Slapping on a p bass

[bdplaid]

Video evidence. I prefer slapped P to J, ymmv

And i love the economy of motion on his left hand. Brilliant.

 

[Bassheart365]

Marcus Miller - Jazz
Larry Graham - Jazz
Louis Johnson - MM

 

[selowitch]

If I intended to a do a whole lot of slapping it's true that I probably would reach for a Jazz Bass or Music Man before I would reach for a Precision, but none of that means that it's impossible to get a good slap tone out of a Precision. And it goes without saying that changing one's technique, the pickup(s), and/or the strings or bridge could also have an impact on tone in general and slap tone in specific.

The clear consensus here is that you absolutely can slap on a P if you wish and many people will be perfectly happy with the results.

 

[dkelley]

Good one. I was and am a big fan. I do think that she played slap bass on those tunes at the time because it was fashionable, not necessarily because it's her way of expressing. She hasn't done anything in 20 years where slap bass would work. Nor has she played bass at all on the recordings, I don't think.

But I still like the post. I was a teenager when those 'Til Tuesday albums hit and I thought Aimee Mann was the bomb. Yet another singer playing bass right out front.

well, she quit playing bass a few years later. I don't know why. She's an excellent bassist - graduated from a competitive music school as a bass player.

Then she made it big and decided not to play her best instrument any more.

But that's beside the point - which is that she was a great bassist, slap and regular, played precisions exclusively I believe, and this is a great example her playing. Although I honestly think her "solo" concert on, I think SNL?, was the best demo of her bass playing (with her solo band).

 

[BassMatter23]

Eddie Watkins Jr., rarely mentioned but killed with a pbass on Herbie’s album Feets, don’t fail me now.

 

[Mike Sorr]

Patrice Rushen -"Forget Me Nots"

This song is the reason I don't like slap on a P Bass. I have always hated this song.

 

[Dragan]

No, you haven't
And just for you, I'll say it again;
Ps produce my favourite slap sound...by FAR!

I'm honoured!

 

[DJ Bebop]

 

[cnltb]

I'm honoured!

 

[Al Krow]

I can't believe nobody has posted Aimee Mann yet!



Til Tuesday, back in the 80s. FYI the unfairly beautiful blond girl is the lead singer AND bassist - and yes she was that solid as a slap (and regular) bassist live while singing.

I love the precision slap sound in general - I learned to slap on a precision, and I never heard anything wrong with the tone.

More mids, not less!

Thank you for introducing to this artist (have to fess to not having come across her before). Any talented singer / songwriter bassist always gets my attention!

 

[Wasnex]

I'm all about P basses. That's my favourite kind of tone for most of the stuff I do, but when it comes to slapping... it's not just setup and EQ, imho.
With an appropriate setup, you can slap on both Ps and Js, but the tones are different even if you have a super powerful EQ.
The way J pickups are positioned and wired produces a specific tone that is not fully achievable with a P bass. You can work on the EQ as long as you want, but the attack and definition is dectated by that J bridge pickup, which a P doesn't have.
Some people prefer the slap tone on Ps, I personally don't.

I agree that EQ will not make a P-bass sound exactly like a J-bass. But it can still make a huge difference, and also give you an awesome slap tone.

 

[dkelley]

Thank you for introducing to this artist (have to fess to not having come across her before). Any talented singer / songwriter bassist always gets my attention!

not slap, sorry for off topic, but this is the performance I was talking about earlier, which showcases how musical and good a bassist she is, particularly while singing complicated parts live on tv

 

[aproud1]

Loving all the great videos. I'm not great at slapping any bass. I will say the jazz sounds clean and the P sounds funky when slapped.

Keep up the videos.

 

[pappabass]

Nah, too muddy sounding unless you jack the tones or use a pedal

 

[eddododo]

It has its own unique sound. There’s something 3 dimensional and magical about jazz bass slap tone- there’s something perfectly meaty and magical about p-bass slap tone. I wouldn’t use them the same way, instinctively.. most of the same things can be said about the fingerstyle, diggin-in, and pick tones of each bass. I think the main thing to note is that both have very usable and distinct personalities in all of these contexts, which is probably why they are so loved, and these aren’t even the ramblings of a die-hard

 

[Al Krow]

@dkelley - clip of Aimee playing slap precision live on her track Love in a Vacuum you posted a link to earlier.

I don't think Til Tuesday really registered over here in the UK (which is partly why I suppose I'd never come across Aimee before): I guess this particular blonde was eclipsed by another Blondie from NY!

 

[Al Krow]

The Patrice Rushen Forget Me Nots being performed by another capable ('amateur') female bassist on a P bass. Well actually a PJ bass which just happens to be the 'posh' version of my current goto gigging bass

I hope you'll agree that she does a pretty good job!

 

[funkymonk13]

This is ridiculous. Of course. Slap on whatever bass you like. If it doesn’t sound good you’re not doing it right, it’s not the bass’ fault.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Learn to use your freakin’ EQ !!!!

 

[woody357]

Slap on any bass you want. I owned a P bass back in the 70s and I slapped the heck out of it, and a friend slapped on his Ric. Like I said you slap on any bass.