At absolute most, an EQ and a compressor pedal. But your amp has an EQ and you can work on technique, so really you don’t need any effects for reggae
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Effects for reggae
- Thread starter Gary1964
- Start date
It's not just effects for reggae, OP says it's an UB40 tribute... a few UB40 songs do use effects, so it makes sense to try to replicate the sounds.
FullumMusic
Commercial User
- Oct 13, 2022
- 2,008
- 5,683
- Disclosures
- Audio/Music software developer, contracted with a company you've heard of and deving my own stuff.
All the things everyone said about Reggae bass already. However, the OP said it's a UB40 tribute band.
UB40's bass tones were a little more of a "80s-pop-refined" version of a Reggae bass tone. A little tighter and less dubby-wubby on the lows. Earl Falconer, their bassist, played Fender Jazz and Steinberger basses.
UB40's bass tones were a little more of a "80s-pop-refined" version of a Reggae bass tone. A little tighter and less dubby-wubby on the lows. Earl Falconer, their bassist, played Fender Jazz and Steinberger basses.
FullumMusic
Commercial User
- Oct 13, 2022
- 2,008
- 5,683
- Disclosures
- Audio/Music software developer, contracted with a company you've heard of and deving my own stuff.
And i think there's a fair bit of bass synth doubling the bass guitar in a bunch of their tunes.
My mistake! Thanks for pointing that out. Apparently I need to read more closely
I have to triple down on this - reggae uses no effects on the bass in general, and if your tone/EQ is set correctly you won’t hear much from effects you use because the frequencies that make most effects speak will be absent from your bass signal.An envelope filter? An octaver? We're clearly listening to different reggae.
The one exception would be a static resonant LP filter, which is used on more modern and experimental dub. Bill Laswell famously uses an old Digitech envelope filter but sets the sensitivity so low that the filter remains firmly closed the whole time. I found with my higher output bass that the filter would still move.
So I use a xerograph dlx v2 because the envelope follower is footswithable - turn off the envelope follower and you are left with a resonant LPF.
But EQ and technique are the name of the game. And a much larger bass cabinet. You can’t do reggae on a 115 unless it is extremely performant, like I use a fEARful 15/6 (no tweeter) and that works well, but is really the bare minimum.
If I were you I would get a 2nd identical 115 cabinet and roll the tweeters almost all the way off on both of them.
I love this. It is true. If anyone asks you turn down you know it’s not a real reggae band.
Most of the reggae shows I've played have been in Caribbean community centers. There are times when I've wondered why I bothered to bring my own amp/cabinet because the bass is so incredibly loud in the mains.
I like a buttery, warm, smooth bass tone when I play reggae, and very rarely introduce anything to the signal. So here's what I do:
- Raise the strings to about medium or medium-high to avoid fret buzz (if you're usually an aggressive picker).
- Flatwound strings, or roll off plenty of treble if you're using rounds to get the 'squeeonk' of position changes out of the way.
- Neck pickup anywhere between 100% to 75%.
- Pick over the neck pickup.
- Normally if I can, I avoid open strings when possible.
- If I do choose any effects, I usually use a HPF and a tiny bit of compression.
- I also avoid my fretless basses in reggae, since it's a genre that leaves the bass a bit more exposed to 'open air,' if that makes sense. So I usually go fretted so that I get the right pitch every time.
Was gonna say, I have played a ton of reggae over the last few decades, toured, opened for big names, etc. I can't recall many (any?) bassists using any effects at all. For a UB40 trib band you just need a good solid tone, really nothing special going on there. Your gear is capable. If you feel you're getting "lost" in the mix, then it's all about a little more mids, and maybe a little grunt, so you could I suppose add a very subtle OD, to simulate amp grunt if you're going DI. Just like you would in any genre to add a little warmth. Listen to Family Man tracks, his tone isn't just a bunch of clean lows with everything else rolled off--it's just a really good Fender bass with flats sound, and the rest is his hands. Plenty of mids in there - it's full-range. It just comes out sounding really bassy because of the way he plays, the mix, etc. As other suggest, flats(let 'em get old), play up closer to the neck, try thumb plucking/palm muting for some songs. Such a a great genre for us bassists!An envelope filter? An octaver? We're clearly listening to different reggae.
Just re-reading the OP (original post). It seems as if the main concern here is that the bass is getting lost in the mix and that the OP is looking for suggestions about which effects might help with this problem (more so than asking about which effects to use to emulate specific recordings). OP: is your reggae band louder/more sonically dense than previous bands? Have you played your bass and rig with other bands without having any problems regarding getting lost in the mix?
Reggae doesn't really need effects. I can't think of any songs that use them, at least not in the reggae I've heard.
Also FWIW Scientist says to use only limiters on bass, no compression. YMMV on that one.
I always just plug straight in to the amp and have a nice time with my jazz and flats. A significant amount of all reggae was recorded with that same setup.
Also FWIW Scientist says to use only limiters on bass, no compression. YMMV on that one.
I always just plug straight in to the amp and have a nice time with my jazz and flats. A significant amount of all reggae was recorded with that same setup.
Yeah on a lot of his mixes, especially older ones, the bass is really "alive", it's not some dynamic-less pancake!
