It is sometimes frustrating to be a bass player, when you discover that the latest amp simulator only has one or two models available for our favorite instrument. Of course, many great bass tracks have been and are still recorded with just a DI and an EQ, but still, it’s great to have some presets to get started!
Here’s great news for us bass players: Blue Cat’s Axiom and Destructor are packed with tones for bass players, and here is how to find specific tones from of the long list of factory bass amps!
You will find below an overview of a few names and keywords used in Axiom and Destructor bass amp presets, and tips to help you find your way thru these presets to craft your own bass tone out of them.
Tones Inspired by…
Just like for guitar amps, do not expect a comprehensive list of specific models here, but some keywords that may remind you of legendary gear that inspired these tones (sometimes it is only part of the stack, such as the preamp or the cab – see the mixed tones in next paragraph). The graphical elements used in the presets may also be an indication of the type of amp(s) that initially inspired them. But sometimes the inspiration can drive you far away from the source too :-).
Disclaimer: all amp and brand names used in this article are trademarks of their respective owners. Blue Cat Audio is not associated nor affiliated with them. They appear only to help identify products whose tones inspired us during the creation of presets.
Ampeg
One of the brands that made bass guitar amps history! You will find references to Ampeg in the preamps and cabs sections.
Keywords: Apg, B15, SVT
Fender
Fender invented the electric bass guitar (it has been called “jazz bass” whatever the brand for quite a while!), and it’s another legendary brand of bass amplifiers with the incredible Bassman.
Keywords: BMan (Bassman), Rumble, Tweed
Markbass
In a different style, Markbass is another essential brand for bass players from Italy!
Keywords: Mrk
Ashdown
Here is another brand, from Great Britain this time: Ashdown has been building bass amplifiers since the 1990s and inspired a couple of models.
Keywords: Ash
Orange
Although more famous for guitar amplifiers, Orange also makes bass amps as well as cabinets for bass.
Keywords: Pumpkin
Hartke
Hartke was probably the most famous if not the only brand making speakers out of aluminum when I was a kid. So that’s naturally the brand that inspired all aluminum-based speaker presets in Destructor’s cabs section!
Keywords: Aluminum, Alu, AL
Other
There are quite a few other brand references, such as Gael for Gael Kruger, Yam for Yamaha, Pea for Peavey… You may also want to look at the other references for guitar amps here.
Mixed Tones
Because Destructor lets you mix multiple parts of an amp together or blend several models together with tone maps to build your own, many presets may refer to multiple types of amps and brands, creating unique tones that may not exist in the real world. And because we bass players are open to experimentation, there are also quite a few hybridizations with guitar amplifiers!
Here are a few examples: Angel Hybrid, Boomy Watts, Clean Aluminum Man, JC-Bass…
With the forementioned keywords, you should now be able to find out by yourself where these hybrids come from. You can also open the amp editor (the (e) icon at the top-right in Axiom, or the “EZ” icon in the Destructor’s toolbar) to get more details about the various parts:
Using These Keywords to Craft Your Own Tone
Thanks to these keywords, you can now have a better idea of presets while browsing them, either in the menu, the presets manager or the tone maps.
You can also use them to search for presets in the presets manager. You may sometimes fall on odd combinations as mentioned earlier, but it is a good way to understand the source(s) of inspiration of some presets and have an idea of how they may sound before opening them:
This of course applies to full amp presets, although for bass you will probably find more occurrences in the PREAMP and POST FILTER (cabinets) sections to build your own tone from individual parts of the processing chain.
Anyway, at the end of the day, what matters is the tone that you hear and feel, regardless of what may have initially inspired the presets. Just use these keywords as a hint for your navigation. Destructor indeed takes a rather different approach to modeling, proposing its own way to dial a bass tone.. Trying to mimic what you would do with a more traditional amp simulator is probably not the optimal way to get your tone easily.
Enjoy the journey!
