Tapping, why do I suck so bad at it?

[MistaMarko]

I watch people like Stu Hamm and John Myung and Wooten tap and it sounds so clear, and just other bassists my age do it. When I do it I get a buzzed sound sometimes, it doesn't come out clearn, I can't get the note to sing out...just...is it more about technique or your EQ and string action? I have medium to low action and play with a generally middy-bassy sound with not too much treble. I've been taught a little on tapping but I just cant do it well and can't get lower notes to sound as good as the higher ones. What is the secret I'm missing? Do you just play in the dead center of the fret with your finger tip really hard and hold it there? Or..what?

[JustOpenYourMind]

New strings, Low action some highs and your set for tapping

[JustOpenYourMind]

and you should never play in the center if the space between frets. you should always play right behind the fret even when you play normally.

[velvetkevorkian]

Practice, basically. Make sure your hammer ons and pull offs are up to speed. Start slowly. There is no secret your missing.

[MagicianMan]

First of all, you have to be strong to tap out clear notes, especially the lower ones (ie the low F# on the E string). So practice keeps up your strength or improves it to a level where you get a clearer tone and it also helps with your precision. Tapping more complicated lines requires you to use a lot of the fingers in your right hand and you need to be able to hit the right place inside the correct frets with enough force to make it sound clear. Another thing to think about is the muting of strings. If you lightly mute all of the strings with your left hand (if your a righty) you will get a much cleaner tone.

[spudmaster34]

If you put a sweat band or something on the bass right over the nut, so most of it is on the headstock, and just enought is on the string to stop it from vibrating simpathetically it will sound cleaner

[Sagaris]

+1 on the sweatband thing. Hair Scruncis work too or just basically anything that's like one.

Tapping is hard to learn, I am bad at it myself but I have started playing Piano a bit and I have realised it is similar to tapping. However you have to be much more precise when tapping to make sure there is no buzz; it takes alot of time.

[MistaMarko]

Well, I've taken piano for 11 years now, stopped a year ago, and have been playing bass for 2 years. Honestly I find no resemblence in the piano, mostly because on a piano you're guaranteed the same tone everytime you hit the key, but on a bass and tapping you gotta think about position and all this. Also is it easier to tap on a guitar with distortion than on a bass with none? Because I can tap pretty good on a guitar, but just horrible on bass.

[velvetkevorkian]

I find it easier on bass, since the distortion would amplify any unmuted strings quite significantly. If you can do it fine on a distorted guitar, I'm gonna say again that its just practice, and the hair band trick probably won't do you any good.

Also, it could be your action. You need to have enough height so that the string rings out clearly; any kind of fretbuzz can kill the note. Obvously you'll have to find a compromise between tone and playability there.

Try favouring the bridge pickup on your bass.

The piano-like aspects of tapping are more related to polyphonic playing and hand independence than general tapping technique.

[EADG mx]

In order of importance, it's technique, then string action, then EQ, I think.

Action will only make it easier, or possibly choke the string. If your strings aren't choking, you're good. EQ will improve the sound but can only do so much; most of the sound does come from technique.

[iamlowsound]

I have found that if I have both pickups on full that I get a better, fuller sound. Also pratice makes close to perfect.

lowsound