Light or heavy touch ?

[msact]

Light right hand with a pick. Allow me to play a lot faster than a heavy hand. Also, I keep my pick at a 45 degree angle to the strings and combined with the light right hand it gives me a very smooth tone. Further, I move my right hand back and forth from the neck to the bridge quite a bit depending on the sound I am trying to achieve. A pick is a lot more versatile than one might think.

 

[Dan Knowlton]

Light touch here, unless I need to add some "gank" to the song...

Dan K.

 

[obimark]

ANother bonus of a light touch is your hand will not develop as many problems, and stays stronger.
I use a medium light touch with my finger and pick style. Turn the amp up some. (Which also means I can hear what I am playign when the guitards go nuts at the louder parts of songs)

 

[bigmoosepi]

both.


why limit yourself.

 

[Korladis]

I'm a fairly heavy-handed player. I don't use an aggressive right hand technique all the time, though, as many songs, or parts of songs, oftentimes, require a gentler touch. Still, I like my tone best when I'm really digging in.

Of course, I tend to have a somewhat overdriven sound, even when playing "clean," so that compresses things a bit.

 

[DwaynieAD]

light strings, pretty much fenders "recommended" action height (which i feel is reasonably low)

play with a heavy hand live and a soft touch in the studio.

 

[AMJBASS]

When I started doing a lot more session work several years ago I learned quickly that having a clean and accurate sound(in terms of fret buzz/noise and intonation) was very important. It took me years to lighten up my touch while maintaining the "heavy" sound that you get when digging in. I tend to keep my action relatively low, but high enough that I can dig in without fretting out the note.

 

[AMJBASS]

I think it really depends on the music . Though, my opinion, ( just my opinion here ), is and has been for a awhile that dynamic range, powerful rhythm and varied articulation are more important than simply wanting a light action with an easy setup. I also ( again , just my opinion ) feel that sometimes, turning up the amp and playing lighter affects the power of the Rhythm and Groove in a way that , to me, is detrimental. Again, it really depends on the song, and even what part of the song.......

It is great to hear your opinion on this John! Thanks for contributing to this thread! Always been a huge fan of your playing.

 

[hip63]

I go back and forth depending on the song. Some songs just plain sound better when you dig in a bit, and some sound better when you don't.

This ^ +1

hip63

 

[Catbuster]

It's dependent on what I'm playing. Dynamics are important, from mezzopiano to mezzoforte

 

[Fuzzbass]

Whoa! Nice! Welcome to the board, John!

+1. Thank you, John!

 

[Duckwater]

People talk about heavy and light touch a lot but to me the main point is focus.

The ability to deliver a lot of energy into the string on attacks, in a short burst of time.
It is what gives a powerful, dynamic tone, allows long sustain and preserves clarity even in very fast lines.
It can be done with very small and controlled movements, without attacking like a brute constantly.

Agreed.

 

[FenderBassist]

I'm in the process of revamping my technique after a years long layoff (started playing 23 years ago, played about 9, took 11 and now after a couple years I'm better than ever but I seem to be plateauing below where I want to be) - I am now trying to learn to play lighter with my right hand (plucking hand) because it seems that it will allow me to play faster-(is this a correct assumption- lighter touch, less digging deep and less "overshoot" after the pluck so faster string crossing- is this a fair assumption or can one play with a heavy touch and still burn- and I'm not talking only for shredding solos but mostly for fast string crossing for larger intervals and interesting basslines).

To you guys who say you let the amp do the work... where do you stand on pick-up setting? In other words, does it matter where the volume comes from... wide open pick up with medium amp vs medium open pup and more amp?

The reason I think I have always played heavy with my right is because, since before I ever started playing, my left hand/wrist is slightly deformed and nerve damaged in my 3rd and 4th fingers so my left hand is not good at muting so I play hard right hand so I can keep the volume down to "hide" my left handed sloppiness. I don't know if that makes any sense but I think it does as with "heavy plucking" my amp or the PA will only pick up super loud noises (my intentioned noises) as opposed to unwanted quiet harmonic ringing and fret buzz).

Thanks

I've always run full volume from the bass vol pot, tone from bass tone pot anywhere from 100% open down to maybe 50%. Run the amp gain just enough to have full "presence" without overdriving and amp volume to balance with room/band.

 

[FenderBassist]

I'm in the process of revamping my technique after a years long layoff (started playing 23 years ago, played about 9, took 11 and now after a couple years I'm better than ever but I seem to be plateauing below where I want to be) - I am now trying to learn to play lighter with my right hand (plucking hand) because it seems that it will allow me to play faster-(is this a correct assumption- lighter touch, less digging deep and less "overshoot" after the pluck so faster string crossing- is this a fair assumption or can one play with a heavy touch and still burn- and I'm not talking only for shredding solos but mostly for fast string crossing for larger intervals and interesting basslines).

To you guys who say you let the amp do the work... where do you stand on pick-up setting? In other words, does it matter where the volume comes from... wide open pick up with medium amp vs medium open pup and more amp?

The reason I think I have always played heavy with my right is because, since before I ever started playing, my left hand/wrist is slightly deformed and nerve damaged in my 3rd and 4th fingers so my left hand is not good at muting so I play hard right hand so I can keep the volume down to "hide" my left handed sloppiness. I don't know if that makes any sense but I think it does as with "heavy plucking" my amp or the PA will only pick up super loud noises (my intentioned noises) as opposed to unwanted quiet harmonic ringing and fret buzz).

Thanks

I actually do more muting with my right hand fingering technique (right handed player, so is my "plucking" hand) than my left "fretting" hand. Usually my left hand does occasional muting when going up a string (i.e. from D string to A string) whereas my right hand does most of the muting going down a string. My fingerstyle "pluck" that I was taught results in my finger going to the string above and resting.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I think it really depends on the music . Though, my opinion, ( just my opinion here ), is and has been for a awhile that dynamic range, powerful rhythm and varied articulation are more important than simply wanting a light action with an easy setup. I also ( again , just my opinion ) feel that sometimes, turning up the amp and playing lighter affects the power of the Rhythm and Groove in a way that , to me, is detrimental. Again, it really depends on the song, and even what part of the song.......

I'm going to re-quote because I feel the same way about super low action. It's great for some things, but for powerful/aggressive passages, low action and light touch don't convey the same authority. Point being, with medium action I can still play lightly, but also more aggressively when desired. Of course a weekend warrior like me doesn't have the same authority as John, so I didn't want to go there.

 

[sears]

light touch and medium to high action. I have a much more powerful sound than when I was playing hard.