Doug Wimbish "scratchsound" technique

**Vorago** · #1 09-13-2006, 04:40 AM

Go to www.Bassplayer.tv and go to lessons videos. Click on New Dimensions 1. It's featuring Wimbish and Will Calhun (sp) on drums. In the opening lick, Wimbish simulates a vinyl scratch sound with his plucking thumb and his plucking index. It sounds great, but can somebody please explain how he does it? Can it be done on fretless?

Alec W. Conway · #2 09-13-2006, 10:58 AM

First time I see this.

Sounds amazingly good for funk and similar stuff.

As for how he does it, well to me it almost sounds and looks as if he were combining the fret sound with some kind of a pick-up sound in some way. I'll have to try that.

Daveman2 · #3 09-14-2006, 02:29 AM

NO IDEA, what the hell, it looks like he's using his thumb and his forefinger to slap the string around all crazy fast, what the hell?

jenich CZ · #4 09-14-2006, 02:46 AM

He uses an autowah and his own style of slaping...

He plucks the string with his thumb and then hit it with the index finger...

I thing that this technique is quite useless...autowah is doing much more there then the technique itself...

Baryonyx · #5 09-14-2006, 10:40 AM

I really dig Doug, he gets some really crazy sounds, and sounds amazing when he uses the Trace+Spector combo. It's a shame I can't stand Living Colour!

It's a cool sounding thing he's doing there, but it's practical applications seem limited.

20db pad · #6 09-15-2006, 04:45 PM

I can't watch the vid, but I've seen DW use this technique for years. The windings on roundwound strings can be rubbed to get a "scratching" sound. That's simply "wiping" a small area of the string in a rhythm and style that a turntable DJ would do. Sometimes he uses distortion to bring it out a little more.

This can be done on any bass, fretted or fretless, that has roundwounds on it. The technique is not dependent on letter name notes or how they are produced on the fingerboard.

This is just one of Wimbish's many tricks - he has a lot of 'em. Given Doug's impressive discography, it's safe to assume he knows more than just tricks and weird sounds.

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/sear...z=y&CTR=181128