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Peter M

Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 01:47 am:

gonna start learning bass...the standard (mexican made) jazz is pretty well priced... is it a good buy?...dont really want to go the "whole hog" as it were unless its totally necessary.

Obviously I dont expect get anywhere for a long while but it would be nice to have a good enough bass to know when I am getting it right.Also plan to use stuff I have played in my tracks (I imagine I will be depending on a fair bit of cut and paste here...but hopefully one day I will be able to hold a riddim enough to jam with others..)

also what amp is suggested? (I have a computer set up so comp/filter etc could be done there) is a small practice amp sufficient?

and pedal wise? hear a lot about envelope followers/octave pedals etc... but I tend to like
dub bass pretty unadorned so not to fussed about fx. Would some kind of cheap multi/fx set up be ok?

I know these are hard qs to answer without more info...just after a good deep classic dub sound

Neil C

Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 12:53 pm:

I can't give any opinion about different basses - but if you're going to buy a bass amp I would't bother with a 'practice' amp - they usually cost quite a large proportion of a 'proper' amp, and you'd be better off paying the extra for a 'proper' one which should last you as you develop whereas if you are like me you'd ditch the practice amp quite early on. You would need an amp to play with a band, and a practice amp isn't sufficiently loud enough for that purpose, and in my experience a practice amp can't give the sort of bottom end you want for dub.

I'd suggest for practice you just put it through your computer and listen to it on whatever monitor system you have. If your soundcard doesn't have a high impendance (guitar suitable) input, then you would need a pre-amp.

If you are recording bass with any method other than miking up an amp, then some kind of amp simulation is very useful - there are various dedicated or multi-fx units that do this (and can act as pre-amps)- you pay your money and take your choice (names that spring to mind are Korg,Alesis,Zoom,Boss,Line6(pod),Sansamp).

Use compression - most fx units will have it -and there are loads of compressors you can get computers. Don't worry about envelope filters and so on to begin with.

Mike Zee

Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 06:50 pm:

I would agree with Neil regarding practice bass-amp to the extend. I mean if you wish to have an amp for possible performance with a band in the future or maybe for mic-ing recording , then buying a practice amp would be waste of money. However, if you are planning on practicing allot, basicly learning to play and you don't have or don't want to spend allots of money at the moment, then you better get one.... but , again, you'll get what you get - a practice amp. Firing up computer and whatever the rest of your setup around the computer just for practicing bass isn't a good idea as I can see...just from practical point, especially if you have bussy life, you know...and you have , let's say an hour a day or so..... so you need something very simple ... plug in, push the button - play., also having extra input in amp for jammin' playing/practicing with CDs/tapes right there .. is a big deal.

Now, for recording bass guitar, especially if you don't have much recording experience, I'd say the way to go is to get a preamp/di-box. Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI is great, and many pros actually using it. Digital modeling pods or pads or beans or what ever the heck they are

are ok (or even just fine for general computer-based recording), some of them are way over priced thou.... I've read somewhere a line about digital modeling bass thingies, it was a reply to the advice/question "Which bass modeler is better?", so the reply was: "For practice, demos or some minor computer-based pro-projects they are all the same - very good. For serious professional band recording - it's like comparing dog's poop and cat's poop..." heh heh

Going mic-ing the amp way - you can go too, but it will be very expansive overall and you'll get many grey hair before you get to the point when you'll be recording actually good bass that way ...

heh heh

MIM jazz and P-bass are great quality, I would not put them into 'cheap' category thou... It is really hard to objectivlt discuss quality of instruments, there are many specifics, individual details etc.... If you wish to go through collection of blah blah about fender basses, I'd say go to FDP forum, here's link: Fender Forum - Fender Basses and Amps, there just surf through ... you'll find allots of opinions etc...

good luck,
/mike zee aka Dr ZEE
ZDL

Peter M

Posted on Saturday, July 24, 2004 - 01:46 am:

thanks for the kind and knowledgeable assistance folks

cheers
Pete

evan

Posted on Wednesday, September 01, 2004 - 04:27 pm:

Mexican fenders vary in quality. Don't mailorder, go to a store and try some and buy the one that feels good.
For classic dub sound:
-Jazz or p-bass
-flatwound strings
-roll off treble

effects to consider:
-dod fx25 envelope filter: turn the sensitivity down so it doesn't trigger, this pedal gives a MASSIVE dub sound (I hear bill laswell uses this pedal)
-octaver or synth pedal if you are into a synth-y sound with a live feel
-multi-effects probably not very useful for reggae bass. do you need reverbs, choruses, distortions, phasers, etc. etc. etc.? probably not. reggae bass is clean and deep and simple.

Amps: I can't say much about recording. Probably DI is your best option (be sure to compress, as mentioned above -- mega bass easily distorts)
But for live sound: get the most amp you can afford. You get what you pay for. Head and cab setups are usually the way to go, there aren't many combos that are powerful enough to sound really good. Bass means moving alot of air, so a powerful amp is very important. A couple hundred watts into a 2x10 cab is a nice setup for a small room. More power and more speakers for bigger venues.

victorx

Posted on Friday, November 12, 2004 - 05:53 am:

instead of a practice amp consider a 'modelling' or 'virtual' amplifier like a bass pod or a behinger bass v-amp unit.

they are fairly cheap (especially the behringer ones). they have got compression and effects etc and HEADPHONES OUT so you don't annoy the shit out of your neighbors and housemates while you learn to play. plus unlike a practice amp a modelling unit will have some useful purpose after you get proficient - as a DI, compressor, effects unit, guitar tuner etc. i also record keyboards through mine, good for grunging synths up.

also they can 'emulate' (that is 'model' hence their name) a range of different amp and speaker types so you can learn a little about what you like and what to look for when you come to shop for the real thing a bit later.

Johny Bravownw

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