bass ringing like a crazy!

[jb90]

Hi! I have StingRay 4. Great bass with amazing sustain and very articulate tone. I can hear almost every mistake on this bass. What is more it shows me that my muting unwanted ringing noise from strings and so on is worse than I imagined! I hear more ringing strings like I would play harmonics on them! And what is more I can't stop ringing this bass. Ex. I put my thumb on E string with my plucking hand but even though I mute all other strings some ringing from E string appeared too like a harmonic or sth. I noticed that many players don't have a problem with muting only with fretting hand (most of them put their thumbs on E/B string or pickup and don't move it at all and they have no ringing or "harmonics" from other strings. How to get rid of it? It makes me confused cause on my previous bass I didn't heard that mess between notes like on this bass. I have no flying fingers. Use my fretting hand very economicaly and try to cover as much as I could with it. But still a lot of problems. Any tips or recommendations? Thanks!

 

[Nashrakh]

One thing to try would be moving the anchor point of your thumb to see if that helps -- I have a similar thing going on where my thumb sometimes lays on a node of the string, creating harmonics. Moving the plucking hand further up or down helps in my case.

 

[Diplock]

Try fretting right on top of the fret with a bit the meat of your finger tip actually past the fret. This technique when taken to its extreme sounds like heavy palm muting but you don't have to use that much to control ringy strings.

 

[Les Fret]

Try fretting right on top of the fret with a bit the meat of your finger tip actually past the fret. This technique when taken to its extreme sounds like heavy palm muting but you don't have to use that much to control ringy strings.

That is not a common technique I would advise in this situation and it totally changes your tone.

Only advise is practice your muting. Both left and right hand.

I bet in two posts someone will throw in the Floating thumb remark including the same video that belongs to that. It’s a great technique but FT is not really necessary if you play 4 string like the OP.

 

[Diplock]

That is not a common technique I would advise in this situation and it totally changes your tone.

Only advise is practice your muting. Both left and right hand.

I bet in two posts someone will throw in the Floating thumb remark including the same video that belongs to that. It’s a great technique but FT is not really necessary if you play 4 string like the OP.

Pump the brakes brother...this 100% IS muting with your left hand. It's not common because it requires a lot of practice. Muting is arguably the single most personal aspect of playing the bass guitar. Like all of us the OP's muting styles and ability can only benefit from being exposed to and trying different methods on for size. While I wouldn't necessarily suggest the OP set a goal of learning to mute exactly like Rocco Prestia I would strongly suggest that watching and listening to him can only benefit he development of a personal muting concept.

Note I only said try it. Even if it doesn't solve the immediate issues but is useful ten years down the road it was worth saying.

 

[Kerem Koseoglu]

You can consider working with an experienced teacher for a while to improve your muting technique. Remember; practice makes permanent, not perfect. You got to practice the right thing.

 

[Les Fret]

Pump the brakes brother...this 100% IS muting with your left hand. It's not common because it requires a lot of practice. Muting is arguably the single most personal aspect of playing the bass guitar. Like all of us the OP's muting styles and ability can only benefit from being exposed to and trying different methods on for size. While I wouldn't necessarily suggest the OP set a goal of learning to mute exactly like Rocco Prestia I would strongly suggest that watching and listening to him can only benefit he development of a personal muting concept.

Note I only said try it. Even if it doesn't solve the immediate issues but is useful ten years down the road it was worth saying.

Sure. But it seems like the OP is struggling with muting basics. So better learn basic right and left hand muting techniques first before practicing specialized muting techniques like playing on the fret or Rocco style muting.