They say that you can't play slap on rickenbacker...

[SKATE RAT]

did Rick James have enough songs for a box set??

[chromium]

did Rick James have enough songs for a box set??

  I dunno.  I don't really have a box set. 

Most of what I learned about RJ is from Dave Chapelle

[nofi]

slapping is some silly shite. mainly because you have to totally 'de-ball ' your bass tone to get that wankety wank treble tortured piano affect. at that point you turn into a demented banjo player. it's still popular at the music store bass tryouts, however. but i wish it would go away. far away.

[Blazer]

slapping is some silly shite. mainly because you have to totally 'de-ball ' your bass tone to get that wankety wank treble tortured piano affect. at that point you turn into a demented banjo player. it's still popular at the music store bass tryouts, however. but i wish it would go away. far away.

OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!

I started this thread to discuss a modified Rickenbacker knock off, not to bash people who stick out their thumbs and Slap. So Away with it already, Dave, could you please lock this thread, this isn't fun anymore.

And for good measure, Rick James was a compitent Bassplayer but on his albums and on his live performances it was Oscar Alston's job te keep the low end going. Dave Chapelle's Rick james impersonations aren't really that accurate of the real man, who was quoted saying that Oscar Aslton was the man responcible for all his succes, being able to channel what James wanted to put forward with his bassplaying. Chapelle only points out the over the top persona, not the gentler side of Rick James the human who respected his musicians.

[HornetAMX]

I bought my first Rick James album when I was 16.  It was "Come Get It!" I think.  I loved the song "You And I" and "Mary Jane."  It would be cool if we could ever hear some of the stuff he recorded with Neil Young and Bruce Palmer. 

And for the record, I love slapping.  But I grew up on Brothers Johnson, Slave, Rose Royce, Sun, GQ, Instant Funk, Mass Production, T Connection, etc, etc.  These are the bands that got me into playing bass.  And while I'm no great slapper I have to do it in my band.  We do a lot of funk material from the 70's.

[Dave W]

No need to lock it. Threads do have a way of going off on their own and slapping does bring out strong feelings. Wouldn't be much fun if we all had the same opinions.

[uwe]

I've seen him live slapping on that Ric (or one just like it). He wasn't a great technician, but he did it with aplomb and even, yes, taste.

While I never slap, I think it can add something if it is done not too fast, not all the time and at the right place. And I prefer if it sounds dirty and with a lot of human factor as opposed to Mark King's "sequencer style". BTW, John Entwistle's style towards his later years wasn't that far removed from slapping as regards both his sound and his "typewriter technique".