How hard to pluck the strings?

[kindofblue10]

How hard should I pluck the strings on my electric bass? Should I pluck them lightly and just turn the volume up to be heard or should I pluck them somewhat harder and turn the volume down to avoid blowing my amp?

[Billnc]

Pluck "in the middle" the point where you can play louder or softer as the music dictates. You should be able to play fast quietly, which is fairly difficult to do at first. If you are playing the bass at medium volume physically, the amp should do the rest.

Remember, there is a point that no matter how hard you hit the bass it will not get any louder acoustically, there is no point in ever hitting harder than that point, it does no good.

[JimmyM]

it's all a case by case basis. guys like jeff berlin and gary willis use a light touch and they sound great for what they do. guys like jack bruce nearly rip the strings off the neck and it sounds great for what they do. playing hard isn't about volume. it's about tonality. most of the time i play medium light, but there are times when a more subtle touch is needed and times when you need to put some ass behind it. being able to do both and anything in between is the way to go.

[Unrepresented]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

it's all a case by case basis. guys like jeff berlin and gary willis use a light touch and they sound great for what they do. guys like jack bruce nearly rip the strings off the neck and it sounds great for what they do. playing hard isn't about volume. it's about tonality. most of the time i play medium light, but there are times when a more subtle touch is needed and times when you need to put some ass behind it. being able to do both and anything in between is the way to go.

Yup.

Tone is in the fingers. "Digging in" or plucking harder with your right hand will create a different tone from playing softly.

Ideally you'll be able to play comfortably and capably at all levels of soft and hard and let the tone you're trying to achieve dictate when you'll use each.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by kindofblue10

How hard should I pluck the strings on my electric bass? Should I pluck them lightly and just turn the volume up to be heard or should I pluck them somewhat harder and turn the volume down to avoid blowing my amp?

It'll depend on your bass and amp somewhat also. I.e. my carvin bunny with TI jazz flats hardly needs to even be touched to get good clean notes out of it. And the harder I hit it, in fact, the worse it sounds - it's actually a lot more aggressive sounding with a really light touch.

My L2000 tends to sound a little watery and like it's strung with rubber bands with as light a touch I use on the bunny. But it's currently fitted with d'addario chrome flats so kind of sounds rubber-band-ey no matter how I play it . I'm just too cheap and lazy to put better strings on it, otherwise I'm sure it'd come alive a lot better with a light touch too.

The biggest bennie tho is it's so much easier on your hands to play with a light touch. I'm an advocate of "let the amp do the work" and save your hands.

LS

[Low Sound Love]

learn to play really soft AND really hard consistently. When you've done that, learn to consistently play anything in between. In my band (loud alt rock band) I mostly always dig in hard, because that creates the tone I'm after.