Tone help

[mrniceguy715]

maybe wrong forum not sure where to put it.

Getting where I wanna be with the slap tone. But cant seem to get that snarling growling attack with the finger style that I want so dearly. for reference think, the bass playing on grover washington jr.-wine light or or erykah badu-baduism live. Any tips on settings. words of wisdom. how much is in the fingers how much in the gear?

[JimmyM]

95% is in the fingers. I sound pretty much the same no matter what bass I play. You can hear some differences in the basses, but the way I play them defines the sound more than anything.

To get a growly soul tone, I've had the best luck by playing close to the bridge and picking a little heavy and not clacking the strings into the frets but picking up a little bit of fret rattle.

[chaosMK]

Playing goes a long way.

I was just listening to a sample of the Grover Washington track that you mentioned.

To really get that sound- for example, that full/deep/growly low- you do need a lot of the right equipment. That is why people invest so much in their setups. For example, the rig I use has fantastic tone for hardcore and metal- every component I use contributes to that tone, as opposed to a smoother tone that would be great for other styles. I am sure that bassist is an expert in that style, and I am also sure he is using a top of the line setup for that style.

Just learn to be the best player you can, and buy the best equipment that is affordable to you.

[mrniceguy715]

I tried playing on different places like closed to brigde that did help some. as far as gear I have a 5-string peavey milstone I picked up just to get used to 5ers and a frankinstien p/j and a roland db-500 combo