Benefits of a lighter touch!

[stoob]

I think this video which I posted earlier today in another thread settles the debate- Same guitar, different touch, a whole valley of diffrence in tone:

YouTube - ‪Tony Newton - Bill Dickens - Bass Lesson‬‏

I rest on your face.

 

[makkE]

I am finally giving a lighter touch a try now.

On the last gig, my amp was far too loud for the small room (and the aged audience, all other acts were acoustic).
I had to play softer than usual, and noticed that the notes especially on my e-string were much clearer.
I could manage the light touch on the plucking, but cramped up on one song with my fretting hand.

Another reason is that my callouses mess up my tone! I play heavy flats, and with my heavy touch, I got quite large pads of really hard callous on my plucking fingers. They have started adding a slight plek-like attack to my notes, wich I despise of.
Hopefully, those callouses will lessen soon.

I can see huge benefits to my playing already, and I like the fatness in tone I get.
I hope I won't makes some nasty noise on the next band practice

 

[Tarfinger]

Yeah a "professional tone" involves not telling others how to play... I learned the light touch the hard way, by picking up an Alembic in the midst of a jam at a small gig, and noticing that all the notes were fretting out. So if you want to force that technique, set up your strings really buzzing low. That Alembic was was Neil Fountain's(name drop) @1993. I still haven't gotten the practice down, but did get an Alembic.

 

[stoob]

So if you want to force that technique, set up your strings really buzzing low.

Good idea.

I'm learning to play one finger per fret and I often get fret buzz on the lower frets, so I'm really trying to get my technique down and curl my fingers more to correct my old bad habits of sloppy fingering, this could be a help.

 

[SkylineFiver]

I just regained consciousness after reading that gary willis' tone was weak....

Listen to Dense Dance on his website.

Sheesh...

 

[mpdd]

when i was in grad school for sculpture they told us to invert the space, so since i believe that sound is sculptural...

if you always play really hard try playing really soft, it applies to everything

if you only use heavy overdrive try the cleanest tone you can get, this is simple stuff that i have based my entire career on

 

[Mayers]

I don,t think a lighter touch will reduce your chance to sound heavy ...

I also think that if you have to fight with your bass to make a note or a sound ... something is wrong because you need extra strength and after a while it will held you back in what you can do.

From my experience a lighter touch allow to play for a longer period of time with harder part to play and be more technical.

look at that ... it is impossible with a high touch.

YouTube - ‪Reciprocal Jeff Hughell Bass‬‏

 

[J-Razz]

I've been working on getting a lighter touch lately. I get a better tone and it's easier to mute the strings.

 

[Bigjohn]

My favorite bass players hit HARD.
Geddy
Flea
Justin Chancellor
Squire
Those guys DIG IN with their fingers or pick.
They grind.
Their frets buzz.
They sound awesome.

 

[gai113]

Medium approach is best...

Too light and your tone sounds like a 5 year old girl.. Too hard and you tire too fast etc...

IMO Gary Willis tone sucks...

I try to find the happy medium pick light enough to still get good tone..

However it is good to be able many different ways depending on situation...

Rocco plays extremely hard....

 

[john grey]

My Rt & Lf hand are independent. My fretting is simply strong enough to compress the string to the maximum tension needed to sound a note cleanly if my plucking hand does it's job. Distortion of the note can come about from either hand as can a cleanly sounded note.

There are independent factors here that cannot be accounted for with generalized statements in either direction. The action height, string (and string composition), whether the instrument is fret-less or not, & electronics may all contribute to the final product.

 

[7615]

Light touch allows for head room - and better tone

 

[Les Fret]

Medium approach is best...

Too light and your tone sounds like a 5 year old girl.. Too hard and you tire too fast etc...

IMO Gary Willis tone sucks...

I try to find the happy medium pick light enough to still get good tone..

However it is good to be able many different ways depending on situation...

Rocco plays extremely hard....

I disagree on the GW and Rocco part. Rocco doesn't play hard at all. Also disagree with the term 'professional tone'. It doesn't exist. Professional playing does.

Light touch doesn't automatically mean better tone. It is what the situation calls for. Sometimes you need lighter touch other times you need to dig in. Why so black and white?