What are your irrational prejudices? I have some bonkers ones...

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, basexperience said:

Scott from SBL says he prefers 21/22 fret basses for slap and it got me thinking why.

 

I bet he didn't - I bet he said something more like "You won't believe how many frets you need for slap - the 21st fret will shock you!!!"

[kwmlondon]

1 hour ago, basexperience said:

I've got a theory that because you can play just off the end of the board, through the string, a little further up the string (towards the head), then it's the equivalent of plucking over the bridge pickup vs the neck pickup, as it were - with a 24 fret neck, on the same scale bass, the 21 fret bass would have a little more room to play through further up the string towards the head of the bass. Scott from SBL says he prefers 21/22 fret basses for slap and it got me thinking why.

Ace session bassist and all-round nice person Yolanda Charles also said she doesn't use a 24-fret bass for slap work out of choice. However, my slap game is so rubbish it won't make any difference to me. I practise every day but I've got a pretty poor strike rate when it comes to hitting the string!

[cdog]

23 hours ago, dclaassen said:

Just curious…what bugs you about 24 fret basses?

I just don't think they are necessary, and they play into this idea that it's important to be shredding up high as a bass player. IMO, not real bass playing: be a guitarist if you want to play up there . Also, its worse for slapping as you either have to slap on the fretboard which is painful after a while and has a less deep tone, or play off the end of the fretboard, but then the lower frets are miles away for the left hand. And it makes the bass more buzzy where the strings rattle against the 24th fret. So, not a fan. 

In their defence, I think the 24th fret is used in one of my all time favourite basslines, just another story by Jamiroquai, but that's still not enough! 

[Terry M.]

2 hours ago, basexperience said:

I've got a theory that because you can play just off the end of the board, through the string, a little further up the string (towards the head), then it's the equivalent of plucking over the bridge pickup vs the neck pickup, as it were - with a 24 fret neck, on the same scale bass, the 21 fret bass would have a little more room to play through further up the string towards the head of the bass. Scott from SBL says he prefers 21/22 fret basses for slap and it got me thinking why.

I don't know if this is scientifically correct but I definitely understand where you're coming from. I've never considered this to be honest. 

[Mokl]

Re. the 21/22 fret thing for slap preference, I feel the same way. It's too do with where your hand ends up relative to the end of the fingerboard. Feels more comfy and easier to stay loose than on a 24, in general. To me at least. It does depend on the bass 

[tauzero]

22 hours ago, cdog said:

I just don't think they are necessary, and they play into this idea that it's important to be shredding up high as a bass player. IMO, not real bass playing: be a guitarist if you want to play up there . Also, its worse for slapping as you either have to slap on the fretboard which is painful after a while and has a less deep tone, or play off the end of the fretboard, but then the lower frets are miles away for the left hand. And it makes the bass more buzzy where the strings rattle against the 24th fret. So, not a fan. 

In their defence, I think the 24th fret is used in one of my all time favourite basslines, just another story by Jamiroquai, but that's still not enough! 

 

I shall have to get an inlay saying "HERE BE DRAGONS" on the 26th fret of my Thumb, and somewhere close to the 30th unfret on my Ibanez SRF705.

[SumOne]

Agreed re the 24 fret thing being mostly unnecessary and not as good for slap. 

 

My personal choice wound be a 4 string with 21 frets as a slap bass and for most live stuff, and a 5 string 24 fret for jazzy noodling. 

[Terry M.]

I'm wondering how many 20 fret players regularly use them all. 

[Stub Mandrel]

For thirty years, aside from my fretless, I only had 24-fret basses. How on earth did I survive?

 

 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Stub Mandrel

[Reggaebass]

Wo, hang on a minute here, people use more than 5 frets 😲

[prowla]

39 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Wo, hang on a minute here, people use more than 5 frets 😲

It's nothing to fret about... 🙂

[dclaassen]

I don’t play slap style, but don’t doubt the validity of other’s experience. A great 24 fret bass is a lovely thing if it rings true all the way up. I play mostly country now, but still find creative uses for notes above the 12th fret.

[Terry M.]

6 minutes ago, dclaassen said:

I don’t play slap style, but don’t doubt the validity of other’s experience. A great 24 fret bass is a lovely thing if it rings true all the way up. I play mostly country now, but still find creative uses for notes above the 12th fret.

I've only recently gotten into double-thumbing and have some way to go before it's at a decent level but so far on my 24 fret basses I haven't noticed any low-end loss compared to using my 21 fret one. Same with "regular" slap.

[snorkie635]

I admit to being a failure at slap-playing. Possibly, an embarrassment to myself and the entire bass-playing community.  I have tried. Honest, I have.

 

Having considered the statement above, I may be gone some time . 👍👎👍👎👍👎👍👎

[StingRayBoy42]

Precisions and Jazzes should be passive.
There, I said it.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

15 minutes ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

Precisions and Jazzes should be passive.
There, I said it.

Perfectly rational!

[Reggaebass]

21 minutes ago, StingRayBoy42 said:

Precisions and Jazzes should be passive.
There, I said it.

Nothing wrong with that, just how Leo intended 

[basexperience]

My Warwick thumb rocks 26 frets, and I do love it. I took a solo on it a few weeks back and was astonished by how easy it was 😄 

[razor5cl]

On 23/10/2025 at 15:33, rushbo said:

Every time I see someone casually dangling their lead carelessly, my inner voice screams "SORT THAT LEAD OUT OR YOU'LL TRIP OVER IT AND DIE!" I've never seen, or heard about a fatality caused by an untucked lead, but it's only a matter of time, isn't it? Isn't it? I'm right, aren't I? 

 

Forget to run your strap through your lead and you might die, or suffer an even worse fate.....your bass will cut out mid song!

 

Learned this one myself after treading on my own lead and pulling it out at one too many rehearsals. On stage it could even be a clumsy guitar player!

[SimonK]

22 minutes ago, razor5cl said:

 

Forget to run your strap through your lead and you might die, or suffer an even worse fate.....your bass will cut out mid song!

 

Learned this one myself after treading on my own lead and pulling it out at one too many rehearsals. On stage it could even be a clumsy guitar player!

 

Ha - did that this evening, although better than breaking my whirlwind cables that are getting so expensive you can almost buy a bass for the same price!

[Mokl]

14 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

For thirty years, aside from my fretless, I only had 24-fret basses. How on earth did I survive?

 

 

 

Personal preference? 

[SteveXFR]

13 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Nothing wrong with that, just how Leo intended 

 

Didn't Leo Fender launch G&L who then made active and passive jazz and precision basses? So maybe it wasn't his intention that they should only be passive.

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Mokl said:

Personal preference? 

 

Coincidence to be honest. But I liked it and sometimes find fewer limiting - especially lack of a top E. 

[Woodinblack]

One thing I find really odd on the rickenbacker is the lack of fingerboard at the top. You don't really miss anything until its gone, and its not like rickenbacker did it to help with slapping!