Sub bass gear for bass guitar - dub style

jebjerome · 1st July 2006

Looking for recommendations for getting sub bass on a bass guitar. Dubbed out. Thinking along the lines of dub bass on Sade's Lover's Rock, Bill Laswell, Sly and Robbie. The low low.

Do Microsynths work for this well? I know this has been discussed before, but I can't find the thread. I believe there were some Envelope Filters recommended among other things. DBX subharmonic synthesizers?

Thanks!

AdamJay · 1st July 2006

Ampeg makes a bass octave pedal that is great for dub.

i think its called either SCP-OCT or SVT-OCT

SK1 · 2nd July 2006

Does anyone use the sub kick for this ???

Seems like it would work.

For now I like 1272/dbx 160 vu treble off with old strings direct
also nice to add a little bit of miced woofer .... I'm digging an re20 for that. The cab I have has a tweeter so that signal has nice lows.

Good luck !

robd · 2nd July 2006

the microsynth is great, but, to my dissapointment, i have never been able to get particulaarly dubby sounds from it.

dubhausdisco · 2nd July 2006

dub style comes from the fingers..... quality bass of your choice, and a high quality (hi voltage) pre (my fav for bass in this style is the 737sp... goes ALL THE WAY DOWN)...
Beware of subharmonic generators: you'll just end up blowing amps and cones.
If you are looking for synthetic bass, try a square wave with a sine an octave down.. this is the basic reggae keyboard bass sound...
good luck!

evangelista · 2nd July 2006

I've had great luck with using the Waves MaxxBass plugin to get this sound. The trick is to monitor only the effect sound, not a combo of the dry + effect.

dissolva · 2nd July 2006

Bill Laswell's Dub recipe:

An incredible bass technique
P-Bass (fretted or fretless) with added J Pickup
Tone knob down half way
D'Addario Halfwound strings
Ampeg SVT 8x10
dbx 120x Subharmonic Synthesizer
DOD FX25 Envelope Filter (NOT the dfegad FX25B)

jkamata · 3rd July 2006

the 120 dbx is wicked! rules out any plug ive heard..screw waves maxbass (always sound flabby and uncontrolled ime..the fat thing about the dbx is the subharmonic control..u can really control the sound of it ie soft and round or more agressive square like and then
just blend in the 24-36Hz and 36-56 Hz..super easy to usethumbsup

jebjerome · 3rd July 2006

So the dbx 120x the one to go to(vs. A or other models)? What is the deal with the 120x-ds vs. 120x?

Any to avoid in particular.

Nutmeg II. · 3rd July 2006

-Playing (on the neck rather then close to the pickups or the bridge, and a rather soft touch)
-Setup the instrument very well (tweak pickups and string hight)
-Fat amp + Fat cab

Other than that a dbx120x-ds does help, so will a EBS octaver (the new one!).

Nutmeg II. · 3rd July 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by jebjerome

So the dbx 120x the one to go to(vs. A or other models)? What is the deal with the 120x-ds vs. 120x?

Any to avoid in particular.

The 120x-ds has 4 frequenzies to tweak and cinche/-10 IOs.
I don't know the X.

7161 · 3rd July 2006

if it's live bass u wanna have 18" bass speakers for 'the' sound. The best example of this i saw was Chalis's bassist who's cab was made from an old large-sized restaurant fridge with the door & motor system removed and a sheet of 3/4 ply bolted into the door space & sealed, with 2 x 18" speakers fitted.

great cab, but a nightmare to move up/down stairs at venues it has to be said :(

that sound hardly exists nowadays and u cant possibly get it from CD, but if u can get a copy try 12" 45rpm JamaicaSound Trinity cuts like "Natty Dread have The Big Contacts/Natty Dread Have Dignity"

jebjerome · 3rd July 2006

I have one 18" speaker. Will probably use that and a DI and see what I can do.

jebjerome · 7th July 2006

How does a Peavey Kosmos work for this kind of thing? Would I be better off with one of these or a dbx 120x?

1st July 2006	#1
jebjerome Gear addict Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Easy Bay, California Posts: 473 Thread Starter	Sub bass gear for bass guitar - dub style Looking for recommendations for getting sub bass on a bass guitar. Dubbed out. Thinking along the lines of dub bass on Sade's Lover's Rock, Bill Laswell, Sly and Robbie. The low low. Do Microsynths work for this well? I know this has been discussed before, but I can't find the thread. I believe there were some Envelope Filters recommended among other things. DBX subharmonic synthesizers? Thanks!

1st July 2006	#2
AdamJay Lives for gear Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Indianapolis, IN Posts: 2,825	Ampeg makes a bass octave pedal that is great for dub. i think its called either SCP-OCT or SVT-OCT __________________

3rd July 2006	#10
Nutmeg II. Lives for gear Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: GEARmany Posts: 985	-Playing (on the neck rather then close to the pickups or the bridge, and a rather soft touch) -Setup the instrument very well (tweak pickups and string hight) -Fat amp + Fat cab Other than that a dbx120x-ds does help, so will a EBS octaver (the new one!). __________________ "Any recording engineer who uses a tube U47 is obviously not a professional" Stephan Temmer 1979

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2nd July 2006	#3
SK1 Lives for gear Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,142	Does anyone use the sub kick for this ??? Seems like it would work. For now I like 1272/dbx 160 vu treble off with old strings direct also nice to add a little bit of miced woofer .... I'm digging an re20 for that. The cab I have has a tweeter so that signal has nice lows. Good luck !

2nd July 2006	#4
robd Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 799	the microsynth is great, but, to my dissapointment, i have never been able to get particulaarly dubby sounds from it.

2nd July 2006	#5
dubhausdisco Gear Head Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 74	dub style comes from the fingers..... quality bass of your choice, and a high quality (hi voltage) pre (my fav for bass in this style is the 737sp... goes ALL THE WAY DOWN)... Beware of subharmonic generators: you'll just end up blowing amps and cones. If you are looking for synthetic bass, try a square wave with a sine an octave down.. this is the basic reggae keyboard bass sound... good luck!

2nd July 2006	#6
evangelista Lives for gear Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,272	I've had great luck with using the Waves MaxxBass plugin to get this sound. The trick is to monitor only the effect sound, not a combo of the dry + effect.

2nd July 2006	#7
dissolva Gear Head Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 39	Bill Laswell's Dub recipe: An incredible bass technique P-Bass (fretted or fretless) with added J Pickup Tone knob down half way D'Addario Halfwound strings Ampeg SVT 8x10 dbx 120x Subharmonic Synthesizer DOD FX25 Envelope Filter (NOT the dfegad FX25B)

3rd July 2006	#8
jkamata Gear addict Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 316	the 120 dbx is wicked! rules out any plug ive heard..screw waves maxbass (always sound flabby and uncontrolled ime..the fat thing about the dbx is the subharmonic control..u can really control the sound of it ie soft and round or more agressive square like and then just blend in the 24-36Hz and 36-56 Hz..super easy to usethumbsup

3rd July 2006	#12
7161 3 + infractions, forum membership suspended. Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,096	if it's live bass u wanna have 18" bass speakers for 'the' sound. The best example of this i saw was Chalis's bassist who's cab was made from an old large-sized restaurant fridge with the door & motor system removed and a sheet of 3/4 ply bolted into the door space & sealed, with 2 x 18" speakers fitted. great cab, but a nightmare to move up/down stairs at venues it has to be said :( that sound hardly exists nowadays and u cant possibly get it from CD, but if u can get a copy try 12" 45rpm JamaicaSound Trinity cuts like "Natty Dread have The Big Contacts/Natty Dread Have Dignity"

7th July 2006	#14
jebjerome Gear addict Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Easy Bay, California Posts: 473 Thread Starter	How does a Peavey Kosmos work for this kind of thing? Would I be better off with one of these or a dbx 120x?