i am interested in purchasing my first bass guitar. i am a keyboard player and now i wanna try some reggae bass. any suggestions on what i should look for or does it not matter? i have been looking at rondomusic.com lately.
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best bass for reggae
- Thread starter beaumcrunner
- Start date
basses are very versatile instruments...you can play a big band gig one night and a rock gig the next, with the same bass IMHO...
jive1
Commercial User
For Reggae, you can't go wrong with a P-Bass strung with flats.
what is a p-bass? what are flats? i know nothing about this instrument that is why i am asking for some help, thanks!
jive1
Commercial User
beaumcrunner said:
A P bass is a Fender Precision bass, or bass with a similar design.
Flats are flatwound strings. They are different from the typical roundwounds that most basses have. They have a smoother feel, and have a warmer,darker sound.
Spiffy. They're (Rondo) considerd the best bang for your buck as far as first/entry level basses go.
One that is cheap so you have plenty of money left for buying pot. 
jvbjr said:One that is cheap so you have plenty of money left for buying pot.
not arguing with that!!!!
I would put the requirements for a Reggae bass among the easiest to fulfill. If this is the only style you care about, then just about any instrument will work. If pressed, the closest thing I can think of to a wrong over-the-counter factory bass for it would be a Rickenbacker.
If you intend to actually perform, you will have to pay more attention to your amplification. The traditional Reggae tone favors the lower frequency range of the bass. You'll want a lot of power to produce those frequencies well.
People have recommended flatwound strings, but I don't use those. Mostly, it's because I need to be more versatile. I would stick with nickel wound strings as opposed to steel, though, and the hex core as opposed to the round core. With this setup, you should be able to use EQ to get a good Reggae tone while still being able to cover other styles.
Good luck!
-Bob
If you intend to actually perform, you will have to pay more attention to your amplification. The traditional Reggae tone favors the lower frequency range of the bass. You'll want a lot of power to produce those frequencies well.
People have recommended flatwound strings, but I don't use those. Mostly, it's because I need to be more versatile. I would stick with nickel wound strings as opposed to steel, though, and the hex core as opposed to the round core. With this setup, you should be able to use EQ to get a good Reggae tone while still being able to cover other styles.
Good luck!
-Bob
For reggae, I personally like the sound of a Fender Jazz bass, with the bridge pickup virtually off, and the neck pickup all the way on. That setup gives you the classic "Aston Barrett" sound on the Bob Marley albums -- very little bite, lots of full bottom end. I used to be in a reggae band in college, and got a great sound out of my Ric by turning up the volume on the neck pickup. 
You can get a jazz bass cheap, and they're good for a wide range of styles due to the two-pickup design, but there's nothing wrong with a P-bass, either!
You can get a jazz bass cheap, and they're good for a wide range of styles due to the two-pickup design, but there's nothing wrong with a P-bass, either!
thanks for the advice. aton barret was certainly the man. does the bass i picked out have theses pickups that were mentioned?
sorry i meant aston barret
beaumcrunner said:
The bass you linked to is a cross between a Precision bass and a Jazz bass. It has a jazz bass pickup towards the bridge (bottom), which provides a more punchy high end (try strumming any instrument towards the bridge, then towards the neck, and you'll see the difference). That pickup won't help you get a classic Reggae bottom end sound, though it will cut through well in a Rock mix. The P-bass split-coil pickup towards the bridge will get you more low end. I believe Aston Barrett played a Precision bass when he played with Bob Marley. So you could use this bass for reggae, just pan to the P-bass pickup, and cut the treble.
You'll be able to get a decent reggae tone out of many basses, just cut the treble and fatten out the bottom end. True jazz-style basses can make it a little easier, since one of the pickups is close to the neck, where the really fat tones are to be found, but any Fender-type bass should work fine.
And yes, flatwound strings are definitely the way to go for Reggae. Roundwounds will have too much zing and punch.
