basses on you tube...really? Slap rant...

[bearfoot]

I would like to see a link to just one review that is 100% slapping.

 

[Jrussblues]

I think this was mentioned before but different basses have different slap tones and for many players it's just another tool in the tool kit. So leaving it out doesn't really work.
I understand it can be frustrating as it really doesn't apply to you if it's something you don't do. I myself don't have much use for the eq run through where every signal is boosted and cut on every possible pickup combination. But some people seem to find it helpful. I just fast forward right through those parts.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I don't like youtube sound test ... they never sound exactly the same with my equipment.

Like TheBassWhisperer did test drive the EBMM Sterling, Bongo and Stingray, hated the sound in his video. I play 2 EBMM now and they sound perfect.

I saw a lot of video about the BOSS SYB-5 and each sounded so so so bad. I bought one and I have a lot of fun with it.

So slap or not, I don't listen to those anymore.

 

[BOOG]

Check this guys youtube video's. He hardly ever slaps. I think he just really enjoys playing the bass guitar.

Nice video G.

 

[BaltBass5]

Do we need yet another anti slap thread?

Apparently some haven't gotten the message.

 

[Panther]

It's a lot like a tire review and someone just doing parking lot burnouts.

 

[zenpeace69]

What's even worse is the bibbity, bibbity super-fast percussive playing. Such displays are actually a vacuum of tone.

 

[SactoBass]

I guess most of you haven't noticed the pervasive amount of slap happy bass players

Oh trust me murph.....I've noticed it. How could I not? It makes me vomit whenever I click on a so called "gear review" video only to be utterly disappointed to see that it's not a "gear review" at all, but rather just another slap-happy wankball beating the crap out of an otherwise nice usable piece of bass equipment thinking that he is impressing someone. Guess what......he isn't. It's just like the monkeys you'll find in the bass section of any Guitar Center on a Saturday. Slap, slap, slap......hey everybody.......dig me!.....aren't I incredible?.....slap, slap, slap. Little does the monkey realize that everyone else in the store wants to throw him into the trunk of a car and drive him out to the desert.

The other one that causes regurgitation for me is when the self-annointed "expert" briefly hits a normal bass note, immediately followed by a pair of harmonics plucked simultaneously, then repeats and repeats. Barfffffff!!!!!!

Just imagine for a moment what it would be like for a gear reviewer to...........are you ready for it?.........showcase *THE GEAR* instead of wankness? Well, believe it or not, there are some reviewers out there in youtube land that do just that. Ed Friedland is one of those. He "gets" it. He realizes that his video is not "all about him" but rather it's all about the gear. There are some others as well who do a good job (the guy who showcases GK amps, for example). But I agree with murph.....most of the vids are a total joke.

 

[SactoBass]

It's a lot like a tire review and someone just doing parking lot burnouts.

LOL!!! Well stated!

 

[Frank77]

I would like to see a link to just one review that is 100% slapping.

Here's a product demo. Sort of.

 

[BruceWane]

YouTube is my #1 resource when I want to know how a bass sounds slap style through a cell phone mic.

It's also great when I want to know how a bass sounds when the recording level is set high enough to fart out on the low notes.

 

[AngelCrusher]

I liked this guys explanation and brief demo of his bass. Really gave me an idea of the tone, and it was well recorded.

 

[Runnerman]

Come on now...slap tone is important.
Slap is what we do when we should be practicing our walking bass lines and sight reading.

 

[whero]

Do we need yet another anti slap thread?

The real question is: Do we need yet another "What's the best bass for slap?" thread?

I don't mind some slapping in a bass review video - after all, some people do use slap as a technique and will want to know how it sounds on a particular instrument. But it should be one small part of a review that includes aother techniques, volume/tone settings, etc., etc.

 

[Brad Johnson]

can everyone just stop with non stop slapping on bass reviews and pickup, preamps and amps...to my ears is says absolutely nothing about how the bass sounds other than how it sounds when doing slap..which is different that just playing...Its almost as if every song in the world includes slap and really very few do...

Is it that you are trying to show the world how great you are at slap? What is up with all this? if I am listening to an instrument or gear to get an idea of how it sounds..I don't want to hear all that popping and muted string sounds that slap has..I wanna hear how the bass sounds...or other gear...good lord just make it stop already...

thats all..

This struck me as particularly amusing. What else should it yield besides what the bass sounds like when it is slapped?


IME slapping a bass can reveal tonal aspects of an instrument that fingerstyle might not. I've played basses that sounded fine playing fingerstyle that didn't cut through at all when slapped. Would I like to hear that before I buy one? There's the catch: I don't put much stock in demos. Chances are I won't sound like the demo so what's the point? I guess the difference is that I can take or leave them, watch or skip without getting triggered. Then again getting triggered seems to be the new national pasttime.


So if you hate slap and you've yet to figure out that those demos ARE NOT FOR YOU...

 

[Rojd]

I don't slap at all, it's not my thing. But I can appreciate slapping, when it's done well and done sparingly. It's certainly part of the toolkit, but there's more to bass than just slapping. Although from the amount of slapping going on, one wouldn't think so. Just my opinion.

 

[ZAR14]

Hmmm! One wonders if this post is a commentary that the OP hasn't achieved a successful level of "slap" and out of frustration and Jealousy, lashes out at those that have!

 

[Brad Johnson]

 

[Mustang Surly]

There is something I actually dislike even more than "all slap, all the time" bass demo videos: obvious guitar players (and not even GOOD guitar players at that) playing guitar riffs with a flat pick on a bass instead of bass lines finger-style through the entire video. Often, to compound the offense, they can't even keep time and the audio is poor quality. What better way to convey no useful information whatsoever about the instrument in question?

You CAN often pick up some great guitar face pointers from these same videos, though...

---sincerely, A. Hater

 

[TrustRod]

Like TheBassWhisperer did test drive the EBMM Sterling, Bongo and Stingray, hated the sound in his video. I play 2 EBMM now and they sound perfect.

I don't really like his sound either but he is consistent which makes him very useful to compare one bass to another. But I do agree it's hard to tell what you'll sound like with someone else playing.