I'm new to Reason (and electric bass) and I feel I have a basic misunderstanding of the role of real instruments in Reason. I bought the new Electric Bass rack extension. I want to record using my bass. I connect the bass to my audio interface, create an audio track in Reason, and I can play/record the bass on the audio track. How then do I use the Electric Bass rack extension?

I understand that the rack extensions are designed to be played with a midi controller, but still...

I come from Logic Pro where this is very straightforward: select "Guitar or Bass" and a new track is created, all set up, with a variety of sounds to choose from. I can then use my guitar with no further fiddling.

What am I missing here?

I play bass as well, so my interest was piqued by that Electric Bass RE, but it is strictly MIDI driven and not for audio input; unless you have a fancy Roland pickup or the like, it will only work with a keyboard controller. (In all fairness, their description of the product was pretty vague.)

Reason includes a Softube Bass Amp in Effects, so you can drag that to your audio track for a *passable* amp sim (though I'm not a fan). I'd recommend downloading the trial for Cerberus Amp (Kuassa) in the Reason shop and see if that floats your boat.

If you want to explore the VST world, I found the CLA Bass from Waves to be pretty quick and effective for a solid bass tone. The GUI looks cheap, but the presets will get you playing quickly in any genre and I haven't noticed a significant CPU drain. (they have a demo version you can try, but definitely wait for a $29/$39 USD sale if you decide to buy.)

Okay, I can stop knocking my head against the wall now. I guess I learned the difference between instruments and effects in Reason today.

I didn't pay full price for Electric Bass RE, and it may prove useful in other ways, so it's not a total loss.

CLA Bass is on sale now at Sweetwater for $39 so I will definitely look into that.

Thank you very much, nwade90, for clearing that up for me, and for the VST recommendation.