His video title is just clickbait as it is yours, too. Btw. Marcus Miller has best slap tone ever 
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Best Slap Tone Ever????
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
However you slice it, the bass makes the sound - does a Stingray sound like a jazz? Not one bit.. yes the player has a degree of control over the sound and the way the music is played but there's no getting away from the voice of the instrument.
Best tone, that's something that be discussed objectively and scientifically proven. None of these fine musicians posted above are Larry Graham, so nope. Not the best slap tone.
I was going to say Louis Johnson.
Let’s not forget the best Pbass slap tone.
Slap tone is like any other bass tone in a discussion. Different slap tones appeal to different listeners. There are characteristics of slap tone that make it what it is. The thumb thump has the “girth” of the low end, and the pop / snap has the “zing” or “ping” of the high end. Each of those have a wide spectrum of tones in themselves. The snap tone ranges from Larry Graham on Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf) to Marcus Miller on about anything. I don’t have good examples for the thump, but the variance in tones is just as broad. Then you have the two combined, different basses, different amps, different speakers, with or without tweeters; the tone choices are endless and there are as many favorites as there are listeners......
There’s no need to discuss a “best” unless you are talking to yourself.
There’s no need to discuss a “best” unless you are talking to yourself.
Last edited:
From this thread this is my favourite, so far, by far.
I have least favourites too, but that's for another day.
did I really go through this whole thread and not a single person mentioned Mark King?
I'm not a slap fan and I can't play any slap at all, so take this with a grain of salt.
All due respect to the tones already given (obviously including the good doctor's basses which are awesome): call me old-school, but I still think Louis Johnson with his custom made (by Leo Fender) Music Man is still the pinnacle of slap tone. Yeah, citing LJ is trite and over-done, I know, but I just can't find anything that competes with, say, this:
Probably my other favorite slap tone is the humble Rickenbacker. I don't know why it's not slapped more often - probably because it doesn't have a lot of thump - but it still sounds amazing when slapped, IMO:
Anyway, my .02 contributions
L
That Ric slap tone is badazzz...Sounds just like a pre-eb sabre! Would love to know what strings those are..
I love this video..Even though that tone has no place in my music, his tone and technique is superb..
Unfortunately, yes....
I’ll admit, his tone isn’t quite what I would go for. But I never, ever.....friggin ever...miss a chance to listen to Mark King being Mark King.
...1:15
Lol yeah its my favorite era and they just dont make music that way any more, even though some was synth..
You put a highlight on three great sidemen who are forgotten at times. Buddy Hankerson, in particular, is a player who falls off of my radar for some reason although his groove is awesome.
I still prefer old school Larry Graham, early Bootsy slap tones. Graham in particular. Still some meat on the bone to support other instruments in the mix. So much modern slap tone is way too zingy for me. Rhonda Smith is a prime example. Her tone just grates on me. Wayyyyy too freakin' compressed and hi-fi. It just leaves huge wholes in the mix and doesn't really support other instruments worth a damn.
Aaron Mills of Cameo is another player that goes under the radar. His bass lines and tone from those early Cameo days was fantastic .
Last edited:
Here is a nice story about Aaron Mills:
Bassist Aaron Mills' best years may be ahead of him
I see Mills has a Spector in the article. The last time I saw Cameo, he was playing an old 1980’s Spector with one pickup.
