Why Scott used to SUCK at SLAP BASS (and what he did to fix it) 

After looking up tutorials on how to get started slapping, this has been one of the most useful videos I've found so far. Especially the double thumbing stuff, they called out a few beginner mistakes that I've been making that wouldn't scale up to more challenging riffs or longer play sessions

Thumb Through gang here 🤩 one of the only naturally good things I’ve done technique wise on my own

Amazing. Like Scott I never considered my self a slap player, enven though I tried it several times, with out really getting it. But when Ian showed how to slap through and Scott showed how he learned the technic it suddenly worked for me. And it was easier than I ever thought. Thanks a lot. This has really been a mind opener for me. Now I believe I actually could be a slap player.

That opening groove was stomp down, bloody KILLER!

Thumb through basically from the very beginning. More Scott-style than Ian-style - I rotate my wrist, it's more natural for me. And as for my dream bass (since you were kind enough to ask)... well, a Wal. I've been dreaming about one for years. But I don't think I could justify spending more than my yearly salary on a bass (I'm a taxi driver in Warsaw, Poland - I don't earn British or American kind of wages). I do have one expensive bass - an Alembic Essence 5 (it's my forever bass) - but I got a great deal on a 2nd hand one, $2k about 14 years ago. A real bargain! Another bass dream is a headless Status, but the Wal is no. 1. Especially a fretless - yes, I'm a MASSIVE Mick Karn fan.

@Scott, that soloing at the beginning with the effects using the pick was inspiring. Awesome !

Thanks for your nice , practical Advices😊❤

I love that the world of bass is so full of variety. I can turn on some metal and just enjoy the deepest darkest that bass has to offer, or I can be a complete nerd and explore all the intricacies of the bass. I’m so glad I picked up the bass instead of the guitar.

Loving the Bass Bro-mance guys.

I'm left handed and i've played bass for 15 years with a upside down right handed bass, growing up all i could get was a right handed bass so i taught myself to play reversed so slap was pretty much impossible to play even though flea was my all time bass god! (perhaps knowing of the thumb-through technique i would've tried it) i was so sad i couldn't slap but i had accepted my fate. i took a long break from playing and subsequently had my bass get stolen, but a couple of years ago i got back into playing and picked up a left handed guitar and taught myself again how to play this time with the right side up strings and it felt so much nicer to learn; somehow i managed to completely rewire my brain to work right side up. however i still didn't have a bass. it's thanks to this channel that reignited my love of bass again and i managed to find a 2009 fender jazz MiM left handed literally 2 days ago and it's at the luthiers right now getting a proper setup and cleaning and my first goal is going to be to FINALLY learn how to slap!

And...great learnin sesh! Appreciate the humble, honest no-arrogance approach.

Restrung my bass with flatwounds today and took the opportunity to attempt setting it up. The action was way too high (judging by what yourself and others have said) so I adjusted the truss and the bridge etc. I’m not an expert by any standard but what I managed to do still sounded so much better than how it was sent to me. P.s, flatwounds!!! Any of you out there that have only ever played roundwounds…try out some flats!! It’s a different animal! And sounds like wooden silk.

I have a lot of basses, both jazz basses, pbasses and stingrays but the best slaptone I get is from my Carvin SB5000 (light body wood, ebony fretboard, jazz pickups and active eq).

The Slap Accelerator course is the most fun SBL course I've ever done!

I'm a newb, and just learning, so I know nothing, but I think the reason I'd like to learn slap is I want to learn base, but maybe kinda also want to learn the drums. This way I can be in the strings section, and also the percussion section.

Great jam!! Yea Scott does have a killer pic technique!! I absolutely love that J bass too!! And that Wal tho! 😍😍 definitely heard some Bobby Vega in Scott’s picking Lakland, Dingwall and Musicman, have came shipped with some of the best action I’ve ever seen, Ian is sooo damn cool!!! So glad he’s part of SBL! It just wouldn’t be the same without him involved, this was such a great lesson, my double thumb is still weak, I love the exercise Ian showed about playing light and muted

In central California and really digging an MTD Kingston Z5 I just picked up. Cheers!

These guys are gifted in the way they offer music education. I'll definitely enroll to this program next time it opens

Nice one guys! The way to slap is very much your own, with the 'How do I do thats?' I found that slap helped with speed and accuracy of my pizzicato. Am I alone in this observation? Andy.

Saw Mark King play with Level 42 one day. Got my first bass a few months later. Was doing slap within SECONDS of getting said bass...😁. Over the years, I've alternated between up thumb and down thumb depending on how high I wear my bass. Both have their pros and cons, but it largely depends on what sound I want and what song I'm playing...

I’ve been playing for years, slap and fingers but as a leftie that learned right handed and only wanted to do slap at the time and finger style felt ok too, I didn’t realise I was blocking out a whole palate of sounds and ability because I am unable to play with a pick, chuck or double thumb because it really feels so alien and awkward because my left hand is the one that feels natural with the strumming wrist actions. There’s no accuracy even after trying for years so just a note to lefties who have just started out, really really do learn the right way for you! Don’t persevere right handed if you’re not because if you suck at a technique, it’s always going to be in the back of your mind, ‘would I have been much better playing leftie’ the difference is there are to a of entry level left handed basses available now but when I started out and where I live, there was nothing. I wanted to slap so didn’t do the Mononeon thing because I thought I wouldn’t be able to learn to slap with the strings upside down (he’s non too shabby at it though!) but had the fingerstyle been awkward along with the rotating wrist style of slap, maybe I would have persevered and found someone who could modify my right handed horrible and nasty starter, short scale Encore bass and the story may have been different. Once you have been learning for a bit, the idea of starting again on a left handed bass really sucks but… having seen this video, I’m going to try and persevere and see if the technique will come to me in time as before I’ve always felt that the awkwardness you’ve both talked about here is just me trying to do something I’ll never be able to! Perhaps pick playing will always be beyond me because I don’t have the rhythm in my wrist or accuracy in my right hand with a pick. Thanks again for the video!

Bought 2 70's Fender Jazz Basses from Andy Baxter and they were set up perfect with Low Action and very playable. Here in Germany they don't know how to do that, bought 2 Basses (new) and asked them to set them up with low action but I could cram 3 credit cards in between the fret and string. The Germans are useless when it comes to setting basses up, also went to a shop and asked them to work on my basses and they were very unplayable.

@Scott- Above all, what I felt over the 2 decades of my bassperience is that the main constituent or 75% of a good slap tone is spending like 60 to 75 USD every fortnight on a new set of strings. Obviously, even post that u could still have a good tone but definitely something will be missed from the first 15 days of the string's life. And having that arm drop + thumb hitting with that bone is definitely a tiny tad better than the door knob + pulpy part technique.

I learned using a parallel thumb bouncing off the string. And I really want to work on the double thumb.

I have the same round thumb issue as Scott and have to move south to be able to up thumb without it sounding really weak.

something about the dingwall slaps sound almost pianistic. i cant imagine playing anything else now. it put bass on another level for me. but thats because i love how it makes it sound like a solo instrument!

My Sire V3 second generation was totally unplayable out if the box. Strings were sitting on the frets it needed major truss rod adjustment. My Squier Sonic P was almost perfect - half the price twice as good.

Why is the course not always available? I would like to buy it in a heartbeat.

Today I saw some rhythm guitarist who does his job very well. He had put together a little portfolio video on RU-vid, just him and some arrangement he made with whatever software he used. I should do this with bass as well, and drummers etc. Then we can start to see who would sound good with who. Like this rhythm guitar player sounds perfect with my bass, now we need a drummer and a lead, singer etc. We could do more with this platfiorm, if we wanted, it could be used to make some killer bands. This is better than band tryouts, just make video, in MP3 format, everyone go do this now, it just needs audio and that's about it. Just include a pic of what instrument you're actually playing in the section, or play multiple tracks.

❤ love the pick

16:03 I‘m wondering if you guys experienced Sandberg Basses so far. Because if not you should definitely give it a try. Very good adjustments straight out of the box / shop.

I may not have seen ever single episode they’ve made, just Scott solo or with anyone else but I think this is the first time I’ve heard a positive comment about Ibanez. To me, their actions are wonderful right out of the box (which they did say), well balanced and love all the tone options. I just ordered a SR1350D and I can’t wait. Have all the way down to the SR400EQM and they are just great every time. The neck feel is what brings me back always.

i tryed thumb down, up, streight, played thrue the string, bouched it on the frets, for me thumbs up/paralel playing thrue the string works best, (i suck at slap thou) but atleast thats what feel the best

Stu Hamm had a great slap tone with that Kabuki Factor X back in the day. I wonder if they still make them.

GUYS YOU ARE JUST THE BEST!!!

25 yrs and ive never been able to slap the G. Great tip!

hi . love it and watching from rio de janeiro 🌴

That wenge-mahogany Wal with the rosewood fb is my favourite. Mk1, 2, 3, all of them. Even Jonas Hellborg in the EBS rig video has an Mk3 wenge-mahogany Wal :)

I’ve been watching and following you for a while and I’ve wondered what’s up with the White Glove? Is it to preserve your strings or does it give you a particular Sound?

I play thru thumb because I learned it 20 years ago from a Victor Wooten VHS instructional tape.

I originally learned down thumb back in the 70s… was a tough habit to break, and it’s still best for some songs, or parts of songs, but I move back and forth with it up or down now…

Slap bass is hard, however you both have helped me get better over the years. ✌️😙

Thoughts on strap length ?

Really enjoyed this video. Who knew Louis C.K. can play the bass?

I don't doubt that it can be hard and even if I wanted to I would struggle to learn it even with good tutorials the times no more desired to slap a base than to buy a pink bass 🤣🎸🤣 Keep up what I don't doubt is really good work and I'll show that many many people will benefit brilliant tutorials like this.... Simply not my cup of Rosie 👍👍👍🎸🎸🎸

You can play that Bobby line either style, it's his rhythm that is special, but you just lose that back beat thing with your fingers, looks Ian has got it. That thing is hard for me, I struggled with many aspects of bass, I been actually working on this move thanks to Ian. A slappable bass ?. Well, to me it's feel because I think you can slap anything that has strings, after a while it just clicks after a long time of slapping, at first it's like ew no. But people tell me I sound best slapping on a P-bass, everyone does, rounds or flats. I think yeah, it has that old school funky tone that is just right for most people. I

lol - I actually love the bass slap sound at 10:43 - flats ALWAYS sound better to me, or really dead strings hahaha! It's funny how we all hear something different! It's a joy to watch you pros play, always makes me want to practice and play!!! 😀

Recorded THUMPIN' and PLUCKIN' is over 5 1/2 decades old. at least on electric bass. Yeah I still call it Thumpin and Pluckin', it just makes sense to me because of using the thumb and finger.

Dudes! Mean-ass opening jam!

As far as slapping, I try to be able to slap anything I can play with my fingers, but it's hard. Not always can I slap it, some things are too hard. I have most control in finger style, and pretty sure Scott is the same as me there, seems to be his ace in the hole is articulation to my ears. Some guys can only slap...if you can do both even on close to the same level then you're doing way better than 99% of us, you are a freak Scott to do both. If you did too much Classical it would have sucked for you, you made the right decision.

Have you ever done an episode on Mike Watt?

I learned both ways of hitting the strings with the thumb, and I usually play through the string. I couldn't explain why but sometimes I like to have the thumb bouncing away from string after hitting it. When I go through the string, I feel like I need to hit the string again on the way back, so when this is not needed I hit the string from above. That way I end up using both techniques in the same riff sometimes. This is probably not optimal, maybe I should work on using the thumb-through technique on all types of riffs.

Forget Me Nots was fingerstyle with Freddie.

what bass is scott playing?

Shame the window closed so soon - also the waitlist page doesn't seem to go anywhere

NICE.....

The upthumb has been killing me, my thumb is like Scott’s!

Ok. I’m just riddled with ADD. @Scott, are you missing a tuner key (on the G string) on the red Jazz you’re playing. Why is that the only thing my brain locks into on my tiny screen? Who knows? Love your videos.

Crap, I really need to start learning to slap, every time I have started, I got frustrated and quit trying.

Oh look, Scott is playing a Jazz Bass! 😉

Where is Scott, why is Moby doing Scotts part? What s going on?

Is there anyone besides bass players that want slap on their tune?

I am cursed with the down thumb😢

Think us older players got the down thumb from watching flea

Slap is easy to lose, you have to do it like all the time, which makes it hard because it's loud, it's aggressive, it does not fit into every song or melody.

Poland

I started playing bass so I could understand theory videos ok RU-vid 😅✌️

is that a WAL bass?

the thumb up-or-down debate is totally pointless... it has nothing to do with the technique or the sound you get it simply depends on how you "carry" your bass if it's hanging by your knees, good luck thumbing up, same if you have it under your chin and try to thumb down that's why Flea plays thumb down and Mark King plays thumb up, pretty much vertical even if you can play one, you can play the other and they will sound the same it's just a matter of how high or low you like to hang your bass, which on it's own is determined by what feels comfortable to your left (or fingerboard) hand ...or what you think looks cool on stage ;-) also... you don't have to smack the bejesus out of your bass to get a good slap tone sorry Ian, but your thumb-through technique looks like a ballet dancer in hiking boots anyway, try new stuff, look and listen to what other players do but remember that's not the be-all-end-all figure out what works for YOU to get the sound and feel YOU are looking for that's why Bobby Vega plays with a pick, Gary Willis plays with three fingers and on and on and on they're not doing that because Scott or Ian told 'em to ;-)

I sadly can't play up strokes since my thumbnail is too rounded.

Scott. Slap bass or thumpin is not hard. Actually real easy. But then born into that style does help. Lol.

There is no, Why should i slap?. Just do it. Its the coolest thing ever. Everybody knows that. Drummer,s guitarists don't stand a chance!!. Thats why some don't like it. They know that. If you slap you are the coolest in the band. No way around it.

Up thumb …. But I bounce. 😳

This is not love song

soy face

I love this channel but the porn-like thumbnails gotta stop!!

This brings up a good point about when buying a new instrument and having it shipped to you to NOT open it for a few days after it arrives, and also have a humidity control system inside the case. NOT a BAG!!! If it shows up in a bag and not a case, it's a toy and not a tool! I see people with instruments in bags and I know immediately they are not serious professionals. All stringed instruments must be in top dollar cases with humidity control systems!!! Otherwise, you are not serious, and you are ultimately wasting your (or your girlfriend's) money! You are either a professional or you are a pretender/poser/dilettante. You know what they call a musician without a girlfriend? Homeless!!!

WTF was that intro. That was just plain amazing. For a moment, I thought it was Tom Morello playing a fucking bass.

Also, how about the bass jam from the video game "Toe Jam and Earl"??? That shit was super funky way back in the day! (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xeqQryd8Kq0.html) This link will set you off into another universe! (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4KHkbbvXlJQ.html) AND (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UcLTkBlLxTE.html)

Again, boys. . . Get John Paul Jones on for a 3-hour spectacular!!!

Sweetwater charges $300 to plek a guitar. It can't cost more to plek a bass! RIGHT?????