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P/J for slapping?

#21
capnsandwich said:
I used to play at a church that had a little Japanese Fender active PJ. That bass had about the best slap tone I've heard from a bass under $1000. It was active but I usually just ran the EQ as flat as possible and had both pups on 100%. It was punchy, growly, and had a nice high-end pop to it. I used to bring my Lakland 5'er to play but after a while I just left it home.

There's really only one way to get a good opinion. You have to get a hold of one yourself and play one. Everyone's idea of a good slap tone varies so what may work for me may not work for you. I'd almost guarantee that your bass will have a good tone to it once it's modded. If it doesn't you still have a P bass.
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I have a 55-02 that I can't seem to get a good slap tone out of. I'm only beginning to slap, though, so I'm not sure where I should be setting the knobs. I know to take the mids out, but I'm not sure by how much. Can you give me a hand? We can take it to PM to not hijack the thread...
 
#22
roadkill2309 said:
I have a 55-02 that I can't seem to get a good slap tone out of. I'm only beginning to slap, though, so I'm not sure where I should be setting the knobs. I know to take the mids out, but I'm not sure by how much. Can you give me a hand? We can take it to PM to not hijack the thread...
Click to expand...

Kinda depends on the tone you want and what tone your hands are giving you.
 
#29
I love my P/J's slap sound. It's a Sadowsky 24-fret 5-string. It's the first and only set of P/J pickups that I've really liked. I had a lovely 1989 Fodera Monarch with EMG P/J's and although it had a great slap tone and a really beautiful solo tone, it didn't have much girth in the low end and that wasn't so great when you just wanted to play bass with it. I think it was more a function of the pickups and, to a lesser degree, a low action than the bass itself.

I think the P alone is certainly usable but it does have a highly-distinctive tone that some people can't dig. You could say it has some sort of "hole" in there but that's relative to basses with bridge pickups. I see it as just another possible tone. Now that basses with bridge pickups are popular for slap, it's kind of refreshing to hear someone slap on a straight P. Takes me back to early funk and Studio One recordings where that's all there was around to slap on!

JazzyJames, I have a friend back home that also "hates" P/J's because of the screw on the forward P. He has owned soapbar pickup basses his whole life so I think that has a lot to do with it. I learned on a P so it doesn't feel weird to me. When I post over the P, I usually just rest my thumb on the forward half of the pickup instead of right in the middle. Otherwise, I'll just rest on the low E string and drop to the pickguard when I have to play that string.
 
#31
#32
actually, a good set of hot P's will sound good if you're slapping...but you would def. need the right strings (S.S. ones, mine are Marcus Miller sigs) and it should sound pretty good. I have a Squier VM P-bass and its just sickly awesome...I almost like it more than my jazz tone for slap! lol
 
#33
ghoulbug said:
Although a P/J is the only bass I've ever had, I rarely use the J pickup for slap/popping (and when I do, it's with a lot of treble rolled off).

I've always found that while adding the bridge pickup really tightened the lower two strings for slapping, the really weak and tinny sound when popping the higher strings was pretty unbearable.

Here's a comparison from Bass Emporium's Ed Friedland, played with a Sadowsky Metro P/J:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
P only

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
P+J
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I dig this, actually, the P alone sounds too "dirty" in my opinion and the added J makes the frequency spectrum sound a lot more even, in my opinion this is pretty much the "modern" slap tone that's popular right now.
 
#34
Kevinlane said:
Brad were you the one that jsut recently bought #5057? I was jonesin' hard on that one, and I had just sent out money for a used Vintage P/J5.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=443710

I was so happy/sad went 5057 sold
Dang I want that bass!
Click to expand...
Nope. Got mine mid-2006. It's [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

#5057 is nice but a bit flashy for my taste. I would be really interested to hear the difference between two 24-5 P/J's, one with regular P/J arrangement and the other reverse P/J.
I'm sure it sounded killer though.

Enjoy your "honeymoon" with your new bass!
Cheers!
 
#38
The best slap tone I've heard is P/J. The inherent phase cancellation you get wtih two PUPs (of any kind) lends itself to the slight mid-scoop that works great for slap. The P PUP gives some meat that a typical Jazz neck PUP doesn't have, and P PUPs are generally pretty bright too. It's a great combination, and in fact the only use I have for both PUPs at the same time on any P/J I've ever played or owned. I tend to solo the P PUP most of the time, and use the J PUP solo for a few things, but never the two together unless it's slap time.

Louis Johnson who knows a little bit about slap tone used a P bass for the first Brothers Johnson ablum (including "Get The Funk Outta My Face").

jte
 
#40
This works really well, even in passive mode.
Nordstrand pickups Kick Butt!

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