P-Bass great for Reggae?

[Standalone]

One memorable moment along my path of understanding bass tone and bass design was when I came to understand how Jazz basses can often have deep, dubby tones that aren't as prominent in the Precision's midrange bloom and throaty growl -- Precision is my preference of the two, but Jazz basses rule Reggae, even Jazz-style basses like the MC924 as seen in the Musical Youth "Pass the Dutchie" video -- I do understand why the Jazz bass is all over Reggae music.

 

[Blazer]

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.

It's a Music Man for sure but not a Stingray, when Mikey slaps you hear that typical honk of a two pickup bass, also footage of the band and the music video show him using a sabre.

Although, he apparently also used a Cutlass 2 (A sabre with a graphite neck.)

 

[Blazer]

One of my fave bands of the 80's. I'd call that ska, but still, same family. Cool to see Steele w that L2000 there. Also a good reminder you can play this kind of music with a pick(god forbid!) if that's your thing.

Sure you can, let me push forward the guy who inspired me the most when it comes to playing bass.

The late great Henny Vrienten using an Aria Cardinal through a Kustom Tuck and roll stack and playing with a pick. But listen to that tone he got.

 

[bass12]

One memorable moment along my path of understanding bass tone and bass design was when I came to understand how Jazz basses can often have deep, dubby tones that aren't as prominent in the Precision's midrange bloom and throaty growl -- Precision is my preference of the two, but Jazz basses rule Reggae, even Jazz-style basses like the MC924 as seen in the Musical Youth "Pass the Dutchie" video -- I do understand why the Jazz bass is all over Reggae music.

The current bassist with Musical Youth is a TBer and from what I understands he plays Alembics.

 

[alex1fly]

They sound awesome. Man, I miss my days playing live reggae - some of the most fun you can have as a bassist - and you're driving the bus! When the crowd is going off, dancing...nothing like it.

Preach! So fun. Bassists are IN CHARGE in reggae/dub

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

Gear doesn’t matter.

Preach! 99% of people don't care about your gear, they care about your playing and your sound. Of that 1%, only a few people are gonna be judgy about it instead of supportive and I think you can just ignore those people lol

Leo made Pbass with reggae in mind !

Another thing Leo got right!

 

[bass12]

Dennis Bovell is playing a P in this video:

 

[Kubicki Fan]

The great Glen Browne (pronounced Brownie) has a channel on YT (Glen Reggae Basslines) that is a wealth of information for those interested in Reggae. He talks about his bass lines: He breaks them down, tells how he comes up with lines based on the what the song wants to say. Glen discusses gear: amp, his instruments and strings he uses.

So, it seems he favours Jazz basses with rounds (he has a 5-string Guild pilot - his favourite - and a white Fender 4-string) but he is not dogmatic about the use of the J. He mentions in one of the videos, the Telecaster bass and how it sounds different; I think he owns one of those, too.

We should all do our own thing. That is how new stuff comes about. Deferring to 'authority' and dogma produces a bland uninteresting world. I would be willing to use any of my basses for reggae, if the instrument fits the song.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

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.

Too late to make the correction but thanks @Chickenwheels and @Blazer!

 

[shojii]

Check out reggae legend Don Chandler's primer on reggae tone....

 

[shojii]

Check out reggae legend Don Chandler's primer on reggae tone....

....tone is interaction between the amp, the bass, hand position and attack. The bass is only part of the equation

 

[Kubicki Fan]

And here we have a Steinberger (wonderful tone):

 

[D.A.R.K.]

The great Glen Browne (pronounced Brownie) has a channel on YT (Glen Reggae Basslines) that is a wealth of information for those interested in Reggae. He talks about his bass lines: He breaks them down, tells how he comes up with lines based on the what the song wants to say. Glen discusses gear: amp, his instruments and strings he uses.

So, it seems he favours Jazz basses with rounds (he has a 5-string Guild pilot - his favourite - and a white Fender 4-string) but he is not dogmatic about the use of the J. He mentions in one of the videos, the Telecaster bass and how it sounds different; I think he owns one of those, too.

We should all do our own thing. That is how new stuff comes about. Deferring to 'authority' and dogma produces a bland uninteresting world. I would be willing to use any of my basses for reggae, if the instrument fits the song.

Your forum name made me think about the time I saw Third World at Kilimanjaro in DC around '90 and the bassist was playing a pink Kubicki- and the sound just slayed.

 

[Mrtoodamnsabre]

Gotta have something closer to the neck than the ps pickup, jazz with the bridge dialed back, Gibson thunderbird, musicman Sabre, I love the sound of bass in reggae but am not a reggae player by any means. Low sustain and I think 810s or 410s really does it. The p will do it but not as good, second trick is pickups as close to the strings without causing it to warble

 

[Mrtoodamnsabre]

A lot of that sound magic though isn’t the type of bass as much as the amplifier, there’s some basses that will give you that sound out of the box, anything with a close to the neck humbucker or pickup will generally sound like that but the majority of that sound is from the cabinets and amplifiers used. Reggae developed out of ska as a result of sound engineers and Jamaican sound system builders finding ways to push the bass sound further. Not many people realize this but those studios were much more likely to have an amplifier made by hedley jones than they were to have a b-15. The tone on those records sounds nothing like their American and European counterpoints! I got a Sabre actually so I could get that tone, my band doesn’t really use heavy distortion and the keyboard player is playing a monophonic synthesizer, so getting lost in the mix isn’t an issue

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Gotta have something closer to the neck than the ps pickup, jazz with the bridge dialed back

J neck, 0 bridge is what I use with a J 90% or more of the time. PJ, well, P 90% of the time. I buy two pickup basses just in case I need a bridge sound and for the finger rest near the bridge which that pickup becomes.

 

[alex1fly]

And here we have a Steinberger (wonderful tone):

Nice of them to feature the bassist so prominently! I think he got almost two full seconds of screen time!

 

[crobasster]

And here we have a Steinberger (wonderful tone):

After PBass, the next best thing for reggae !

 

[micguy]

P is fine but the Jazz neck pickup has deeper low end extension.

The Phydics doesn’t agree that pickups have more or less low frequency extension - magnetic pickups don’t roll off in the bass. A J will have more fundamental on the G and D strings, but that is due to pickup position.

 

[Rabidhamster]

The Phydics doesn’t agree that pickups have more or less low frequency extension - magnetic pickups don’t roll off in the bass. A J will have more fundamental on the G and D strings, but that is due to pickup position.

The J has measurably more low end extension, mostly due to the differences between single coil and humbucker, and the different bobbin size.

 

[micguy]

27569259[/URL], member: 256468"]The J has measurably more low end extension, mostly due to the differences between single coil and humbucker, and the different bobbin size.

Believe what you want. There are a lot of myths about this stuff, very few of which have any merit. I have a degree in this stuff, and I have actually done the measurements.

There are a few details that coil geometry contributes to (though the winding pattern does more). Those affect things at high frequency, and output level to some extent (the magnetic circuit contributes more to output level than coil geometry). None of those do a thing to low frequency extension.

 

[P. Aaron]

Thanks for posting this thread. Reminds me to revisit some Toots & The Maytals: