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Reggae Bass?


Ricky 4000

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5 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Maybe... :crazy:

For the 'tragically white' among us (you!), check Devon Bradshaw out here:

https://youtu.be/zmyplWLwIKA

(and what bass is he playing there?)

Also what is Robbie playing here with the neck pickup so far forward? Surely a special 'reggae bass'??

https://youtu.be/lKDlhewmwDg

Finally, anybody know who were the rhythm section with General Saint & Clint Eastwood?



I love that ^^^ Lyrics still just relevant as they were in 1980! ;)

The album credit is split between to Sly n Robbie and the Roots Radics.... my guess is its Flabba Holt on his famous jazz that he never changed the strings on ...rounds

Edited by timhiggins
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20 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

Is the J bass good for reggae? Well not for me it isn't. Playing with my thumb, around the sweet spot where it's not too deep but not too boney - the backs of my fingers / knuckles keep messing with the volume controls.

The problem is obviously you, not the bass. Either play with your fingers or take the knobs off. 😁

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There is no doubt that fender jazz basses are great for reggae if that is the sound  you want. if the Jazz bass doesn't do it for you then you will just have to try a number of other brands/models till you find the one that gets you the sound you want. I play reggae in my main band and have never owned a fender bass even though my primary influence "Aston Barrett" is well known for doing so. He also uses non fender basses as well including yamaha's and an Alembic 5 string Elan.  I love the bass to be deep but I want to hear the notes not just the wolly heft.

Happy hunting. 🙂

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There's no special reggae bass however there's reggae feel - and the bass sound needs to have enough definition to hear the pitch of the notes - not boomy blubber - otherwise you might as well have a second bass drum booming playing the bass guitar beats. 

In the 70s, the guy in Steel Pulse used a very smart natural Stingray.

Family Man used an Acoustic 370/301 stack in the 70s.

I use Stingrays through a Markbass LM3 and combinations of MB 2 X 10 speakers. Plenty dubby enough played over the neck joint. 

The HH Stingray 5 Special with neck pick up only engaged is very dubby but still defined enough. The Stingray has ample bass booty both from the construction and from the EQ - even more so the Special with it's 18 v preamp. 

IMHO feel, bass response and note definition are the key ingredients. 

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6 hours ago, Teebs said:

This

:laugh1:

Hah...

There's some good replies on this thread, and some great links to follow... Thanks bredren. 😎

I'm looking up Flabba Holt, Lloyd Parks, Atkinson, etc... lots of stuff connected with Channel One - Steelie, Clevie...

The entertainment section of the 'Jamaica Observer' is also rather good... 👍

 

This Vintage brand J bass of mine definately doesn't work for reggae though (YMMV). It's way too much of a toppy clangy fret noisy thing, with baggy rounds on... it's much more of a slappy funk machine (except when played with the thumb, but I've explained that, regarding the stupid knobs position vs my completely normal fingers).

This is probably why "Pros use a P bass"! 😄

 

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7 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

Have you tried plucking at the end of the neck? It really softens the attack.

https://youtu.be/PRE02c2Rcwo

 

I see what you mean - that fella has a nice sound going on there.

I'll give it a go now I've clipped my plucking finger nails (I needed a clicky sound while I was finishing some overdubs on an antelope porn music project - all done now).

1 minute ago, zranyard said:

I'd say persevere a bit more if you can, jazz basses are extremely versatile and while it might not be your ideal reggae tone, if it's all in fair condition and working order I'd have thought there's a decent tone lurking within it :)

I will, Bless ya. 😎

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I would say the jazz bass is the most popular bass in reggae with more classic stuff recorded on a jazz than anything else 

your vintage will be fine  ..are your strings new as thats the only thing you don't really want for reggae also a lot of the overtones you hear will disappear in the mix so try playing along with tracks ,

for your amp settings try cutting the mids and high's a bit ,and a slight boost on the bass keep your instrument tone knob on about 20 percent.

This fella is great and can get good results from plenty of different bass's but his jazz tone is my fave..

 

 

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29 minutes ago, timhiggins said:

I would say the jazz bass is the most popular bass in reggae with more classic stuff recorded on a jazz than anything else 

your vintage will be fine  ..are your strings new as thats the only thing you don't really want for reggae also a lot of the overtones you hear will disappear in the mix so try playing along with tracks ,

for your amp settings try cutting the mids and high's a bit ,and a slight boost on the bass keep your instrument tone knob on about 20 percent.

This fella is great and can get good results from plenty of different bass's but his jazz tone is my fave..

 

 

Totally agree Tim   Alain m is a great reggae bassist, he’s played with many top bands in Jamaica, that’s his 74 jazz that I just missed out on buying a few years back. 

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7 hours ago, blisters on my fingers said:

Tell us a bit more ! 

The loom is a VVT&S/P fitted with an old school Sprague 0.1 cap. It gives you more velvet tones from both neck and bridge pups in parallel but you loose a bit of grit from the bridge pup. You pull the tone pot to switch it to series. The sound becomes huge without any mud and you can get some P Bass type sounds going. I’m really pleased with switching my old loom out for this one.

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18 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Totally agree Tim   Alain m is a great reggae bassist, he’s played with many top bands in Jamaica, that’s his 74 jazz that I just missed out on buying a few years back. 

Damn !!    I dont normally buy into the vintage bass thing but that one does seem to have some magic

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Quote

I would say the jazz bass is the most popular bass in reggae with more classic stuff recorded on a jazz than anything else 

your vintage will be fine  ..are your strings new as thats the only thing you don't really want for reggae also a lot of the overtones you hear will disappear in the mix so try playing along with tracks ,

for your amp settings try cutting the mids and high's a bit ,and a slight boost on the bass keep your instrument tone knob on about 20 percent.

This fella is great and can get good results from plenty of different bass's but his jazz tone is my fave..

 

Nice, thanks Tim. I've learned that ^^^, and to be fair its sounding pretty good to my ears, using my R-4000 with flats. What a sweet little bassline that is. 😎

Found this one too, really nice tune, and fun to play along sympathetically on the electric bass. 👍

I'll get the J bass back out and persevere with it a bit more...

Edited by Ricky 4000
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