Good slap tone

bassman515 · #1 11-26-2007, 12:02 PM

Hello all,

I play in a hard rock band and i finally have my tone close to dialed in...it sound great when i am just playing he straight riffs, (mids boosted just a bit over flat) However, when i go into a slap lick it is lacking...the mids get in the way. I play a Warwick FNA with a slap contour switch but it still is not quite there...it sounded best when my ultra low button was in (Ampeg SVT4 Pro) but then the rest of the stuff sounded thin...any thoughts here? I have thought about getting an EQ pedal to use for slap, but not sure if that is the answer or not....

thanks
Jeremy

Zappstorius · #2 11-26-2007, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassman515

Hello all,
I have thought about getting an EQ pedal to use for slap, but not sure if that is the answer or not....

thanks
Jeremy

Sounds good to me.

peterpalmieri · #3 11-26-2007, 12:33 PM

I think many of us are in the same situation where we want a totally different EQ setting for our slap tone.

I tend to like cutting the mids or boosting lows and highs. This is very different depending on the bass, amp and speaker cabinet.

I have used a few solutions successfully and very many unsuccesfully.

1. Multiple channels on the head, Ul502 one channel set to finger style the other for slap. In the case of my Glock HR I can bypass the EQ section for fingerstyle and engage it for slap.

2. Onboard EQ for active basses, you can make a few twists to cut mids or boost the other frequencies.

I have tried the Sadowsky preamp, a compressor pedal and a Sansamp. IMO they all seem to be more trouble then they are worth.

It would seem that "the sound" is hidden somewhere between your onboard EQ and the EQ on your head it's just a matter of finding it and dialing it in quickly when you need too. The tricky part is that the sound you prefer while at home isn't always the sound you want on stage, it takes time and some trial and error.

The other issue comes in when you are talking about your amp sound and the FOH mix sound. I tend to run a DI pre EQ to the board so changes on the bass make it to the FOH while changes made on the amp do not.....

bassman515 · #4 11-26-2007, 12:55 PM

Thanks makes sense...i know that i have a "hard" bypass of the amp EQ but i used that to dial in my main tone. If i use that for the slap tone and then the preamp for the main tone, i seem to loose a lot of headroom....quick, my pre starts clipping much sooner.....
J

peterpalmieri · #5 11-26-2007, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassman515

Thanks makes sense...i know that i have a "hard" bypass of the amp EQ but i used that to dial in my main tone. If i use that for the slap tone and then the preamp for the main tone, i seem to loose a lot of headroom....quick, my pre starts clipping much sooner.....
J

I don't think there is an easy answer, when I was doing what your doing now I bounced around between quite a few heads.

The one pedal that really is great and doesn't take away from your tone is the EBS micro bass, you may want to do some research on that one.

The other solution is to reEQ the head when you need that tone (that can be a pain live).

Sean Baumann · #6 11-26-2007, 02:04 PM

For some reason, I just don't have a problem switching between fingerstyle and slap tones on the same bass w/o touching EQ. I rarely EQ at all, really. I tend to add some lows on my head or the bass onboard pre, but no changes based on technique.

One option might be to get yourself something like the Radial Bassbone. I have one, but I don't use it for this purpose. It has two channels, which you can flip between using the same bass. One channel has a 3 band EQ, the other has three EQ presets. It would be possible to use one channel flat and then use the other to shape your tone for slap. It also has a built-in DI. I use my Bassbone to switch between two basses (one is a backup, which I rarely pick up heheh).

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention is that I use fairly bright round-wound strings, so this of course contributes to not having to switch any EQ to get a good slap tone. I'm using Sadowsky steels on my Sadowsky, and D'Addario XLs on my Ken Smith BSR5JMW.

bassman515 · #7 11-26-2007, 02:10 PM

Cool...i will check that out...i currently have a cpl EBS pedals and i really like the quaility...would you suggest it to be in line between the bass and amp or in the FX loop?

Sean Baumann · #8 11-26-2007, 02:14 PM

Apparently, I like EBS pedals too

My chain is something like this:

Bass -> Bassbone -> (effects loop of bassbone) -> Strobostomp -> Octron2 -> (Effects loop of Octron -> Brown Dog -> Discumbobulator) -> modded Bad Monkey -> Multicomp -> Unichorus -> (effects return of bassbone) -> Amp.

bassman515 · #9 11-26-2007, 02:24 PM

Nice...i have the multi comp and the octabass...great pedals!
J

stflbn · #10 11-26-2007, 02:39 PM

Bass xciter basically scoops everything out for ya doesn't it? Might be what you're looking for. Keep the rig as it is and pop the xCiter when you need more of a slap tone.

Worth a look. Clips on their website.

http://www.aphex.com/demo1402.htm

I don't really know much about it other then that clip seeing as how I basically fail at slap at least at this point in time, but plan to buckle down about becoming more proficient at it.

98dvl · #11 11-26-2007, 03:27 PM

You can also consider the MXR M80... You'll have a couple channels to work with. One clean, one distorted. When the distorted channel is engaged, it scoops the mids automagically. Because there's a blend control, you can actually just run an undistorted signal with the distortion switch selected... so in effect, you can have a good clean rock channel and a good slap channel all in one box... plus the distortion is there if you want it... And you can use the pedal as a DI as well (nice option to have).

I picked mine up used for $80 or so.

the low one · #12 11-26-2007, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98dvl

You can also consider the MXR M80... You'll have a couple channels to work with. One clean, one distorted. When the distorted channel is engaged, it scoops the mids automagically. Because there's a blend control, you can actually just run an undistorted signal with the distortion switch selected... so in effect, you can have a good clean rock channel and a good slap channel all in one box... plus the distortion is there if you want it... And you can use the pedal as a DI as well (nice option to have).

I picked mine up used for $80 or so.

+1

I don't have much cause to play slap but it also makes a great pick tone if you want that clicky attack sound.