question plz answer newbie ;P

[aznmofo55]

when u pluck is the string suppose to hit the fingerboard?

[bongomania]

Not usually. Some people play really aggressively for an "effect", but generally your strings should not be hitting anything but the frets. In the case of a fretless bass it's less clear, but generally there should be no "hitting" of the string against the fingerboard unless you do it on purpose as an effect.

[aznmofo55]

so the fret would be the silver things popping out of the fret board?

[sethlow3]

yes

[aznmofo55]

does that happen like all the time?

[Parabolic Box]

Does what happen all the time?

[aznmofo55]

when u pluck and the string hits the bass fret all the time

[Slax]

Originally Posted by aznmofo55

when u pluck and the string hits the bass fret all the time

It depends on what note you want. You can hit an open string also if need be.

Generally when playing on a fretted note, make sure your fretting finger is behind the fret of the position you want and while holding that down, use your other hand to pluck somewhat parrallel to the bass body past the end of the fret board. If you pluck towards the body of the bass the strings will mash and give you a clanky tone. (Unless you want that... )

[GavinScott]

when you say "pluck" do you mean playing with your fingers or like "plucking' as in pulling the string to get a snap? if your playing pizzacato or fingerstyle then it shouldn't be hitting the fret, if your getting buzz because of it then you probably need to raise your string height.

[dan.ablett]

Originally Posted by aznmofo55

when u pluck is the string suppose to hit the fingerboard?

sounds like you are brand new to the instrument.... do yourself a favor a get 2 or 3 lessons from a local teacher first, hey can show you proper technique and identify if there is anything wrong with your bass. preferably get lessons for your first year or so, but 2 or so lessons from the onset will answer all these types of questions and will set you down a straight path.

best wishes

[aznmofo55]

well thanks

[Dave Muscato]

Originally Posted by dan.ablett

sounds like you are brand new to the instrument.... do yourself a favor a get 2 or 3 lessons from a local teacher first, hey can show you proper technique and identify if there is anything wrong with your bass. preferably get lessons for your first year or so, but 2 or so lessons from the onset will answer all these types of questions and will set you down a straight path.

best wishes

+1

There are some decent videos on YouTube that will get you started, also. For what it's worth, this would be better served in the Technique forum than the Basses forum (this is really more for info about actual instruments than playing bass).

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f21/