Fret clank

RAM · #1 10-05-2009, 12:12 AM

This has been discussed, to some extent, but never quite in the way I was hoping to have found via my search, so I hope you don't mind me posting this question as new...

Anyway, obviously with slapping it's a different issue, but when playing finger-style (primarily, anyway), how do you feel about "fret-clank"? Do you try to avoid it at all costs? Do you accept it as part of your technique / style? Somewhere in-between?

I'll go first: with my 2 basses, a dark-sounding Jerzy Drozd and a bright-sounding Status, I actually have 2 different answers. With the dark sounding bass, the clank seems pretty musical, while on the Status it can be pretty annoying. I like playing with really low action, but the Status forces me to play with higher action. Nonetheless, the fret clank usually disappears in a live setting. Thus, when I'm playing with a band I take certain liberties and play with a more comfortable low action. I don't pluck very hard, but if my hands are cold or my adrenaline is pumping hard (for a live show, for example), I notice the fret clank becomes more pronounced.

Let's hear from ya'!

**line6man** · #2 10-05-2009, 12:27 AM

Fretless bass, problem solved.

naturalkinds · #3 10-05-2009, 12:30 AM

I play fingerstyle.

I do everything to avoid it, except in very specific stylistic contexts. (Like I am playing a low G on the E string and over pluck the note to get a grungy effect.) My right hand technique reflects this taste: I play very, very lightly with my plucking hand. I also turn the tone knob on my passive J to about 1/3 open, which also helps minimize the clank.

I agree that it mostly blends into a mix. But there are numerous contexts (solos, quiet parts) where I'd hate to have it carry into the audience.

Interesting question! My teacher, on the other hand, doesn't seem to mind it at all, and has pretty crazy low action that often exhibits clankiness.

PBass101 · #4 10-05-2009, 12:31 AM

I play with really low action and hit the strings against the frets, but I cut alot of upper midrange and boost alot of lower midrange and still get a relatively "vintage"-ish tone. With enough treble it punches through the mix with some real authority and definition.

I very much go for modern bass technique and sound.

RAM · #5 10-05-2009, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

Fretless bass, problem solved.

I remember playing a Kramer-era Spector at a GC several years ago and it had just as much clank as my Status does!

I guess it wasn't technically "FRET" clank, though...

Mike Shevlin · #6 10-05-2009, 12:51 AM

I've recently come to the realization that my smaller fret bass (Lakland 55-94) gives me no clank problems & my other basses with larger frets 'clank' much more noticibly. I guess size matters.

PJSShearer · #7 10-05-2009, 05:50 AM

Take a look at your right (plucking) hand technique. If you are getting "clank" this is generally caused by one or other or both of the following:

1. You are hitting the strings too hard - ease up a little.
2. You are plucking into, rather than across the strings - try to pluck parallel with the face of the Bass rather than parallel with the floor.

I speak from experience here - my friends used to call me "Clatterfrets" and guitarists would wince when I played their acoustics !!.

WayneS · #8 10-05-2009, 06:03 AM

I actually like the way it sounds. I try not to do it too much though.

Nashrakh · #9 10-05-2009, 08:31 AM

I play a Fender P with Flats and a light touch through a tube amp, preamp gain maxed.
Fret clank results in a very distorted, Stoner-like sound (guess you can figure why), so it is an effect I mainly use for kicks. To my surprise, it doesn't really sound like slap at all...

Pi**es my bandmates off sometimes though, we play acoustic covers...

sonic assassin · #10 10-06-2009, 01:32 AM

live, i just ignore it. recording, ill try to avoid it. its kinda my style.. bash away at my bass trying to get pick tone with my fingers. so the clank stays.

JimmyM · #11 10-06-2009, 02:10 AM

I try to avoid it when possible unless the music calls for it, but I don't freak out over it and recut tracks if there's a little.

XXL · #12 10-06-2009, 11:04 AM

When I hear to much fret clank, I see it as sort of a warning that my playing is to aggressive and lighten up on the right hand attack. Seems to work for me.

mambo4 · #13 10-06-2009, 02:30 PM

I voted Other: Honestly, it has never happened enough to make me care. Maybe I'm lucky.

Quote:

Nonetheless, the fret clank usually disappears in a live setting.

I always ask on fret clank threads : are you amplified? Alot of guys post about teh clanking frets but it turns out thats when they are not even amplified. There's alot of finger squeaky/fret clanky noise that simply never gets amplified. in my experience. If the clanking only happens when you're not plugged in, it does not matter.

I matters slightly more if it only happens amplified, alone in your room, but is gone at rehearsals/gigs. Ideally your bass setup and technique should minimize it, but a full band going on around you can cover an awful lot of incidental clanks and squeaks.

Emmaemme · #14 10-06-2009, 02:34 PM

I thought there was only me! Safety in numbers. Cool!

lazytech · #15 10-06-2009, 03:23 PM

I spent a couple of months totally stressed out about it but then some fine gent on here posted a link for some metallica master tracks and i think a couple of others the clank was very evident on those, much more so than what i was worried about with my playing.

Now i try to minimize it but im not gonna let it ruin my playing experience anymore.

**TheMutt** · #16 10-06-2009, 03:28 PM

I generally accept fret clank as a part of my technique. Using flatwounds has lessened it to some extent (as well as starting to use my fretless bass more often), but I like playing with a relatively low action. It's just one of those tradeoffs that I have to accept to play the way that I want to.

MooseLumps · #17 10-06-2009, 03:33 PM

I set up to where i can get a clean tone with a normal attack, but just a hair over and she buzzes just a little. I love it when you can put a little hair on the note.

CapnSev · #18 10-06-2009, 03:43 PM

Fret clank drives me nuts. I like really, really low action, and play very lightly. I've got a good technique that avoids the clank for the most part.

I never had a problem with it really until I bought a P bass. I've re-vamped my technique and changed the strings to Compressors. Problem solved.

chjohnst · #19 10-06-2009, 03:47 PM

My problem is I am too aggressive on the strings, I honestly can't help I have tried to "calm" my plucking hand down. But when the adrenaline is pumping my right hand goes into a vicious attack on the strings. I have raised my action hoping that would help, it does a little but I also don't want ridiculously high action either. In a live setting I can barely hear it , but in recordings its really annoying. I have not figured out a way to cut the clank out in the mix.

I guess I have to learn to calm that right hand down. Could also be the way I am plucking on the strings? Someone mentioned above to pluck "across" the strings?

-Chris

JimmyM · #20 10-07-2009, 12:22 AM

All you have to do is lighten up a touch and play closer to the bridge.

BTW, Howard Stern played "Let Love Rule" by Lenny Kravitz on the show today, and during the song the bass is fat and big with just a tiny hint of treble, and it comes across clear as a bell, but when all the other instruments drop out, you can hear him clank his way around the strings. Great stuff!