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Good slap bass

#22
dkelley said:
most ibanez active basses do slap very well. Many carvins do it very well. Best slap bass I ever owned was a carvin 5 string... BB75. Incredible for slap... like it had subtle built in compression and a mid eq that just worked for it. perfect tone, perfect playability.
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I learned on an Ibanez SR100. Active pups make it easier to execute the ghost note rhythm of slapping IMO. Awesome slap bass, that one.
 
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#23
I much prefer active basses for slapping, you might look for something with a 3-band EQ, so you can crank those upper mids. I find it useful to have a coil tap, as the big round slap tone from multi-coil pickups is way different from the zingy, sharp Marcus Miller tone of jazz pickups.

There's also a big question of strings. Are you going the old school 90's Flea style with big heavy strings that you bash on with your thumb, or super light strings like Victor Wooten and a more finesse approach to how you slap? How you set up the bass is going to have a huge impact, so be aware that whatever you pick up may not be properly dialed in.
 
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#25
James Hart said:
I learned to slap on a Ric...
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+1. It can definitely be done, but they have a deserved reputation for not really lending themselves to the technique as well as some other basses.

peetmoloko said:
I'd like to keep it less than 2k or around there
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Lot of good suggestions here, especially in that price range. You might want to consider the MTD Kingston line, perhaps a Super 4 or Super 5 (slap content at 27:00 and beyond). Killer slap machines. :thumbsup:
 
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#29
The sound of slap is usually (not always) a combination of technique and the sound of the bass - which is usually a two pickup bass, both pickups up full. That does two things:

1) Both pickups on means you have two pickups wired in parallel, which gives you more high frequency extension. it also takes away some of the fundamentals - wiring pickup sin parallel means you are mathematically "averaging' the pickup's output - as a bridge pickups is very shy on fundamentals, having it one reduces the amount of fundamentals when compared to a neck pickup alone.

2) Both pickup sion means there is a deep mid scoop (which has a different frequency on every string, but I digress) - that takes away some of the low mid "oomph" that something like a P bass has (which gets in the way of the typical slap tone).
 
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#30
Les Fret said:
I agree. There is no one slap tone. As long as the neck pickup is not too close to the neck and the bass is set up well you can slap on any bass and each has its own sound just like with any other technique. It’s just a matter of personal preference.
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If the neck pickup is "too" close to the neck, you can pop the G string just outside of it, and it works just fine.
 
#32
Better way to go would be to find a bass player whose slap sound you like, than get that bass guitar (or something in the ballpark).
I mix techniques all the time live, and use slap often. I don't have a special slap guitar or setting, just find good fingerstyle sound, and adjust slap technique so it also sounds good. For me, everything works: P with flats or rounds, J, MM, Steinberger...
 
#34
micguy said:
I don't need more than one finger for a good pop. Not sure why you need to get that much flesh into it. And there's plenty of space between pickups for several fingers if the neck pickup is right by the neck.
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You can do lots of great things with three and four finger slapping. I am not talking talking about three or two fingers to pull one string as you say. I am talking about (modern) three and four finger slapping patterns (using index, middle and ring finger independently), not the old school one finger plucks. Think Victor Wooten and more. This has not nothing to do with flesh. For that you don't want the neck pickup too close to the neck because then there just isn't enough room for your fingers to pull these kind of techniques off.
 
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#35
Les Fret said:
You can do lots of great things with three and four finger slapping. I am not talking talking about three or two fingers to pull one string as you say. I am talking about (modern) three and four finger slapping patterns (using index, middle and ring finger independently), not the old school one finger plucks. Think Victor Wooten and more. This has not nothing to do with flesh. For that you don't want the neck pickup too close to the neck because then there just isn't enough room for your fingers to pull these kind of techniques off.
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I do similar multiple "pulls"; a pickup by the neck wouldn't get in the way of that - you just pluck the other side of it. Would it sound a bit different? Sure, but it'd still be quite doable.
 

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