Pinky to Fuzziness Ratio?

[TheseDaysrOver]

I'm a newer bassist, had my Bass since around...February to March. Usually, when I use my pinky, usually on the higher frets (I play a four-stringed fretted, Silvertone Sunburst LB-11), I get a sort of fuzzy sound coming out of my bass, and I don't know how to change this. It doesn't happen on any of my other fingers, just my pinky, and it's impairing my speed & accuracy during playing because I'm one of those bassists who always tries to fix their problem in mid-play. Any advice?

Also, I have another question. I've looked up vibrato on the bass online, and all I get is string bending. Yet when I move my fingers in a vibrato-like way (I'm a violinist, as well) I still get a vibrato-like tone, just more subtle (it's more noticable on the higher frets), so how come all I see online is string bending when for me it works just like normal vibrato, or is this all in my head? Thanks for taking your time to answer my questions!

[Deathblade Eric]

Can't give an opinion on your second question, I just bend 'em!

As to the first, I'm going to hazard a guess that it might be down to finger strength. Your little finger is usually the weakest, so I'd suspect that you're not applying quite enough pressure to fret the string fully - hence the buzz.

Keep at it, the odds are that it'll diminish & disappear the more you do it. It'll just take time to build up the strength.

Pete.

[jpfbass]

I'm gonna agree with Eric on why your getting that "fuzzy" sound.
But to answer your second question, it's probably because you know how to do a violin vibrato so well that it's more pronounced then when people who don't play violin try to use that technique. I sometimes do a double bass vibrato on electric, and I get a great vibrato tone, when I know some other players who don't play double can't get a vibrato as clear as mine when using that double-bass technique.

[TheseDaysrOver]

Thank you both for your answers! I'm sure this will help me and my Bass skills, and it's nice to know why I get a vibrato on a fretted bass Thank you both!

[Nic.]

On the fretted, it's probably because as you vibrato you're changing the string tension by pushing/pulling behind the fret. When you've fretted it, try plucking a note and moving your finger, pressing harder or softer, moving back and forth, etc., it makes a difference.

Besides, I don't know about for you, but when I vibrato (I'm a violinist here too), I find that as I vibrato I push down with different amounts of pressure. In fact, I don't have any objective experimental results on this, but I usually play fretless, and sometimes when I use fretted I get more vibrato out of the fretted than with the fretless because of the change in pressure thing.

One thing though, I find myself using both the standard vibrato and the bending depending on what I want. The vibrato is a lot more subtle, bending more obvious, but besides that, the timing is slightly different (at least for me). The pitch fluctuates at a different rate, if that makes sense.