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I'm new to the bass and never really know what anything really means. It makes me annoyed when some one asks something and I'm just lost in the vocab. So this is a cry to all those who KNOW what they are talking about to say bass/ guitar/ music vocab to help us who are less informed.

About some apm terms! All right a combo is a speaker cabinet (Cab) That has a head (Which is a pre-apm and power apm) built in to it, that is the area of the apm that has all the fun nobs and switches.
Cab- this is a box with speakers that come in various types, the most commen are closed which means that there is no opening for air to escape the cab.
Head- This is the part that converts the electric signal from your insturment into a signal that speakers can use. It consists of a pre-amp and a power amp.
Pre-amp- this is the part that adds in the effects and tones and volume levels that are applied from the nobs, Equilization, and other ajusters in the front. Some power amps use vaccume tubes, but with the advancement of transistors and other technology there are more and more that don't use vaccume tubes any more. Vaccume tubes are heavy and easier to damage, but many artists use them because they like the sound provided.
Power amp- this takes the modified signal from the pre-amp which is usually decresed in um I want to say voltage but I'm not sure there, and ups the wattage so that it will power the speaker properly
If any thing is wronge feel free to correct I'm not a magical know every thing so yeah. (Sorry I don't have a fancy diagram like the previous poster I'm to lazy.)

Tapping is moreless reknown for being an electric guitar shredding technique (although just about any string instrument can execute it) and can be performed via one or both hands. Tapping is performed by using the fingers of one (or both) hand(s) to 'tap' the strings against the fingerboard, thus creating sound (ie - playing legato notes) without actually needing to pluck the string(s).


Thumping however is almost completely different from tapping. So much so, I don't even know how you could have gotten them confused sweatdrop .. but nonetheless, to "thump" is often a slang reference to "slap" by of which is executed by hitting the string with the thumb of the strumming hand near the base of the guitar's neck and is often combined with the "popping" technique which is a done by snapping a string or strings with the index or middle fingers. (Hence, the term "slapping and popping" and the "slap and pop" method).

Well, i've been taught "Thump" means to "Slap" and "Double Thump" is very hard (Victor Wooten style). xd

I've always kept the vocabulary known this way because of the simple fact of how Double Thump is executed. IE: The upstroke and downstroke motions of the thumb similiar to double (or tremolo) picking, except obviously executed with your thumb.) Double the times the string is slapped, henced Double the thump. (Finally we're at the term "Double Thumping" as opposed to regular ol' "Thumping").

But whichever way you personally want to take the references is soley up to you I suppose. Oh and for the record, Double Thump is Slap Bass style. Just a more complex and innovative way to do so.