Icky Bass
Key Features
- Rare Fender Rhodes Piano Bass sampled through Jack White's Eventide Knife Drop fuzz pedal for unique vintage-meets-aggressive tones
- Knife dial that blends between clean Rhodes Bass signal and full fuzz saturation for precise distortion control
- Expression control for shaping bass timbre and dialing in the right amount of harmonic character
- Four built-in effects (Autowah, Chorus, Phaser, convolution Reverb) for sound design beyond raw bass tones
- Recorded through a Neve 1073 DI for high-quality signal capture with authentic analog warmth
- Runs inside the Vaults plugin platform with support for VST, VST3, AU, and AAX across macOS and Windows
Description
Icky Bass by The Crow Hill Company is a virtual instrument built from recordings of a rare Fender Rhodes Piano Bass run through Jack White's signature Eventide Knife Drop fuzz pedal. The result is a bass tone that ranges from warm, clean electric piano to aggressive, sub-heavy fuzz depending on how far you push the Knife dial.
The Rhodes Piano Bass was a portable keyboard designed by Harold Rhodes in the 1960s for live bass performance. Ray Manzarek of The Doors made it famous, and original units are now rare collectors' items.
Recorded direct through a Neve 1073 DI at Crow Hill HQ, the samples capture the full harmonic character of the instrument and pedal chain. The Knife dial blends between the pure Rhodes Bass signal and full Knife Drop fuzz saturation, while an Expression control shapes the bass timbre.
Four built-in effects expand the sound beyond straight bass duties. Autowah adds funky envelope filtering, Chorus widens the stereo image, Phaser introduces movement, and a convolution Reverb places the instrument in realistic acoustic spaces.
Icky Bass runs inside The Crow Hill Company's Vaults plugin, which supports VST, VST3, AU, and AAX formats on both macOS and Windows. The library is named after the White Stripes album Icky Thump and is available for a limited time as part of the Vaults series.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need the Vaults plugin to use Icky Bass?
Yes. Icky Bass is a library that runs inside The Crow Hill Company's Vaults plugin. You need to download and install Vaults first, then add the Icky Bass instrument through the Crow Hill app. Vaults itself is a free plugin available in VST, VST3, AU, and AAX formats.
What does the Knife dial do in Icky Bass?
The Knife dial controls the blend between the clean Fender Rhodes Piano Bass signal and the full Knife Drop fuzz effect. At zero, you get a pure electric piano bass tone. As you turn it up, the fuzz saturation increases, adding sub-octave textures and aggressive filtered harmonics inspired by Jack White's signature pedal.
Will Icky Bass always be available for download?
Not necessarily. The Crow Hill Company releases Vaults instruments for free for a limited promotional period, after which they move to an archive at $4 each. Previous Vaults instruments like Attic Grand and Celestatone have already moved to paid archive status, so downloading while it is still available is recommended.
Is Icky Bass CPU-intensive?
Some users have reported high CPU usage with the Vaults plugin, particularly in Ableton Live. If you experience CPU spikes, try freezing or bouncing the track after recording your parts. Using the VST3 version rather than VST2 may also help with stability.
