Dub Bass Pedalboard

[bassist_lewis]

I'm probably only thinking about this because of lockdown and I'm bored, but I've been contemplating building a pedalboard just for a deep dub/reggae sound. One of my bands plays a mix of ska, latin, Afrobeat and on occasion we drop into a dub/reggae breakdown. So far I've been doing it all with the tone knob and my hands (playing up the fretboard or muting).

I have a Moog Low Pass Filter I've taken off my regular board (replaced with the space friendly Proton) and I figure if I get a decent compressor, power supply and switcher pedal (the Moog is not true bypass) I have myself a beefy dub tone.

Anyone know anything else/better that might contribute to this?

[itu]

I love this, as it has a filter and a comp. With fretless it is unbeatable: http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/phatbeam.shtml

[bassist_lewis]

1 hour ago, itu said:

I love this, as it has a filter and a comp. With fretless it is unbeatable: http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/phatbeam.shtml

interesting... sounds similar to something the Cali76 Compact Bass does. It has a high-pass filter so the compressor doesn't affect the low frequencies.

[0175westwood29]

You need a sub....like a meatbox not just the standard octave down

 

[lee650]

23 hours ago, 0175westwood29 said:

You need a sub....like a meatbox not just the standard octave down

 

Ooof! That will shake some walls. If you want to do less damage,but still sound fat! The Cog T16/65/70 or Aguilar Octamizer have a filter on the octave down,which when dialled fully makes it really fat and deep, turn the clean off. The Aguilar even has a tilting EQ ON the clean which can get very thumpy.

Or the usual OC2 without the clean is nice and fat,the 3 leaf Octavbre does this too with a sub only and more volume.

Edited July 5, 2020 by lee650

[0175westwood29]

20 hours ago, lee650 said:

Ooof! That will shake some walls. If you want to do less damage,but still sound fat! The Cog T16/65/70 or Aguilar Octamizer have a filter on the octave down,which when dialled fully makes it really fat and deep, turn the clean off. The Aguilar even has a tilting EQ ON the clean which can get very grumpy.

Or the usual OC2 without the clean is nice and fat,the 3 leaf Octavbre does this too with a sub only and more volume.

The T70 is actually a great shout as will give you three different octave sounds perfect for this kinda music!

[GisserD]

the MXR BEF can do a really dubby sound. Turn the sens down, and tge filter frequency to find the sweet spot. Q to taste. Fully wet It sound amazing. Ill see if I can do a sound clip later

[Cuzzie]

If you can hunt down a Mantic Beef Bag they are bloody awesome and getting very low and filling the sound, it almost gives an octave below effect unwittingly - and defo is a building shaker

[bassist_lewis]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

If you can hunt down a Mantic Beef Bag they are bloody awesome and getting very low and filling the sound, it almost gives an octave below effect unwittingly - and defo is a building shaker

ooooooo I'm excited by the idea of a pedal I've never heard of 😂

[GisserD]

Isn't the beef bag a meatbox clone?

[Cuzzie]

12 minutes ago, GisserD said:

Isn't the beef bag a meatbox clone?

Indeed it is a clone of the DOD Meatbox - but it also has a cool name. Looks cool and has an orange light-it’s well good

[GisserD]

I think its important to understand what we are aiming for here.... 

Dub originally was created by a mixing engineer and a desk to bring in and remove elements of a roots reggae reccord. His effects toolkit would have been limited to eq, delay reverb and maybe tape saturation. 

Desk EQs of that era would have had low shef filters. So you could argue that for an authentic dub sound that's all you need. 

Modern dub music of corse has completely different bass, using synths and sub bass to move huge volumes of air through subwoofers. You need the right speakers to make it effective. 

OP, Which is it you are going for?

[0175westwood29]

4 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

Indeed it is a clone of the DOD Meatbox - but it also has a cool name. Looks cool and has an orange light-it’s well good

Probs better looking for a density hulk these days in guessing it’s there newer updated version had one a few years back and it’s cleaner than the mb 

[bassist_lewis]

4 hours ago, GisserD said:

I think its important to understand what we are aiming for here.... 

Dub originally was created by a mixing engineer and a desk to bring in and remove elements of a roots reggae reccord. His effects toolkit would have been limited to eq, delay reverb and maybe tape saturation. 

Desk EQs of that era would have had low shef filters. So you could argue that for an authentic dub sound that's all you need. 

Modern dub music of corse has completely different bass, using synths and sub bass to move huge volumes of air through subwoofers. You need the right speakers to make it effective. 

OP, Which is it you are going for?

I'm probably after the roots Reggae sound as that's closer to what this band does. I've played around with my Moog low pass filter and I can get a good dubby tone with that, adding compressor would probably be enough... and another £300 to pay for the thing 😂

[GisserD]

Aston Barrett used to try and get his jazz bass to sound as much like an upright bass as possible. Flats, Rolled off the tone played with the big thumb technique and near the neck. That will get you most of the way there. His eden rig and its excellent EQ probably went the rest of the way. Those tone monsters can really move some air! I regret selling my wt800. Never selling my Eden 410 tho, even if it does weigh more than my car. 

Edited July 25, 2020 by GisserD