Dub & Reggae Bass Tips

In this video, I provide a few tips I learned about getting a fatter, more-muted sound from your bass. The bass I'm using is a 1973 Fender Precision Bass aka P-Bass.
James Jamerson, legendary bassist from Motown mentioned he:
1. Never Cleaned nor changed his strings - this helped reduce some of the upper frequencies and sustain due to the natural oils from your skin. (James quote: "'the gunk keeps the funk")
2. Using foam (or rubber or anything suitable) tucked under the strings against the bridge of the bass - this also helps reduce the string sustain. (When it was original done, the idea was to create a sound more like an Acoustic Bass)
3. Playing with the pads of your fingers or the side of your index finger for added "meatiness/weight". Both create different tones.
4. Where you play from - resting your thumb on the pickups, where the neck meets the body, or on the neck of the bass. Each one provides a slightly different tone.
(There are so many, but these are a few reggae bassists that influenced me)
Aston Family Man - Fender Jazz Bass
Errol Flabba Holt - Roots Radics
Robbie Shakespeare - Fender MIM Jazz bass & Paul Reid Bass
When I was 18, I wanted to play real roots reggae and joined a trio with a Bajan guitarist, Bernie J, and Jamaican drummer Leroy. The three of us played Marley covers and I learned over 50 of family Man's bass lines and loved the way he played along with the melody, would hit certain notes to accentuate moments in the song while keeping the groove rolling. Much like James Jamerson & Paul McCartney, they were of a more melodic style. Robbie is a precision master - he hits the groove and it just goes like wildfire and penetrates the track from start to finish.
Put Family Man & Robbie on one album and it's magic - that album for me is King Tubby meets Rockers Uptown. This was mind-blowing for me on my first listen and I still have my 80s cassette of it that I recorded from vinyl.
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I welcome your feedback and suggestions on future topics you'd like to see included. You can email me at [e-mail]
Dubmatix: www.dubmatix.com
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[@DontFeedTheTrolls]

Good advice. I might add that you can achieve that string tone with some flat-wound bass strings. Thanks for the video!

[@RealDubmatix]

absolutely. thanks for sharing the tip

[@benhedley1574]

Nice one. I recently got D'Addario tapewound strings and really like them for Reggae and Dub. Also an FEA opti-fet compressor smooths things out and adds a bit more vintage type tone to my modern active Bass.

[@RealDubmatix]

Hey Ben - nice tip to share. Thank you. www.daddario.com/products/guitar/bass-guitar/tapewounds-bass/

[@ilyasschellekens]

Yep brother picked some nice tips again. Nice to see you plucking the bass ;) keep grooving

[@RealDubmatix]

Mr Bassy! Thanks for your kind words. Glad you jumped back low end

[@father3dollarbill]

never clean or change my strings??? I can definitely do that!!! I'd never clean my surfaces if I could, so this one hits home, lol

[@HighGradeKonnection]

😂

[@emviousMVS]

was that straight bass no plugins?? if so does it make a huge difference if it’s P bass to Jazz? I have a pro ii jazz and it’s not that meaty unfortunately:-x

[@RealDubmatix]

greetings - for that demo it would have been the straight bass sound through the Apollo quad - no plugins.

[@RealDubmatix]

"you can also use ya thumb and mute with ya palm " Additional tips from others - thank you for sending them. There are quite a few ways to achieve a fatter sound.

[@DoubleVisionSoundSystem]

I detect a little Warrior Charge in that riff 👀👊

[@benjibrown3133]

Greetings Dubmatix How do i get the hollow of the bass for the roundness of the bass

[@RealDubmatix]

Hey Benji - to get a more wide, round sound, one quick tip you can try is to remove all top/mid frequencies (roll off) until you get a sound you like. You can go quite hard on the roll off, leaving mainly the low end, up to about 150-250hz and see how that sounds.

[@orishainsession134]

really cool dubmatix . Thanks . NICE INTRO AND OUTRO , I LIKED THAT A LOT .

[@RealDubmatix]

Thanks Orisha. Apppreciate it

[@legobreaksnz]

Cheers, thanks for the tips, been playing round with the sponge muting technique lately it's a good one.

[@RealDubmatix]

Good to hear from you Legobreaks. Glad you've been trying it out and it's working.

[@verlorengeboren6970]

Awesome! Thanks for the advice. I would love to see you give a little tour on your studio set up! It looks quite unique and inspiring!

[@RealDubmatix]

Thank you - I appreciate the feedback. I will do a short studio tour video. Nice idea.

[@thestringbuster]

Thanks Jesse. See you out there (eventually)

[@RealDubmatix]

Hey B - hope you're doing well and still got the music flowing. It's open time now so we'll run into each other soon

[@HighGradeKonnection]

Hey mate i use Apollo too . Nice bass lesson . Thanks

[@theduppykillah]

Nice , JBass at the controls, found you channel looking for pickups thinking of swapping out my 72’ Uni precision type they ok a little underwhelming

[@kingalpha2098]

Gwaan Matix Dub it Iyah!!!

[@RealDubmatix]

Nice one King Alpha - thank you for your feedback. Big ups

[@PhilippeBlancR5]

Great amount of invaluable tips & tricks !! Blessings Bro !

[@RealDubmatix]

I'm very happy to read your feedback. Thank you for sharing that.

[@PhilippeBlancR5]

@@RealDubmatix You are welcome Maestro 🎶🎶😎

[@IJAHWAY]

Good tips. Thanks for sharing !

[@aftertheendtimes]

Thanks 👍🙏❤️

[@ZiontheMessenger]

legendary