the *schwing* sound

[z4knerd]

i finally played bass on something louder than a practice amp... and whenever i'd run my fingers along the strings (unintentionally and for very short distances just going from 5th fret to 4th) there'd be this really high pitched unpleasant sound... how does one avoid this?

-thanks in advance

[Selta]

Originally Posted by z4knerd

i finally played bass on something louder than a practice amp... and whenever i'd run my fingers along the strings (unintentionally and for very short distances just going from 5th fret to 4th) there'd be this really high pitched unpleasant sound... how does one avoid this?

-thanks in advance

By not rubbing your fingers along the strings . Really.

Ray

[Brandt Scanlan]

Try playing through headphones. I bet you'll get lots of that noise. Now that you have identified a problem, just work on stopping it for a little bit. Play one of your favorite lines slowly through headphones, and practice keeping your fingers from sliding around on the strings too much. Eventually, you should be able to avoid this sound pretty much all the time.

[PilbaraBass]

Back in the 80's I played drums in a top-40 band and the bassist had a very bad habit of rubbing his hand up and down the neck. Listening to those old recordings, I CRINGE!

Squeak squeak squeak!

Play in position, don't rub the strings,

and when changing positions, use your thumb on the BACK of the neck to keep your hand in contact with the neck...NOT your fingers on the strings.

[bbourgon]

Coated strings like those from Elixer can also help, but technique mods are probably the better route. Good luck.

[heretic]

just wondering... do flatwounds have this problem or is it just a roundwound thing?

[Perfect-Tommy]

My experience is not really. Flatwounds tend to take a lot of the fret noises and such out, including the finger slide...