Dear Ray,
I have been working on my slap chops, and I finally feel ready to try my new skills out on a job with my band. At home everything sounds great, but when I get to a gig and try to slap I find the bottom falls out of my sound. It sounds like there is no bass at all.

I am using an older Fender BXR100 amp that has a limiter on the power and with a sensitve threshold and slow release time. I tried using a compressor to take out the transients and level out the sound. Again, at home it made everything sound more full and punchy, but it was still a disaster at the gig.

Any advice? Is it my gear or my technique? Do you use different EQ for slap? I have heard of some amps and basses having different circutry for finger vs. slap. I have read that Flea uses a volume boost for slapping. Could you please shed some light on the subject.

Thanks

I've got the same problem, my slap style sounds great at home without any other instruments around but doesen't sit as well in the mix as my fingerstyle does when I play out live in a band setting.

Look at my response in the "Help Please" thread, I addressed some this "tone" issue and how it I view it. If you have any specific questions I'll be more than happy to elaborate.

Look at my response in the "Help Please" thread, I addressed some this "tone" issue and how it I view it. If you have any specific questions I'll be more than happy to elaborate.

I already have my EQ set flat on the bass, and I drop the mids a bit on the amp. Everything I do at home sounds great. But when I get to the gig and try to slap, my sound disappears into the mix. That's when I go back to fingerstyle I am producing thunder like normal.

Is it just a matter of turning up or getting a bigger amp? It seems like a silly question, but my amp has no more headroom so I can't turn it up anymore.

Thanks

The thing that's hard is that a eq that works alone and in a particular place (your home) will most likely need to change for each new enviroment (live).

The mids of an EQ are what give you definition so if they are too low you loose the bass sound when playing with other instruments.
You have to find a good balance between a good sweeped mid sound for your slap tone but also not so sweeped that you loose the bass sound.
I keep my amp flat and run EQ from my bass. What works for me is for fingerstyle I use mainly my back pickup and a flat eq (I keep the bass, treble, and high all they way up) and for slap I use both pickups equally. This is a good place to start, from there you can fine tune accordingly.
good luck

The thing that's hard is that a eq that works alone and in a particular place (your home) will most likely need to change for each new enviroment (live).


I was thinking my problem was more of quantity of sound. I like the tone I am getting and am able to dial in the room pretty well at the gig.

Does it matter how hard you hit the strings? You would think that if you hit them harder you get more volume. I am starting to wonder if it is the opposite. Could it be that a more sensitive attack will actually produce a fuller sound? Could you give some insights?

p.s. I downloaded some of your tunes from "Groove Therapy" from iTunes. VERY COOL!!! I really dig what you are doing.

1st, thanks for getting some of my music and I'm glad you dig it. :)

One thing I tell my students is that you don't have to attack the strings very hard at all for slap, in fact in my opinion it's better not to. I play REALLY light and it allows me to be more relaxed and the tone is even better. I would turn up your amp a liitle hotter that usual and this will force you to play lighter, then after it feels right adjust your volume accordingly.

Thank for all of your wisdom. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts on this forum, as well as more of your music.

Thanks Again.