Box of Bass

Name: Box of Bass
Author: Box Of Rules

by Box Of Rules · Amp Sim · Layered bass rig simulator

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Box of Bass turns one bass DI into a layered studio rig with nine strips: true sub, two clean cabs, three driven mics and two room mixes.

It has a drive stage, a six-band master EQ and a down-octave Guitar Mode, and it is free or pay-what-you-want.

Best for: Bass. Genres: Rock & Indie, Metal, Pop.

Keywords: bass, electric guitar, free, clean, hardware emulation, pads, A/B compare, built-in analyzer, beta, dirty, impulse-response based, simple.

What it does

Box of Bass turns one bass DI into a full layered studio rig of sub, cabs, driven mics and rooms. The developer, the Brighton band Box Of Rules, voiced every layer from captures of the rig they record with and calls the result "Digitally Analogue".

Nine strips: a sub channel, two clean cabs (15-inch and 12-inch), three driven mic channels (57, 421 and tweeter) and two rooms (near and far), blended on faders like a studio session.
Captured, not modeled: each layer is built from measured Box Of Rules captures and impulse responses rather than a circuit model.
Drive stage: Saturate, Drive, Release and Sustain controls, set so the dirt responds to your playing dynamics.
Headroom pads: a -12 dB pad on each strip to stop layers clipping when stacked.
Master EQ: six bands with movable frequencies, plus a live spectrum analyser.
Workflow: a SIMPLE view with faders only, A/B switching between two settings, and Guitar Mode, which pitches the whole chain down an octave so a guitar can stand in for a bass.
Hardware too: also available as a paid native block for the Darkglass Anagram pedal, with the same captured cabs, mics and rooms.

The current version is 1.2.2. It is pay-what-you-want, with free use allowed and commercial use permitted at any price. It replaces the developer's free beta, Bass Better-er.

Source: Box Of Rules product page

When to use it

Box of Bass is a strong free pick for a modern, layered bass tone from a DI without building a chain yourself. Unlike AmpliTube 5 MAX or Guitar Rig 7 Pro, it does not offer a choice of modeled bass amps and pedals; it is one fixed studio rig whose parts you blend. Compared with Neural Amp Modeler, which plays captures you find and load yourself, it ships with its own captured cabs, mics and rooms and a mixer to combine them. Its parallel clean, driven and room strips suit rock and metal bass that needs both a solid low end and grind on top.

Best for: full, layered bass tones from a DI, especially for rock and metal, and guitarists who need a bass part without a bass.
Genres: rock, metal, punk and pop.
Look elsewhere if: you want a model of a specific bass amp or a large pedalboard; AmpliTube 5 MAX gives far more choice.

What producers say

Early coverage treats it as an unusually complete free bass processor.

Greg Kocis (blog) said that "for a free plugin" it offers an unusually complete approach to DI bass, with layers, cabs, mics, rooms, drive and EQ in one place.
Guitar Mode: the same review singled out the octave-down mode as useful for guitarists without a bass to hand.

Greg Kocis review

Where to buy

Box Of Rules: Free

Tutorials and reviews

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