Good slap tone - HELP - ActiveBass Instructional Forum

Good slap tone - HELP

Todd Mettee (83)

Bass Instructional Forum
9/12/2008 5:35 PM

I'm trying to get a good slap tone similar to the Spin Doctors or Opie Gone Bad and I'm really struggling. I've got a Hartke 2500 head, a Peavy 4-10 cabinet and a Fender American Jazz bass. I use a Sansamp programmable DI and a digitech compressor pedal. How can I keep the big low end and get that high end pop? Any suggestions on this to try? Is it my playing technique? My equipment? My ability to dial in the right sound? I've spent hours slowing trying to dial in the right sound with only limited success. I'm thinking about swaping a peavey 2-10 for a Hartke 2-10XL series to try to get more bright pop on the high notes. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

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Re: Good slap tone - HELP

9/13/2008 9:42 AM

Jay Renard (28295) wrote:

How do you run your jazz bass?

I would nuetral the bass guitar and start at the amp. Get a good sound from your amp and then fine tune it with the bass guitar.

robo :)

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Re: Good slap tone - HELP

9/13/2008 11:14 AM

Eugene Shults (361) wrote:

How is your action? I believe that has alot to do with the tone of your slap and pop.

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Re: Good slap tone - HELP

9/13/2008 10:14 PM

Marcus Hart (14325) wrote:

If you go with a Hartke 2x10, ya may wanna consider adding a 1x15 to the rig. Hartke 2x10's (aluminum coned version) are incredibly bright and may not give you that "thumpin" low end on it's own.

With your rig as is, I'd set the bass eq flat and then tweak the amp in small increments. Generally, the scooped mid set-up will give you a sound that's close to what you're looking for. Once you get a sound close to what you want, then adjust the eq on the bass.

You didn't mention what guage strings you use. Lighter guaged round wound strings sound a bit brighter than mediums or heavies.

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Re: Good slap tone - HELP

9/13/2008 11:35 PM

Greg Rhodus (7348) wrote:

i agree with Marcus....if you use the hartke xl 10's you will need the 1x25 to get your deep thump. i have the 410xl and the 115xl and the 410 alone sounds great but doesn't have near the low end thump it does with thew 1x15

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Re: Good slap tone - HELP

9/15/2008 12:01 AM

Todd Mettee (83) wrote:

Thanks for the advise. I started working with the amp without the effects and gradually worked back to the bass. It's a lot closer to what I am looking for now. I use the coated Black Beauties because they have never broken and sound fresh longer in my opinion. I played through the new Hartke LH-500 at a local music store and that amp sounds much closer to what I am looking for right out of the box. I am considering upgrading the amp and trying again. Thanks again everyone for the suggestions.

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Re: Good slap tone - HELP

9/13/2008 11:04 PM

Roger Gumbs (29626) wrote:

Could be the bass to an extent, but start by scooping the mids like Marcus stated. I belive their bassist used a Ibanez ATK bass, which provides an excellent slap tone similar to that of a Stingray.

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Re: Good slap tone - HELP

9/15/2008 3:02 AM

Kasra Saboktakin (7772) wrote:

forget about the sansamp and compressor pedal. plug directly to
the amp. Use both pickups and cut a bit of midrange from your
amp. that's it :)