Pizzicato Sweetspot

[rockness]

Ok guys here's the deal, I've noticed that in order to get a variety of different tones out of my bass, I usually end up with my right hand two to three inches up on the fingerborad. I've watched guys play live and seen video performances where that was the case, so that's fine I guess. The thing that gets me is this, sometimes when I just 'play what sounds good' ie, a warmer, rounder tone imo, I sometimes end up with my right hand almost a foot up on the fingerboard! Is it normal to be that high, and if it sounds good to me, might it sound too boomy to others out in front of me? And no, I meet with my teacher for the first time next week , so I'm really in the dark on this one. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Mike Crumpton]

No - you got the thing right: as Ray Brown explains it - bottom of the fingerboard (or thereabouts - it depends on your taste and bass and strings) for a good 'jazz tone' as he puts it and higher up for ballads.

[anonymous0726]

If you need to project into the room you have to get a little stronger sound than you think up close to get the sound you want out into the room. If you're recording close mic'ed or going through an amp then things are a little different.

[BassZen]

I am of the school of thought that you cant have a set of rules for where to play, such as x for walking, y for soloing, z for ballads. More go for something like; if you want a big sound go very close to the bottom of the fingerboard and play hard (using your arm) with the sides of your fingers, if you want a more round and sustained less plunky sound play higher up. But the right hand technique is more important that the placement (in my experience) you can still get a very big sound higher on the fingerboard as long as you use a lot of finger and pluck the thing hard.