Advice regarding slap bass tone!

What bass are you playing, and what is your idea of a good slap tone?

To oversimplify a bit, what sounds good to me (and this is subjective) is usually to cut some mids/high mids, boost the low mids and cut the low bass.

 

the backline 600 has a voicing/contour control that scoops mids for a good slap tone. try adjusting that knob. clockwise=more mid scoop, completely counterclockwise= off, or flat. also, try steel roundwounds and a setup.

 

You need a treble response from your bass plus low enough (or strong enough slapping) to make strings hit frets. A compressor helps a lot. You may add a bit of chorus to beef up a tone a little.

For really awesome slap sound mic and mix sounds of your hands playing on a bass too.

 

Get a jazz bass!

 

Ash body maple neck Jazz bass problem solved

 

a standard P bass is not commonly known for having a great slap tone, but i'm sure with a bit of eqing you can get a good thump from it

 

+1 IMO/IME it doesn't really matter WHAT bass U R using....I've found it's FAR more in the player- I ain't real good at it tho
BUT I do get a great slap tone outta my P-bass with flats on it!!! And outta my Jazz w/ rounds!
EQ- bit of bass, cut a bitta mids & add a touch trebs-not too much or U get all string noise Practise is the best way IME!

 

Ew! When are we going to quit scooping mids and adding treble for slap tone? And when are we going to quit using Jazz basses and driftwood basses with active EQ's for slap and start using Precisions again? Sheesh! Back in the 60's and 70's, slappers were manly. They didn't try to slice your head off with treble or scoop out everything but lows and highs. They had a good manly sound that was full of balls. Now it's this plinkly plink plink crap all over the place. No wonder non-bassists hate slap nowadays!

 

i use a stingray 4 banger...and never scoop mids ....

 

As I said- B4........ Bass6/10 Mid 4.5/10 Treb 5.5/10 works for me...sometimes-depending on the acoustics of the room It MAY be the opposite! Boost the Mids, cut the treb.... As I say-Practice makes it best!

 

Before I even clicked on this thread and read the first post, I knew I was going to respond by saying, "Turn up those mids." Upside-down smiley-face is the way to go!

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or thereabouts

 

Great P bass Slap tone



Jazz copy shot with camera phone-sorry!

 

It sounds awful, IMO. But then again, I hate every tone I have ever gotten out of p-bass. Yes, I'm serious.






My Genz-Benz has three signal shaping options. Low boost, mid scoop, and signal attack. When I want slap, I just push all three. If I have to EQ it manually (I got an amazing slap tone out of a deluxe active jazz at GC today using the EQ on the bass) I scoop out the mids, boost the lows, and boost highs. I love the modern crystal clear slap tone. Clinky is not the word I would use for it.

 

Me neither. "Plinky" is the word I used for it

Different strokes, I guess, but I have no use for plink.

 

i dig a little "sizzle" in my tone, but i'll grant that it's easy to overdo the treble, especially with modern amps/cabs and basses with eq's. i set my amp eq almost dead flat, then boost the bass and treble levels a bit on the instrument. add some nice compression if desired and enjoy the thumpy goodness.

 

STRINGS! STRINGS! STRINGS!

Bass preference is all good and people are going to debate that forever, but the most important component to getting good slap sound (IMO) is in the strings. Brand, gauge, size, etc... is all preference, but make sure the strings are NEW or at least cleaned to give 'em the bright, snappy tone to bring the best slap/pop character out of the instrument as possible. Whatever the instrument.

I'd rather slap/pop on a 51 P-Bass with new strings than any Stingray with dead strings anytime.

Or is it just me?

 

Well it's definitely not just you, but I'm doing my best to stem the tide Slapping on dead strings is great. I don't dislike slapping on new rounds by any means, but I'm over slicing people's heads off with treble.

 

I'm not in love with treble. Ok, sometimes I AM. But seriously, I think dead strings are awesome for a lot of sounds, but for slapping, IMHO, they sound like garbage. On ANY bass.

And anyway the OP is looking for slap tone, and I submit it may be as simple as a string change, and there may be no reason at all to cycle through 20 bass and amp combinations to find it.

As it was for me: I almost sold a bass simply because I could never get the slap sound I wanted out of it through ANY amp. Then I replaced the strings as a last resort, and wow, there was THAT TONE. And out of any amp.

Just the strings.

 

me too. I was NEVER into 'em in that way... Not even in the late 80's when 'tin' spkrs were everywhere
& so was that clacky tone I STILL had my All tube amp & 1x15" while others'd look at me wierd! ;-) I KNEW I had a great tone..... never liked that 'tinny' bass sound- just wrong!!! IMO of course!

I like slappin on my P w/ flats..as I said & 'ray5 w new rounds..... Depends on what slap tone U R after eh???