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How to get slap sound cut through

#21
Joe Nerve said:
Research? I'd suggest getting out of the books, and into the music. (...) maybe crank your own volume a bit when slapping.
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are you serious?
ok OP do what he says here; turn your volume up when slapping and quickly turn it back down when you start fingerstyling again.

unless a song is slap the entire song, this suggestion makes no sense.
 
#22
williamk said:
for slap it's the opposite my friend! you need bass boost and treble boost, and mid cut! and some compression to even things out.
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Smiley face graphic EQ shape and squash that signal with a good compressor! And then crank up the volume! hopefully you have a piezo tweeter or two in your cabs and you aim them right your animal style drummer's head (not that it will do much ;) )
 
#28
carlis said:
What does the mid-boost switch on some basses do, then?

Low-mid frequency is always the secret.
Click to expand...

This.
Cutting mids will bury you, especially in rock with loud guitars etc.
It's the low mids that you want to keep there for sure. They add body, make the thump more clear... keep those low mids in your bass sound!
Then add or remove treble to taste.

I use a Stingray, alternating fingerstyle with slap (one of the bands I play in is a RHCP tribute) and I don't really change any settings between finger and slap.

I use a RH450 with just a bit of compression, which helps a bit. But I often play through other rigs without compression and I still sound ok and don't change settings.

Low mids!
And avoid smiley graphic EQ unless you are playing solo, as other mid rich instruments will bury you if you cut the mids too much.
Just think what sonic space is unique to bass guitar... low mids :-)
 
#30
I suggest getting a EQ stomp pedal for this type of stuff, I play lotsa Jam band /Reggae/ Hard Rock to Funk and back again. 311 / Sublime type stuff. I use a couple of EQ/boost Pedals for changing or boosting my tone. Most bass amps just have one mid cut/boost knob and its usually covers around 250-600 Hz. These are low boomy mids, but the tight clean mids that give you clarity and voicing are in the 800Hz - 1.6kHz area. Unless you have a parametric Eq or a graphic EQ on your bass amp, you probably have never heard what boosting these frequencies can do for your slap sound.

MXR M-108 and Boss GEB-7 are cost-efficient and OK solutions for giving yourself a quick boost or contoured slap sound when you need it.
 
#35
I found this thread as I was searching for a solution to this specific problem. I find reducing the mids gets me lost in the mix, although that only seems to happen in live situations; it sounds great at (low volume) rehearsals and at home. Demo's on YouTube of various basses (BassJaymi, Norm Stockton, et al) all seem to have the same punch when slapped or plucked, so I was at a loss. Tried all kinds of EQ-ing but I am happy with my present EQ for finger and slap; both sound great. Just, the slap gets lost. I have really only noticed this recently as my new band plays a lot more funky blues and my slap playing is called for a lot more. I thought it was just my perception until the lead vocalist turned to me on one funky tune where I was playing a serious funk slap style and said, "I want more bass on that!" I started simply turning up the volume and that made everyone happy, but that is very annoying, particularly when I can't easily turn it back down when the next song starts and I am trying to ever-so-gently pluck the strings because the gain is now too high. I had saved an LPB-1 on my favorite site shopping list, but now reading this thread I see the post above about Flea's tech so I am debating between that and the MXR for a possible solution. I definitely need something that is easy to switch back and forth. I will post later which I get and how it worked.
BTW I play a Spector with active P-J pickups and the TonePump.
 
#36
Thankfully, I'm able to use one EQ setting for both slap and finger stye. Actually, I tend to set the EQ based on slapping, believe it not, and regardless of the kind of gig I'm doing. The finger style works with this EQ. And I've worked with my technique to even out the finger style playing and slap. I just hate pedals (except tuners) and work hard to avoid using them. I've asked sound guys if there's a drastic difference in the two. Most say it's pretty even, some guys use a comp on my input channel and don't notice any difference. I'm saying this works for ME, I'm not suggesting to not use pedals or devices to achieve the goal.

It's possible to slap too hard, believe it not. You can kill the string by too much force. Look at some videos of the notable slap players and observe their technique. I know, beating the piss put of a bass looks cool to some folks, but it's rough on everything. Tone, hands, strings. I'm NOT saying that's YOUR issue, but it's something to take into consideration.

Good luck...
 

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