is there an fx that will...

[pest]

Hi all im a bass noob so please be gentle.

I have a bass with a single pick up just above the bridge, playing with my thumb resting on the pickup gives me a very "plucky almost rhcp type sound" if that makes any sense. Is there an fx pedal that will smooth out the sound. playing futher up the sound is fine but difficult as I can't rest on anything. Only been playing a week so sorry if this makes me sound like an idiot.

Pest

[lemmywinks]

Stick a thumb rest on it, i also find basses like that uncomfortable so that's what i'd do

[pest]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='701500' date='Jan 5 2010, 12:44 PM']Stick a thumb rest on it, i also find basses like that uncomfortable so that's what i'd do[/quote]


Cheers didn't even know you could buy such a thing.

[D2TS]

I'd say play where the sound is best and you'll eventually get used to it. A lot of the time you might want the trebly sound of playing right against the bridge anyway.

If you want a smoother bass tone you can use a compressor, although I'd recommend waiting until you're really familiar with your instrument before looking at effects.

[Ancient Mariner]

You might want to try a compressor on it. If you don't have one then you could try the CS100 from behringer (about £20 from bluearan.co.uk). You could also try the BLE100 limiter, which is bass specific (but do not buy the DC9).

Adjust the attack setting to control how much 'pluck' comes through - faster attack settings will cause the compressor to activate more quickly and reduce the initial spike.

[xgsjx]

I wouldn't bother with any effects or a compressor & spend time learning to hold your bass so that you can play how you want to.
Try to rest the ball part of your hand (the bit between the thumb & wrist) and the edge of your thumb on the body of the bass & keep your thumb about a 1/4" away from the strings & play with your index & middle finger.

I'm sure there's plenty of lessons on YouTube that can help & there's plenty of folk on here that can tell you how to hold a bass better than I can.

[maxrossell]

You can also alter the tone of your bass by just changing stuff like the angle of your fingers on the string and how hard you pluck them.

[Mr. Foxen]

Find a black piano key and use stick pads to stick it you your bass in the appropriate neckwards postion.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='701687' date='Jan 5 2010, 03:06 PM']Find a black piano key[/quote]

Yeah I'm always picking those up off my garden, bloody kids, there's a bin on the corner they could be putting their unwanted piano parts into.

[The Funk]

[quote name='xgsjx' post='701589' date='Jan 5 2010, 01:50 PM']I wouldn't bother with any effects or a compressor & spend time learning to hold your bass so that you can play how you want to.[/quote]

Exactly!

[Doddy]

Don't worry about buying a pedal to smooth your sound,you will be much better
off working on your technique.
I often rest my thumb on the strings,so don't see the need for a thumb rest. If you
are playing on the A string try resting your thumb on the E-it also helps with muting.
Alternatively,you could try the floating thumb technique.

[Dood]

I find a really good way of smoothing out your tone, before messing around with compressors and such like - is to get to grips with EQing. If you have an amp that has a graphic or parametric EQ - or can grab a pedal to work with, it is very easy to drop out certain frequencies or boost others to smooth out the tone. Boosting at 50Hz and 100Hz will give the bass more of that 'bass drum' thump and bottom end - whilst boosting frequencies around 400hz and 800hz add to the 'boxey' or 'woody' tones. I think you may need more 100Hz and less around 300-1Khz. Going by your description I think that the higher frequncies will just be a case of adjusting to taste - but try scooping out those middles a bit, but not too much and I think you'll get a smoother tone.

[Dood]

[quote name='xgsjx' post='701589' date='Jan 5 2010, 01:50 PM']I wouldn't bother with any effects or a compressor & spend time learning to hold your bass so that you can play how you want to.[/quote]

Maybe, however I am thinking that certain playing techniques and bass configurations will lend themselves to a certain tone. Sometimes, you can improve technique, but the inherent tone of the instrument still has the overwhelming majority in the tone stakes.

My point is, that Pest may prefer to play fingers with a thumb on the pickup but wants a fatter tone - and thus - a few judicial adjustments to the gear he has will make the learning experience more enjoyable. (Hnece my suggestion over amp EQ controls etc)

p.s. - Love your avatar - from one of my fave films!

[cheddatom]

I rest my thumb on the end of the neck when I want a "rounder" tone.

[pest]

thanks for the advice chaps

[xilddx]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='701740' date='Jan 5 2010, 03:39 PM']Yeah I'm always picking those up off my garden, bloody kids, there's a bin on the corner they could be putting their unwanted piano parts into.[/quote]

[redzombie]

For my thumb rest on my Tbird, I just used one of those rubber pedalboard mounting blocks with the sticky undersides. You know, the ones you get with Boss pedals to mount on Boss pedalboards.

I dunno what glue they use, but that thing's stuck solid on my bass.

EDIT: You might not want to use this method, if you give a crap about the finish on your instrument.

Edited January 6, 2010 by redzombie

[xgsjx]

[quote name='dood' post='701818' date='Jan 5 2010, 04:24 PM']Maybe, however I am thinking that certain playing techniques and bass configurations will lend themselves to a certain tone. Sometimes, you can improve technique, but the inherent tone of the instrument still has the overwhelming majority in the tone stakes.

My point is, that Pest may prefer to play fingers with a thumb on the pickup but wants a fatter tone - and thus - a few judicial adjustments to the gear he has will make the learning experience more enjoyable. (Hnece my suggestion over amp EQ controls etc)

p.s. - Love your avatar - from one of my fave films![/quote]
I agree that pedals can be good fun & also that EQ can make the sound much better & more enjoyable, I just think that a compressor is not the answer to his problems & may even generate other problems (I could be wrong tho).

p.s - Cheers, the avatar was a Xmas pressie. Brill film.

[iamapirate]

fiddle with yer knobs!! If you've got any tone knobs on your bass or amp, have a fiddle around with them. I find that on my jazz, the single tone knob on it makes a HUGE difference to my tone.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Flatwound strings should take away some a lot of the nasty zingyness.

[civictiger]

I say use the floating thumb technique mate, ESPECIALLY since its early on in your playing.. cause if you leave it late (almost 2 years late for me) its much harder to adapt back into your playing, cus for 3 years you wouldnt have done it.

It will let you play lighter, and more defining - thus giving you a longer career (if thats what you choose to do)

keep the thumb free. when playing the A, keep it on the E. when playing the D, keep it on the A. when playing the E, 'float' it.. will take off a lot of stress on your hand and make you sound better Imo.

[Doddy]

[quote name='civictiger' post='706018' date='Jan 8 2010, 08:51 PM']I say use the floating thumb technique mate, ESPECIALLY since its early on in your playing.. cause if you leave it late (almost 2 years late for me) its much harder to adapt back into your playing, cus for 3 years you wouldnt have done it.

It will let you play lighter, and more defining - thus giving you a longer career (if thats what you choose to do)

keep the thumb free. when playing the A, keep it on the E. when playing the D, keep it on the A. when playing the E, 'float' it.. will take off a lot of stress on your hand and make you sound better Imo.[/quote]

Sounds like your using more of a movable anchor rather than a strict floating thumb.
Also-I don't know if you can say that it'll give you a longer career-some guys have good long careers and
anchor the thumb on the pickup all the time.

To the OP-rather than looking for a 'fix-it' pedal,it is far better in the long run to spend time working on your technique.
It'll do more for your playing than any pedal will.

[Marvin]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='701740' date='Jan 5 2010, 03:39 PM']Yeah I'm always picking those up off my garden, bloody kids, there's a bin on the corner they could be putting their unwanted piano parts into.[/quote]


[quote name='silddx' post='702646' date='Jan 6 2010, 11:42 AM'][/quote]

Had me laughing as well.

Don't buy a pedal just yet. The posts about technique are well worth listening to. (if listening to a written post isn't a contradiction).
If you buy a pedal you will spend more time fiddling with it than playing, like I've done for the past few weeks. It's a distraction.
Spending vast quantities of time on Basschat is not a distraction, that's educational.