Best EQ for slap?

Joseph.Magnum · #1 09-12-2008, 08:11 AM

Hi, can you please tell me the best config for slaping?
EQ setup and stuff...

Thanx a lot!

rayriendeau · #2 09-12-2008, 05:01 PM

As with any tone a lot depends on personal taste. Having said that I can give you some common ideas that people use to get slap bass sounds.
The EQ whether from your bass, amp or both is most commonly more lows and highs while scooping the mids. On a graphic EQ this would look like a smile. You need to do this to taste and be careful not to overdue it. Your mids hold a lot of the "definition" in your tone so if it's cut too much you loose clarity. By turning the mids down you get that punchy slap tone that moves air.
My advice is too find a tone you like on a CD and try and reproduce it. This is done in the studio a lot when a specific tone is wanted.
Also new strings will give you a more snappy, punchy tone.
Lastly I tend to use my front pickup or a blend of both rather than my bridge pickup I have a bass with 2 pickups.
Hope this helps.
Best

Joseph.Magnum · #3 09-15-2008, 05:29 PM

Great! Thanks a lot for the answers!
And about string action? Should the strings be high or almost touching the frets?

rayriendeau · #4 09-17-2008, 02:25 PM

I hate to sound like a broken record but yet again your string height is really your own taste.
I do get a lot of students that believe for slap that it must be high and this is simply not true. My personal action is so low that if you blow on the string it will fret...LOL... seriously though it's really low.
I'd recommend starting with an average height and then adjust to your personal taste.