Music man advice please

[Slappindabass]

Need to get a bit slappy with my new band and wondered if my plethora of Precision basses are not the tool for the job. 

These are options I have come up with

 

A.  Sub 4 sterling

B. Harley Benton

C. Make a precision bass out of the lumps of wood and spares I have laying around. and stick a mm pup in.(cheapest option but will it sound right?)

 

Thanks for any input whatsoever 

[Dad3353]

8 minutes ago, Slappindabass said:

...Precision basses are not the tool for the job....

Are you saying that none of your current basses can be made to respond to a 'slapping' technique..? What's stopping them from sounding 'right'..? 

[Slappindabass]

I love P basses and get a nice slap tone from them, but I think I would get a discoier(new word) sound from a stingray.

[miles'tone]

1 hour ago, Slappindabass said:

Need to get a bit slappy with my new band and wondered if my plethora of Precision basses are not the tool for the job. 

These are options I have come up with

 

A.  Sub 4 sterling

B. Harley Benton

C. Make a precision bass out of the lumps of wood and spares I have laying around. and stick a mm pup in.(cheapest option but will it sound right?)

 

Thanks for any input whatsoever 

A - the Sterling Sub Stingray is active and has a neck profile and nut width like a Jazz

B - HB is passive and has a chunky neck and nut width like a Precision. (HB do a double pickup active version that has 24 frets but it all looks a bit schronky (my new word 😄) to me.)

Sterling if you can afford it but HB not to be sniffed at if not.

Edited August 15, 2020 by miles'tone

[SICbass]

Alternatively an OLP with upgraded pup and active pre-amp?

Like this one for example:

Cheap as chips and I’ve loved the ones I tried out.

[tomthebass]

53 minutes ago, SICbass said:

Alternatively an OLP with upgraded pup and active pre-amp?

Like this one for example:

Cheap as chips and I’ve loved the ones I tried out.

Agree with you SICbass, bought a used OLP a couple of months ago for £200 inc postage, sounds and plays like it had an extra 0 on the price tag! In fact I love it so much I've just bought another to play around with as a project bass 😁

[fretmeister]

Can't slap on a P?

 

Freddie Washington is judging you right now!

[Slappindabass]

Ahhh but thats not what I said!😁

[SICbass]

Just in case you don’t already know, OLP stands for original licensed product. Ernie Ball licensed Hanser Holdings International to build MM copies. The OLP line turned out to be very good indeed for the price.

Edited August 15, 2020 by SICbass

[ezbass]

That OLP for the win IMO.

[stewblack]

I have the OLP. A 5er in fetching pink.

As they say in Midsomer Norton, theym orlrigh mind

[stewblack]

I also have the Harley deluxe 2 pick up job - it's absolutely stunning, and active and pick ups are bright and punchy as hell. However...the neck pup is so close to the fretboard that you can hit the strings but pulling them is not easy.

[Slappindabass]

Thanks for all the comments.

[dub_junkie]

No complaints from me on how an MM or P sounds for slap. 
though have always preferred the tone of a J/J bass with both pickups on for that style of playing. 

[Beedster]

Just play the bass you prefer to play and learn to make your slap technique sound good on it. If you're not happy, an EQ pedal might be as effective a solution as a new bass

[hubrad]

22 hours ago, Slappindabass said:

I love P basses and get a nice slap tone from them, but I think I would get a discoier(new word) sound from a stingray.

Mwahahaaah.. welcome to our world! 😄

 

[bloke_zero]

On 15/08/2020 at 11:41, Slappindabass said:

 

C. Make a precision bass out of the lumps of wood and spares I have laying around. and stick a mm pup in

A vote for C

 

[drTStingray]

On 15 August 2020 at 11:41, Slappindabass said:

Need to get a bit slappy with my new band and wondered if my plethora of Precision basses are not the tool for the job. 

These are options I have come up with

 

A.  Sub 4 sterling

B. Harley Benton

C. Make a precision bass out of the lumps of wood and spares I have laying around. and stick a mm pup in.(cheapest option but will it sound right?)

 

Thanks for any input whatsoever 

I understand exactly what you mean - from about 1977 on bass guitar sounds became very different - far more focussed/ clean and crisp sounding.

Whilst a Precision can sound ok slapped anyone trying to play Level 42 slap lines on one will immediately see the sonic and other limitations of that type of instrument.

If you want to get the Stingray slap sound (an example of which is a late 70s Louis Johnson sound) on a budget then an SBMM Sub will get you in the ball park (listen to Juliaplaysgroove on You Tube - a good example is her cover of Hair by Larry Graham). For slightly more money, a used USA Sub will get you a full Musicman 2 band EQ sound. 

For those who don't get the difference between a slapped Precision and say later 70s sounds, listen to the first Rose Royce album and then the later 70s ones - the later ones have Alembic bass where the slap sound is far cleaner and crisp sounding (less muddy). 

Edited August 17, 2020 by drTStingray

[SICbass]

5 hours ago, bloke_zero said:

A vote for C

 

I’m curious, I looked at the beginning of your thread and the bit about pick up positioning. Did you find the positioning on the OLP good or was there room for improvement? And, while I’m on the subject , do all OLPs have the same positioning or does it vary?

Edited August 17, 2020 by SICbass

[Slappindabass]

Thanks for all the info, going to build a P Ray.

 

In the mean time this was less than £70.00 pounds in ebay last night so thought I would give it a try. Going to take my bandsaw to the headstock asap!