best bass for reggae

[Moe Monsarrat]

First off, I love that this is a ten year old thread that shows no signs of dying...and why should it, it's a great subject. I have been playing reggae since I was 16 years old and I have used a ton of different basses in the never ending search for the "perfect" reggae tone. I actually once owned Family Man's Trace Elliot GP11/AH250. The EQ was actually marked where he liked it. If you can't get a good reggae tone using the gear of the man himself, something ain't right. Anyway, my latest experiment involves the Spectorcore 5 which is nice and light, gets a nice deep, hollow, woody tone. I generally don't like 35" scale basses, especially since I can't use my favorite strings for reggae, which are either GHS or Rotosound Pressurewounds. They're not quite flats, but they're not quite rounds. The sound good fresh out of the package and sound great after they've been on for a year. So the Spectorecore may ultimately wind up taking a back seat to the basses I always seem to end up with when in doubt...the venerable Fender Jazz Bass. The Jazz 5 is always in my gear list for reggae gigs, but damn they're heavy! My back is shot, so in addition to tone, I like light, and that is not an easy find. If anyone knows of a light weight alternative to the Jazz Bass I'd love to hear it. I've owned a few Yamaha RBX A2 basses which are Jazz like, super light and sound awesome...for everything BUT reggae for some reason.

The five string jazz with the F hole is very light. You can buy the body at USA Custom Guitars in any number of woods. Mine is swamp ash and is pictured in my post on this thread.

 

[Mediocrity Man]

I've seen Ziggy Marley's bassist use a 5 string Spector. Sounded awesome.

 

[murphy]

Keeping the flames of this thread going...
I used my jazz bass on the last two reggae gigs....But used my Precision the gig before that and it sounded awesome.
Now I am torn which to use...Robbie Shakespeare is my hero......But Dennis Bovell sounded great on his Precision bass

 

[chris_b]

Aston Barrett used a standard Jazz for many years. I know a guy using Alembic and a player with one of those cricket bat Steinbergers, which were very popular at one time.

There isn't a "best bass" for Reggae. Play the lines right, get the EQ right, and any bass is good for Reggae.

 

[murphy]

The five string jazz with the F hole is very light. You can buy the body at USA Custom Guitars in any number of woods. Mine is swamp ash and is pictured in my post on this thread.

@Moe Monsarrat Would you mind reposting some videos of your bands....I was happy to see another bass player who plays in Blues bands and Reggae music

 

[bass12]

The last times I played reggae I used my Sadowsky Modern. Very tight and precise in the low end which means the notes remain clear and punchy. Definitely not as much of a 60s/70s vibe but perfect for a more contemporary, hi-fi sound.

 

[gustobassman]

Keeping the flames of this thread going...
I used my jazz bass on the last two reggae gigs....But used my Precision the gig before that and it sounded awesome.
Now I am torn which to use...Robbie Shakespeare is my hero......But Dennis Bovell sounded great on his Precision bass

The flames of this thread, lol.. keep the fiyah burning!

I used a J-bass for a long time for reggae, tone goals changed and I favored the sound of the PJ - much thicker in the mids and less of the overall "boom". And then......

along comes the dancefloor slayer..

Sadowsky Modern 5 with Sadowsky Blue label flats. It's all of what @bass12 said but I do get that early vibe with the flats. Thump and cut. I've had great compliments from soundpersons with it - easy to slot in the mix, the focused tone leaves more room for other instruments, etc.. these guys do A LOT of reggae (good and bad) so the words have a little bit more weight IMO.

 

[murphy]

The flames of this thread, lol.. keep the fiyah burning!

I used a J-bass for a long time for reggae, tone goals changed and I favored the sound of the PJ - much thicker in the mids and less of the overall "boom". And then......

along comes the dancefloor slayer..

Sadowsky Modern 5 with Sadowsky Blue label flats. It's all of what @bass12 said but I do get that early vibe with the flats. Thump and cut. I've had great compliments from soundpersons with it - easy to slot in the mix, the focused tone leaves more room for other instruments, etc.. these guys do A LOT of reggae (good and bad) so the words have a little bit more weight IMO.

It's funny you say that...as I am missing my Sadowsky preamp loaded Marcus Miller 5ver...That preamp provides instant authority over the mix....i am just really enjoying playing 4 strings after strictly 5vers for 25 years.
perhaps after this weeks gig I might pull out the Marcus

 

[alencarlc]

I really love stingray with almost no treble/mid and almost all the way bass, for me, it fits really good on reggae.
But for reggae, like the other styles, the tone depends much more on HOW you play, its means, how much pressure you put, wich finger part you use on the right hand. I really the dig palm mute thumb only style to play reggae.