nut-side vibration (a hammer-on problem)

[rusmannx]

well i've finally figured it out.
when i'm doing any type of hammer-on's above the 9th fret (especially the 12th) on the higher strings i get this funky harmonic type sound. the sound is from string vibration between my finger on the 12th fret and the nut.

so, how do i eliminate this? do i have my attack set up wrong? intonnation?

[The Clap]

Originally Posted by rusmannx

well i've finally figured it out.
when i'm doing any type of hammer-on's above the 9th fret (especially the 12th) on the higher strings i get this funky harmonic type sound. the sound is from string vibration between my finger on the 12th fret and the nut.

so, how do i eliminate this? do i have my attack set up wrong? intonnation?

Have you tried adjusting your technique so that you're muting the nut side of the fretted string, or worked on muting in general to help this problem? When you hammer on at the 12th fret, that's exactly in the middle of the string, and by basic laws of physics, you're going to get good vibrations going on both 'sides' of the string, both over the pickups and over the fretboard.

Playing with precise muting skills is an element of technique that can be elusive, but it's definitely something that you WILL learn if you dedicate honest study to it. If this is actually a setup problem though, you'd do best to take your instrument to a local bass shop where they can diagnose it.

For reference: attack refers to how you pluck the string, and the quality of your intonation (good or bad) would not be the cause of your problem

[rusmannx]

Originally Posted by The Clap

Have you tried adjusting your technique so that you're muting the nut side of the fretted string, or worked on muting in general to help this problem?

i knew you were going to say this.
my problem is that i'm moving around the fretboard faster then i can think to mute and hammer all at once. i guess for this techinique i'll have to slow it way down and just learn to mute behind my fretting finger.

thanks man.

[The Clap]

Originally Posted by rusmannx

i knew you were going to say this.
my problem is that i'm moving around the fretboard faster then i can think to mute and hammer all at once. i guess for this techinique i'll have to slow it way down and just learn to mute behind my fretting finger.

thanks man.

This is an understandable and often-cited reason for getting unwanted noise out of a fretboard. The fact is, playing fast and wild isn't physically any harder than playing fast with impeccable muting, it just takes a lot of practice to make that muting a natural technique. A teacher can better direct you, but my suggestion is to SLOW DOWN the lines that you play, so that you can get exactly the sound you're after, without any excess fretboard noise. You won't be able to do it fast until you can do it at a snail's pace, so knock that metronome down to half-speed (or less) and play that line perfectly over and over. Making it all sound clean is difficult, but speeding up after mastering a technique at a slow tempo is comparatively easy.

[stompfrog]

If you arent using open strings put a hairband around the top of the neck

If you areusing open string.... practice the muting???