That "Clank" sound!!

[mb94952]

OK, OK, so sue me. To me, I just notice more "clickity clack" from a maple board than any other wood. But, of course technique has a lot to do with it, too, maybe all to do with it. I know I've never had "clickity clack" from a rosewood board even when digging in.

 

[I Need a six...]

Which is why we should use floating thumb!

Yes, it's super useful. My advice, pluck as lightly as you can possibly pluck. Think about it like "rolling" your fingers over the string. Not pulling them.

 

[I Need a six...]

OK, OK, so sue me. To me, I just notice more "clickity clack" from a maple board than any other wood. But, of course technique has a lot to do with it, too, maybe all to do with it. I know I've never had "clickity clack" from a rosewood board even when digging in.

I've actually heard that before. But when I try to go to fast i clack, and my board is rosewood.

 

[David Jayne]

What Jimmy and others have said about technique is spot-on. However, some basses are more clank prone than others. For example Jazz basses often suffer from neck pickup clank if the pickup is set too high. I've found to avoid that I must set the pickup quite a bit lower than what I'd have expected. But I'm into P basses now and have three. One is a USA standard with a very straight neck and is quite clank prone against the last frets. But in spite of having one fret more, my G&L SB1 is much more forgiving and less prone to fret clank with same strings and similar action. And this is because I've dressed some 'fall away' into the upper frets. It's a small detail that makes it much more manageable. Maybe something to consider if everything else is right (including technique).

 

[Chrisk-K]

The "clank" you're getting comes from the fact that you have a maple fretboard. Maple fret boards are known for that sound. It's not a bad sound, just a characteristic sound.
Listen to Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. One of the most respected bass players in rock. He "clanks" all the time and it is a part of his sound ; We expect it.

The clank has nothing to do with the fret board material at all. You can get the clank with any fretted bass depending on how you hit the strings.

 

[David Jayne]

Fretless basses can clank too, but it's more of a 'clack.'

 

[Hoss Groovealot]

clank is fine ... as long as the string isn't also hitting the pickup .. !

if I want to play harder , I like to move closer to the bridge ... some more definition without much clank ...

I forgot that tip. If I need to do some tremelo picking or very fast picking in general, I move my anchor point back to the back pick up and play close to the bridge. The strings have more tension at that point, however your volume may be a little less than up in the middle.

 

[AciDBatH666]

Here's a great post on being heard in metal, and on technique. He goes over the clank, and turning your tweeter off and treble down to help eliminate that frequency. It's a great read.

Demystifying Metal styles, how to make fingerstyle playing heard in Metal | TalkBass.com

On all of my basses, I set the action low, and get the clank to a manageable level. I boost my low and high mids in practice to make it more up front in the mix and I have zero problems being heard. On fast picking parts where I'm plucking 16ths, I move closer to the bridge so that there's a little more string tension (where the string is a little more taut and doesn't flop around as much), thus eliminating the clank on the 24th fret.

 

[Lobster11]

OK, OK, so sue me. To me, I just notice more "clickity clack" from a maple board than any other wood. But, of course technique has a lot to do with it, too, maybe all to do with it. I know I've never had "clickity clack" from a rosewood board even when digging in.

There are probably countless differences between whatever bass(es) you have with rosewood boards and whatever bass(es) you have with maple boards, any one or more of which could be responsible for the difference you've noticed in your experience. For example, it could be differences in other hardware (e.g., pickup sensitivity or height, fret material and size), setup, strings, or even subtle differences in your technique when you play different basses (e.g., due to different hand location or strap length). But like everyone else, I think it probably isn't the fretboard wood itself.

 

[Joe Bananas]

Well, since I am in a very early playing stage I can't go further from scales, arpeggios, technical exercises and all those basics. Anyhow, nor metal or hard rock are my target styles.
The more I read your posts and the more I practice, the more I am digging that occasional clank sound so far.

 

[Atshen]

The more I read your posts and the more I practice, the more I am digging that occasional clank sound so far.

As long as it's intentional and can be tamed whenever needed!

 

[Clef_de_fa]

OK, OK, so sue me. To me, I just notice more "clickity clack" from a maple board than any other wood. But, of course technique has a lot to do with it, too, maybe all to do with it. I know I've never had "clickity clack" from a rosewood board even when digging in.

I Wonder if this as anything to do with the fact that maple is always sealed compare to rosewood or ebony that is left "natural"