Technique to avoid clacking

[otheracco]

I started off with metal and a pick. Sure, I've fingerpicked for just as long, but I still get the clacking sound when finger picking. I do have my strings set very low, as low as I can without fret buzz. Is that the problem?

I want that low action for fast fretting, but I don't want the clacking.

What can I do with my technique to avoid that clacking sound?

p.s. Steve Harris plays with the clacking sound I'm talking about (he doesn't seem to mind, but I do).

[SteveC]

I'm with Steve...wait, I am Steve. I like a little higher action. I think it lets the string vibrate better and some say it gets a better sound that way. I also like to dig in. I like the clacking sometimes, too.

Guess I wasn't any help

[BullHorn]

It depends on many things. It might be your technique, it might be the pickups height.

Hard to say, really, but if you don't get the clicking when you play with a pick, then you're probably using an aggressive method for fingerpicking or the motion of the picking is more like they use on a classic guitar then on a bass.

Try to pick upwards (Up towards the ceiling) and NOT outwards (NOT away from your belly).

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by otheracco

I started off with metal and a pick. Sure, I've fingerpicked for just as long, but I still get the clacking sound when finger picking. I do have my strings set very low, as low as I can without fret buzz. Is that the problem?

I want that low action for fast fretting, but I don't want the clacking.

What can I do with my technique to avoid that clacking sound?

p.s. Steve Harris plays with the clacking sound I'm talking about (he doesn't seem to mind, but I do).

This might not be a very helpful thing to say, but this same exact thing is reason #2 that I went to the fretless.

I was the clackinest SOB I'd ever heard on the fretted and nothing I tried could get rid of it. Getting rid of the frets finally did work, tho amazingly you can still clack on the fretless if you do it just wrong......

And yes I've always been amazed at how clacky Steve Harris is, but he's such a marvellous player you don't care....

One thing I've heard good fretted players say is to try the pluck the strings as horizontally as possible, rather than just batting at them with big long whacks by the fingers like I used to do.

I've been learning the floating thumb technique lately and that has helped with that as it allows you to keep your finger curled up and achieve a more sideways plucking pretty much at all times.

I've also noticed pick players have much less of a clacking sound and instead get that wonderful clean pluck. Have you tried simply going back to the pick?

I'd kill to be able to play with a pick, as I love that sound also....

LS

[XylemBassGuitar]

Generally, a combination of altering your technique and raising the action slightly will get rid of most of the clacking without too much trouble.

Definitely practice attacking the strings in a manner that makes them vibrate more vertically (towards your head and shoulders) rather than horizontally (towards the frets/pickups). You could also make a habit of turning up your amp louder than normal and softening your attack significantly.

[BuffaloBass]

For sure, my strings are still a freckle too high for me, but the last studio work I did, its was almost too clacky. Almost. and studio is easier in a way since you're not digging in as hard as live.

Reckon if I went to the more "dead" rosewood board, that would eliminate some of it as well. But, uh, I can't!

If I'm live, adn I get too clacky, it typically means I'm digging in too hard. To get back to the "chi" of bass, I pump up the amp and use a lighter touch and pay more attention to my technique. Works every time.

[JimmyM]

I once brought this up to Dave LaRue when I took lessons from him. He didn't even look up from his bass and said, "Pick by the bridge and lighten up." Worked pretty well

[chaosMK]

Little higher action might help. Higher string tension might help- heavier strings, longer scale bass.

[JustOpenYourMind]

Pluck the strings parallel to the body of the bass instead of towards it.

[MonetBass]

Cut yer fingernails, ya hippie!

Seriously, lighten your plucking, as others have said.

[jdieh1]

Originally Posted by JustOpenYourMind

Pluck the strings parallel to the body of the bass instead of towards it.

Yeah, this should fix your problem^^^.

I don't mind the clanking though

[Nick Kay]

Originally Posted by JustOpenYourMind

Pluck the strings parallel to the body of the bass instead of towards it.

Perpendicular. Parallel implies the fingers running at the same angle as the face of the body - that causes clacking. Perpendicular implies a 90 degree angle between the finger tips and the face of the body. The closer you are to 90 degrees, the less clack you'll get, ignoring any caused by plucking too hard.

[kimstevens]

One thing to think about as you clack -- the sound (in my case) seems to be made by the finger when it hits the string on which it rests, rather than the string which rings for the note you just played.

[JustOpenYourMind]

Originally Posted by Nick Kay

Perpendicular. Parallel implies the fingers running at the same angle as the face of the body - that causes clacking. Perpendicular implies a 90 degree angle between the finger tips and the face of the body. The closer you are to 90 degrees, the less clack you'll get, ignoring any caused by plucking too hard.

Lol, depends on how you see it,

When your finger is perpendicular to the body and you pluck, the string movement is parallel compared to the body.

When your finger is parallel, the string movement is perpendicular.

I was talking about the way the string moves when you pluck it

[medawc]

Try also plucking closer to the bridge. The string is much stiffer there so it may help for clacking.

[Nyarlathotep]

All good advice: Pluck closer to the bridge, don't pluck into the bass, lighter touch, and set your action higher.

Trust me on this. I had to re-set up my SX after playing with a pick for a very long time. It had really low action for fretting ease, and I didn't get any fret clank when I picked. When I tried to play it fingerstyle tho so much clank even with a feather touch! I already picked/pluck over the bridge pup, but I focused on the other 3 and my sound is much better. The higher action more than anything was key IMHO. Unfortunately I had to readjust my intonation as well, cus im anal about it.... I even moved my bridge 10mm farther down the body so I could have more room to intone (EDIT: I only moved it for my low B in all honestly ).....

[wfsIII]

i have the same problem i've been playing with the "clack" for years. it's difficult to start plucking differently when you've been using more of a downwards motion for so long.

plucking closer to the bridge would be a quick fix but i personally hate the tone when it's close to the bridge... not to mention it's just too stiff. if you don't mind it then go for it.

also you mentioned playing metal, so if you're in a drop tuning, picking it up a bit would definitely help i'd imagine.

[JustOpenYourMind]

Originally Posted by wfsIII

plucking closer to the bridge would be a quick fix but i personally hate the tone when it's close to the bridge... not to mention it's just too stiff. if you don't mind it then go for it.

+1

Plucking closer to the bridge is an easy fix because the tension is greater there. A good player should be able to control that clank when playing anywhere, even right by the neck.

With practice you'll be able to play without any clank or to use that clank when you want it.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by wfsIII

i have the same problem i've been playing with the "clack" for years. it's difficult to start plucking differently when you've been using more of a downwards motion for so long.

plucking closer to the bridge would be a quick fix but i personally hate the tone when it's close to the bridge... not to mention it's just too stiff. if you don't mind it then go for it.

also you mentioned playing metal, so if you're in a drop tuning, picking it up a bit would definitely help i'd imagine.

Going to lighter gauge strings is a good cure for overly stiff strings near the bridge. For example, I run .095's on my L2000 which gives a perfectly comfortable tension right over the bridge PU where I pluck. Light guage also adds a lot of grunt and agression to the tone when plucking near the bridge - clear, poppy notes a-la Jaco or Jeff Berlin, etc. and clears up a lot of the mud.

I've also found the floating thumb technique helps a lot with clacking as it forces your fingers to always have the same "curl" regardless of what string you're on. This way you not just thwapping away at the strings and thereby whacking them against the frets/fingerboard, but actually pulling them sideways......

LS

[EADG mx]

Originally Posted by otheracco

I want that low action for fast fretting, but I don't want the clacking.

I used to think like this. Ideally I'd like my strings touching the neck at all times, which would be super comfortable to fret but wouldn't make a sound. Sometimes you need to accept that you can't have it all.

Gear isn't the answer. You don't need heavier strings or a longer scale bass to fix a setup and/or technique issue.