Distortion Clicking

[thombo]

I love pedals, especially distortions, od's, and fuzz, but I am constantly fighting the clicking sound of strings against frets. Searching around TB, the consensus seems to be that it is the nature of bass+distortion, just deal with it.

The action is medium on most of my basses; I usually use flat wounds; My eq is pretty flat. The click isn't as predominant as bad when my cab is mic'd (instead of DI'd), but it is still there.

With your wealth of experience in studios and with high profile gigs, and as an avid user of effects, I hoped you could lend a few words.

 

[jmjbassplayer]

Weird...I don't know, I don't really deal with "clicking" per se....except when I am seeking it out. Are you sure it's not your strings against the pole pieces of your pickups?

Best,
JMJ

 

[ShoeManiac]

You've generally got tone shaping in a number of places in your signal chain: the bass, an effects pedal and the EQ section of your amp. That pronounced fret noise can be accentuated by EQ, but very often it can be a result of your technique as well as the setup of the instrument.

 

[wonderjosh]

I've never really had an issue with clicking when using overdrive or distortion on bass.

What bass, what overdrive pedal, and what amp are you using?

 

[Tin Cadillac]

You've generally got tone shaping in a number of places in your signal chain: the bass, an effects pedal and the EQ section of your amp. That pronounced fret noise can be accentuated by EQ, but very often it can be a result of your technique as well as the setup of the instrument.

I've been dealing with this myself lately. I got a really nice "Pro Setup" done on my bass, got the action lowered with the "Proper" strings (tech said I needed tapercores so everything would intonate correctly).

It feels and plays better than it ever has but I am somewhat "Heavy-Handed" and the lower action makes it difficult for me to control that irritating "Clicking" going on! It is especially noticable when I play through my "POS" Carvin (seems to pick up every little "Click" and "Screech" from Fretting, sliding, plucking or whatever! And I am not using an overly bright EQ setting either!

I am thinking it may have more to do with the gain than anything else. I am using active pickups and a preamplifier (Eden WTDI) in front of the head so these are things I need to consider.

How does "Compression" affect the clicking and string noise?