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Sorry newbie question...

D

DazzyPig

Jul 16, 2007
68
0
37
Birmingham UK
www.myspace.com
#1
Hi there.

I have been playing guitar (you know, the small one?) for about 11 years and have decided it's time to turn to the darkside, cos i'm sick of bassists getting super funky sounds that i can't. I've loved the sound for some time and have got a bit of money together and i want to get my first bass! :hyper:

I'm sure this will have been asked a Gazillion times before, but here goes...

I'm predominantly interested in funk playing (specifically slap) and was wondering what you would reccomend for about £400/$800? i only want four strings as that's what i'm used to.

And i'm not a complete beginner, although i don't own one myself i do play them a fair bit and use my fingers mainly (dnt like the pick sound) but i can't slap and have never really had the oppertunity to try so i was wondering if you guys could point me in the direction of something in my price range that is wholly slappable! :D


Also, if i had about £130/$260 for a cheap but good amp what would you reccomend, just for home use?

Cheers guys and great forum!
 
#5
Have you tried some basses in the shops, i know it is an obvious one but that is generally the consensus around here.

There really is endless amounts of basses, some of which may appeal to you. I think the obvious ones to try are Jazz, P Bass (the P bass slap tone is an aquired taste but i sure as hell love it!) maybe even some of the Ibanez's they offer great value for money and have several models which may appeal to you.
 
#6
welcome to the darkside. I think you will find your stay to be quite refreshing.

if you can find a used Stingray, then get that. Good for slapping. I rarely see used Stingrays for under 1000 USD, so for you, maybe they aren't available that cheap.

In that case, look for a used MusicMan SUB, preferably with active EQ. Active EQ is great when you're learning to slap, because if you suck too much to make it sound good, just tweak your EQ. Boosting the mids will make poorly articulated slaps sound much better. Maybe that's cheating, though, and I think a lot of people would disagree with me.

So here's what I think:
choice 1, MusicMan Stingray;
choice 2, MusicMan SUB;
choice 3, anything with active EQ such as the Invalid Link Removed, which has a 2-band active EQ
 
#8
unfortunately, I can't slap, so i'd be at the mercy of the sales people

"well if your learning to slap then this way overpriced bass would probably be better":rollno:

I know what you mean though, that's exactly what i would usually suggest.

Just kind of looking for some guidance, it won't be a permanent instrument, just something to learn on and get me started on my way untill perhaps i'm in the position to know what to look for on my own and spend a bit more money.

What are good attributes to a funk/slap bass? Active circuitry? high/low Action? particular type of bridge? scale length? pickup configuration?

Any slap guys who wanna throw their $0.02 in go for it!

EDIT:(sorry if i just asked questions other ppl have answered, i'm not yet used to the speedy response times on your forum, but i could get used to it)
 
#11
I'd say for that price range, maybe a japanese fender jazz 24. the one with the SD Basslines pups in it. Not a bad tone for a beginner slapper, plus you don't have to fight the bass to get that thumb thumpin' sound. If you're willing to spend a little more maybe a lakland 4401 either with the bart mk1's or lakland pups. there's my $.02. by the way, there's plenty of those for sale in the TB classifieds at any given time, the laklands that is.
 
#12
DazzyPig said:
i think they're a little pricier in the UK, usually aroung £800-900 $1700ish

The OLP version is well within my price range though, is that any good? maybe with a Genuine MM pickup swap?
Click to expand...
Hey,
I just looked at Bass Central here in the states and they sell new in the $1200. - $1400 range. I don't know about shipping cost, maybe expensive, but might be worth checking into. Also, I was talking used instruments in your case. Never been across the pond though.;)
Cheers,
Tom
 
#16
Sound Control have some pretty good stuff, they are a wee bit expensive and usually the basses they sell can be found else where (epecially online) for quite a bit less. I would go in SC more often if i felt welcome, the guys at the Edinburgh branch are pretty cool but i think due to them having A LOT of thefts from the store they are a bit more vigilant and unless your going to buy something they aren't likely to allow you to just play something for the hell of it.
 
#17
Can you borrow something short term to practice on? Gives you time to hunt for a deal.
Then hit all the shops and try and browse. When something speaks to you, you'll know. If you can afford it, get it (incl haggling & shopping around). If it's over you're price range, try for one secondhand which usually nets MUCH better value.

My suggestions would be
Ibanez ATK300
Invalid Link Removed
Ibanez SRX350
Invalid Link Removed
Peavey Cirrus BXP
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Yamaha BB614
Invalid Link Removed (there's also a passive version of this)

I used the Thomann site simply beacuse I don't know any stores in Blighty and thought it waould serve as a reference point. They also list all instruments seperately with different finishes sothere are different colour options from the one's shown.

I'd also search for a secondhand Ibanez SR500. Looks like it's a tad expensive new. Be surprised if you couldn't try most of these in a store in the UK.
 
#18
DazzyPig said:
Do you think this would do the trick Invalid Link Removed, says it has 3 band active EQ? (sorry for my ignorance but actually is active EQ?)
Click to expand...

yeah, I think that would do the trick. For funk and slap, I think it would be really nice to have active EQ, if you're just starting out.

Active EQ: the bass has a battery which powers a pre-amp to provide boost (usually something like 10 db, I think) to the bass, mid, or treble ranges (if it's a 2-band active EQ, then it boosts bass or treble).
Since you're boosting the signal before it gets to the pre-amp stage of the amp, I think of it as pre-gain stage. If I boost my mids all the way on my Stingray, it almost gives me a really nice distortion sound, and it really comes alive.

Active EQ will make your bass sound more funky even if you're not playing funky. Boost the treble, cut the mids a little bit, and boost the bass a little bit, and you'll get a real funky sound. (of course you could do the same thing on your amp, but depending on how good the amp is, you might not hear the differences very well).

For slapping, when you're just starting out, you might want the action set a little higher than normal, otherwise you'll be bouncing the strings off the fret board more than you intend. For the pop, it's easier to get your finger under the string for a real strong pop if the action is set higher.
I don't do much slap pop on my Stingray because I have the action set stupid-low. When I want to play slap-pop, I switch to my SUB

anyway, how some of that helps
 
#19
I would consider a EBMM SUB bass. It's got the Musicman quality and sounds in their most affordable line. It would be a very good bass to learn to slap and pop. Can't go wrong with any Ernie Ball Musicman...IMHO. Also, look on ebay and see if you can find one there. The consistency of EBMM's is very good, so if you like them, you should be fairly confident of getting the same quality and sound used. One more thing to keep in mind is that part of what makes the Stingray so popular for slap is that there is no pickup in the middle of the bass for your fingers or the strings to hit. If you look at the Spector, I would feel like those pickups would be in a bad position for banging away.

Here's one on eBay now that is in your range, even if you have it shipped from the US:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2003-Ernie-Ball...oryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
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