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Novation at Synth Week 26: The Story of the Bass Station
SYNTH WEEK 2026: Let's celebrate the Novation Bass Station, the humble, bass-focused mini synth… That turned out to be so much more.
The diminutive and distinctive synth was introduced by Novation in 1993, being their second ever hardware product, and 33 years later it's still raising the roof.
Designed exclusively for bass (though capable of so much more) it aimed to ape the deeply in-vogue sound of Roland's legendary TB-303 Bassline and also offer a return to analogue thickness in an era dominated by digital synths.
The Bass Station’s signature sound was achieved using flexible, digitally-controlled oscillators (DCO’s), classic waveforms and a warm analogue 12db / 24db filter, combined with a modern twist: real-time MIDI transmission.
This feature was quite a rarity at the time, allowing expressive live bass ‘tweaking’ – famously put to devastating effect for the 'acid sound' of Roland's TB-303 – to be recorded and edited in DAWs for the first time. Parameters could also be automated, making Bass Station perfect for studios and live performance.
From the mind of British synth designer Chris Huggett, the man who pioneered with EDP's Wasp synth back in 1978, the Bass Station was born from a desire to create a real analogue synthesiser with its own unique sound. Thus Bass Station brought authentic Wasp-infused analogue character to music producers around the world.
With the Bass Station, Huggett and Novation would pioneer the integration of MIDI automation and lay the foundations for a family of products that have helped to define modern electronic music.
And after becoming the go-to bass synth for thousands of musicians, things only got better.
2013: The Novation Bass Station II
Building on the original's rich heritage, Bass Station II delivers a dose of untamed analogue aggression that retains all of the features of the original, but refined and supplemented.
Plus in 2019, Novation released the Bass Station II Firmware v4.14 update, the headline feature of which came about through a direct collaboration with electronic music legend Richard James, aka Aphex Twin.
James approached Novation with the concept of being able to assign a discrete set of synthesis parameters to each note of Bass Station II, either variations on a ‘seed’ patch or disparate sounds designed to constitute a chimeric whole.
Clearly, refusal wasn’t an option, and so Novation's engineers set about the not-insignificant task of realising his vision.
The architectural result was AFX Mode, whereby any Bass Station II patch could be modified on a key-by-key basis to introduce subtle changes up and down the keyboard; divide the keyboard into multiple zones, each playing its own sound; or create entire drum kits in a single preset.
2020: Novation AFX Station
A truly inspiring system, AFX Mode opened Bass Station II up to a whole new world of sound design and performance possibilities and Novation made the results available to everyone. First they did so with the free v4.14 firmware update, and later with the limited-edition AFX Station, a Weirdcore-designed, Aphex Twin-approved aesthetic overhaul that sold out in short order.
Plus, to celebrate three decades of British electronic music institution Warp, Novation teamed up for an extremely limited-edition Warp Bass Station II.
Just five were ever made, with each one going to a different lucky listener during the label’s 100-hour takeover of NTS Radio.
2025: GForce Bass Station
And more than 30 years on, the original Bass Station’s legacy is still going strong. In 2025 Novation partnered with analogue-modelling experts GForce to virtualise the authentic sound of Bass Station in order to bring it to an even wider audience, adding for the first time polyphony, expansive modulation, and a host of other features that were impossible first (or second) time around.
Remarkably, the GForce Bass Station virtual instrument is available completely for free to registered owners of Novation's Launchkey MK4, FLkey and SL MKIII midi keyboards.
2025: Bass Station II Swifty Edition
All of which brings us to the latest chapter in Bass Station II’s story – Novation's recent collaboration with British graphic designer Ian “Swifty” Swift, who lent his talents to a limited-edition white-and-blue overhaul.
And the improvements aren't merely cosmetic. The Bass Station Swifty Edition also comes packed with new sounds from Legowelt, Pecq, and Maria Chiara Argirò.
Swifty’s design also pushes players to interact differently, with the graphic arrow on board pulling musicians from section to section in unfamiliar orders. The creative effect is as powerful as any new feature, and the resulting reinvention is a testament both to the decade-long evolution of Bass Station II and the power of design itself.
You can grab yours right here.
Few synths boast Bass Station’s staying power. It was the right synth at the right time. And we fully expect it to be around in another 30 years.
All hail the Bass Station!
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