Marcus Miller: What the heck is he doing!?

[Les Fret]

Low action helps A LOT, but from trying his strings I can also say that they are very bouncy and low tension: a dream to slap. A bit too scooped sounding for other techniques, IMO, but no surprise they sing with slapping.

I think he has a fairly low action. You can hear that when he plays fingerstyle. The string snaps almost all the time, which is kinda cool. But his bass is set up mostly for slap and melodic playing.
Larry Graham already played double thumbing in the 70's by the way, long before Victor and Marcus.

 

[6-3-2]

I think he has a fairly low action. You can hear that when he plays fingerstyle. The string snaps almost all the time, which is kinda cool. But his bass is set up mostly for slap and melodic playing.
Larry Graham already played double thumbing in the 70's by the way, long before Victor and Marcus.

Oh yes, Larry can't be denied. His double-thumb + pinch-like pops is an amazing technique. I am against idolizing any single player, music is collective in the end, but Larry is an undeniable legend.

 

[6-3-2]

45-105 Stainless Steel Strings. Brand isn’t a big deal probably, as he has used Dean Markley, DR and Dunlop over the years.
He actually has his action raised slightly as his tour progresses and his gig fitness increases.
Definitely that 70s Jazz Bass tone is there. I’ve seen him use a mid-60s Jazz once. Different, but not wildly.
Preamp is key to the clean zing. His main bass had a Stars Guitars pre and then a Bartolini. Rodger Sadowsky also did a lot to get that bass playing at its optimum.

Roger was the first to put a pre-amp in Marcus' basses. Marcus has told the story a few times. That's probably why his old modified 70s J had that massive pick guard, to fit the pre-amp and battery.

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

He’s bouncing his thumb off the D and G in a video of Blast that I’ve seen. Also his index is hooked right under his thumb to pluck the same string on the way up.
When playing the melody, he actually plucks up with the index first and then thumbs down after in various sequences.

This was a HUGE help. While slowly watching him (Blast!) I caught the pluck/thumb you mention in your last sentence. That's the "trick" I was missing. It is also "the sound" that really tops-off Marcus Miller's playing for me. Also, I wasn't getting a good slap on the G, but I find if I bounce-off the G faster, it rings nicely. I can slap my banana-thumb on a low note on the E, and it is almost impossible for it not to ring-out. On the G though, I need to bounce my thumb off FAST to ring-out. I thought it was necessary to "thumb through" the G (first half of double-thumbing), but that wasn't the right sound. Also, the "thumb-through" does not mesh as well with the pluck.

I also notice that with the pluck/thumb high-up on the G, the thumb-slap immediately after the pluck is louder due to the pluck placing the string into motion, than a thumb-slap alone is. Sort of reminds me of how a gong is "warmed-up" by gentle drumming on the edges, before being struck in the center. Again, this is the core essence of my OP. I just didn't get how he could get those high notes ringing in rapid sucession.

Thanks!

Apologies in advance for any excessive "fan-boy" behavior here, but Marcus Miller's style is what inspired me to get back into bass.

 

[Swamp_Ronin]

It’s impossible to over-fanboy over Marcus. The best players in the world still look up to him.

 

[pdbass]

 

[pepj]

I think he does a version of double thumb or has done for years, but mostly it is very refined triplets.
However, since he has such facility he could pretty much do what he wants and he might have 'updated'

I have to say I dont spend that much time listening him these days though.