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Pick ups and tone for ska/reggae

W

white772

Mar 26, 2012
26
0
#1
Ok, I'm sure this question has been asked a million times, but let's make it 1,000,001. :D I play ska(reel big fish,less than jake,sublime,goldfinger, MMB, etc.) and reggae (bob marley, slightly stoopid,peter tosh, bad brains, etc.). Well I just got a 1982 Ibanez Blazer Custom and I want a tone that's a happy medium for both. I have American Pbass pick ups added to it too. But how should the treble, mids and bass be set for that tone? Should the pick up be turned all the way up? And what's a good brand of strings for those styles?
 
#2
I would say it's all down to personal preference. I play a lot of ska punk/dub/reggae styles in my band, and I really like my sound to cut through the mix, lots of high end sparkle with lots of midrange punch, and a nice bit low end to top it all off.

I use an EBMM Stingray with Ernie Ball Cobalts, with an Ashdown ABM 500 head. I have the eq on the bass set flat, with all the dials on my amp set at about 2 'o' clock and the sliders slightly boosted. I also find that using a pick gives me that almost clanky sparkle. I would say the tone I like is similar to that of Roger Manganelli's.

Usually for the more dub/reggae tunes I just tend to completely cut the treble off on the bass eq and play fingerstyle, works for me.

I highly recommend trying the Ernie Ball Cobalt strings, they have a very pronounced midrange to them, which I feel suits ska punk perfectly. At the end of the day though I think it's more about sitting down with your amp and playing around with the eq, find the tone that you like.
 
#3
Yeah, that's exactly the kinda answer I was looking for. Thanks a lot. I would love to own a Stingray too! I only have the tone knob and volume on my bass, but I guess I'll just crank the tone all the way down to give it a more muted sound or leave it about midway so the highs still come through good? Then I'll play with the amp head tone a bit. I'll figure something out. I'll look for those strings too.
 

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