I used my Sadowsky preamp-equipped Lull for a show with Leroy Gibbons a few months back and it worked great.
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Precision Basses and Reggae Music...Good, Bad, Why?
- Thread starter Mike Sorr
- Start date
any bass and strings will work for reggae honestly. Having seen most major acts and backing bands live, i've seen all different kinds of setups.
Warwicks, 6 string ibanezs (kind of common), Jazz basses, P basses, Laklands, Music mans, STeinbergers, Roundwounds, tape wounds, flat wounds (not as common as people think/lead you on to believe).
Reggae is what I play and my stable consists of: P bass with flats, Jazz with flats, Jazz with rounds, 5 string lakland with old old nicklewounds and I used to have a fretless P bass but I sold it. For awhile I also really enjoyed playing a epiphone violin style bass.
Warwicks, 6 string ibanezs (kind of common), Jazz basses, P basses, Laklands, Music mans, STeinbergers, Roundwounds, tape wounds, flat wounds (not as common as people think/lead you on to believe).
Reggae is what I play and my stable consists of: P bass with flats, Jazz with flats, Jazz with rounds, 5 string lakland with old old nicklewounds and I used to have a fretless P bass but I sold it. For awhile I also really enjoyed playing a epiphone violin style bass.
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- Nov 13, 2009
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I remember reading an interview with Family Man where he said that he prefers the Jazz because they have a stronger bottom than the P, whereas the P has a stronger midrange. That was his reasoning, and I've tended to prefer using a J for the same reason, but I've played reggae on a P too and I'm glad that your P5 is doing it for you!
^ Family Man is correct, and his statement mirrors my experience.
P bass with flats was probably my least favorite reggae bass. Sadowsky plenty fine, however nothing you can't do with a Fender, Music Man, Ibanez, etc. Been there & done that on all of 'em, and it really is about the technique and style.
Flats and boosted lows is nowhere near the norm, and not at all necessary (unless you're compensating for poor or inappropriate right-hand technique).
P bass with flats was probably my least favorite reggae bass. Sadowsky plenty fine, however nothing you can't do with a Fender, Music Man, Ibanez, etc. Been there & done that on all of 'em, and it really is about the technique and style.
Flats and boosted lows is nowhere near the norm, and not at all necessary (unless you're compensating for poor or inappropriate right-hand technique).
That clip in the OP is Errol 'Bagga' Walker, who plays Ps, Js, Steinies, and Hofners, probably others as well. That's his '78 Antigua P that he often raves about, his main studio bass, I think.
For every great and well known reggae bassist that played a J there was one who played a P, so obviously both work great in these settings.
I prefer the finesse of a J in general, it works great in a passive setup with mostly neck PUP and a bit of bridge mixed in, but I'd play a P just as easily. Flats all the way but that's just me- I like the 'old fashioned' sound of a passive bass without much preamp colour or 'active' sounding basses with a lot of boost or less than transparent preamps, and generally I like the vocal quality flats can have played a certain way. I also prefer a bit of dirt to the super clean modern tones a lot of contemporary bassists get these days. Just preference, call me a stick in the mud.
I've never got satisfactory tone rolling off the tone button on a passive instrument. I prefer it slightly rolled off and to roll off the treble a lot at the amp, though not so much you lose definition. It also accentuates the mids a bit too much on a P and reduces a J to mud, IMO. Because the bass is usually so high in the mix the lows need very little boosting, you just lose punch and end up with inarticulate mud. The real power usually lies in the upper bass/low mids anyway. It's a balancing act between thump and articulation, punch and lows and when you get it right it's glorious.
For every great and well known reggae bassist that played a J there was one who played a P, so obviously both work great in these settings.
I prefer the finesse of a J in general, it works great in a passive setup with mostly neck PUP and a bit of bridge mixed in, but I'd play a P just as easily. Flats all the way but that's just me- I like the 'old fashioned' sound of a passive bass without much preamp colour or 'active' sounding basses with a lot of boost or less than transparent preamps, and generally I like the vocal quality flats can have played a certain way. I also prefer a bit of dirt to the super clean modern tones a lot of contemporary bassists get these days. Just preference, call me a stick in the mud.
I've never got satisfactory tone rolling off the tone button on a passive instrument. I prefer it slightly rolled off and to roll off the treble a lot at the amp, though not so much you lose definition. It also accentuates the mids a bit too much on a P and reduces a J to mud, IMO. Because the bass is usually so high in the mix the lows need very little boosting, you just lose punch and end up with inarticulate mud. The real power usually lies in the upper bass/low mids anyway. It's a balancing act between thump and articulation, punch and lows and when you get it right it's glorious.
