Matthieu Brucher has announced the release of ATKBassPreamp, a freeware bass guitar preamplifier effect in VST/VST3 and AU plug-in formats for Windows and Mac OS.
There are plenty of excellent guitar amplifier plugins that you can download for free nowadays, but virtual bass preamps are still somewhat of a rarity in the freeware domain. Matthieu Brucher’s latest release attempts to remedy this lack of free-to-use bass guitar amp offerings by emulating the input stage of a classic Fender Bassman amplifier. The plugin also emulates the hardware amp’s tone stack.
Unlike most guitar-related plugins, ATKBassPreamp comes with a modern looking user interface which doesn’t attempt to look like a real-world guitar amp. The control parameters are exactly what you’d expect to see in a bass amplifier, though. There’s the input gain control followed by the tone control knobs (low, middle, and high), the master volume knob, and the dry/wet control. Everything else, including preset saving and management, needs to be done with the DAW’s plugin wrapper.
Not being a bass guitar player myself, I can’t really tell you if ATKBassPreamp does its job well. I did test it on a few synth patches, though, and it did process the sound in a manner I’d expect from a bass amplifier. If you’re looking for a freeware plugin to process your DI bass guitar recordings, I’d say that this one is totally worth checking out. On a related note, Matthieu Brucher has recently released another interesting freebie called ATKStereoUniversalDelay. It is a stereo delay effect suitable for building spacious echoed sounds.
The plugin can be downloaded directly from the product page linked below. It is a completely free download from the developer’s website. You don’t need to sign up in advance, nor to register your copy of the plugin.
ATKBassPreamp is available for free download via Matthieu Brucher’s website (2.86 MB download size, DLL file, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/VST3/AU plugin formats for Windows & Mac OS).
2 Comments
Eric
onFender Bassman is probably more popular as a guitar amp really. Marshall even copied the Bassman to create its first high-gain amps.
James Martinez
onI have an old Fender Bassman I use for bass, it’s what Sting used. It rumbles baby, well I think it’s an ampeg on the bottom, not sure, I’ve yet to even realkly open it up, that reminds me I haven’t played bass or drums today and it’s almost 10 oh no! no guitar tomorrow!