Are You a Soft or Hard Player?

[2F/2F]

The whole range, but with the music I play, usually hard, with heavy strings and high action. As you say, it's for a reason, not due to ignorance of "proper" technique. It's a different type of percussive. You can control attack and decay and string rattles and fret slap and hand/finger thumps and mutes in certain ways to achieve certain effects that, IMO, sound great, and have become integral to my style of playing.

And, you forgot to mention Duck Dunn in the "hard" camp – one of the most excellent and influential bassists of all time.

FWIW, I have always played on flats, and also played upright in my youth. A lot of my electric bass technique comes from those two things.

 

[mambo4]

I play as softly as possible while getting the tone needed for the song.
I've learned over time that aggressive tone does not require aggressive plucking.
It also helps to have a bass /strings/amp that respond well to changes in technique

 

[staurosjohn]

I’m so much ‘harder than Thor’s hammer’ - sometimes *this* happens
(Roto SS rounds)

 

[Max Bogosity]

I’m inclined to play hard, but too much of that combined with bad right hand technique leaves me with numbness and tingling in the hand and fingers. Trying to learn to play softly, with a straight wrist and not resting on the edge of the body.

 

[Watchootognbout]

I don't play very hard,but I have to make a special effort to play softly.
Playing softly with lower action takes less effort to play.

 

[Smurf-o-Deth]

I beat my strings like they owe me money.

 

[staurosjohn]

I beat my strings like they owe me money.

 

[skwee]

My natural inclination is to play too hard, and if I'm not paying attention, my forearms will be killing me by the end of the night.

 

[lokikallas]

There is no sound like bouncing the strings off of the frets, but you have to know when to play with dynamics too.

 

[TheSeagoats]

When I played in pop punk bands I used to "hit the strings like I hated them" as the guy that recorded my first band's album put it, but when I played in a church band I took a different approach and played fingerstyle and just tried to fade into the background.

 

[SgtHulka]

I am ultra soft. I learned about economy of motion early in my playing and stuck to it. I rarely play harder, instead I just turn up. When I'm really groovin, I might play a bit harder but not usually.

 

[Lobster11]

I beat my strings like they owe me money.

You don't have to actually beat them -- just threaten them. Buy a new set of strings and store them in the case with your bass. Your current strings will see the writing on the wall.

 

[micguy]

I play with a lot of dynamics - I do both at different times. But when I play hard, I’m not gitting the strings as hard as some folks - I use really light gauge strings so I can get that sound without risking repetitive stress injury.

 

[TOOL460002]

Fingerstyle over the pups I'll dig in a bit more, but playing over the lower neck it's normally a speed/flexibility that demands economy of motion, but I always slap/pop extremely hard. I even have some blood on the neck to prove it!

 

[fishdreams]

Used to play very hard, growing up with way too small amplifiers.

In the past years I've worked on my tone and phrasing and found that playing with a much softer touch was the ticket for me

 

[JRA]

i voted "all of the above" but mostly i play with a soft to medium touch --- per the dynamics and drama. i like to dig in, but i like to chill, too.

 

[marchone]

Soft bedroom player here. When with a band I pluck hard.

 

[dalahorse]

I've never had a blister. But still - I play kinda hard. Not like Geddy. But not soft, either. I'm learning to use a pick these days and am trying to keep that attack a bit softer.

 

[fdeck]

Hard. Bad habit from playing upright.

 

[Doner Designs]

Question for the light touch folks like me: do you prefer heavy or light strings?

I used to play super thick flats but have switched to very low tension flats recently.