To be more exact I was meaning using two fingers not a pick and continous phrases like holding one note for 4 1/16th notes and then moving on to the next note, but again all 1/6ths for at least 8 bars. I can get just over 90 with that before I slip away from the beat but the moment the amount of string skipping increases or its down to changing note every single 1/16th its back down below the 90 bpms for me. The reason I ask is that I wanted some kind of goal to aim for when practising. It sounds like its worth working my way up to 110bpm.
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i meant 2 handed tapping on bass 40 years ago was really very early. (reportedly) eddie van halen performed eruption (the tapping part) with his back to the audience for the first two years since the release of the album so that cat stayed pretty much in the bag until 1980. tapping on bass went mainstream when stu hamm toured with satriani in the late 80s
either your memory fails you or 40 years is... an exaggeration? and the other guy was just as incredulous as me.
edited to add: after a quick search, i realized i'd forgotten billy sheehan in the mid-80s. here's a TB thread regarding tapping:
First Bassist to Tap?
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"Credit" sounds even faster, or at least more difficult.
Can we agree that it's not so much the speed of the note that counts, but the context they're in and the actual notes being played? This is important. Almost anyone can hammer out the same note 16 times per measure at the hearty clip of 100 bpm for a short time. Try maintaining that speed with a few thirds and sixths thrown in. "Howdya like me now?" your fingers ask. 
Im definately going to adopt your Rocco barometer! Thanks for that
Actually my main inspiration was seeing Stanley Jordan in the early or mid 80's. So however long that was ago. I already explained I don't do well with numbers and dates. Every basic math class I had through middle and high school I had to take twice to pass. Back then I was just a kid with a bass and a metronome and a love for the sound of heavy fast classical music and no teacher and no friends to jam with. I had to invent my own music lessons based solely on a book of guitar chords and trying to imitate music I heard.
Funny you mentioned Stuart Hamm. He was one of my earliest bass heroes and he was in one of the first bass magazines that I bought. After reading about him I mail-ordered his cassette tape and it made an impression on me because he was doing what I had been attempting to figure out on my own. The only difference was he was making music and I was just doing mechanical arpeggios really fast. It was very depressing to me and I gave up for a while because I was immature and I thought I was something special.
So yeah, you are kinda correct about me, but EVH wasn't ever an influence on me whatsoever. I always thought he and VH were some sort of joke like Spinal Tap.
Good job focussing on the numbers of what I was saying rather than the point of what I'm saying. Can I guess your job now? I'm going with accountant or athelete of some kind.
More mids too!! Just make sure you don't under power them.So make sure you cab has 10's. They're faster.
Nev375 "Something like 120 notes a second or something."
-That's 7200 BPM hitting on the one I think...
-That's as fast as alternating current cycles in the US I think.
-The bass might disintegrate or catch fire I think.
-Stu Hamm might spontaneously sh1t his pants if you hit those marks.
This is why your post got all joked up, don't take it too hard.
Regardless I'm going to take a risk and say the OP shouldn't try to play bass that fast!
...
-That's 7200 BPM hitting on the one I think...
-That's as fast as alternating current cycles in the US I think.
-The bass might disintegrate or catch fire I think.
-Stu Hamm might spontaneously sh1t his pants if you hit those marks.
This is why your post got all joked up, don't take it too hard.
Regardless I'm going to take a risk and say the OP shouldn't try to play bass that fast!
...Nev375 "Something like 120 notes a second or something."
-That's 7200 BPM hitting on the one I think...
-That's as fast as alternating current cycles in the US I think.
-The bass might disintegrate or catch fire I think.
-Stu Hamm might spontaneously sh1t his pants if you hit those marks.
This is why your post got all joked up, don't take it too hard.
Regardless I'm going to take a risk and say the OP shouldn't try to play bass that fast!
Maybe it was 12 notes a second? Seems I remember there being a 1 and a 2 in there.
That's makes much more sense. 12 notes per second is equivalent to 16th triplets at 120 bpm or 16th notes at 180 bpm. And yeah, that's pretty fast.
In my eyes, there is a difference in playing straight/even 16th notes and triplets the finger style (no pick, no slap, no tap).
Somehow it happened that I play the fast triplets with my Ring, Middle, and Index fingers, and it come easier and faster than those straight/even notes played with just two fingers - Index and Middle.
Definitely! I can't play bass that fast but I know from hand percussion.
Playing 16th triplets using 3 fingers, you would pluck the string with your ring finger every 8th note (which is "easy" at 120 bpm), and then the middle and index fingers would follow (that is, pluck with the middle and then with the index before the next 8th beat).
Playing 16th triplets using 2 fingers is a bit harder. Start by plucking triplets each quarter note (3 notes per quarter note) with only ONE finger (e.g., the middle one), and then start playing notes in-between with the other finger.
At high bpm, I think it's very difficult to maintain a consistent tone across all notes/fingers, so the accents and groove will be different depending on how many fingers you use.
There is a instr.video on how to play this on the internet which i found helpful.
Thank you, and welcome to TB. You are already a valuable member by sharing this advice!
Or mix them...let's not go there.More mids too!! Just make sure you don't under power them.
You realize that if you play notes fast enough they become a drone (and I don't mean the flying kind). The human brain can only process information so fast (even slower if inebriated) and anything beyond that threshold becomes a blur, whether the information is scenery observed from a speeding car's window or thousands of musical notes crammed into a tiny space of time. Bearing that in mind along with how many musical situations you will likely encounter that requires such playing, this exercise may prove interesting, but not crucial to becoming a great bassist. In other words, if you can't play that fast for long periods of time, don't sweat it. None of us do. Have a great day.
You may have answered this already, but what time signature are you talking about? Basically, is the beat on 1/4 notes or is the beat 1/16 notes?
I'm assuming but the question you mean 1/4 notes in which case a mediocre bass player can site read at 80bpm with sixteenth notes, so I would think the same passage with practice could be played at 120bpm.
Also, I would guess an accomplished musician could play much faster still, or if a mediocre bass guitarist practiced more he would become an accomplished musician.
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