Choosing a low bass oscillator

I would appreciate some advice on choosing a low bass module. Obviously there are lots of 0-20k oscillators out there. I am looking for a "full" sounding oscillator, not necessarily quantizing but appropriately added harmonics. I have plenty of delay/ reverb available but my bassline just sounds thin. Digital or analog? Is modulation the best route? I'd like to stay under $500.

New Systems Instruments Harmonic Shift Oscillator

Do you have a clock divider? I will sometimes put my VCO through a 4ms QCD and then mix the two. It does thicken the sound. A module I've debated getting is the Erica Black Double Bass. You still need a VCO to feed it, but it supposedly handles the frequency division, mixing, and filtering all in one module. I don't have any hands-on experience with it though, so I can't really say how well it works.

How would this fit your needs and budget?
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/takaab-vlh-vco-s-little-helper
I don't have one but it sounds like it fits your bill.

For vintage sounding analog goodness I recommend the bubblesound VCOb and/or the uLFO. Really love the bass from those.

Edit: That VCO's little helper module posted above would be cool and reminded me that AM and ring mod-type modulation can create bass-heavy side-bands well. For more grit go with a classic diode/transformer ring mod, for cleaner go with IC/discreet circuits (which are more accurately termed balanced modulators but sound very similar to the classic ring mod).

EDITED Aug 18th 2023, 15:07

Adding an Erica Synths Black Double Bass to any of your current oscillators is an inexpensive and effective way of getting pretty low...

Serge NCOM is a sneaky contender here, can add some super fat subharmonics.

Wow.
A lot of very interesting suggestions. Sorry for the delayed acknowledgements.

Lucas303 -- The right idea. Perhaps a bit expensive for what it does.
PragmaticusMax -- 4ms then mixer could be more trouble than its worth. I do have a decent divider I will try.
Wishbonebrewwery -- Takaab could work but I REALLY dont like 2hp modules. fingers are just too fat.
scuto -- Bubblesound little helper relies as I understand it on ring mod. I have a simple ring mod but I guess I am looking for a
"cleaner" signal.
troux -- Serge NCOM must be spectacular for what they are asking. To be honest, I am not sure I really understand what its doing.
Aerocatone -- You and Pragmaticus both mentioned Erica's Black Double Bass. I had not heard of it but it sounds right. I have a couple of their modules. They seem well made and a good price for what you get.
Thanks to all.

EDITED Aug 19th 2023, 19:28

@Scarfmeister it's definitely pricy, but it works like so: route your VCO's square wave out to a mixer and to the NCOM, then the NCOM into the mixer too and adjust relative volumes for taste. It creates fat subharmonics that can be either octaves or sort of like intervals in which case you get interesting chord like effects. Maths and in general function generators can do this too, but IMHO NCOM just does a pretty spectacular job of it.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/takaab-vlh-vco-s-little-helper
...Wishbonebrewwery -- Takaab could work but I REALLY dont like 2hp modules. fingers are just too fat...
-- Scarfmeister

as a workaround i have most of my 2hp modules combined with small blank panels on at least one side.
this particular module does not have any potentiometers so probably there is no need for additional space.

i never have heard of this module but reading the description made my curious - i am going to search for some sound examples...

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/takaab-vlh-vco-s-little-helper
...Wishbonebrewwery -- Takaab could work but I REALLY dont like 2hp modules. fingers are just too fat...
-- Scarfmeister

as a workaround i have most of my 2hp modules combined with small blank panels on at least one side.
this particular module does not have any potentiometers so probably there is no need for additional space.

i never have heard of this module but reading the description made my curious - i am going to search for some sound examples...
-- modular01

That's exactly what I do, or leave a 1hp air-gap between 2hp modules. Though the Takaab module is just something you can hide away and leave patched as chances are everything that comes out of it will be sub-mixed back into the original or another signal before hitting a VCA or Filter.

i got a analoglabswiss sub 101A
but havent really tried it out yet

I was reflecting on my NCOM answer and was thinking that this is where we're missing @Lugia nowadays. If he were here he'd be advising you to build your own low bass by mixing in multiple oscillators that are slighly detuned to get that super fat sound. He's got a post somewhere about this (or maybe a few) that I'll go try and dig up.

I was reflecting on my NCOM answer and was thinking that this is where we're missing @Lugia nowadays. If he were here he'd be advising you to build your own low bass by mixing in multiple oscillators that are slighly detuned to get that super fat sound. He's got a post somewhere about this (or maybe a few) that I'll go try and dig up.
-- troux

yes that's how to get a 'phat' bass - mix slightly detuned oscillators together before filtering them... but it won't give you a sub bass - the easy way to that is a clock divider...

That's where the NCOM comes in @JimHowell1970 😆

That's where the NCOM comes in @JimHowell1970 😆
-- troux

indeed, but a bit pricey for a basic clock divider for creating a sub - I have a dreadbox div - that works perfectly for -1 & -2 8ves & cost almost nothing... unfortunately discontinued...

unfortunately discontinued...

-- JimHowell1970

Life is very tough!!

I'll add a dark horse just to mix things up: the Joranalogue Orbit 3. It's best known as a chaos-based LFO, but it goes into audio rate with a flip of a switch and sounds great for bass.

unfortunately discontinued...

-- JimHowell1970

Life is very tough!!
-- troux

nah - I got one already - at least in the world of clock divider ownership - life is sweet!!! hahaha

A bit late to the conversation, but a fairly inexpensive module to add more low-end would be the tiptop audio fold (https://www.modulargrid.net/e/tiptop-audio-fold-processor). You do need an oscillator to feed it, which might be a downside for you. However you could use any oscillator I believe, especially sine wave are working just fine (I'm mostly using one from Qu-Bit's Tone filter in self-oscillating mode).
Besides a wavefolder, which sounds pretty awesome in low-end in my opinion, you get square wave outputs from the source frequency plus 1, 2 and 3 octave shifts down. You can mix these together however you like.
Also, modulating the "fold" and "inject" with CV has a big impact on subdivided output as well. It makes for a sort of pulse-width modulation effect. Divkid has of course an excellent video on it, highlighting the sub out and its modulation as well:

Recently I've been using Nano Ona for bass, I think it was somebody here turned me on to it when they mentioned they had used it for a bass sound I liked, it's got a couple of more complex waveforms that are great for mixing with the usual sine, triangle, saw, and square/pulse, plus there are two different sub-octave outputs that can be used for this purpose as well. The price is nice too.