Striking the string question

[ChiefLongDong]

The first of many noob questions to be posted...

When playing acoustically on my electric bass, i notice that sometimes, instead of the string sounding a note, I will strike the string with more downward force causing the string to bang against the 24th fret (the last fret). This causes an unpleasant clank sound instead of the true note. I'm without an amp at the moment, its being shipped, so i'm unsure of how this sounds with an amp...

When playing, how often, if at all is this supposed to happen? I find that the harder I pluck the string, obviously, the more audible the note, until it reaches the point that the string clanks against the last fret. Is this acceptable? or is it bad technique that causes this?

Any thoughts?

[Tim Sevenfold]

I'm not exactly a pro myself for I haven't been playing bass long myself, and by the time this response comes through you may have already received your amp and figured it out before I say this, but...

Playing acoustically with a low action (dropped strings) will inevitably cause fret buzz/"clanking". On your amp, these sounds will be manifested SLIGHTLY depending on your EQ settings. If your treble is high, the clanking will ring through louder, especially if the amp has a tweeter. If your treble is all the way down and the bass is all the way up, you will hear virtually zero effect from the "clickity clack". However, if you may as I did, become accustomed to and begin to like the clacking, you won't care about it anyway. So no, it won't affect you if you just turn the high frequencies down a bit on your amp and/or bass.

[dvh]

If you can control it to happen when you want it to, it is good technique. If it happens and you don't want it to, it is bad technique.

You should be plucking the strings a lot less hard when plugged in. Maybe that has solved it for you? Play lighter, raise the action if necessary, as noted above EQ can help.

[mambo4]

The problem with playing an electric bass unplugged is that to hear yourself you simply have to pluck much, much harder than you should ever need to when amplified. This can cause alot of rattle and noise that may not show up once plugged in.

without an amp, You'll be training your right hand to have a much heavier touch than is necessary.

[Muusers]

Originally Posted by mambo4

The problem with playing an electric bass unplugged is that to hear yourself you simply have to pluck much, much harder than you should ever need to when amplified. This can cause alot of rattle and noise that may not show up once plugged in.

without an amp, You'll be training your right hand to have a much heavier touch than is necessary.

+1
dont worry mate, once you play with an amp you'll manage just fine without smashing your strings into your fretboard

[spade2you]

Definite +1 on mambo4, although I'd suspect that on top of this that you're plucking DOWN instead of across the string.