what type or brand bass guitar is the best 4 funk?

What is your budget like?

really you can use any kind. I think it's a matter of turning up the treble, to make it more punchy...
[Edited 1/8/08 1:33am]

Chili Peppers: Musicman Stingray - it's got a very bright and punchy sound which puts the bass almost on top of the guitars... you have to be careful with it when you're mixing. The Stingray has a beautiful immediately recognizable tone:
This is a great example of the tone
http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related
http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related

The one problem now is that the stingray and popping make most people think "OH FLEA!"

Me'shell ndegeocello: Fender Jazz (OH MAN)
http://www.youtube.com/wa...pdzEpGIqtY

This is my favorite. The mids are less pronounced and the bottom is more there. The neck is skinnier and the pickups are less abrasive than the stingray.

Both of those basses are very popular with thump/slap type playing. The necks are pretty skinny, the pickups pack a wallop on the low and high highs.

PRINCE: Fender Precision
youtube examples are you kidding
The P-bass was Prince's main bass on most of his records up to maybe Purple Rain (maybe later but I really heard it on stuff like Head and Lets Work). The P-bass is much more of a rock bass - the mids and bottoms are very punchy, the neck is wider, and in the late 70s it was much more prevalent in music. Maybe that's why he used it instead of the Jazz, or maybe he knew that using it would distance himself from every other pop/slap bass out there. It's harder to work the pop slap thing because the tone is just so muddy - it's very unforgiving in your approach.

Those are the three main basses I know about. Each one has a cheapo knockoff (Musicman: OLP, Fender: Squire or Mexican Fenders) and each can be had for less than $300.

I got my OLP Stingray for $139 at musiciansfriend.com - it was a refurb or returned or something.

This site sells some pretty good entry level instruments for VERY little: http://www.rondomusic.com...tars4.html
Precisions for $109? Jazz for $139. I have the fretless Jazz, got it for $139 and it's pretty decent.

beauhall said:

Check out the guy making the picture in the mirror of the bridge.



You need some nice thin poppin strings too on the cheap ones.
Lotta nice bass guitars fur funk.
[Edited 1/9/08 7:09am]

Get a bass with active electronics in it. Then get an EQ pedal.

The funk is more about how you play rather than what kind of bass you have.

johnnyreeferseed said:

That's pretty much a given, isn't it? I thought the original poster was trying to figure out how to get a certain "sound" that is stereotypical to funk players. It was an issue that I had as well when I was younger. I could play everything I was hearing but my tone was inferior. t wasn't until years later that I found out the difference between passive basses and basses with active electronics. You can get the same effect by using a limiter and a preamp direct box in conjunction with an EQ (preferably a parametric EQ). That will make any passive bass sound more punchy, thus giving it that "funk sound". At the very least, they should invest in a Boss Bass Limiter Enhancer. Every funk bass player with a passive bass should own one or something like it made by another company.

BlaqueKnight said:

THANKS!

are there any sites that have bass slap tabs (very accurately)?
like transcriptions of certain marcus miller tracks?

spoida said:

http://www.activebass.com...n=Funk/R&B

mirrorbestfriend said:

The Musicman is the only bass for funk. Prince use anything because he could get music out of broom if he needed to(-:

Good site for bass players
www.talkbass.com

bassmaniac said:

nonsense. youre just talkin outta your ass on that one. The Fender Jazz Bass is so much more funky than the Stingray but okay to each their own.