How Do You Get Good Slap Tone?

[SmoothFall]

Tell me, I think I may be close, but what are some secrets?

[PB+J]

For me, the secret was to not hit too hard--I practiced scales with my thumb, looking for an even tone and control. Scooping the mids is really classic, and compression is really useful. If you listen to Marcus Miller, a fantastic slapper, his tone is all about a very steep mid cut) or bass and treble boost )and to my ears a bunch of compression

Here's my slap tone:

http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/magic/babysteps.mp3

It's a dingwall five string with both pickups on, a steep mid cut around 800 hz, and compression

[Denyle_Guitars]

I like to roll the volume back a bit. I also use the palm of my hand combined with my thumb to achieve different muted sounds.

[fyrwyr]

I think the Funk dudes from the '70's still hold the keys to the slap castle of tone, alot of the tone was from their hands and possibly dead strings!

[leolikesbass]

This is just my opinion.....

There are several 'classic' slap sounds, the p, the 70s J (marcus like), and of course the music man are all in the classic category whereas a lot of modern instruments have their own take and all. Many of them do well to have a lot of highs and lows, and that old school sound does have some scooped mids in them (mike tobias even recommends a scooped mids eg setting for his MTDs in his new owners note).

Anyways, I personally think fresh strings are in order (dead ones work good for flats getting that thumpy P sound, your experience may vary), and I would have your pups full on, however on a passive bass, I do like to roll of the tone control very slightly. I personally don't like the p slap sound, but its not to say its bad. However, having a bridge pup definitely yields some variety that is useful in this realm. That 70s slap sound is also based on the ash maple combo (ash body, maple board). this yields a pretty bright tone, I am currently hitting up a squire 5 that I modded with fralin single coils and an audere jz3b, and with some fresh strings, the sounds is pretty slamming. My other high end basses work pretty well, but I am just not afraid to put the punishment on this bass

Setup is pretty huge. if you action is real high, I don't know tht the tone is gonna be real happening, or you'll have to put more elbow grease. As far as your attack, this is an intersting topic. Youtube lousi johnsons slap instruction video, and you'll see a madman beating the snot out of his bass, and it sounds good. Then again,no one, NO ONE, does it more fluidly that Victor, and that is all about economy of motion, meaning how are you gonna hit that next note quickly when your hand is way off the bass? So, if you are gonna beat the snot out of your bass, you can't have your action real low, and if you are gonna go for the finesse route, low action is where its at.

I do recommend Ed Friedlands Slap Bass DVD. There are a number of good slap vids out there, but this do go through many good topics. Good luck!

[Guy from Idaho]

Originally Posted by PB+J

Here's my slap tone:
http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/magic/babysteps.mp3
It's a dingwall five string with both pickups on, a steep mid cut around 800 hz, and compression

very nice!
-GFI

[alanbass1]

I also think a lot of mass in the instrument really helps get 'that' tone. Those 70's Ash Jazzes and Stingrays typically used dense woods which were heavy, as were the Alembics used by some of the classic Stanley Clark and Mark King recordings which they majored on slap.

[Bassomatic]

Originally Posted by alanbass1

I also think a lot of mass in the instrument really helps get 'that' tone. Those 70's Ash Jazzes and Stingrays typically used dense woods which were heavy, as were the Alembics used by some of the classic Stanley Clark and Mark King recordings which they majored on slap.

Weight may indeed play a role in the classic slap thing.

[lambro]

just about every great "historic" slap sound was done direct to a legendary console, Helios, Neve, API, Trident, and the strings were well broken in...changing to fresh string is a relatively newer phenomenon
Compression was done with outboard LA2A's and the like.
So you need to define if you want a live slap tone or recorded slap tone

also these days slap tones really run the gamut, from the dudes with less organic sound and more metal to the rounder sounding chaps, to the flat out industial sounds...which are pretty nasty

so to say I want a good slap tone doesn't say much, you need to say I want this kind of a slap tone and then fill that gap, so who are you most trying to emmulate for reference?

[Bassomatic]

No discussion of righteous slap tone can be complete without some love for slap's inventor, his Uber Funkiness, Larry Graham. Not the fastest or most dazzling technically, but the tone, vibe, and aptness for the groove, all while singing and dancing his ass off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1IuD6F3R5I

[alanbass1]

Originally Posted by Bassomatic

No discussion of righteous slap tone can be complete without some love for slap's inventor, his Uber Funkiness, Larry Graham. Not the fastest or most dazzling technically, but the tone, vibe, and aptness for the groove, all while singing and dancing his ass off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1IuD6F3R5I

I will second that

[fyrwyr]

This ain't shabby slappin' either:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMzXt...eature=related