Embrace the clack. Control the clack. Make the clack yours.
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Let's talk about clack!
- Thread starter redwood
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- string noise
A little bit of clack never hurt John Entwhistle or Stanley Clarke. I see Steve Harris mentioned a couple of times, but I recall reading an interview with him where he attributed his tone to long right hand fingernails and flats. I doubt SS frets have anything to do with it.
If it helps, I find I can get away with murder, as far as right hand techique goes, on my Jazz Bass, but any sloppiness at all on my Ibanez RS900 is ruthlessly exposed. Same strings (Rotosound Rotobass RB35, nickel wound, 35-55-75-95), same numbers on the setup wrt to first fret action (.020), relief (.014), and action at the 17th (5/64).
Some basses are, quite simply, more revealing of technique than others, and this may be what you are experiencing.
If it helps, I find I can get away with murder, as far as right hand techique goes, on my Jazz Bass, but any sloppiness at all on my Ibanez RS900 is ruthlessly exposed. Same strings (Rotosound Rotobass RB35, nickel wound, 35-55-75-95), same numbers on the setup wrt to first fret action (.020), relief (.014), and action at the 17th (5/64).
Some basses are, quite simply, more revealing of technique than others, and this may be what you are experiencing.
It is one of the contributing factors, or it can be.
Yes of course, you'll never achieve a decent action with too much relief. And you'll never get a clean sound with too little. the relief is there to allow a string, vibrating as a sine wave, the space it needs. I know you understand that. For me, using light gauge strings, .014 measured at the 7th is the sweet spot.
The bitter pill to swallow is that this is about technique rather than string choice or eq. With proper technique you can avoid the clack as well as pull it in for effect when you want it.
The sweet pill to swallow is that this is absolutely the cheapest solution.
The sweet pill to swallow is that this is absolutely the cheapest solution.
I had clack once. Went to the doctor. He gave me a shot and a prescription for antibiotics. A week or so late it was all gone.
I don't like to be that person who just rocks up and tells a perfect stranger "how-to technique" but it's worth looking at how URB players play pizzicato. Basically, on a URB you "draw" the string across the radius of the fingerboard then release under its natural tension, and that's really the key to playing cleanly. It's probably a lot harder to describe than it is to actually do. Gary Willis' famous "ramp" and Billy Sheehan's curved top pickup covers are both designed with this technique in mind.
Not necessarily. From my own own experience, out of two basses with identical strings and set up numbers, one can be ruthlessly revealing, and the other extremely forgiving, of the same technical flaws.
Somebody gonna mention tonewood in 3... 2... 1...Has anyone mentioned technique yet?
Are you set up factory-spec?
The reason I ask is that factory spec is based on design input and part of that equation is string height and pickup height. If your pickups are too high you could be pulling your strings towards the fret a little.
How's the neck?
The reason I ask is that factory spec is based on design input and part of that equation is string height and pickup height. If your pickups are too high you could be pulling your strings towards the fret a little.
How's the neck?
Part of the geometry of action is set at the bridge, but the angle of neck relief is a huge component, as well. You're not going to have high action if your neck is bent too far, no matter where you put your saddles.
