Pretty sure I'm plucking wrong...

[progrmr]

So I had to take my bass in to a luthier to have it setup and investigate a buzzing problem.

So the pro calls me back and says that they found the buzz in the nut, that the action was sky high - so I'm having them do a setup and put new strings on her.

Here's the problem...I set the action lol! And I thought it played well - I do raise my saddles and add some relief to the neck.

I'm thinking that I am plucking the strings too hard and have compensated for this bad habit by raising the action to the point that the action is conidered "sky high" by a luthier.

What do you all think?? How do you not dig in when you play? I must be missing something - my bass instructor never caught or commented on my plucking technique. Should I be so soft on the strings that the action can be low and not buzz on the frets??

This is going to be a serious change for me - I've grown accustomed to my plucking style so to change it will be tough but if it's not right, I need to fix it.

[elgecko]

I can't not dig in. Get some heavier gauge strings and pluck to your heart's content.

[dmusic148]

Everybody's different, from the very light plucking style of Gary Willis to the heavy hand of Steve Harris. Whatever you need to do to get YOUR sound, do it, as long as it doesn't cause injury. Set up your bass accordingly.

[Randall]

Crank up your amp during practice alone and try to play with a lighter touch. You will then hear lots of nasty stuff if your technique is poor. Of course it helps to have good gear to hear all of the clanking/fret noise. Of course you may like that sound at times. I know i do lol.

[Vittu]

When I first started playing I hated the sound of fret buzz, I played a squire p bass with a pick, but I picked really hard so to stop that I raised the action really high, but now ive switched to finger picking and I love the way the strings slap against the frets. I still pick really hard but it works for my style. Ive also found if you pick more parallel with the guitar the strings wont slap the frets as much. I would say to play around with a low action and see if you like it, if not play how you did before. As long as you like it, it doesnt really matter. I my opinion.

[kr0n]

Figure out how to play with a light touch and 'the' hard touch. Dynamics give you another route to express yourself and your bass line.

And if you're interested, lowering the action (and the lower you pluck (towards the head)) adds to your speed. The least amount of effort for a perfect note is what you're looking for.