Low action + straight neck = funk/slap setup??

[Saxn]

Ok, so i am finally comfy enough with my bass to tinker with a setting or two. I did my own setup after reading through Jersey Drozd's excellent tutorial and that went well, so I am ready to start really trying to dial in 'my' settings... and one of the genres I am really wanting to try out is teh FUNK.

I have used the search feature here to no avail trying to find guidelines on bass setup for funk, and came up empty handed. A quick Google yielded a suggestion that I had to get a second opinion on.

Basically this guy is recommending lowering the action as much as possible and at the same time straightening the neck.... but if I understand the reasoning behind neck curvature correctly wouldn't that cause some awful fret buzz?

How do you guys that already know how to be funky set up your bass?

Thanks in advance.

[testing1two]

I hate to say it but there's really no "funk" setup. It depends on your funk technique. Some guys slap on super low action basses with flat radius fingerboards and others slap on vintage fenders with high action. If you listen to Wooten, there's a lot of clicking & string noise that comes from having very low action...but he's Wooten so even his odd noises are musical. Louis Johnson could bring the funk on a two by four strung with telephone cables using a combination of funk and brute force.

The best setup is the one that works for your playing style.

My feeling is this: a well made bass can accommodate super low action and high action alike. That means the bass needs a properly leveled fingerboard, properly leveled frets, a properly slotted nut, the proper neck angle in the neck pocket, and a properly functioning truss rod. If these five things are in order you can have any setup you want. If they are not done properly the instrument will require medium to high action or it will buzz in many un-funky ways.

As always, IMO, YMMV, AFAIK, OU812

[Chrisk-K]

Many funk players use light gauge ss strings (030-090) and low action. They use very light touch when plucking.

[maturanesa]

With low action and straight neck you will get fret buzz. If you like it, go with that. Some players think buzz/noise add some character. You can hear Marcus Miller, Bootsy Collins, Flea, Prestia, Billy Sheehan basses buzzing... I prefer a clean sound, so i use low/medium action with some neck relief/bow to avoid excesive rattles

[Saxn]

Thanks for the responses guys. Since I am still pretty new I've left the action high to help develop finger strength, and I didn't want to lower it just yet. I am sure I will eventually, but it still feels a little early. If high action keeps me from properly popping it now and again I would go ahead and lower the strings, but if testing is correct, I should be able to get the sound i want with the action I have... and I will try this for a while.

Maturenesa, I am also looking for a clean sound, so when I read the advice on straight neck + low action I was kind of tempted to discard it out of hand. I have considered getting some lighter gauge flats (the bass came with rounds) but - again, because I am a NEWB - I have been trying to 'see what I can get with what I got' if that makes sense.

Thanks again for reading.