slap bass setup

[Jim S]

Hi Folks: I'm a new Bass player (4 months) with a ton of questions. I was at a folk festival yesterday and someone mentioned that my bass is set up as a slap bass. How does this differ from a bluegrass setup?
Thanks a million.

[wayne holmes]

Hi Jim, Usually a slapper will have the stings higher and maybe farther apart so the strings can be pulled and slapped. The bridge is flatter at the top. A slapper will want a good ebony finger board that helps produce the sound and stands up to the slapping better than other woods. Accomplished slappers will be particular about the strings they use moreso than a bluegrass player. I'm sure that there are more differences and would be interested, too, in hearing what others have to say. Good luck with your bass and enjoy playing.

[Jim S]

Thanks Wayne. I'm told that a jazz player wants the strings closer to the finger board for the sake of speed. What would blues set up be like?
I'm certainly enjoying learning my old bass. It looks like it's been through a flood and tow wars, but it sounds OK, and as someone told me, "think of all the fun it's had"?

[Matthew Tucker]

Originally Posted by Jim S

"think of all the fun it's had"?

I like that

[wayne holmes]

I like that too. There are many out there, much more experienced than I, who could talk about blues set up. Maybe they will.

The blues set-ups do have the strings as close as you can get them, ie height off the finger board. The distance apart at the top of the bridge certainly wouldn't be farther apart than arco playing. If anything, they will want them closer, may 7/8 of an inch(I think) I'm thinking about a French and Italian bass that I traded for. Both were played by professional jazzers. Each had a combination of strings-I think they want all four to be like butter all the way up the board, since they pizz up there on all four strings. So, they use a combination of different strings that will make this easy and that will produce the jazz sound. The top of the bridge is cut like a bluegrass bridge. Some like the top of the bridge and the finger board to be the same curvature. I usually move the sound post a little more toward the E string when I do a new set up for a jazzer. I think that the E coming through is very important to a jazz play, one of whom, I am not. I don't want to say too much as to not lead you astray, if I haven't already.

Matthew, Arnold enlighten both of us- correct me if you must

[Gearhead43]

Slap style players use as many different style setups as any other bass players do, but many of us like certain things in common.

Very generally speaking, a low-tension string setup along with a flatter bridge profile is common for slap.

Some like very low string height, some like high string height, it depends on personal preference and playing style. I prefer about 9mm height under each string - same all the way across instead of the G string being alot lower. I know quite a few slappers that like this also as it makes the G easier to "grab" with the pads of the fingers for slap.

I prefer gut strings, but low tension nylon type strings like Innovation Silver Slaps and Supernils are popular also. Weedwacker strings are also very popular for slap-only setups (not very good for pizz, IMO). Some players use a set of Solo-gauge steel strings tuned down to orchestral tuning.

Also, since ebony fingerboards were mentioned I will clarify that also. The actual timbre of the "string slap" or "click" against the board is just as important to most slap players as the overall note tone. Many slap players actually prefer Rosewood fingerboards because they have a woodier / mellower slap tone than ebony, although ebony sounds good also and some prefer it. My C1 has a maple board and has a very cool woody slap tone. The downside of softer woods is that the boards wear faster, etc.

For anyone else interested in slap bass, there are two other great forums at:

http://www.doublebasschat.com/forum/index.php (this is the new home of the Rockabillybass.com forum)

and

http://www.artofslapbass.com/artofslapbass/

Hope this helps.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Jim S

I'm told that a jazz player wants the strings closer to the finger board for the sake of speed.

"Jazz setups" are as different as the players who play them. Brian Bromberg uses weich strings and sets them about as close to the board as possible. When I met Percy Heath and played his bass, it was set up like this, too. Drew Gress keeps his strings (mittel gauge last I heard) way off the fingerboard. Dennis Irwin borrowed my bass for a show once, and when i got it back I could almost insert my entire hand between the strings and the board. At the Aebersold camps where I teach each summer, each player has their own setup vibe. If you really listen to the sound/vibe they're each going for, their setups all make sense. All of this is to say (of course) that setup is a personal choice.

I personally like stiff/tense strings set at about 7mm on the G and 11 mm on the E for jazz. I've seen bluegrass players at both ends of the spectrum, but most seem to tend toward the higher side.

[PaulKing]

What Gearhead said.

Though, exactly what this means for the OPs bass is hard to say. Seems likely the bass may be set up with relatively high strings, poss strung with gut or nylon strings, poss with flatter curvature on bridge and board than a jazz bass.

But I'm not sure that any of those things wouldn't suit bluegrass equally well. One player may choose to lower the strings for their blue-grass playing, while another might actually raise them.

I'm not sure there are any clear distinctions between typical set ups for slap and bluegrass. Or for blues for that matter. I'm playing lots of Willie Dixon style slap blues and boogie at the moment, my set up is a slap set up. But I'd use it for blues rock, rockabilly, even bluegrass if I ever met anyone who played it over here!

[Jim S]

Thanks For all the interesting info. I'm having a great time learning to play this old Bass. I'm able now to play in our local jams without being a jam breaker. My goal is to be good enough by Feb to jam with the good guys at Wintergrass. I hope to meet someof you there. Thanks again. Jim