What's the best bass guitar for metal? Hard rock?
We are talking about the VST, or Kontakt libraries.
It is desirable that there are good presets, fat, powerful, and .. so that it sounds lively, so that no one suspects that this is a Vst guitar
And it is desirable that there be articulations, the most important thing is slides

(Sorry, Google Translate, i hope you understand me )

 

Personally, Toontrack EZbass works best for me. I use the Clean DI preset from EBX Metal expansion, enable multi-out in the settings and then apply Neural DSP Darkglass Ultra to one of the outputs (I don't like distortion from the plug-in, just the DI sound). This way, you can mix clean DI (for clarity) with heavy distorted sound (for meat). This is usually how you get the best bass sound for metal. Toontrack EZbass has also a third output for sub-bass, which comes in handy sometimes.

Or, you can just use presets, if that's what you prefer. Attached is a very quick example I made for you (please note I put absolutely no effort into this, there's 0 post-processing, etc., just a few random presets and MIDI grooves from the plug-in, so you can check how it sounds "out of the box").

Obviously, you can achieve much better sound if you will put in some effort, but it's not that bad of a start. Some of the presets are quite usable in my opinion

Edit: There was some issue with linked media, so I updated the post and attached the file instead.

 

Last edited: Sep 4, 2021

Ample Sound - Ample Metal Ray5 (AMR) - you can try it out on the sister

 

Toontrack EZBass has always had good results for me

 

+1 to EZBass

 

Haven't used them myself, but I thought the Solemn Tones Loki and Kraken sound like pretty good metal basses. They're also on the sister site.

 

Hmm ... I have an ezbass, but how can I make everything play at a certain fret? otherwise the low notes are played with open chords, I don't need this, it turns out that the 5th string is not used ((

 

EZbass and Submission Audio Euro Bass II are the only two I've tried, and they both sound good. EZbass have more realistic articulation, but Euro Bass have a bit different sound, in a good way. It's sampled from a Spector Euro so if you like Alex Webster's tone (Cannibal Corpse), go for it.

Oh, I've also used IK Multimedia MODO Bass a lot but not for metal. It also has a good sound, but a bit more on the artificial side. It doesn't take up nearly any space on your drive though, so if you want something with a ton of different tones/bass models without sacrificing disk space, it's a good alternative. It has basses like the Dingwall Combustion, so you can definitely use it for metal.

 

https://www.schecterguitars.com/guitars/hellraiser

One of the best!

To be more precise I only need this one: https://www.schecterguitars.com/guitars/hellraiser/hellraiser-c-7-fr-s-2013-11-21-detail Nothing else, just a few different amps and a ton of pedals, of course.

Oh, sorry, I just noticed you were asking about the VST bass guitar for metal. My vote also goes to Ample Sound - Ample Metal Ray5.

 

Last edited: Sep 4, 2021

I don't think you can choose specific frets (maybe changing octave under "Edit Play Style" will help you achieve the sound you want?), but to be honest, I would just ignore the notes EZbass shows you. It can show you a total bullshit, like three notes played on the same string at once. It often chooses a very wrong fingering, but as long it sounds good, it's good, that's what matters.

 

ezbass is not real samples so is the same than pianoteq: FAKE

 

Forgot to say that I am using piano roll fl studio for editing the midi pattern. EZBass plays the E3 note on open strings, and I need to play the E3 note on the 5th string

 

I'm a big fan of MODO Bass. Best Bass plugin out there in my humble opinion but maybe there are others that are better suited for the type of music you want to make.
I can't imagine MODO Bass not being suited for all kinds of music though, as far as music that wants a bass guitar in it is concerned.

 

Ample Metal Ray5
(I use the DI Bass with "Aurora DSP Mammoth")

I don't like MODO Bass and EZbass.
The Eurobass 2 is also good, and Solemn Tones.

 

Last edited: Sep 4, 2021

Here is my personal test list :

IK MODO : GO TO
EZ Bass : Legend 810 pick, Metal Punch Clarity Pick
Avalanche Bass : modern punch
Shreddage 2 : metal/rock. Classic and full sounding

 

Oh, now I get it. I'm afraid you can't select a specific string. As far as I know, there are no keyswitches for that (yet). Maybe they will add them some day.

 

Try out Submission Audio, all three of their bass instruments are excellent.

 

IKM MODO is absolutely sufficient for Rock even if I use third party amp/cab with it. Haven't tried it for Metal, but you must not underestimate the importance of applied EQ, distortion, amp and cab.
It's main advantage is that it's widely adjustable in its basic sound (basic model, strings, pickups).
And you can of course deactivate open strings.

 

It is important for me for a hard bass guitar, it is fat, dense, and the clang of strings on the frets, the sound of the clacking of the strings, the sound of the strings beating against the frets. This is a bass guitar for me. Is there such a plugin?

 

The company Ample Sound has four basses on offer:

Ample Bass Jaco Fretless
Ample Bass Yinyang
Ample Bass J
Ample Bass P

 

Last edited: Sep 6, 2021