Another Newbie

Hi guys, I got a membership a couple months ago, largely because I heard about Marcus Siepen teaching here, and Blind Guardian is my absolute favorite band. Anyway I hadn't posted until now on the forums, but the video lessons (and one friendly bloke right here on the forum) have been incredibly helpful already.

I've been playing guitar about 3 years now, I'd say I'm intermediate but not nearly as good as many people who've been playing no longer than I have. Started learning keyboard about a year ago and then bass just recently. I'm a fan of progressive rock and progressive metal, pretty much anything that has 'prog' in the name (...maybe not progressive house).

My gear:

Agile Les Paul clone, Dean Edge 9 bass
Behringer V-Amp 2 & Bass V-Amp
Peavey Valveking 112
E-Mu Xboard 49-key MIDI keyboard
Sonar 8 Studio

Favorite bands:

Blind Guardian
Opeth
The Flower Kings
Sieges Even
Ayreon
Kansas
JT Bruce
Pain of Salvation
Thy Majestie

Cheers!

Can't Slap?

Hi guys, relatively new to GMC, been a member for a couple months but haven't posted on the forum until now.

Anyway, I'm primarily a guitarist but I picked up a bass a little while ago, and I wanted to try slapping.

And... I can't. At all. I don't mean that the techniques are too difficult, I mean that I can't get the darn thing to make a sound when I try to slap. I'm following the technique shown in any lesson, slapping with the thumb parallel to the string at the end of the fretboard, and it just makes a muted, percussive sound, not a slapped note, which should sound somewhat percussive but still be a recognizable tone. I've tried it on my guitar too, no luck. Haven't really had a chance to try it on a different bass. Could it have something to do with the way it's set up? I just changed strings (to D'Addario flat wound .045s), no difference. The action is fairly high up, though I haven't played bass long enough to know just how high in comparison.

Help?