Q on right hand positioning

[elBandito]

I play fingerstyle and primarily by the bridge pickup for extra tension and that 'bite'. Ive watched some videos of geddy lee and a few others who play by the neck pick up and still get some of that bite. When I play by the neck pickup, my tone sounds very flabby. If I try to compensate by plucking hard, I end up clacking too much. Is there a special technique to achieve that sound on neck pickup? I also noticed some players plucking with their right hand fingers almost 90 degrees to the strings, but I was taught to play with my fingers sweeping back a bit. Thanks.

[Beta]

Geddy's sound is as much a result of his signal chain as it is his technique.

He has two paths: one that's clean and one that has some overdrive (I think mostly at the bridge pickup/treble side of the EQ spectrum).

[Son of Sanford]

Originally Posted by Beta

Geddy's sound is as much a result of his signal chain as it is his technique.

He has two paths: one that's clean and one that has some overdrive (I think mostly at the bridge pickup/treble side of the EQ spectrum).

+1 on the equipment doing a lot.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by elBandito

I play fingerstyle and primarily by the bridge pickup for extra tension and that 'bite'. Ive watched some videos of geddy lee and a few others who play by the neck pick up and still get some of that bite. When I play by the neck pickup, my tone sounds very flabby. If I try to compensate by plucking hard, I end up clacking too much. Is there a special technique to achieve that sound on neck pickup? I also noticed some players plucking with their right hand fingers almost 90 degrees to the strings, but I was taught to play with my fingers sweeping back a bit. Thanks.

I'm exactly the same way, noticed the exact same thing and tried for years and years to do the exact same thing .

But I've completely failed. I've never been able to figure out, niether by watching geddy nor trying different techniques myself, how he's still able to get clean notes playing up by the neck the way he normally does.

Back in the wal days, I'd seen him plucking over the bridge PU, but most of the rest of the time, he's in between the neck and bridge PU's on his various basses. When I try to play like this, it's complete and total mud no matter the bass or amp......

I can _almost_ achieve it by bending my wrist and getting my fingers almost straight up, the way I've seen some players like Stanley Clarke and other do. But I go into instant pain when I try to do this so it's not a workable technique for me.

So, I've simply given up and pluck over the bridge PU's on my basses. I also run flats which helps calm things down and give a good dead, poppy kind of bunny brunel tone with a regular floating thumb RH position.

LS

[Jake of Bass]

+1 to it partly due to equipment. The tone does come from your hands, but there's a lot you can do to it once it's heading into the pickups. Maybe a look at his equipment list might shed some light? I don't know anything about the basses he plays, but could it also be possible he plays over the neck pickup but has a the bridge pickup active? Just a thought.

[elBandito]

Thank you all for the input. I'm not too familliar with geddys equipment or music. I have tried different pick up settings, and comparing playing by the neck and bridge. Ill just stick to plucking by the bridge.