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Ibanez GSR206 - clickclackclickclack

bobsbarricades

bobsbarricades

Feb 23, 2014
9
0
#1
Lemme start by saying I do not by any means concider myself a good bass player. I'm still trying to figure it out TBH. I'm a classically trained guitarist (without a nylon in sight =() and am working on prog rock stuff. Yippee right? Well I grabbed me a 206 a bit ago to see what it would be like. I love it for the 150 I paid for it. It gives me new ideas and pretty much everything about it is HEAVY compared to the Peavy Milestone I was using (they both have their better-at's).

Anyway Sometimes I really like getting that metal against metal clicky sound when I'm playing lines on the lower strings. But I'm realizing it's proving hard to control...

Now I'm here to find out if this is a technical deficiency (I'm sure) or if it's maybe an EQ thing where I'm expecting to get sound x using the settings from sound y. I get alot of attack noise with my pick as well (using the yellow and black dava pick).

Am I slamming down too hard (I play .11-.56 guitar strings at a higher action because I like to play really hard [call it reactionary too the classical years]_. Are there areas near the pickups that are "no zones?"

Anybody that is also attempting to come close to some of the many beautiful sounds of Justin Chancelor of Tool is more than more than welcome to offer input :D

THanks!
 
#2
Two things that I focus on: 1) I like medium-low action, so a softer touch is required. The advantage to using a softer touch is that I can dig in and get fret noise when I want it. 2) The "angle of attack" is important. I try to pluck in a direction parallel to the fingerboard. The closer you get to striking perpendicular to the fingerboard, the more fret clack you get in the attack.

Aside from that, there are setup things. If you like to dig in a little, heavier strings can help. So can raising the saddles a bit. Also, some will gasp at this suggestion, but I've met some old-school P bass guys that dig in pretty hard. They have so much relief in their neck that most would call it "bowed pretty badly."
 
#3
When you say parallel - what do you mean exactly? Perpendicular to the strings makes sense but parallell to the fretboard? I have tried going straight 90 degrees against the string to a "swipe" and I still seem to get a lot of that "thum thum thum" sound from striking the string.

On the clicky clikcy - I could easily just make a bunch of different tracks for each part - one with less high so it's not as noticeable in the fast parts and one with the high in where it's not as much of a problem (ie NOT on the first 2 strings) but I don't think that's the wisest move...but I don't know. I listen to Aenema and Justin's sound changes just about every phrase so...I really don't know.

I am definitely learning the softer touch though it's actually the bigger low strings that cause most of the problem.

thanks
 
#5
It has been my experience that Ibanez basses are pretty clack heavy regardless of technique. That said, work on being able to pluck parallel to the surface of the bass as opposed to down into the fretboard. It may also help to cozy up to your volume knob so you can up your output when plucking lightly and bring it down when you really wanna thrash.
 
#6
Do they make "tighter" strings? The trebles are TOO tight because of bridge issues but if I could get those lowers tighter...well I don't know it would be a plus minus thing. From my limited guitar knowledge it seems like electric guitar strings would be tighter just by being either higher guage or higher action. I know there was some magic in nylon strings being able to be different tensions but I never could figure out how they did it ^_^

I will definitely play with the volume! I hadn't thought of that (although there are 3 volume knobs - I will see what the effect is on the clicky stuff that comes from faster passages).

Thanks!
 
#7
They do make tighter strings, by having heavier gauges. The problem with bass strings and the gauges they usually have is that the tension goes down as you get lower. So the tension of the E and B string is actually very low and it's easy to clack it against the fretboard.

You can check out balanced tension sets, they have heavier gauges for the lower strings so it's an even response across the fretboard. Circle K makes great balanced tension sets.
 
#8
bobsbarricades said:
When you say parallel - what do you mean exactly? Perpendicular to the strings makes sense but parallell to the fretboard? I have tried going straight 90 degrees against the string to a "swipe" and I still seem to get a lot of that "thum thum thum" sound from striking the string.

On the clicky clikcy - I could easily just make a bunch of different tracks for each part - one with less high so it's not as noticeable in the fast parts and one with the high in where it's not as much of a problem (ie NOT on the first 2 strings) but I don't think that's the wisest move...but I don't know. I listen to Aenema and Justin's sound changes just about every phrase so...I really don't know.

I am definitely learning the softer touch though it's actually the bigger low strings that cause most of the problem.

thanks
Click to expand...

As close to parallel as you can get. I believe the noise you are not liking is you slapping the strings into the frets. There is nothing wrong with that sound, unless it isn't the sound you want. As for tracking multiple tones...sure you could, but to me that sounds like a cop out because you didn't clean up your technique. However, a lot of clack and fret noise will get lost in the mix, so it may not be as big a deal as you are thinking.

bobsbarricades said:
Do they make "tighter" strings? The trebles are TOO tight because of bridge issues but if I could get those lowers tighter...well I don't know it would be a plus minus thing. From my limited guitar knowledge it seems like electric guitar strings would be tighter just by being either higher guage or higher action. I know there was some magic in nylon strings being able to be different tensions but I never could figure out how they did it ^_^

I will definitely play with the volume! I hadn't thought of that (although there are 3 volume knobs - I will see what the effect is on the clicky stuff that comes from faster passages).

Thanks!
Click to expand...

"Tighter" strings is why I suggested a heavier gauge. It will help, but if you use muscle instead of finesse, it is going to sound like you used muscle instead of finesse.
 
#9
They also make STIFFER strings which are what you need.

Hex core nickel wound.

Pricey but highly recommended are DR Lo-Riders.

I have the same problem in my playing... I just embrace it and people hire me for my tone WITH the clack often anyhow. I CAN control it. But I actually like it :-)
 
#10
I've been pushing the envelope of lighter touch and lower action lately, and... watching it bend. When you really lighten up with your right hand, you can get a good clean thump, but digging in will let out the grind. If you're using a pick, don't hold it at an angle to the strings, as that usually leads to "pushing" the string before the pick flips off the string. Also, try picking closer to the bridge. It will be a more "bonery" sound, but it helps immensely with getting the fast Chancellor Chunk, because you're not physically moving the string as far.

hmm. Looking back at that, I don't think it made much sense. More coffee.
 
#11
I play on DR steel loriders with a pick and yeah, it's noisy. Clanks, buzzes, pick noise etc...I don't care for my tone at all when I practice, it's very harsh. With the band however none of that noise is really audible and I sometimes find myself looking for more edge. You'll learn to control the chaos a bit as you get more comfortable. I also use heavier gauge strings, .115e, it helps to keep the strings from "farting" for lack of a better term when I get too heavy handed and the DRs have pretty high tension which helps as well.
 
#13
Thanks guys!! I've been thinking and playing around with what you've all said and FOR ME with these strings setup as they are and yadayada it is mostly me slapping the heck out of the strings with my left hand. A softer touch and cranking down my Konnekt 6 pre's helped in a large way to get it under control (as an aside; these pre's are some of the best I've ever used - obviously in the budget range here but they're so reactive - you can even get some nice QotSA-ish distortion if you crank 'em in the red). It's also the 'a' note on the drop d string which for some reason clacks a heck of a lot louder than other frets (compared to equally heavy-handedness).

Yea the clacky does work really well AT TIMES, but sometimes you just need 'dat beauty :D So I need to learn to bring out the clack when it's needed and control it when it's not so welcome.

On the plus side I think I got a pretty sweet tone ^)^ Thanks again everyone. I think I would benefit from those DR Steel lowriders since I detune the E to D and B to A for this track. I have to figure out what I've got now because the trebles are a beauty, it's really just a tighter/fatter 5th and 6th. Probably be hell finding them like it is for my 7 string guitar =/

Thanks again!
 

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