Benefits of a lighter touch!

[unclejane]

I agree with the benefits of a lighter touch, and have made good progress with it. The problem I am having is with louder, more intense songs. It's not a tone issue really, but a rhythmic feel issue. I can't seem to generate a rocking intensity when plucking softly, even if the amp is turned up. I find I need to turn the amp down and hit harder to really groove in a hard groove where the drummer is smacking the skins. Also with the amp real loud I have trouble playing quietly enough on ballads- my palm muting skills are zip (it sounds ok on the E and A but I get no tone at all from the D or G when palm muting...). I've been thinking maybe a volume pedal is what is called for, so I could "ride the seam" on being the right volume to be able to use a medium-hard attack when the groove-space seems to require it, but still avoid overly stressing my plucking hand.

You might try a different bass just for grins. I had the same problem with Fenders and, much worse, my rickenbackers back in the gigging days. Neither one produced much by way of clear notes anyway no matter how hard I hammered on them. My Jazz was audible only on the E string and the Rick, well, kind of wasn't audible at all.

I just couldn't figure it out until one day I got to borrow a Steinberger from the singer in one of my bands (I took over the bass duties from him and he happened to have one). Instantly I had all kinds of dynamic range at my disposal. I hardly had to touch it and these incredible gun shot notes just blew out of the thing, even through my horrible old Sunn amps I had at the time. I could finally actually turn the amp down (normally had to run my fingers along the bottoms of the knobs till they were all on 11) without disappearing from the mix altogether.

My Carvin is the same way, just a light tap and you get that nice warm pop. I could probably gig with a 50 watt amp with it.

So a lot of the time it's the instrument. If it's a wall of mud, such as an old Fender P or a 4003, it's just kind of hopeless on anything other than something simple like basic blues or C&W.

Like I said before, going fretless can be a big help too. Even Fender style basses sound a lot better without the frets. I.e. my L2000 can get a pretty decent burp with the bridge PU only in parallel mode. It's a lot harder for me to do that on a fretted model (I've tried). But then again, I don't have a lot of strength either.

So the motto "let the bass and amp do the work" is a good one, but it might require a better instrument and amp too....

LS

 

[JimmyM]

You might try a different bass just for grins. I had the same problem with Fenders and, much worse, my rickenbackers back in the gigging days. Neither one produced much by way of clear notes anyway no matter how hard I hammered on them. My Jazz was audible only on the E string and the Rick, well, kind of wasn't audible at all.

I just couldn't figure it out until one day I got to borrow a Steinberger from the singer in one of my bands (I took over the bass duties from him and he happened to have one). Instantly I had all kinds of dynamic range at my disposal. I hardly had to touch it and these incredible gun shot notes just blew out of the thing, even through my horrible old Sunn amps I had at the time. I could finally actually turn the amp down (normally had to run my fingers along the bottoms of the knobs till they were all on 11) without disappearing from the mix altogether.

My Carvin is the same way, just a light tap and you get that nice warm pop. I could probably gig with a 50 watt amp with it.

So a lot of the time it's the instrument. If it's a wall of mud, such as an old Fender P or a 4003, it's just kind of hopeless on anything other than something simple like basic blues or C&W.

Like I said before, going fretless can be a big help too. Even Fender style basses sound a lot better without the frets. I.e. my L2000 can get a pretty decent burp with the bridge PU only in parallel mode. It's a lot harder for me to do that on a fretted model (I've tried). But then again, I don't have a lot of strength either.

So the motto "let the bass and amp do the work" is a good one, but it might require a better instrument and amp too....

LS

right. fenders and ricks really suck and carvins are great.

 

[HaVIC5]

What?! Rocco's got a CRAZY light touch, imo.
Could just be apples and oranges, though, all I know is
the man can play!

It's not really an opinion thing, he's gone on the record more or less saying that he has a heavy touch. He's a fan of super sky-high action. It's just the fact that he has control over his heavy touch that makes a the difference.

 

[Music_for_life]

What?! Rocco's got a CRAZY light touch, imo.
Could just be apples and oranges, though, all I know is
the man can play!

He plays very hard, he says that in this instructional video

 

[WayneS]

Steve Harris merely tickles the strings. I love a light touch.

Have you ever actually watched the man play? There's no light touch there. Maybe lighter in recent years but up until The X Factor he dug in hard. He still digs in to a degree.

 

[MNAirHead]

boy, oh boy, when did we all become wussies?

Dude.... you must have forgotten the 80s.

 

[joshwilkesbooth]

...if you start out full on, where do you go from there?

Even more full on.

 

[TripleDouble]

Why not play soft, and hard, and with a floating thumb, or a fixed thumb, or with your thumb, or a pick like a metal god, by the neck like JPJ, close to the bridge like jaco...doesn't have to be some rigid formula, do what's appropriate when you need it.

 

[maturanesa]

In my experience playing with a light touch or a hard touch depend on the bass quality and response in attack. You can play very light with a Fodera and the attack is still there, but if you got a medium/cheap bass and play light you got a weak/no soul/no attack sound. Also active basses seems to require less effort than passives.

 

[unclejane]

right. fenders and ricks really suck and carvins are great.

Well, ricks yeah, but Fenders generally only the older ones. I've played a couple of the post-2008 jazz basses (the MIA american standard anyway) and they're much, much better than the old stuff. You can hear all the strings, it's easy to get good clean notes out of them and they don't seem as susceptible to hum.

A 2008 onward jazz or precision is a really nice instrument and finally what people have wanted since the 50's - something that played like a Fender that just wasn't built or sounded like a Fender.

So me personally, I wouldn't give you $10 for a real '58 P, much less 10,000. You can buy a new one and have a way better bass for a fraction of the cost.

As for the Rick, I have nothing else to say....

LS

 

[Faderoktopus]

Lighter touch = professional tone.

the above = a rather limited view of bass-playing.

But it must be nice to know that the technique you use is the best one...

I'm all for a light touch, it can give out a lot more sustain and a much sweeter tone, but for some styles you have to dig in for a more agressive sound. I have found that this can be done without tiring. Steve Harris hits hard, no doubt about it, but he doesn't go in elbow deeb, in fact he barely touches the strings. But that small point of impact has a lot more energy than what Fieldy does using most of his forearm. This is where "light touch" vs "playing hard" becomes a bit of a paradox.

This particular playing style is sometimes associated with metal (and it is very good for metal) but before the haters jump down my throat I would like to say that it has also worked well for me in pop, rock and funk, and especially well in a T.O.P. cover band (I don't know if that's what Rocco does, but I would not be surprised). It's all about being able to vary your playing to adapt to the music. One thing that I'm still struggling with is how to shift fluidly from one style to another without varying the output too much.

 

[Jazzdogg]

I seem to vary my touch to vary my tone - especially on fretless - but, most of the change occurs in my fretting hand; the plucking hand remains fairly consistent.

 

[SJan3]

boy, oh boy, when did we all become wussies? yeah, ok, you don't have to kill the strings at all times, but there are times you have to play like a man. and i don't mean playing so hard you bang the strings into the pickups or clank all over the place. i mean playing with some cojones to it...getting a really strong fat tone with max volume and some depth to the attack. it really does make a difference to dig in and play harder when it's called for.

I agree. If you play "light" all the time, how would you ever get those "meaty tones" and dynamic emphasis??

 

[SJan3]

Well, ricks yeah, but Fenders generally only the older ones. I've played a couple of the post-2008 jazz basses (the MIA american standard anyway) and they're much, much better than the old stuff. You can hear all the strings, it's easy to get good clean notes out of them and they don't seem as susceptible to hum.

A 2008 onward jazz or precision is a really nice instrument and finally what people have wanted since the 50's - something that played like a Fender that just wasn't built or sounded like a Fender.

So me personally, I wouldn't give you $10 for a real '58 P, much less 10,000. You can buy a new one and have a way better bass for a fraction of the cost.

As for the Rick, I have nothing else to say....

LS

Awfully judgmental you are.. You don't like Fenders? Fine, but 90% of the bass playing population can't be wrong and, FWIW,
I had an '08 American Jazz which was a very nice instrument but I sold it because I preferred my '03 Jazz.

 

[Bloomyleo]

It goes without saying there's no right or wrong way to approach your plucking. I would never discourage anyone for doing what feels good to themselves. But, that being said, if you're going for a sweet Prestia type tone, you simply aren't going to get it by letting active electronics (i.e. your hardware) do the work. Prestia plucks harder then he seems, he just makes it look effortless. I play a fender jazz through an ampeg rig with only a taste of compression and that config sounds best (in an original southern rock band) played with some muscle. I also have a Tobias (pre Gibson) and it's crazy to me how different I have to approach that sucker. I see so many bass players out there that depend on their equipment to do the work, but I think that disconnects them from part of the musicality of playing. The human nuances just aren't going to come through. If your rig has more to do with your sound then you do, your cheating yourself out of the most rewarding part of being a musician.

 

[steveksux]

got to have dynamics, and if you start out full on, where do you go from there?

You'll never get your amp to 11 if you're too scared to start out at 10..

Randy

 

[flyingfinbar]

I generally play to the song. There are quiet parts where I'm barely tickling the strings, and aggressive, fast parts that I'm hammering the round off the wounds.

 

[I<34080]

Well, ricks yeah, but Fenders generally only the older ones. I've played a couple of the post-2008 jazz basses (the MIA american standard anyway) and they're much, much better than the old stuff. You can hear all the strings, it's easy to get good clean notes out of them and they don't seem as susceptible to hum.

A 2008 onward jazz or precision is a really nice instrument and finally what people have wanted since the 50's - something that played like a Fender that just wasn't built or sounded like a Fender.

So me personally, I wouldn't give you $10 for a real '58 P, much less 10,000. You can buy a new one and have a way better bass for a fraction of the cost.

As for the Rick, I have nothing else to say....

LS

Yeah, okay.

 

[fourstringburn]

dYNAMICS is what counts!!! play hard (fortissimo) play soft(pianissimo) or somewhere in between, mix it up to create a mood. Music is a combination of these...but so is SILENCE!

This comes from within you, not your amp settings!

 

[UnityGain]

I have a sneaking suspicion that some people are mistaking a pro for having a light touch when really were just seeing them having great economy of motion.

Its easy to see someone playing hard with fingers flying all over the place and whacking strings. But someone that has a really stable and controlled right hand isn't necessarily playing lightly, they are just not wasting energy flapping fingers around unnecessarily. I know a banjo player that has a really, really powerful right hand, but when he is playing it barely looks like his hand is moving, but he is about 4 times as loud as me with my fingers flying all over the place.