37 PM

My dad bought me a copy of Ampeg SVX for my birthday last year and it sounds pretty good, in my opinion. I usually use it while practicing over songs because it sounds cool. I actually ran it through my SVT-VR and SVT810E last weekend and it was still pretty cool, albeit a bit unnecessary through that rig.

I can see how amp modeling can sometimes sound overdone, as Kwesi mentioned. It took a bit of tweaking in Ampeg SVX to get a realistic tone for what I was playing. All in all, it is an awesome tool to have for recording and practicing. I don't have the gear needed to mic my SVT for recording so it's neat to be able to record a track and change the bass tone through software whenever needed.

plangentmusic · #9 12-02-2010, 05:46 PM

Is that the latest version of GB? The one i have doesn't have bass amps.

Though I've found the presets to be preferable and I usually go direct with the bass, here's a track where I used an simulated amp to give the bass some crunch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlr2d3zRC-U