OP , if you are running Splat it may be a great idea for you to create your own effects chain recipes from scratch and then save them ..
To do that in Splat all you need to do is to add effects to your track section of the effects bin , mix and match the tones to your personal taste ...
When you have something you like , then right click your effects bin and you will be able to save your effects combination as your own custom effects chain with a name of your choosing ....
BTW ...they will show up in SONAR's browser if you have saved them ...
I happen to think that some of the free effects suggestions a few of the posters have mentioned are very good ideas .
I have most of the ones that have been mentioned , yet I happen to know from personal experience VIA playing 8 string guitar and Bass that a one plug solution is just not gonna cut it when you are adding grit to the Bass's low end ...
If you like the one plug idea , and if you want to try something 3 rd party . The free plug mentioned here in this thread / post will give you a lot of usable mileage ...
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3522278 While using SPlat , you have at least 2 main ways to approach this low end grit enhancement for your Bass ....
#1 , you have the effects bins themselves (including all your 3rd party plugs and effects ...all saveable as a custom effects chain )
#2 , you have the Pro Channel ....( console emulations , tube driver , compressors ,EQ , soft tube + more )
To keep it simple , I will keep sends and buss's out of this equation for now
The amount of possibilities that you can come up with on your own using only what came in SPlat for your low end grit can be staggering .....
Having said that , you may want to try seeing how far you can get in the Pro Chanel .Then A B those sounds & results to what you come up with in your effects bin ....
Chances are you may end up having a combination of both the effects bin and the Pro Chanel happening to achieve the desired result of how you want your Bass to sound in your mix .
FWIW , I myself personally enjoy creating one of a kind effects chains using the effects bin on the audio track I'm looking to dial in for a specific song ...this way the Pro Chanel can be the icing on the cake ...
This approach can be rather time consuming and at times it can be hit or miss ...the hit or miss part is only because I like to experiment around and try new things out ...
I've had it happen where the custom effects chain I created worked out great for the song I was working on and then when I tried it out on a totally different song and mix ..it was like meh ...
I'm OK w that because the effects chain I created worked out great for the song I had created it for and that's all I cared about at the time ...
There is a phrase I heard a long time ago ...it went something like this ...
How do you get good judgment and wisdom ? by practicing a lot of bad judgment and learning from all the mistakes
As far a recipe go's for you Bass ...I won't try to answer that from my point of view for your unique situation ...
I would suggest that it may be a good idea to make believe that your not working with VST's at all and that you are working with hardware controlling the hardware from your PC ...
What would you use on your Bass if you were in a room filled with all those nice expensive toys ?
(all those nice toys that
you already have )
What type of signal chain would you set up ?
Then just take it from there .
all the best,
Kenny