Right Hand Tehcnique Questions

[Shoot_A_Hostage]

THeres alot of talk about right hand technique. i.e. where to pluck the string.
Although I play quite alot, i sill dont hear an incredibly high amount of tonal difference between say the bridge adn the neck.
So i was wondering,
which tones are associated with which locations?

[bleeding]

i get a fatter tone away from the bridge

[PBass101]

What kind of strings do you have on and how old are they?

[Shoot_A_Hostage]

Originally Posted by PBass101

What kind of strings do you have on and how old are they?

now be angry. my strings just broke like ay ago and im lagging going to get new ones.
but i was using bass boomers and they were about 6 mos. old.

[Shoot_A_Hostage]

so i got new bass boomers.
may we ontinue convversations in this topic?

[JimmyM]

Bassy tones near the neck, brighter tones near the bridge. However, other techniques can react with the location and change those up as well. Like if you play hard, you probably won't get as much of a difference.

[lowendfriend]

Originally Posted by Shoot_A_Hostage

THeres alot of talk about right hand technique. i.e. where to pluck the string.
Although I play quite alot, i sill dont hear an incredibly high amount of tonal difference between say the bridge adn the neck.
So i was wondering,
which tones are associated with which locations?

Region near the bottom frets, a smooth almost "Waahh" tone.

Region over the neck pickup (my normal zone) yer basic bompy bass tone....

Region over bridge pickup, a twangy brighter sound...

Between the nut and the tuner keys, little plunky funny sounds

[TOOL460002]

i keep meaning to test this out at a local music store, but has anyone who plays over the neck (normally 13th to 16th frets) moved from a bass with just a bridge pickup to something with a neck pickup?

im not sure if having a pickup closer to where im playing would give it more punch, or just add to the fret noise. i know i should just try this out, but if you have any experience with this, any info would be appreciated.

[turn the tide]

a good place to leave the right hand is the space between the end of the neck and the neck pickup.

[Deacon_Blues]

No difference where you pluck?!? Well you really need to go through your technique then. As a first right hand-exercise, check the sticky here with exercises and read the first post, if not all. Great ones there!

Also take a look at how you keep your fingers. Do you let the fingertips "flex" a lot while playing, or do you keep them stiff? Do you pluck more with the pad or the tip? This is mostly matters of taste, but they give very different sounds, and in combination with where you pluck and how hard, you can get very different sounds out of a bass without changing too much settings on the bass or amp. There's nothing wrong with any of these methods, they create only different sounds. I generally prefer the sound when the fingertips are more stiff than loose, you get a more low mid-heavy, punchy tone that way. However, that is not necessarily always what the song asks for so use your ears and find what fits you the best.

[SMASH]

Even on strings that are years old, heck even on flats arguably, just small changes in your attack & muting should yield greater tonal results than almost any other variable in technique or build you can name.

Moving your hand a few inches laterally should yield massive differences in tone.

The post above this one gives good advice as to how you can get different tones, and add to it considerations for muting with the right-hand and/or left in tandem.