bass material advice

[MightyZ]

Before the line up changes I was rehearsing at our old guitarists studio set up - I used a Trace Elliott stack owned by his son - contained a Valve Head (some sort of prototype model apparantly) sat on Trace Elliott 4x 10 and 1 x 15 (with reflex unit) cabs
Very Nice indeed, but given the money I would go Ampeg.
I love the look of Ashdown Engineering set ups, but I think they are not necessarily geared towards the Reggae sound (though I am ready to be corrected by someone with more experience of using one).

MightyZ

[benjamin]

Guys, thanks for your admirable contributions to this topic. I have all the necessary information. I'll check that out with my band (it's a collective purchase !).

Ps :Mighty Z, I'll get back to you on myspace for more exchange!


Forward the deep bass

Ben

[MightyZ]

Happy Hunting Ben!

MightZ

[donstrumental]

Thought i would stick my pennys worth in before you make a decision Ben.

MightyZ is correct,if you want the tried and tested Reggae roadhorse,Ampeg SVT with 8x10 cab is the way to go.Not a cheap option if you are on a budget.

Whatever setup you decide on make sure you are running 2 x 8 ohm cabs into a 4 ohm head,trust me this is important. pm if you require more info.

I am pretty spoilt and usually get any amp i ask for delivered to my gigs so i have tried most brands and found that Ampeg and Hartke deliver a good reggae sound.Trace Elliot is not a favourite of mine but Ashdown has done pretty good things.

A secret of mine to consider,i always travel with a line 6 bass podxt live,this has modeled souunds of any decent bass amp and cab set up and can make any half decent amp sound great and you always have your personal eq setup at your fingertips.

I personally own a amp and cab by a company called Mark Bass.Robbie Shakespeare who was a devoted Ampeg user for as long as i can remember plugged into my amp in a rehearsal room and to cut a long story short,he is now the first major reggae bass player with a Mark Bass endorsement!

bass in your face!

Don

[benjamin]

Accurate info Don, much thanks. I think I'll get that Mark Bass amp if it can attract some Robbie Shakespeare in my studio !

[Upright]

as a bass player myself i've noticed that one needs to go to the beginning!

* are u plucking your strings right to get that deep thump ... ?do you use a plectrum or the fingers and what part of your fingers?
* does your bass have good pickups, the ones that catch the deep end off the vibrations?
* do you have your bass set up with good string? not those nickelwound new type of strings that one uses for funky slapping and tapping!! go for the flatwounds/taperwounds and only change them if they break
* is your bass set up propper, the action needs to be correct, up or down bow, tension of the neck and on the strings, ... go see a luthier!
* amps and cabs can be a world of difference but give any well know jamaican bassplayer a cheap bass and a cheap amp(i mean real cheap, the worst instrument and amp there is) and they will rock your bones! it's all in how you play and then search for the right stuff to amplify your paying an accuirred sound.
*when you get an amp & cab, dail in as close as you can to the sound you want without using eq and stuff, only use your bass, strings, action, fingers, ...
* then learn about EQ and then learn even more about them!

ampeg is great stuff but remember that there is gear out there that will cost half or even less than ampeg stuff and it will give you a better result! the reason why so many bassplayer used ampegs in the past was because of the fact that ampeg was the first brand to present heavy 'portable?' bass amps, before that it was weak bass amp or heavy guitar amp that gets blown up every three months because of the heave bass vibrations ... old Fender bassman amps with tubes can be a one in a million!

greatings, Upright

[donstrumental]

Forgot to put this up

http://www.markbass.it/artists.php?lingua=en&id=53

[MightyZ]

* are u plucking your strings right to get that deep thump ... ?do you use a plectrum or the fingers and what part of your fingers?

Well done for bringing this up - for me this is probably the most crucial thing! I witnessed a 'Reggae' bassist recently using a plectrum - I don't know how he expected it to sound right (and it certainly didn't!).
If my fingernails grow too long on the plucking hand they begin to catch the string slightly; immediately introducing an unwanted 'toppy' edge to the sound. So I have to keep the nails trimmed religiously! The string should be played with the fleshy part of the finger tip to take the harsh attack of the note. Other bassists will know that one of the problems with playing bass is that it tends to harden the flesh here - making it easy to pick up hot objects, but counter to the needs of the Reggae bassist!
I have it on good authority from our keyboard player that while he was touring as one of the Wailers keyboard players, Aston 'Family Man' Barrett swore by the use of Lip Balm to keep this part soft!

You should experiment also with different amounts of pressure from the plucking finger - hitting harder or softer creates a variety of tones.
I find that you should play more to the neck end of the pickups and away from the bridge end. The bridge end produces 'toppier' notes (more treble) - which is why the treble pick up is closer to the bridge. If you experiment with moving the plucking hand along the string from the bridge to the neck you will notice some dramatic tonal differences!

People who don't play Reggae think it is easy, the guitarist just play those simple 'chops' and bassist just booms out a few notes! They could never appreciate the full subtlety of the music as they just don't feel it!
People who do play it know they are talking out of their backsides!

MightyZ

[MightyZ]

@donstrumental - The Mark Bass kit looks interesting - I've not had the chance to try one, but will certainly be checking them out. Really nice looking kit with a good range to suit what I am looking for. Having been through a couple of tough years I am without a decent back line rig and I will be trying to rectify that soon. So thanks for the food for thought.

MightyZ