Cant stop my bass from clicking!!

LittleGiant · #1 12-06-2009, 07:22 AM

my bass has started to click when i play and i cant stop it.

I use a bad ass 2 bridge and i have heightened the action but its started to click again. I play in the middle of the fret like i have been taught so i think my techniques alright. its just irritating, please help

thirtypoint87 · #2 12-06-2009, 07:24 AM

If it comes and goes it sounds like your neck might need an adjustment. Maybe time for a trip to your repairman?

somegeezer · #3 12-06-2009, 07:26 AM

Turn down your treble on the amp? It can sometimes minimise the sound of the string hitting the fretboard. Another way would be to not play as heavy (assuming you do).

Tajue17 · #4 12-06-2009, 07:30 AM

do you mean when you plucking with your fingers it clicks? my P-Basses do this so I have to back the treble off around 3/4 so its not annoying but in the mix I like the way it sounds (steve harris sound) but if its what I'm thinking of then 1, your action might be low, or 2 your wrist is is low towards the body causing you to kinda slap down on the string whn your "diging in? which knocks it against the last fret just before you pluck it.. raise your wrist or move it over the A string and play like that just to see if it goes away,,,,,,,, not sure if its mechanical or human but the human reason I am familier with.

hope you figure it out.

LittleGiant · #5 12-06-2009, 07:47 AM

i am am quite an aggressive player, so it may be me. normally it only occurs when i play with my fingers so i'll try moving my wrist.

i'll raise the action abit too. but are the badass 2 bridges known for moving once set? it seems to have started again quite quickly!

Smallmouth_Bass · #6 12-06-2009, 07:58 AM

It could be several things. I recently had a bass that had a couple of strings that clicked all the time. It turned out that the nut slots had worn down too low.

Bring your bass to a qualified repair tech and they can set it up for you.

Jim Carr · #7 12-06-2009, 08:29 AM

Without an amp, find a way to get the click. Then trace its exact point of origin. If you need to, get someone to place an ear over different parts of the bass as the click is produced to locate it.

Once it is located, you will be able to experiment with adjustment to set up or changes of technique to clean it up.

BTW, if you rely on EQ, then your tone is imprisoned by your clicks. Yes, clicks can be a PART of your tone, but they should be under your control---not you under the click's control when setting your EQ.

Many times in the studio, an engineer will require you to play with the instrument's onboard tone controls producing no cut to highs or mids. Your clicks may lose you a studio client unless you can remove them without using EQ.

202dy · #8 12-06-2009, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleGiant

i am am quite an aggressive player, so it may be me. normally it only occurs when i play with my fingers so i'll try moving my wrist.

i'll raise the action abit too. but are the badass 2 bridges known for moving once set? it seems to have started again quite quickly!

The only information you've posted is about your technique. That's actually a good thing. Let's start there.

1. Fretting hand fingers are placed behind the fret. Not on the fret or in the center of the fret. That can, and usually does cause string buzzing and sometimes clicking.
2. If you are fretting on top of the fret aggressively the string will produce a clicking noise when you fret the string.
3. You are quite aggressive. If your right hand digs in enough you will push the string into contact with the pickup.
a. Lower the pickup
b. Refine your technique
4. Sometimes folks unconsciously tap the strings with either hand in between the notes. Most drummers frown upon this.

While it's not unheard of, it is unusual for metallic clicks to be the fault of the guitar or hardware.

dmrogers · #9 12-06-2009, 11:59 AM

I know this may sound weird, but on you right hand, how long are your fingernails?

With my picking technique, if fingernails are the least bit long, it totally changes my sound. I have to keep them in check and make sure they are a certain length. If they are too long, with the angle I attack the strings, it causes the strings to sound clicky.

Just a thought......

millsbass5 · #10 12-06-2009, 12:02 PM

It may have a clock in it.....or,worse,a BOMB!!!!
On a serious not: What about the pup height??

RavynWolf · #11 12-06-2009, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LittleGiant

my bass has started to click when i play and i cant stop it.

I use a bad ass 2 bridge and i have heightened the action but its started to click again. I play in the middle of the fret like i have been taught so i think my techniques alright. its just irritating, please help

Don't play in the middle of the fret. Play as close to the back as you can (back of the next fret up). Playing in the middle of the fret requires different string tension applied by your left hand. Also, raising the action too much and not applying enough pressure will certainly cause buzzing and clicking.

sixway · #12 12-07-2009, 03:34 AM

I used to have the same problem. It came from plucking the strings too hard, and that came from trying to be heard over the guitar player in a small practice room!

What I found I was doing was digging in to the string too hard, and the string was literally clicking off the fretboard, and not the pickups. My solution was a combination of things - I learned how to EQ better so my tone cut through; I increased the gain and was able to pluck "softer", but had the same volume, as well as having more wattage helping my tone; I learned to pluck the strings at less of an angle, rather than attack straight down at the strings; and I adjusted my action up and down until I found the right clearance between the fretboard and strings that allowed me to play more aggressively when I needed to. but kept the action low enough to keep the action fast.

I think ultimately you'll find that adjusting your playing style, as well as your action, and EQ'ing will virtually eliminate your clicking problems. Good luck!

Brick Top · #13 12-07-2009, 08:41 AM

^^^^same here. On my SX jazz I don't seem to have much of a clicking problem no matter how much I dig. But on my Yamaha P/J....I get a clicking on the E and sometimes A strings when I try to dig during certain passages. Changing the angle of my wrist and plucking upwards as opposed to straight on the string eliminates the clicking.

spidey112669 · #14 12-08-2009, 08:54 PM

...here is something I haven't told too many people about, but, hey....it might help! I fould myself digging in too hard for a couple reasons, but I fixed it by adjusting my right hand. I play 3 finger pluck with my thumb anchored on the top forward corner of a Pbass pickup. I rotated my right hand so that my palm was pointed down toward the bridge, and the back of my hand was pointed at the headstock, and plucked in a "swiping" motion almost parallel to the string. I then slowly rotate my hand back toward the traditional position with my hand facing my body while plucking, listening and feeling for the magical sweet spot where I am getting good attack, good full notes, and I am hitting the string very lightly, my finger is gliding off of it, and I am "pulling" tone from the instrument. I developed that trick years ago learning to play the banjo, where the strings are tuned pretty high, and your hand rests on the drum head that amplifies every slightest thing with great efficiency!!! You should be able to keep a pretty straight neck with very little relief at all, and an extremely low action, with a little practice! Using this technique, I am pretty much able to get "my sound" out of any bass played through any amp....its all in that angle you pluck at...it adds bass or takes it out, adds treble and a complex attack that you can vary during a song for great effect...Dick Dale, the old surf guitar guy was good at this little trick, as well as John Mayer these days!

FenderGibson · #15 12-10-2009, 08:32 PM

Maybe new strings?

Stuggi · #16 12-11-2009, 06:33 AM

What I think we need to do here is establish what kind of click we're dealing with here.

1) Cut your fingernails short on your plucking fingers, otherwise it'll sound like you're playing with a guitar pick. I have mine shorter than half a millimeter, so you might not be cutting them short enough. Does this help?
2) If not, try pushing down the strings until they hit the magnets on the pickups. This should produce quite an audible click, if it's the same as the one you get, try rising the strings or lowering the pickups
3) If that doesn't help, try slamming down the strings on the fretboard with either hand, doesn't matter, without muting the strings. You want it to be like aggressive fretting, not clean tapping. Does this resemble the click you get? If so, try adjusting your action or your playing technique, starting with the latter one as string action usually doesn't cause clicks but buzzing. I'd look closely at how you fret the notes, as that can cause audible clicks.
4) Try tapping the strings with your right hand while muting with the left. This is the kind of unconscious tapping that annoys drummers, usually if you're aware of the problem it goes away, but you might wanna keep it in mind.
5) Now, if non of these steps helps, you have to start looking at odd things like loose tuning keys (they usually rattles more than clicks but who knows), bridge, etc. Also have a look at the electronics, you can get pretty loud clicks that mutes the sound of the bass if you have a loose solder joint somewhere, or maybe a faulty pickup (try tapping the covers with the amp on, if it produces anything but a clean tap sound you should see to get them fixed, esp. if they crackle and pop), bass tones can cause all kinds of vibrations.

If you don't find it this way, take it to a tech and play a bit for him so he can hear the sound in person, that should help him find it a lot faster.