what am i doing wrong? and how do i fix it?

[Grizzly Baird]

When i play the sound just doesnt seem right. Whether im playing someone elses songs or my own. Im thinking its my technique i know i have proper placement on the fret board so im thinking it has to do with my walking fingers. I was told to not attack the strings but dont play too soft (thanks for the vague tutorial youtube) do any of you have some plucking tips for me? Im a floating thumb kinda guy. Also another factor that could be contributing to this is way back when i took my bass apart to learn about it and i put it back together perfectly but it led me to want to lower the strings closer to the fretboard so i lowered the bridge now if my tuner says everything is cool would there still be any chance of it distorting the sound?

Also on a side note my EQ has high and low mid knobs ive played around with them and i know kinda what they do but just to keep myself educated could someone give me the brief rundown on these?

 

[Varcolac]

How does the sound "not seem right"? That's a pretty broad complaint, so I can't say what you're doing wrong or how you can fix it.

-Is the tone wrong?-

There are any number of things that can change your tone. Your fingers are your first port of call. Are you making sufficient contact with each finger? Are you getting an even tone on every note? Are you hitting each note clear, or are you hitting the other strings and coming out with errant notes from nowhere? Assuming all of that is without problem, the next thing to check is your equipment. What strings are you using? Stock strings for many basses are hardly the best. New strings typically sound "brighter," older strings a bit more mellow and bassier. What pickups do you have on your bass? Which are you using? In my experience the bridge pickup has a bit more high-end, the neck pickup a little more bass, but your mileage may vary. Change these settings, mess around with the tone and volume knobs on your bass, see if you can change your sound before the next step: the amplifier.

Start with a "flat" EQ on your amplifier. Everything in the middle. Then start cutting or boosting frequencies until you have a tone you're happy with. This is your choice, but I've always found low mids are the best frequencies to boost; they're low, but not so low they turn into mud, and they're high enough to cut through without turning into clanking trebly noise.


-Do the notes not sound in tune?-

This is probably an intonation issue. You'd need to adjust the bridge saddles to properly intonate your strings. As a rough guide to intonation, a note at twelfth fret should sound the same pitch as a twelfth-fret harmonic. If it doesn't, then all your other notes will be slightly out-of-step. Adjust the bridge saddles backwards and forwards in small increments to get a string length that intonates properly.

 

[Grizzly Baird]

Sorry about that i just re read that and alot of it seems like a preference issue. But i have a p at the neck and a j at the bridge. Its an ibanez grs. But it doesnt sound right when i play seven nation army or hysteria (w/o distortion) ... it could very well be the jazz pickups i have but do to finances i havent really had the pleasure of playing anything else. But i just checked an my harmonics sound good.

Now my concern with plucking was i have been told to pluck the strings towards my palm by some and by others to push the strings down ish or to just graze the tops of them... is this also a preference thing or is there supposed to be a right way in there somewhere.

 

[Varcolac]

You'll have to give me more than "doesn't sound right." How doesn't it sound right? Too bassy? Too trebly? Too fat? Too thin?

In "Seven Nation Army" Jack White isn't even playing a bass. It's a semi-acoustic six-string guitar through an octave-down pedal. To get a similar sound on a bass, you'd be better off using a pick instead of your fingers. It's a guitar player pretending to play bass, so to emulate it, pretend to play guitar! Perhaps a bit more treble on the amp, more high mids, to try and emulate the "guitar used as bass" effect.

Hysteria's bassline, and indeed the entire song, is built around Chris Wolstenholme using horrifically fuzzy distortion. If you play it clean it simply doesn't sound the same. Jazz pickups aren't a problem; Wolstenholme plays it on a Fender Jazz.

Grazing the tops of the strings sounds a bit odd to me. Personally, I play with a 45° angle of attack from my fingers through the strings. Kind of down-ish and towards my palm. If your technique is fine (read: you're getting a good clear note every time you pluck, you're not hurting yourself and you're being efficient about it) then I wouldn't worry about not sounding exactly like a recording. You're not playing through a fuzzbox from hell, or playing a semi-acoustic through an octaver pedal, so don't worry if you don't sound exactly like Wolstenholme or White.

 

[GypsyMan]

I don't know if you're already doing this, but maybe this will help, maybe it wont.

Get out your Tuner, get out your Metronome, your music stand, and the sheet music for the song you're trying to learn.

You should have all of these tools for practicing.

Play the song at whatever BPM is listed on the sheet music. Watch your tuner as you play the song; following the sheet music.
Then if the song still doesn't sound right try it at a different octive.

I like www.musicnotes.com because it has both the notation and TAB on the same sheet.
I usually read the notation, and once & a while I look down at the TAB and I see that the note they are playing is in a different octive(string) than I assumed!

This is good practice just to do every week.

[edit] After re-reading your post. what song are you trying to play?
Remember, different musicians and their sounds come from a miriad of different variables. Are they playing with a PICK? What instrument are they using?
P BASS? J BASS? What amps, etc.