Ric5
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- Jan 29, 2008
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lack of fatness
- Thread starter Phaidrus
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JeezyMcNuggles
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Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
So I just went and tried my old bass pod on the SUB DUB setting ... with a little experimenting I got the smooth McCartney tone from the come together track
I set the bass to 7-8 mids to 2 and treble about 5. I had to turn up the volume and compressor and the drive was 0 and no effects.
You can get the old bass pods for pretty cheap these days. The octave down on the pod is not very good.
I set the bass to 7-8 mids to 2 and treble about 5. I had to turn up the volume and compressor and the drive was 0 and no effects.
You can get the old bass pods for pretty cheap these days. The octave down on the pod is not very good.
there is a lot of technique involved in getting maximum fatness. How short are your fingernails? The shorter the better. Meat on the string = fatness. Experiment with how you pluck as well as where you pluck. Closer to the 12th fret is fatter. More finger meat on the string is fatter. You kinda want the string rolling off your finger, try different angles too to see what sounds and feels you get. I favor very light gauge and low tension strings for this. Just about that fattest you can get is to hook your four fingers under the G side of the fingerboard and pluck with the side of your thumb. There is a whole world of tones in your hand from plucking with your finger tips at the bridge to the aforementioned thumb technique, and everything in between.
I've learned not to go crazy over trying to replicate studio tones that have been compressed multiple times, eq'd, and processed in other ways.
You're not obsessing over every tiny detail of your tone? How did you get here?
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
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So I played this clip on my laptop with external speakers and no sub speaker and 90% of the bass is just gone. I played it on my other computer with a sub speaker and there was a ton of low end ...
so the frequencies below 200hz are coming into play here
Thanks, I appreciate it. I have to experiment with some gear. The use of HPF + compressor has been suggested.
I am indeed but this detail is what makes or brakes a bass tone fit for dub. This particular Pbass is setup just for that so it should do the job. It could also be the amp or the cab that are not exactly suitable. Or the strings. Or the room. Don't know. Besides that my gear sounds fantastic. I mean, for a Beach Boys type of sound, or even for Air (French Band) type vibe, this Pbass with these strings and amp+cab is excellent. But not for dub, so far. I'm no Flabba Holt myself either, obviously.
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Hmm... interesting. The E and A strings on this Pbass in question (.105 and .085 Dunlop flats) are sort of alright for the intended tone. It's the D that lacks substance although I've taken a .070 from the heavier set for extra juice. Not mentioning the .050 G as you just don't need a G string in reggae.
The EQ profile of the amp head is:
- LOW: center frequency: 68 Hz; level: ±16 dB
- LOW MID: center frequency: 400 Hz, level: ±16 dB
- HIGH MID: center frequency: 2200 Hz, level: ±16 dB
- HIGH: center frequency: 10 KHz, level: ±16 dB
I have an obsessively-crafted fat dub tone that I continue to refine, even after 20 years working at it. The number one thing is technique. I will listen when I hit a tonal sweet spot and then determine what I doing all across the entire instrument:
Plucking Hand
Finally, my last weapon of choice that pushes me above 100% is the One Control Crimson Bass Preamp pedal. Because I use a one-channel amplifier, I will to keep my settings flat. This gives me versatility across a 3+ hour set, but does mean that I lose my EQ preferences. The CRB affects everything equalization property I described above with a single stomp, so I can get my second channel immediately.
So yeah...that's how I get my bass fatness.
~Nick von Nick
Bonus
For regular fatness, I just eat really quickly and fail to notice that I'm completely satiated.
It works way too well!
Plucking Hand
- Where is my plucking hand in relation to the strings?
- Where am I anchoring my thumb? Do I shift that?
- How much pressure did I apply when plucking?
- Which part of my finger is hitting the string?
- Which finger leads? Am I strictly alternating?
- Which finger frets each note? Do I favor some fingers over another?
- How am I anchoring my hand behind the neck?
- How much pressure do I apply when fretting the notes? Am I directly on the fret or somewhere off to the side?
- How have I balanced my pickups and tone controls?
- Which strings do I prefer to play?
- How high is my string action? How does that affect my plucking?
- If I can play the same line in different places, which do I favor over the others? (e.g. playing a 10th fret D on the E-string will sound much fatter than the 5th fret on the A-string or the open string itself)
- Am I cognizant of note duration/accents/volume?
- How am I staying aware of the groove?
- Does everything lock with the feel? Am I comfortable enough with the feel to alter it at will? (e.g. varying metronomic precision with a more laidback style while still maintaining the groove)
Finally, my last weapon of choice that pushes me above 100% is the One Control Crimson Bass Preamp pedal. Because I use a one-channel amplifier, I will to keep my settings flat. This gives me versatility across a 3+ hour set, but does mean that I lose my EQ preferences. The CRB affects everything equalization property I described above with a single stomp, so I can get my second channel immediately.
So yeah...that's how I get my bass fatness.
~Nick von Nick
Bonus
For regular fatness, I just eat really quickly and fail to notice that I'm completely satiated.
It works way too well!
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Hmm... interesting. The E and A strings on this Pbass in question (.105 and .085 Dunlop flats) are sort of alright for the intended tone. It's the D that lacks substance although I've taken a .070 from the heavier set for extra juice. Not mentioning the .050 G as you just don't need a G string in reggae.
The EQ profile of the amp head is:
Should I just boost the lows?
- LOW: center frequency: 68 Hz; level: ±16 dB
- LOW MID: center frequency: 400 Hz, level: ±16 dB
- HIGH MID: center frequency: 2200 Hz, level: ±16 dB
- HIGH: center frequency: 10 KHz, level: ±16 dB
you will have to experiment on your own but high and hi mids won't get you there ... so probably cut those.
so boost the bass and experiment with low mids.
If you get a bass eq pedal then you can tweak more frequencies ... the trick is to get low end fullness and rumble without boominess
have you tried BEAD tuning? or DGCF tuning?
also a p-bass can have dead spots where certain notes do ring out nicely.
And remember the bass playing in the video had a full PA system with thousands of watts and 18" subwoofers that will cut off around 100hz.
If I played in a reggae band I would probably get a powered sub too run off of my bass amp and run it from a line out to handle the stuff below 100hz
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this is actually an important point. Try to develop this kind of tone in a DI setting, vs with amps. Most amps and cabs will start to roll off or flub out if you're pushing these dub style lows. Or add a cab capable of going pretty deep and throw a LOT of watts at it, basically your own sub. But then sound guys may hate you. Less so if they know theyre mixing a reggae band, of course XD
My Jazz, neck solo'd, tone half off, played over the neck joint is my go to bass for this, my SB2 has too many mids. A very close second is my Jack Casady, but that is almost TOO thick.
Another essential element is the boost has to be centered in the right place and have the right contour. Many think the key is to boost super low frequencies, but IMHO this is unlikely to create the desired effect. IMHO, most of our perception of fat lies between about 75hz and 125hz. So don't assume that you can simply crank up the bass control on any amp and get the desired sound. The frequency center and contour of the boost provided by many amps will not get the job done.
