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So, I get this "clicking" noise when I play

#4
+1 to all above.

Make sure the "clicking" isn't from improper technique first. Are you striking down towards the bass body instead of parallel with it?

(btw, by the title, I thought it was a 3rd thread for "So, I got this private message". lol)
 
#14
I know exactly what your talking about, it's very frustrating. There's 3 main causes, 1. your action needs to be raised, 2. Your technique and 3. Try changing your strings. I've got a '08' MIA Fender Jazz V that does it on the E string around the 1 to 3 fret. I was using Carvin's LaBella Med Heavys and switched to Fender Super Bass 8250's and it alleviated most of the problem. It seemed that the way the strings fit in the bridge saddles had alot to do with it. The other thing I had to do was change the way I pluck the strings, pluck toward you, not toward the body of the bass, that should help get rid of that annoying "clack".;)
 
#15
Im really new to playing bass so feel free to ignore me BUT when i first started i rested my thumb on the neck pickup and kept it there no matter which of the five strings i was plucking. I had all kinds of fret noise. I saw a lesson ..here maybe... to let your hand float up and down as you played and rest your thumb on the string above the one your playing no matter which it is, then when plucking pluck strait up to your thumb as if you were pinching something. Any speed i had accumulated using my old method was gone, but so was almost all the abnormal noises i was getting, evidently with thumb anchored on pickup or B string i pushed down on the string too much when plucking. Bringing my fingers up to my thumb the new waym it sounds much better and also more uniform both fingers sound the same now whereas before index finger and middle finger made slightly different sounds when plucking.

PS. helps with muting alot too, now i just need to build up speed again.
 
#17
mfgl said:
Im really new to playing bass so feel free to ignore me BUT when i first started i rested my thumb on the neck pickup and kept it there no matter which of the five strings i was plucking. I had all kinds of fret noise. I saw a lesson ..here maybe... to let your hand float up and down as you played and rest your thumb on the string above the one your playing no matter which it is, then when plucking pluck strait up to your thumb as if you were pinching something. Any speed i had accumulated using my old method was gone, but so was almost all the abnormal noises i was getting, evidently with thumb anchored on pickup or B string i pushed down on the string too much when plucking. Bringing my fingers up to my thumb the new waym it sounds much better and also more uniform both fingers sound the same now whereas before index finger and middle finger made slightly different sounds when plucking.

PS. helps with muting alot too, now i just need to build up speed again.
Click to expand...

Not up until just this last year did I fingerpick the same way after 33 yrs of playing. Not til I started practicing at home by myself did I notice the difference in all the extra noise that I was creating by using that thumb resting on the bridge pup technique. Now my thumb roams as I go from string to string and I alleviate all the extra noise. As far as my speed goes I'm still just as fast as I was before, which can be pretty fast if I want it to be.
 

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