P-Bass great for Reggae?

[pbass2]

Family Man and many others use a J, but if I recall correctly, he also solos the neck pickup, so it kind of functions in the same range.

Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" is an excellent example of something different. Pretty sure it's a Stingray and it still sounds really great for reggae, even if it's not a typical sound.

Also a nice hack is that One Control Bass Preamp. It can make any bass super thick for reggae without the boom of just EQ.

Great bass track on that song. Man the Brit bassists in the 80's...they really got it. Another couple examples of IMO great "reggae-ish" bass tracks on pop songs--"Watching the Detectives" by Elvis Costello (with the great Andy Bodnar on bass) and "The Tide is High" by Blondie with the also very great Nigel Harrison. Neither song is real reggae, nor is either bass tone (they just sound like good, serviceable Pbass sounds to me--I could be wrong), but the spirit of it is there. Bodnar does it with a lot of really cool variations and movement, while Harrison plays a deceptively simple calypso-inspired feel with very subtle variations--so good.

 

[Drredplate]

Don’t think
A p bass makes you look like poseur. A silly expensive bass that looks like a piece of high quality furniture is more likely to do that. (Not that I would give a tinkers toss anyway) any bass will do the job with tone rolled back. The cab is important a 2x15 will give you the bottom end grunt that you need for classic reggae. However you can play any bass you want with any cab you want if it pleases you to do so.There are no rules

 

[pbass2]

To me that's just about perfect reggae tone. Fat, slightly woolly, but just enough definition, blooms when required. You could float away on that tone.

"Slightly wooly" is what some folks don't get right. Even Family Man had some dirt in his tone--he's talked about that in interviews.

 

[JimmyM]

I recall a video of a session when Robbie Shakespear was playing a PRS bass.

In the early days, didn't he use a Steinberger L2?

Proof that the bass doesn't matter.

And a Hofner violin bass that Family Man gave him…until one day he cleaned it up, and he said it lost its sound.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

Yes! With a 0.1uF capacitor on the tone control.

 

[FenderBassist]

A quick glimpse of a P bass being used in this film with Soul Syndicate band and George Fully Fullwood.

 

[Swings]

Hi everyone I love reggae and was wondering is the P-Bass great for reggae I love many artists such as Dennis Brown, Bob Marley, Alton Ellis and many more i always see Jazz Basses get more praise for it but not P-Bass to me it shouldn't matter what Bass it is any music is good for any Basses so i was wondering would a P-Bass cover any Reggae music or not?

p? Thick muted “bomp”? Hells yeah!!!

 

[PennyroyalWe]

Just ask the Mayor

 

[GreyBeard]

Roll off the tone and push the deep switch on your amp and you're good to go.

 

[crobasster]

Leo made Pbass with reggae in mind !

 

[Chickenwheels]

I’d reiterate the “any bass is good, it’s the player that’s important” thing. Having said that, Steinberger is a reggae favourite.

 

[Earl Jam]

I’d rather be accused of being a poseur than be outed for being a gatekeeper.

Gear doesn’t matter.

I was being facetious. Sometimes that's hard to notice through text.

 

[bass12]

Have a look at some of the photos in this article and notice how many guys aren’t playing Jazz basses:

'Top 10 Reggae Bass Players of All Time' - I Never Knew TV

And the idea that you should use flats for playing reggae is “flat” out wrong. If you want to use flats that’s fine, but there are lots of reggae bassists who use rounds.

 

[Chickenwheels]

Have a look at some of the photos in this article and notice how many guys aren’t playing Jazz basses:

'Top 10 Reggae Bass Players of All Time' - I Never Knew TV

And the idea that you should use flats for playing reggae is “flat” out wrong. If you want to use flats that’s fine, but there are lots of reggae bassists who use rounds.

Reggae basses should ideally be headless, preferably Steinberger!

 

[Chickenwheels]

This is one sick player and tone. Dang.

 

[winston]

I'll say this in every "which bass for reggae" thread...the player is more important than the bass and the strings.
I did sound on the reggae/world music festival circuit in California for a few years and aside from the legends (Robbie Shakespeare (active Jazz), Fully Fullwood (Steinberger) and Bill Laswell (Fender Ps) sooo many touring bassists for mid-level to huge acts used an off the shelf active 5 or 6 string with roundwounds. Lots of midline Ibanez, Schecter, Yamaha kind of stuff a player could find in a major city on tour for not too much $$ and replace easily if needed. All of them instantly got fantastic, deep-as-the-ocean reggae tones plugging into a Countryman DI and backline (typically a mix of Ampeg 8x10s with Ampeg, Trace Elliot, Eden or other rentals). Just sayin'...

 

[Chickenwheels]

More S’berg yumminess…

 

[Syco_bass]

IMO a P bass will do anything you throw at it, as long as the player has the groove.

 

[DaveParker39]

I can't think of a better choice. I use my P-Bass with flats for Reggae stuff.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

Family Man and many others use a J, but if I recall correctly, he also solos the neck pickup, so it kind of functions in the same range.

Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" is an excellent example of something different. Pretty sure it's a Stingray and it still sounds really great for reggae, even if it's not a typical sound.

Also a nice hack is that One Control Bass Preamp. It can make any bass super thick for reggae without the boom of just EQ.

According to this No Treble article it was an HH Stingray. I recall seeing a music video, way back, that featured the Stingray. The bassist responsible is Mikey Craig.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I'll say this in every "which bass for reggae" thread...the player is more important than the bass and the strings.
I did sound on the reggae/world music festival circuit in California for a few years and aside from the legends (Robbie Shakespeare (active Jazz), Fully Fullwood (Steinberger) and Bill Laswell (Fender Ps) sooo many touring bassists for mid-level to huge acts used an off the shelf active 5 or 6 string with roundwounds. Lots of midline Ibanez, Schecter, Yamaha kind of stuff a player could find in a major city on tour for not too much $$ and replace easily if needed. All of them instantly got fantastic, deep-as-the-ocean reggae tones plugging into a Countryman DI and backline (typically a mix of Ampeg 8x10s with Ampeg, Trace Elliot, Eden or other rentals). Just sayin'...

And important factor is how to pluck and note choice. Some notes need a staccato repeat, some need to be legato, to have air, to bloom. And getting the right bloom on thr right notes is something that I admire and I am still chasing.

 

[Chickenwheels]

According to this No Treble article it was an HH Stingray. I recall seeing a music video, way back, that featured the Stingray. The bassist responsible is Mikey Craig.

MM Cutlass II. A Sabre with a graphite neck. Rare beast. The bass tone on that song is mega scooped, crazy. Awesome though. A classic.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Here's reggae on a G&L:

Earlier in that tour he was using a blue Precision. Maybe something happened to it or it was lacking and he picked up a G&L. I wish I still had my 1984 blue Precision, but back then I don't recall seeing him with a blue one.

 

[bass12]

Great bass track on that song. Man the Brit bassists in the 80's...they really got it.

Agreed. The bridge of that song was what got me interested in bass as a kid.