Hi again,

Would passive J-bass pickups with passive EQ be enough to play funk and slap on? set up on a corvette standard? i dn't want to play slap all the time as i already have to work with two rock bands but just wanted to make sure these pu'ps would be adequate for what i want to do?

If not, how difficult is it to install an active 2 or 3 band EQ? and what are some good ones to look into?

Thanks again guys!

FWIW:

I'd speculate if you hand about any bass with a neck and bridge pup and bright roundwounds on it to a slapper, he'll get a good slap tone out of it.

See the Bass Modification Guide in FAQ Dimento's Trouble Shooting Guide.

Hi again,

Would passive J-bass pickups with passive EQ be enough to play funk and slap on? set up on a corvette standard? i dn't want to play slap all the time as i already have to work with two rock bands but just wanted to make sure these pu'ps would be adequate for what i want to do?

If not, how difficult is it to install an active 2 or 3 band EQ? and what are some good ones to look into?

Thanks again guys!
Passive J-bass pickups (especially stock single coil Fender Jazz) pickups are actually excellent for a great slap tone. However, to prevent the high end loss through the guitar cable and preserve the maximum amound of the high end component of the slap sound (or even a pick attack), the pickups should be buffered with an active on-board circuit. Where the actual EQ for the slap sound occurs is generally not critical, be it on the instrument, an EQ pedal, or at the amp. But if you have an on-board preamp you kill two birds with one stone as you have tone controls right there, and the fringe benefit of buffering. IMHO, the best on-board preamps to consider are the Sadowsky OBPNVT (or also his OBPWVT), the Aguilar OBP-1, and the Bartolini NTCT. They can be adjusted tonally for a very natural "scoop," producing a very musical slap tone. Such preamps are relatively easily to install, as I have installed several by myself, but unless you are fairly skilled at soldering and electronics it is best done by a qualified technician.

In my opinion, active basses sound "pushed" to me. As if their faces are pressed against a glass shower door trying to breathe through the steam. I think passive basses sound natural, and are able to breathe a bit more freely. I also so think that finger funk and slap styles communicate in a much more musical way with a passive set-up.

I'm sure you could get great sounds out of both passive and active setups. Best thing you can do is go play a few of each. Find out what suits you best and then use that as the basis for what preamp to buy or not. I don't play much slap so my opinion may not be the most useful, but i like sound of passive basses better in general. There are always exceptions of course.

While I'm here may as well add that most slappers seem to use passive pups with on onboard or outboard pre. I know the Bass Player Mag Friedland Slap DVD I've got he recommends a pre to optimize slap tone. He played on old passive Fender briefly on the DVD as well and it sounded fine, it was just a dark slap tone. Depends on what you want.

That's probably more useful information than the original post.

Hi, passive bass should be fine for slap, there are a lot of passive basses with a good amount of high end attack , fender jazz bass for 1 is excellent for slap sounds

Couple more thoughts while I'm here, amplification system with high frequency output - horn, tweeter, whatever - and upping the battery voltage in an onboard increases headroom and EMG mentions enhancing transeints in the mix as a result, both of benefit for slap. Not sure if it's just EMGs on the transients but that's the only site I recall that mentioned as much. My guess is it would be for any pre.

Personally, I'd stick with a set of passive pups. I threw a set of DiMarzio Model J's (passive) in my CIJ Fender Jazz. I get great slap tone out of them, but I also get great pick tone, and a good ol' solid pluck when I play with fingers. They are very versatile pickups. I've never been a fan of EMG's... but that's just my opinion, YMMV.