String spacing when slapping?

avenger7326 · #1 03-04-2010, 08:23 PM

Not sure if this goes here, but here it is.

I currently have an Ibanez GSR200 and at a visit to Guitar Center a little while back I played a bunch of Fenders (P and J) and a MM Stingray and realized the string spacing on my Ibanez is very tight in comparison. I do remember missing the G string more then once while playing the Stingray because I wasn't used to the spacing.

Anyway I've now started to slap with much more proficiency then ever before and have run into a problem when I want to pop the D string. I have to reposition my hand so my thumb points downwards in order to pop the string comfortably and after I'm done with the D string I have to reposition again. Even then the fit between the G and D strings is a tight one for my finger and sometimes my fingernail gets snagged on the G string.

I plan on going back to GC soon to slap some of those basses and see how much a difference there is. In the meanwhile how much does string spacing affect technique while slapping? I would assume most slappers would prefer wider spacing, hence the awkwardly wide (for me) spacing on the Ray. I'm going to assume wider string spacing would make my life a lot easier huh?

nanda7509 · #2 03-05-2010, 06:15 AM

ya i have a similar problem...n i own a 5stringer...more spacing would give u the kick u want...

Absentia · #3 03-08-2010, 08:39 AM

The more you practice it the more you'll adapt to it, I had the same going to a warwick 5, 5 years later I can't even slap on a 4 because the strings are too far apart I just don't like it. I still have problems popping every now and then but I'd sum that up into not practicing enough.

chris.gotfunk · #4 03-08-2010, 08:49 AM

The spacing has zero affect on slapping. Your technique and precision do. It all depends on what you are most comfortable with. I used to have a Sadowsky (19mm spacing) and a Modulus Q5 (16 or 17mm spacing) and I could bounce back and forth between them with no issues. That was because I was used to playing both basses. I was just as accurate on the narrow spacing as I was with the wide spacing. Oh yeah, and they were both 5 stringers.

I guess I am just saying, get comfortable on what feels good to you. You can make it work. It just takes practice. Lots of it in some cases.

pbass6811 · #5 03-08-2010, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris.gotfunk

The spacing has zero affect on slapping. Your technique and precision do. It all depends on what you are most comfortable with. I used to have a Sadowsky (19mm spacing) and a Modulus Q5 (16 or 17mm spacing) and I could bounce back and forth between them with no issues. That was because I was used to playing both basses. I was just as accurate on the narrow spacing as I was with the wide spacing. Oh yeah, and they were both 5 stringers.

I guess I am just saying, get comfortable on what feels good to you. You can make it work. It just takes practice. Lots of it in some cases.

+1. Chris is right, to a point. Spacing should have no effect on the sound. I think that string spacing does affect your technique to a certain extent. Obviously a tighter spacing is going to require a more precise technique-Alain Caron, for example. A wider spacing will give you "more room for error" if you slap more like Flea or Louis Johnson. I would advocate a more precise technique as it will allow you to smoothly go back and forth between wide & narrow spaced basses. That's what I'm working on. It would kinda suck knowing that you're limited to one particular style of bass because of your technique...

ausf · #6 03-08-2010, 11:42 AM

It's a familiarity issue more than technique. I play a StingRay and recently was handed a Sterling and asked to play RCHPs Higher Ground. That song is second nature and never a problem, the basses are very similiar, so why not? I'm not even sure how much if any difference in spacing there is between a Ray and a Sterling, but sure enough, my index finger kept contacting the G on the pop, ever so slightly, but enough to delay and lose the funk.

I eventually recovered and pushed through it, but the sore that developed on the cuticle shows there is a difference. It's not that a Sterling isn't a good slapping bass and I don't think it exposed a gaping hole in my technique, it's just what I'm used to. It's was kinda of fun to realize how precise your hands actually move to be thrown off so easily.