Double Bass pizzicato thump? can i stop it?

[swmmojo]

Howdy. I'm not sure where to post this (amp or technique) so here it goes... please don't flame me if this is the wrong place.

Question: I often hear a distinct THUMP in my pull, especially on the A string. It's very percussive and kind of annoying. I noticed it on my old Cremonia w/fishman bp100 and it is still present on my new UB standard ply bass. My point is, it's an artifact that I'm trying to stop. I've asked my teacher but he's not really sure what it is. Anyone experienced this? Is there something I can do with my technique or is this a pickup thing? I don't really hear it in my playing when I'm not amplified and it is not present on other strings. I'll take any advice on getting rid of this while amplified?

Info: I play Americana/Bluegrass mainly but I'm venturing into jazz and classical on the DB. I'm a doubler and my DB experience is <1year. I use a Rev Solo II, Fishman Plat Pre and Phil Jones Suitcase.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Michael Eisenman]

I think I know what you're talking about. My first guess is that you're pulling too hard. What if you soften it up a bit? Pulling too hard can also choke the sound of the string until it settles down into a normal vibration.

 

[Gearhead43]

A double bass produces infrasonic frequencies when plucked. These can cause issues when sent thru an amp. You should be able to dial those freq back with the High-pass filter on the Fishman Pro Plat.

 

[moles]

If the OP is describing what I think he is, it's not related to infrasonics. I experience the same thing from time to time on my bass - it's there acoustically, but greatly magnified by amping.
I say it's not related to infrasonics because - speaking strictly about my experience - it's centred more around the 200 hz mark. Like a dull knock at the beginning of the note, only much louder than the note itself.

I don't want to send you on a wild and expensive string quest - but mine was much more pronounced with the high tension orchestrals that were on my bass when I bought it. I went through these string sets, plus combinations: weedwackers, plain Lezner guts, solo gauge Superflexibles, Spiro mittles, Eurosonic/Presto Lights and Ultralights, and finally Evah Pirazzi weichs. All are lower tension than what I started with, and all had almost none of that "knock" on the A.
Somewhere in there I had my sounpost replaced. (Along with the big chunk out of the back the old one took with it.) The shorter soundpost seemed to have solved the rest of the issue. I say "seemed to" because I tried the Preludes out again last month, and that knock was still in the A a bit - so the end prognosis On My Bass seems to have been a too long soundpost, coupled with too high tension strings.
I'd get your bass looked at by a luthier to make sure the post is healthy, before anything else.

 

[drurb]

If the OP is describing what I think he is, it's not related to infrasonics.

I suspect you are correct and that's why I didn't bring that up. One clue is that the OP doesn't report it happening on the E, or any other string but the A. Still, I'm gratified that folks are saying "infrasonics" and not "subsonics." I think I had something to do with that.

 

[swmmojo]

Thanks. I'm going to work on my pull first. I know I play hard but it did happen on two basses so that seems logical.

What is OP?

I love this place. It makes me so happy to post questions and get logical responses and dialog. Please post more input if you have it. I'm a bit of a newbie so any info is good.

 

[David Jayne]

I would have said that it's probably your finger whacking into the E string at the conclusion of a pull on the A.
OP means original poster- you.

 

[swmmojo]

Thanks moles. I've only had this bass for about a little more than a month. It's a new Upton Standard ply set up upon shipping. I really don't think it's the bass because it happened on the Chinese bass object I used to play as well. The strings were different on both basses, too. It must be a user error somehow. It's strange though because no matter what I do I still seem to hear it.

 

[drurb]

Possible to post a little sound clip?

 

[Rvl]

I 2nd dmusic's theory
I also had the same sound when I play
But the cause(for me) was my finger hitting the string E string when I pluck the D
Even resting my finger on the E was a noticeable sound

Thanks

Robert VanLane

I would have said that it's probably your finger whacking into the E string at the conclusion of a pull on the A.
OP means original poster- you.

 

[44me]

I dealt with the exact same issue, although I could hear it unamplified as well, just not quite as pronounced. My gear is similar to yours - Upton hybrid, Rev Solo I, Fishman Plat Pro, and various amps. However, I was able to determine that it was not my bass, as I got the same thump playing the A string on my teacher's bass, and he didn't get it playing mine. Also, no issues at all with the other strings, just the A. I'm sure my fingers themselves, which are fairly thin, make this more of an issues in comparison to someone with thicker, fleshier fingers. However, I think it mostly comes down to technique.

To remedy this, I've spent a lot of time experimenting with, and refining my technique. The trick for me was both figuring out how to get a thicker, rounder sound, which masks any thump produced from my finger following through and hitting the E string, and then getting that sound with less effort, so less energy is in my finger when it hits the E string - definitely easier said than done. Keeping a lot of the side of my finger on the string helps keep the sound fat. This I figured out pretty fast, but it took much longer to learn out how not to pull on the string too hard, but still get a loud, full sound. I believe the key has been letting my finger roll around the string as I release it, rather than pulling hard and just let it snap away. I should add that having this understanding only got me about 20% of the way there. It took quite a while before I could get the sound I wanted consistently.

 

[fretlessspence]

I have heard a knock or thump from time to time with my rev solo II or the cheaper fishman pickup. I just moved the pickup itself a little and it was eliminated. Something to do with the fit way causing either too much play or an overly tight joint and leading to the unmusical sound.