Positive Grid Bias FX 2 Review

Guitarists have long known the name Positive Grid and their Bias software as one of the leading tools for home recording. Having a plethora of amplifiers previously unattainable to most at your fingertips is incredibly helpful to dial in the perfect sound. With the latest release of BIAS FX 2, the folk at Positive Grid have released a package tailored to us bassists.

Dialing It In

If the layout of the presets look really familiar, it’s because it is. BIAS FX 2 has everything laid out, just like how you’d see it onstage. Grabbing an effect and throwing it either in front of the amp (or in its effects loop) is a simple click/drag away. Imagine if our actual rigs were that simple…!

I opened up a couple of the bass presets, and was able to very quickly adjust effect settings, mic placement, signal chain order, etc.. The visual aspect of BIAS FX 2 is what sets it apart from other comparable software, and it’s apparent they put a lot of time into the user interface aspect of it.

It’s not limited to just amps and effects, either. BIAS FX 2 has a ton of studio rack units modeled as well, to make sure you’re fully covered. If you only used the software for the studio units, you’d have an amazing resource for your home recording projects.

A Couple Concerns

If there’s a complaint I can offer, it’s squarely about the bass package; it’s narrow in scope. There’s only twelve bass presets (understandable, since its new territory), but the large majority of them are geared toward rock or metal players; musicians that usually rely on distortion or some type of overdrive. For someone like myself that records direct with only slight tweaking at the board (or anyone that doesn’t use a dirt pedal), it took me a little time to find something; anything out of the gate is gonna need to be tweaked.

The bass amp models are squared focused on the vintage voiced offerings, which is fine. But I was missing some of the newer, cleaner amp models that are indicative of the modern working bassist. I’d love to hear some amp models based off of the Aguilar AG700, Mesa Boogie Subway, Eich, Phil Jones D600, etc.. in (hopefully) future updates.

In Conclusion

The Bass Expansion Pack for the BIAS FX 2 software offers bassists an intro into what the folks over at Positive Grid are capable of. At $59 for the expansion, it’s a welcome addition to those already using BIAS FX 2 and looking for even more options.