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Reggae bass

#41
Drifta said:
All i know is reggae/ska bass, I my self play a Jazz, but really it doesn't matter. infact, i really want a Warwick.

you could use any bass for reggae or ska, its really about the technique and groove.

a lot of people will say you have to use flatwound strings, but thats false, many many reggae bassists use roundwound strings and ibanez basses(Most common setup i've seen of backing bands for many major artists and all the festivals i've been to), which is far from the typical "p or j with flats" that people around here say.

the main thing is to cut the highs, and turn your tone knob all the way down, and play close to the neck, which will give you a real nice low thumping clear sound.

Less is more in reggae, sit back in the riddim and make it groove baby.
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+1. I play almost exclusively reggae and dub now. I play a Warwick Corvette 5 string $$. I play it passive a lot, but I'll click it down into active too. In front of the neck p/u. Family man plays a Jazz bass. Robbie Shakespear play a Jazz. But I've seen rippers playing on a Lakland, and all kinds of basses. I've seen a guy playing a Sadowski too. So, it's more about the placement of your bass notes than it is about your tone. Nail the placement and you can create your own sound.
 
#42
Baird6869 said:
I agree with you 100% and I have even played reggae on my Bongo 5 with new EB Super Slinkys. Sounded fine.

But would you recommend a Steinberger to someone asking what you thought was a good bass to buy to play reggae? I wouldn't.
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LOL...no, I guess it wouldn't be my first choice. Tell you what I would recommend, though...a Beatle bass of some sort. Robbie Shakespeare used to use a Hofner and sounded magnificent. It's pretty much all bass and low mid response, and it's amazingly fat when you use your fingers. It was funny, though...he said when he bought it, the previous owner never cleaned it and neither did he, then one day he cleaned it up really nice, and it ruined its sound.
 
#47
One Drop, Val Douglas (or "Dougie" as he is called) has played on so many reggae songs I cannot name them all. A few are "Breakfast In Bed" by Lorna Bennet, "Punky Reggae Party" by Bob Marley, "Satta Amasagana" by The Abyssinians. He is also the current bassist for The Skatalites. Last April, my GF & I were in Europe on vacation & The Skatalites were touring there. My GF owns a reggae club in Austin where they play when they're in Texas so they are friends of hers. I had opened a few shows for them in the past, but they had never heard me sing since they rarely see the opening act. We hooked up with them in France & were backstage goofing around before the show & someone started singing a song I knew. When I started singing along everybody kinda freaked out ( I wear cowboy gear & am white to boot). Then they asked me to sing a song in the show. It was a great success & their singer Doreen Shaffer ended up getting the flu after that show. They asked if I would sing on the next few dates(a great honor in my book). I had a great time with those guys & some of the best musical experiences in my life. Dougie plays a Hohner knockoff of a Steinberger strung with roundwounds. LLoyd Knibbs (the drummer) is possibly the best drummer I've ever played with & that's saying a lot. Last week we opened for Isreal Vibration who had Roots Raddics as their band. Flabba Holt & Style Scott pretty much put on a clinic on how to play roots reggae. Flabba uses a Steinberger, but after hearing my Elrick he tried to buy it off me. No way bwoy!
 
#48
JimmyM said:
The bass is unimportant, really. I've seen reggae bassists use a ton of different basses. If they can get a great dub sound out of a Steinberger, then they can get a great sound out of anything.
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This is the most absurd statement, ever.

Just kidding, this time. :smug: I also agree 100%.



Baird6869: Robbie Shakespere used to play Steinbergers! I have seen Steel Pulse a few times, and the bassist used a Status Graphite bass! and a Carvin.

Sure, you gotta love a Beatle bass with flats palm-muting. . . ubber reggae tone... But I've also been surprised to find that many reggae bassists use modern basses with rounds.

I would say that the most recognizable reggae tone would be a Jazz bass with the neck pickup soloed.

Also, master dub bassist Bill Laswell uses a P-Bass with groundwound strings.
 
#49
For music go get some of the Studio One/Coxsone Dodd compilations (best of Studio One, Vol I and II, etc). The riddims on those old recordings are the foundation of everything you hear today. Also check out some Black Uhuru (w/Sly and Robbie).

I agree with everyone who said the type of bass has nothing to do with the sound - A Jazz will be fine. I use a Sadowsky MV5 strung with flats with the hi's on the VTC rolled off and its as good as any reggage tone that I've ever heard.

As for the Steinberger, many reggae bands in the 80s used them. More recently, I saw Sizzla Kolanji and the Firehouse Band last December and bassie was using an awesome sounding white custom 5-string Steinberger.
 
#50
Moe Monsarrat said:
One Drop, Val Douglas (or "Dougie" as he is called) has played on so many reggae songs I cannot name them all. A few are "Breakfast In Bed" by Lorna Bennet, "Punky Reggae Party" by Bob Marley, "Satta Amasagana" by The Abyssinians. He is also the current bassist for The Skatalites. Last April, my GF & I were in Europe on vacation & The Skatalites were touring there. My GF owns a reggae club in Austin where they play when they're in Texas so they are friends of hers. I had opened a few shows for them in the past, but they had never heard me sing since they rarely see the opening act. We hooked up with them in France & were backstage goofing around before the show & someone started singing a song I knew. When I started singing along everybody kinda freaked out ( I wear cowboy gear & am white to boot). Then they asked me to sing a song in the show. It was a great success & their singer Doreen Shaffer ended up getting the flu after that show. They asked if I would sing on the next few dates(a great honor in my book). I had a great time with those guys & some of the best musical experiences in my life. Dougie plays a Hohner knockoff of a Steinberger strung with roundwounds. LLoyd Knibbs (the drummer) is possibly the best drummer I've ever played with & that's saying a lot. Last week we opened for Isreal Vibration who had Roots Raddics as their band. Flabba Holt & Style Scott pretty much put on a clinic on how to play roots reggae. Flabba uses a Steinberger, but after hearing my Elrick he tried to buy it off me. No way bwoy!
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The Skatalitesa are 1 of my favorite bands...top 15 id say
 
#56
Moe Monsarrat said:
One Drop, Val Douglas (or "Dougie" as he is called) has played on so many reggae songs I cannot name them all. A few are "Breakfast In Bed" by Lorna Bennet, "Punky Reggae Party" by Bob Marley, "Satta Amasagana" by The Abyssinians. He is also the current bassist for The Skatalites. Last April, my GF & I were in Europe on vacation & The Skatalites were touring there. My GF owns a reggae club in Austin where they play when they're in Texas so they are friends of hers. I had opened a few shows for them in the past, but they had never heard me sing since they rarely see the opening act. We hooked up with them in France & were backstage goofing around before the show & someone started singing a song I knew. When I started singing along everybody kinda freaked out ( I wear cowboy gear & am white to boot). Then they asked me to sing a song in the show. It was a great success & their singer Doreen Shaffer ended up getting the flu after that show. They asked if I would sing on the next few dates(a great honor in my book). I had a great time with those guys & some of the best musical experiences in my life. Dougie plays a Hohner knockoff of a Steinberger strung with roundwounds. LLoyd Knibbs (the drummer) is possibly the best drummer I've ever played with & that's saying a lot. Last week we opened for Isreal Vibration who had Roots Raddics as their band. Flabba Holt & Style Scott pretty much put on a clinic on how to play roots reggae. Flabba uses a Steinberger, but after hearing my Elrick he tried to buy it off me. No way bwoy!
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How cool! I've been trying to hire The Skatalites to play here for the last four years, but they always come to Switzerland in April and the season is petering out here then- it's killing me that I can't get something arranged. I didn't know who was playing with them these days, though I'd seen them with the wonderful original member Lloyd Brevett on DB a few times.

Lloyd Knibbs more than anyone else set the standard for modern Reggae drumming, and invented a few of it's most influential beats. When I listen to some of the stuff he lay down in the mid '60s with the Skatalites I'm still amazed. I would love to see him again, never mind get the chance to play with him!

I saw Flabba with Israel Vibration a few times- he uses his Hofner because of the light weight, but I think he sounds much better when playing a Jazz or P, just more interesting tone, but he does get the most unfeasibly huge, smooth sound out of the Hoffie, perfect for the simpler basslines of that band's music.

Thanks to the poster who linked that Augustus Pablo footage- George 'Fully' Fullwood at his best! I've heard him very often with a P- I like the rawness of his sound, and the way he drives the Soul Syndicate. I've heard him play some wicked soul and funk style stuff with them when they lay out on a track- probably the tightest band out there, IMO. You guys stateside are lucky to have them touring there so often.

Anyone who wants to understand roots music a little better and the context it was created in should order 'Word, Sound, and Power' online. It's one of the best reggae films out there, with great footage and interviews of the magnificent Souls Syndicate, and it's a labour of love that reflects the quality and spirituality of the music it portrays.
 
#59
lefty007 said:
BTW, the current Bass Player magazine issue is a must! Family Man on the cover, and there is tons of information about basses and tone.
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+1. Family Man mentions using a Hohner, although it is implied that he will be using a Fender Custom Jazz ( he is pictured with a Sea-Foam Green Jazz).
Funny how no reggae experts came up with the idea of using a Hohner. Just goes to show that you can make music with just about anything.:hiding:
 
#60
Dave Bassincus said:
Funny how no reggae experts came up with the idea of using a Hohner. Just goes to show that you can make music with just about anything.:hiding:
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To everyone's credit, they all said that the most important thing is how you play and feel the music, and that the brand of bass isn't the most important thing.

I've heard too many modern reggae bassists that, to my ears at least, get an overprocessed, huge but bland tone with infinite sustain- just boring after a little while. I think it has to do with emulating the production on a lot of recent recorded reggae, with big sub-like lows, close to synth basstones.
 

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