Is this plucking or slapping or neither?

[Ari Nobody]

No, I meant pick hahaha

Now I get to do this:

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Now I get to do this:

I was right, right?

 

[Ari Nobody]

I was right, right?

No my friend. It's finger style actually. I only play guitars with a pick these days.

 

[2manynotes]

Plupping and muding.

 

[OptimalOptimus]

Pick with some distortion

 

[Ari Nobody]

Pick with some distortion

No pick and no distortion. Nothing, no effects. (Unless you call a $30 Chinese compressor pedal an effect.) Not even an amp. Straight into a Tascam DP-01FX purchased in 2002, using only one of the onboard acoustic guitar sound presets called "Heaven" if I recall correctly.

 

[micguy]

No so much the buzz, but the attack. That sounds a lot like a pick.

Some of us have naturally hard callouses (OK, I practice a lot), and with a realtively low setup, you don't have to dig in a lot to get this tone. A bit of treble boost and hard callouses gives you a pick like attack; add in some grind from fret buzz (you need a well setup bass to make that controllable), and...voila....grind.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

If I recall don't we call it "digging in" around here?
The whole reason ramps were created was to avoid this behavior wasn't it?
Dirk

 

[MVE]

I always called it "clacking." As in, clacking the strings in the frets.

I would sometimes drop the action on my Alembic to get that sound. (Its easy on the Alembic, because its just to allen screws and not 8. )

 

[mcnach]

I believe it was due to the rather "enthusiastic" plucking. I know it sounds like it was played with a pick. But I also know it was played with the fingers. I'm the dude who played this bass line.

So I guess there is no actual word describing this sort of playing even though John Entwistle pioneered it half a century ago?

It would be interesting to hear the isolated bass track. All the fret buzz and other noises... yet in the mix it sounds beautiful. Nice one!

 

[Ric5]

Plectrum I would venture.

yes ... it sounds like a fat picking sound

 

[Ari Nobody]

It would be interesting to hear the isolated bass track. All the fret buzz and other noises... yet in the mix it sounds beautiful. Nice one!

Thanks friend!
Maybe one day we'll upload the bass line to SoundCloud or some such when my ego gets inflated enough to take myself that seriously. Or maybe due to genuine public interest, who knows.
But the song is a monster and probably the best thing I've done in my whole life.
I don't think I have to write another song again. This one conveys everything I have to say anyway, so what's the point of keeping repeating myself?
Unless I come up with another bass line like that?
(Senses ego stirring itself to awakening.)

 

[Ari Nobody]

If I recall don't we call it "digging in" around here?
The whole reason ramps were created was to avoid this behavior wasn't it?
Dirk

Burn all the ramps and reboot the brains that conceived such abomination!

 

[mcnach]

Thanks friend!
Maybe one day we'll upload the bass line to SoundCloud or some such when my ego gets inflated enough to take myself that seriously. Or maybe due to genuine public interest, who knows.
But the song is a monster and probably the best thing I've done in my whole life.
I don't think I have to write another song again. This one conveys everything I have to say anyway, so what's the point of keeping repeating myself?
Unless I come up with another bass line like that?
(Senses ego stirring itself to awakening.)

a little ego stroking from time to time is not a bad thing

 

[Groove Doctor]

Call it heavy handed ?

I always called it "clacking." As in, clacking the strings in the frets.

A bassist buddy of mine @bigswifty1 plays like this. I think he calls his playing style 'ham-fisted'.

 

[Ari Nobody]

Adult Rock...
The beginning.

 

[Lagado]

Some of us have naturally hard callouses (OK, I practice a lot), and with a realtively low setup, you don't have to dig in a lot to get this tone. A bit of treble boost and hard callouses gives you a pick like attack; add in some grind from fret buzz (you need a well setup bass to make that controllable), and...voila....grind.

My callouses are too dry, they split. I know about the tone, but it's the initial slight 'click' that puzzles me.

 

[eddybuzzard]

My callouses are too dry, they split. I know about the tone, but it's the initial slight 'click' that puzzles me.

Maybe slight contact with pole piece ...?

 

[Ari Nobody]

My callouses are too dry, they split. I know about the tone, but it's the initial slight 'click' that puzzles me.

As you can tell, I'm not playing on the beat at all during the whole first part of the verse. I tend to rest my fingers on the strings to mute them on the beat. Perhaps you're hearing a slight contact (click) of the strings with the pole pieces or the frets due to the slight pressure I'm thus exerting on them on the beat, as our friend eddybuzzard suggested above.

 

[Ari Nobody]

Maybe slight contact with pole piece ...?

I also tend to catch the strings slightly with my fingernails. There is that too.