Is this normal for short scale?

[OrangeFurball]

Hello, I'm new to bass playing and I have a slight problem. When I play sometimes if I'm not on a certain spot on a fret I can hear the string hitting the metal part of the fret board (I'm extremely new, and don't know the terms)
I have it tuned properly.

My questions:

1) Is this normal for a short scale bass?
2) and I plucking(?) The strings wrong?
3) any advice?

Thank you!!

-Matt

 

[bassteban]

Adjust your technique so that the resulting sound is pleasing to your ears. The metal part of the fretboard is the fret, and if you finger the note in the wrong position it will sound bad(subjective of course).

Edit: To reply specifically-
1. If you play sloppily, yes. Also normal for any bass I think.
2. Hard to say w/o seeing.
3. See above.

 

[tsverrir]

You should also consider having your bass set-up by someone who knows how to do that. The string height and neck relief might need to be adjusted to suit your playing style.

 

[SoVeryTired]

I think what you're describing is fret buzz, when the vibrating string is buzzing or rattling against the frets. The solutions are to play with a lighter touch and/or get the bass set up properly so that the strings are slightly higher off the fretboard. It can easily be done yourself if you want to look at some of the guides available (check out the Hardware, Setup and Repair section), otherwise take it to a reputable technician.

I think learning how to do your own setup is a great idea - it'll really help you to understand how your instrument works and save you a lot of money over the course of your playing life!

 

[mrbell321]

I also want to add that many bassists play and live w/ some fretbuzz. But when I first started playing(not that long ago, I'm a newbie too), I tended to pluck really hard. You can actually play w/ a pretty light touch and it takes a while to get used to that. I still hit harder than I need to most of the time

 

[OrangeFurball]

Thanks everyone. It seems like I'm too far back on the fret. When I'm in the middle of it the buzz is gone. I just have to work on it. As for plucking I think I'm doing alright, maybe a little to hard but ill work on it. Thank again!

 

[skychief]

You should also consider having your bass set-up by someone who knows how to do that. The string height and neck relief might need to be adjusted to suit your playing style.

Agree ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Sounds like a classic case of string buzz.

 

[OrangeFurball]

Well a little update. After learning the placement of (some) of the frets I use for the two songs I know, the buzz went away.

And I'm loving bass. I was going to play for 10 minutes, but that turned into 4 hours!

 

[SUPERMAG]

That's great. Keep at it. You'll find what sounds better here and there. Just a slight movement of Your hand can make All the difference in the world. Try that before doing any adjustment to the neck. Unless Your sure of what Your doing.
Or You could Just make it worse and damage something. A string change can make alot of difference. Just research this site. We've all learned a lot from each other on here. That's what its for.