Recommend me some Reggae effects.

[MakiSupaStar]

I play roots and dub. For roots Bongo is right. No compressor. All fingers and feel with bass and mid boost, pull back on treble. I find I'll sometimes kick my bass into passive mode, most of what I do depends on the feel. If my sound gets too tappy and too much attack I pull my position up the neck, although I don't put a lot of thought into it.

Dub is a different story. I play with lots of effects. Mostly synths and filters. I'll share my set up if it helps.

Warwick 5 string Corvette $$ (lots of versatility a sustain in this bass. I love it. Sometimes for a more classic sound I'll play my SX jazz 5 string, or my 4 banger Carvin) -> boss dd3 (considering getting a Ehx memory man) -> Ampeg svp-bsp -> Carver 2.0i 1000watt power amp (modded to be mono) @ 4ohms > Carvin 4x10 red eye (daisy chained) with a behringer ultrabass 1x15.

The bsp pre is a split channel pre with each channel having it's on fx loop. I have my fx loop running through the dirty channel so I can always have my clean channel in the mix. This eliminates tracking issues with some of the digital fx pedals or any kind of unforseen lowend drop.
My loop:
Ehx bass micro synth -> moogerfooger lowpass filter (expression pedal on the envelope and frequency) -> ehx q-tron -> digtech bass synth auto wah -> boss oc2 -> boss syb-5.

I can create a lot of cool synth sounds with this set up and then snap right back into a clean fat tubey sound. Can see myself replacing my qtron with either a octavius squeeze, or a pigtronix synth. Also considering actually getting a moog synth keyboard of see sort. Can also see myself getting a better delay and 1x15 cab. Friggin' gas. :scowl:

 

[Jared Lash]

Are we talking dub or reggae ? Very different needs.

+1 This is a major point. The bass actually has a fairly different role in each even though the lines are obviously similar - dub growing out of "remixes" of reggae tracks with a lot of production work done on them. In dub, the bass is a low, rumbling pulse that keeps the groove, where in a lot of reggae the bass takes more of a melodic role, with the guitar player having more rhythm responsibilities.

Finger technique and a tube amp. No octave down, the seemingly-super-low frequencies in reggae are just more fundamental, less upper harmonics, of the same notes on a regular 4-string bass. Technique can get you that just as well as a filter or other effect, but of course a lowpass filter is easier.

A tube pre and a compressor are reasonable options, but I've also heard reggae players say too much compression kills the "bubble" sound/action they like.

Again +1. Technique is a big part of it. Using a five string helps, not necessarily for the notes below E, but because you can shift lines up the neck and play on the bigger strings. I would say an octaver is appropriate for classic dub if you are trying to emulate some of those old keyboard lines. Set the dry to zero and the octave down all the way up and play the line an octave up. Also for dub, plucking the note an octave up (so when fretting an F# on the second fret of the E you pluck at the 14th fret) will give a big overtone.

But for reggae plucking at the edge of or even on the fretboard and solid left and right hand technique to get big round notes that you can choke off as appropriate is key. Gear is important, but technique more so. People always seem to suggest a P bass with flats, but a Jazz bass is actually used on more classic reggae recordings and live shows, even with rounds. A tube amp is a good suggestion too, though I've seen guys with basses AND amps that I thought were too "hi-fi" for reggae get great tones, which emphasizes how important technique is.

I am kind of new to effects...

So I am just looking to see what kind of effects are normally used in Reggae and Dub. Obviously some reverb and maybe delay, but what else?

Reverb and delay aren't used all that often on bass, even in dub. More often the bass keeps the bottom (or drops out completely) while the drums, guitar and vocals get the dub treatment.

For dub a low-pass filter is a good idea. The FX25 gets a lot of attention, but I've gotten similar results with other filters. Phaser could be used occasionally too.

For either reggae or dub I'd suggest a SansAmp if you don't have a tube amp. And if you aren't strictly doing "old school" reggae, a synth pedal could be in the offing. Maki's got a clip in the Wiki using a blended Boss SYB-3 (or 5?) and I'm pretty confident the Chunk synth can get some tones for reggae influenced stuff. Something like the sounds starting around 2:56 in Invalid Link Removed. The right octaver, filter and fuzz combination can cop those tones too.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Looks like Maki posted while I was typing my response. So he does use an SYB-5. Good sounds, bad tracking. If it isn't blended or bi-amped I wouldn't use it.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

Thanks for another couple of great posts there guys

 

[jokerjkny]

moog little phatty...

 

[Matt R.]

weed

 

[newbold]

A lot of fuzzy reggae tone comes from players playing shortscale basses. If you don't have one but DO play a 5 string, play the same note higher on the neck, down a string.

Some reverb might help with a clean sustain and to fuzzy your tone but it's not dub reggae...

If you're looking for newer reggae vibes, long scale tone, even 5 string lows pump through newer sounds too...so it depends on what KIND of reggae you want to hold down. There's an awful lot of Jamaican music. If you're gonna throwback to the old then keep it simple and make it warm. If you want the range then get a bunch of records and search around internet radio. You'll probably be amazed at what you hear in a range of tone.

 

[jezzamac]

SANSAMP BDDI

 

[The Lurker]

A lot of fuzzy reggae tone comes from players playing shortscale basses.

There is something to that-- a lot of the older guys like Family Man played Hofners.

 

[Chris Paget]

If you're looking for a good analog-style delay (used everywhere in reggae, especially dub), I found this one at Analog Man:

Invalid Link Removed

I owned the non-modified DD-3, but they have modified this one to include a Hi-cut feature so that the highs are cut as the delay progresses (the sound found in a lot of the older dub like King Tubby). Even though it's still a digital, I can vouge for the sound and features on the regular pedal, and analog man seems to know what he's doing..

This would be normally used for the higher shelf treble instruments (keys, guitar, and also drums), but it's definitely a really legit dub effect for those...

 

[newbold]

There is something to that-- a lot of the older guys like Family Man played Hofners.

set them up with higher action and they really pump.

 

[Matt Dean]

Some good advice... I won't repeat any of it xxcept low pass filter, but not too low.

 

[Ziltoid]

Sure hope he figured it out over 7 years ago.

 

[willbassyeah]

a dirt or fuzz can sounds great in a reggae mix, i know its a zombie thread but for updates:

 

[Driven Crane]

Pigtronix Envelope Phaser is a golden ratio.

 

[Driven Crane]

a dirt or fuzz can sounds great in a reggae mix, i know its a zombie thread but for updates:

Really wise fuzz sound.
But.. the song...

 

[CHILDISHGAMBINO]

I've heard people use octaves in dub and reggae. Maybe not as much in reggae but I know I've definitely heard sub bass and not just treble roll-off in a lot of dub and dancehall. I would use an octave, overdrive with the gain pretty much off, detune, delay and reverb at least. I'd probably just bring my whole board and see what happens. Just because someone has never used, say a bitcrusher in reggae it doesn't mean that you can't try it.