Effects for reggae

[Bass4Brkfast]

IME you don't need much in the way of FX.
You want to lay a deep, even tone throughout.
Your amp's eq should let you cut treble well enough.
Depending on your technique you may want fo engage a compressor.
Which brings us to technique: play cleanly without fret noise or clang, pluck near the neck or even over the fretboard, focus on a smooth gentle touch on the right hand, let the amp do the heavy lifting, and most important: put a lot of feeling into it, feel the beat, play from the heart and not so much from the mind.

 

[el murdoque]

Get more cabinet.
Turn your amp really loud and play softly.
Don't dig in. Use compression as a peak limiter.

Do not just dime the bass and low mids and turn down everything else. Start flat with a little bass boost.
Turn down treble so you don't get unwanted noise but leave enough for definition. Flatwounds help, so does a low pass filter.

 

[Phaidrus]

Some insight into the mind of a reggae bass master.

 

[ScotJam Bassie]

If you are playing reggae, and not being heard, the answer is very simple. Turn it up! (And of course make sure you are EQd properly.) I have NEVER been asked to turn my bass down in Jamaica - only up. No effects, just good EQ and maybe some compression. Best rig onstage for me is an SVT with an 8x10 or the old SWR SM heads with a 4x10 and a 1x15. Just remember the bass can not be too loud.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hi, I have been playing bass for 40yrs and never used effects peddles, I now play in tribute band playing UB40 and have purchased a Boss ME50B effects peddle, I am looking for advice and suggestions on the best settings and effects to use, at the moment my bass gets lost in the mix even though my volume is nearly 3/4 my rig consists of a markbass little 3 with a markbass 151p traveller cab my bass is a customised bass with Delano P bass pickups and a fender high mass bridge and di’addario flatwounds

Synth

Octave

Compressor

Preamp/eq

Chorus

Wah/envelope filter (whichever fits you best. I prefer a wah pedal. But, a good majority of bass players just aren't good at rocking a wah consistently. EVs are a good substitute)

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hi, I have been playing bass for 40yrs and never used effects peddles, I now play in tribute band playing UB40 and have purchased a Boss ME50B effects peddle, I am looking for advice and suggestions on the best settings and effects to use, at the moment my bass gets lost in the mix even though my volume is nearly 3/4 my rig consists of a markbass little 3 with a markbass 151p traveller cab my bass is a customised bass with Delano P bass pickups and a fender high mass bridge and di’addario flatwounds

Play rounds.

Ditch the Delano for a quarter pounder. The Delano is great at sub lows, but not really anything else. I tried one. Didn't work out.

 

[scuzzy]

No effects needed. Big amp, big speakers, low-end-emphasized EQ settings, and to make it easier, get any of the 4 variations of ovation Magnum, solo the neck pickup, and roll off the tone to taste. Dub city.

 

[john_g]

To each his own for sure but, I just got back from a vacation in Jamaica and saw a few bands there. There we no effects on bass at all and it was all big fat bass. Ya mon.

 

[tom once dead]

Get another 15 inch cab. You need to be able to move some air to be heard when playing with a low end heavy dubby tone. Some light tube grit/drive will help with note definition too

 

[J-Mags]

Indeed. Flabba Holt plays the fattest basslines with Israel Vibration on a Steinberger with - I suspect - rounds. But he FEELS what he plays, he IS what he plays. And that makes all the difference in the world.



And here with pink strings, which most likely are not flats.

Yeah. Flats are cool, but GHS Boomers were my fave Reggae strings because they had that punchy lower midrange. They sounded really cool with the tone rolled off.

Not that La Bella's or something wouldn't be equally good.

I'm not so good at playing Reggae, but learning Flabba Holt parts (I can learn them in 20 seconds, but 20 minutes later, my timing and feel is is off and I have to learn them again), and also singing along with them in the car helped get me to the level of improved mediocrity I'm at today.

 

[SkylineFiver]

A broken hpf

 

[JC Nelson]

Tapewounds and an old Line 6 Bass Pod set to Sub Dub

 

[Levent]

Change standard 0.047uF tone capacitors with 0.1uF . Cheapest and most effective.

 

[ComeHomeShane]

I play in a ska/reggae cover band. For live, I've found that keeping it simple works best.

> Broughton Hi-Pass Filter to keep my rig from over heating. It also really helps the clarity of the bass sound without getting too woofy.
> MXR M81 to really boost the lows and cut the mids+highs.
> Play near the neck and keep simple.

that's just what I do and the tools that work for me

 

[mcnach]

Hi, I have been playing bass for 40yrs and never used effects peddles, I now play in tribute band playing UB40 and have purchased a Boss ME50B effects peddle, I am looking for advice and suggestions on the best settings and effects to use, at the moment my bass gets lost in the mix even though my volume is nearly 3/4 my rig consists of a markbass little 3 with a markbass 151p traveller cab my bass is a customised bass with Delano P bass pickups and a fender high mass bridge and di’addario flatwounds

I also play in a UB40 tribute

For the most part I've not used effects. There are a few songs that are clearly effected, but for most a cleanish sound is all you need. I tend to use a low pass filter (LPF) to tame the top end, and that's about it. Any tone shaping is a combination of amplifier and bass controls.
There's a few songs that we do that could use some synth-like sounds (combine a fuzz type with a phaser, or even an enveope filter) or the low octave in an OC-2 not for the low end but for the 'synth-like' sound it's got when blending away most of teh dry signal. But that's like the cherry on top. I'd personally concentrate on getting a good basic tone: fat low mids, and don't go crazy on the lows... you need them, but you need them controlled. Worry about what effects to use as you go along. Your ME50B should give you all the extra sparkle you may want, but it will not sound right until you get your basic sound sorted.

 

[Fernando Costa]

2 x SVT + 2 x 810 cab.

 

[Phaidrus]

May I add that the sound/tone/timbre of the bass guitar in reggae and/or dub can vary quite a lot. It could be otherworldly muddy and like coming from the bottom of a well or it could be rather defined with audible mids content. And everything in between. Yet it always gives the impression of gravitas and authority that befits the genre.

 

[SteveCS]

...
I am looking for advice and suggestions
...

 

[murphy]

Another cab is needed
a 410 cab for reggae.....2 is better
But another 15 to match your 15 if the bass is getting lost would be better than one 15

 

[SumOne]

May I add that the sound/tone/timbre of the bass guitar in reggae and/or dub can vary quite a lot. It could be otherworldly muddy and like coming from the bottom of a well or it could be rather defined with audible mids content. And everything in between. Yet it always gives the impression of gravitas and authority that befits the genre.

Indeed. Reggae bass isn't always massive subs and bass turned right up but it shoud always be driving the music and given sonic space to be noticed. The rest of the band should be well clear of messing with the Bass frequencies and not be too busy sounding, less is more.

If the bass is lost in the mix for a Reggae band then that's the whole bands problem, it is fundamental to the sound, they should be turning down if you can't turn up any louder.