Box of Rules has released Box of Bass, a free multi-channel bass processing rig for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
We recently featured the developer’s Picking Fingers plugin, which changes the character of a bass recording between picked and fingerstyle playing. Box of Bass is a much larger project, designed to turn a single DI signal into a layered studio bass rig.
Developer James Cartwright says the plugin took almost a year to build, drawing on 15 years of recording bass and roughly two years of sampling and analog desk profiling. The captures came from his own four-amplifier, 12-microphone rig, inspired by the multi-layered bass sounds of bands like Muse, Tool, and Rage Against the Machine.
Box of Bass splits the incoming signal across nine strips. Alongside the raw input, you get a dedicated sub layer, two clean cabinet channels, three driven microphone signals, and near and far room captures.
Each strip has level, mute, solo, polarity, and headroom controls, so you can combine a centered low-end foundation with clean body, fuzz, distortion, and room tone. The room channels can also be fed from whichever strips you choose.
The drive section provides Saturate, Drive, Release, and Sustain controls, with fuzz, distortion, and combined routing options. A master EQ and live spectrum display help shape the combined result, while Width spreads the output without compromising the mono fold-down.
Version 1.2 introduced two useful input controls. Tone behaves like the tone pot on a bass before it reaches the drive stage, while Feel moves the performance character between fingerstyle and pick attack using measured playing captures.
The new Phase window displays the active strips and their combined response. You can flip individual polarities manually or use Optimize to test the available combinations and find a stronger sum.
Simple mode hides much of the detailed routing while preserving the current sound. Guitar mode pitches the input down one octave, letting you turn an electric guitar recording into a bass part.
Multiple instances can also be linked, so you get one master window to control separate clean and driven channels in your DAW while you process their outputs independently.
The plugin is available in VST3 and standalone formats for macOS, Windows, and Linux, with AU and PACE-signed AAX included on macOS. The Windows installer is unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen may display a warning.
Download: Box of Rules Box of Bass (FREE)
Deal of the day 🔥: Get the VATRA mix finisher plugin by Flame Sound!More:
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Last Updated on August 27, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
