How hard do YOU dig in when playing?

[Gorilla Fingers]

I'm pretty heavy-handed, personally. From the pic below, you can see that my handle here is an apt one.

I'm just always fascinated at how many different approaches there are to one humble instrument!

 

[scott sinner]

I was quite heavy handed until I borrowed a guy’s bass (string broke) at a show and had to adapt to his very low action. That and experimentation after and I start to realize I wasn't getting dramatically different heavy sounds by playing heavy or light versus just just changing amp/pedal settings etc. and adjusting, mentally, my ppp to fff.

So after some time, Ive gone to super low action and pretty light touch, with louder amps, brighter strings, and pickups such that none of that is super apparent.

Even for me though, that isnt universal. I have a jazz bass set up very differently, higher action, that Id play harder. I also have an electric upright that I smack like an upright.

But my intuitive thought, when playing metal as a youth, was I needed to play heavy for a heavy sound. That turned out not to pan out. The way I have everything set up, play my bass moderately, and it sounds like thunder. That low action also makes it so easy to play if course.

The sound I cant get easily with the low action are the old school ‘felt not heard’ tones. Obviously I can roll my tone off, but it isnt quite the same.

 

[Lobster11]

I'm exactly the opposite: I use a "floating thumb" technique with my right hand, gently caressing the strings with my plucking fingers, and cranking the amp to let it do all the work. I often feel like the instrument is playing itself and I'm just watching.

As you say, though, there are many different ways to approach the instrument, and so I make no claim that my way is better than any other.

 

[Groove Doctor]

I used to dig in hard when I played a 4 string J with anchored thumb.

Then I Bought a 5 string, learned floating thumb and to pluck softer - at same volume I slap at. Much more expressive, faster, less fatigue. Much louder amps make all the difference.

 

[chris_b]

These days I see "digging in" as a waste of energy.

Very little of the music I play is improved by aggressive playing.

I play firmly but softly.

 

[MrLenny1]

Depends on the material.

 

[woodyng2]

I'm exactly the opposite: I use a "floating thumb" technique with my right hand, gently caressing the strings with my plucking fingers, and cranking the amp to let it do all the work. I often feel like the instrument is playing itself and I'm just watching.

As you say, though, there are many different ways to approach the instrument, and so I make no claim that my way is better than any other.

This is me, too.
What with also using supersmooth roundwounds,flats,and tapes, I don’t even have calluses.

 

[C Stone]

As @MrLenny1 pointed out "depends in the material"

I have enough basses to set them up differently: flats, rounds, steel, bronze, ect. some with very low action, low/med action and higher for heavy hitting, my jazz basses tend to get played harder and are set-up with different brands and gauges of round wounds. This is what works best for me

 

[Les Fret]

It’s all a matter of sound. Flea or Geddy Lee or even Marcus Miller for example wouldn’t sound the same when they would not dig in and would have a ramp and used floating thumb. Some bass lines or music just need that energy and sound of digging in.

So the Gary Willis philosophy of ‘letting do the amp do the work’ works great for him and more fusion type of players but it is not always the best choice for other genres.

 

[hrodbert696]

I'm pretty aggressive. I also play floating thumb, but my fingerstyle is a sort of more percussive striking of the strings. I think I was influenced by that Bryan Beller article where he talks about using fingerstyle to play metal. I don't play metal, but that just kind of became my style. It's not so much a matter of putting a lot of muscle into it - I don't get sore over the course of a gig, or carpal tunnel or anything. There was one time I played an open mic and borrowed the bass of the house guy. He came up to me all nervous after the first song asking me to play lighter because he had ultra-light strings on the bass and he noticed my playing style, was afraid I'd break one. Never did. But I did make the adjustment to play lighter.

 

[31HZ]

I used to play extremely hard when I started, and I couldn't help it -- it was mostly due to stage nerves. Broke a bunch of strings, too. One gig in my mid-20s, I immediately got blood blisters that burst after the 3rd or 4th song. I calmed it down a bit after a few years but continued to pluck too hard at the gig.

Now in my 50s, I play with a floating thumb and a much lighter touch. A boatload of practice and a bit of medication for anxiety made it possible for me to have more control over how I play.

 

[equill]

Let me put it this way: I stretched over from bass guitar to EUB in order to be able to dig in the way I like to.

Since then, my touch on BG's gotten lighter.

 

[Lobster11]

Something I've noticed in the many threads on this topic over the years, and again in this thread, is that lots of people say that they started out plucking hard but later learned to play with a soft touch -- but almost no one says the opposite.

 

[equill]

Something I've noticed in the many threads on this topic over the years, and again in this thread, is that lots of people say that they started out plucking hard but later learned to play with a soft touch -- but almost no one says the opposite.

It's sort-of true for me - it's more that I extended my dynamic range, and I just switch instruments when I'm going to play harder than is practical on a bass guitar.

I think it's also that BG has a non-intuitive response in that respect: often, the heaviest sound comes from the lightest touch, and really digging in gets a sound that... isn't what you want

 

[dpaul]

I used to ‘dig in’ pretty hard, until I started blistering the heck out of my fingers, and would experience right hand fatigue. I worked for quite a while to really concentrate on improving my right hand technique, and I have a much lighter and consequently articulate plucking style now. I’m not much of fan of the whole ‘clacking’ style now as more often than not it sounds kinda amateurish, though I know it works well for some others.

 

[Samatza]

I think I ended up somewhere in the middle. I found a string driven too hard didn’t speak properly even with higher action and too soft was not punchy enough.

I strive to drive the string adequately where it produces a pleasing tone, it’s fairly gentle but not just raking the string. That sweet spot changes subtly with string gauge and type of string but it’s fairly relaxed and I can play really long sets without fatigue or pain.

 

[EMoneySC2]

In my old Death Metal band I played quite aggressively, but it was more about speed than it was strength. Playing finger style in that genre, I would hit the strings with my finger tips moving quickly in order to get a pronounced attack to each hit. I wanted to get lots of fret* noise and clank, and I did a fair amount percussive dead-note hitting. I played with three fingers, because we had a lot of fast triplet and quadruplet runs.

It was never painful, uncomfortable, or caused blisters.

 

[Fernando Costa]

I'm exactly the opposite: I use a "floating thumb" technique with my right hand, gently caressing the strings with my plucking fingers, and cranking the amp to let it do all the work. I often feel like the instrument is playing itself and I'm just watching.

As you say, though, there are many different ways to approach the instrument, and so I make no claim that my way is better than any other.

I play like that too, rarely otherwise, and only if the material requires other techniques or more strength, can it happen.

 

[Spidey2112]

Depends on the material.

Ditto.

 

[Medicine Man]

I dig in way to hard and also slap, punch the fretboard, do windmills while jumping off the drum riser, hold my bass by the b string and drop it, etc. I can also play with a light touch when called for, so dont talkbass shame me.