Help! I can't get rid of that click/pop between the pickup and string!

[TST]

A little bit of background; I've been playing bass for 16 years and raised on a steady diet of Cliff Burton and Geezer Butler, thus finger style is what just seems natural to me (of course, respect to all the pick players out there too). I play a Music Man Sterling in a punk/thrash band and every jam and every show its a constant tone battle with myself to achieve something that allows me to have my wankey little fills heard through the guitar while providing good low end. The problem with that is whenever I think I have it, that clicky/popping from the string hitting the pickup overtakes the entire sound!

Now, I know that can be a problem that goes beyond ****ty sound, but I have tried everything I can think of. I have tried bumping up the gauge to .055-110, adding some overdrive, dropping the pickup down but that cuts some of that sweet sweet tone and doesn't necessarily solve the problem. Its to the point of when I get a chance to buy a new bass to look at something different, rather than the Stingray which I really want.

For those interested, I play my Sterling through a Yorkville xs800 and an Ampeg 6x10. Thanks for taking the time to read this, I know that trying to explain tone issues can be kinda difficult but I'm just hoping that somebody here knows something that I don't.

ps


I cite Brian Robinson of A Wilhelm Scream because he seems to have the tone that I have been trying to describe without the major clicking issues that I experience. A Wilhelm Scream - The Horse [live] - Brian's Bass Closeup - YouTube

 

[fevitz]

Ive had the same thing , but with me it was because id tuned down a semitone and the strings were flopping around more . Maybe your pulling the strings too hard causing a slapping which is causing the clicks .

 

[jlepre]

Technique. I used to have the same problem with any bass I played, because I used to strike the strings, instead of plucking. I've since fixed that situation.

 

[123]

IMHO its just a matter of adjusting the intensity of your plucking hand.

Try practicing/playing with a higher volume but with a softer aproach when plucking the strings. You´ll get the volume you want but without "smashing the sound".

Hope this helps!

 

[phatbass]

Try a piece of gaffa tape over the pickup. One or two layers covering the pole-pieces.

 

[jlepre]

^^^^no way

 

[tbonesullivan]

definitely a technique issue. sounds like you need to change the way you are plucking the strings, and lowering the pickup wouldn't be a bad idea either. I have found that with the pickups at the "recommended height" often I get string pitch warble due to magnet pull, so I keep them a bit lower. The sound dropoff is minimal, in my experience.

 

[jlepre]

Plus I found when I was striking the strings instead of plucking, the actual CLICKING wasn't from the PUP, but from the strings hitting the fretboard.

 

[Golem]

IMHO its just a matter of adjusting the intensity of your plucking hand.

Try practicing/playing with a higher volume but with a softer aproach
when plucking the strings. You´ll get the volume you want but without
"smashing the sound".

Hope this helps!

+1 .... and I tune down one whole tone.

When I play with excess abondon [can you say that ?] I do
get some snappy poppy effect, usually on Sterlings, seldom
on a Ray .... altho I don't think it's related to contacting the
PU with the strings. I think it's generated somewhere up on
the neck.

`

 

[mynan]

It might not be the string hitting the pickup. I've had a problem with my plucking finger hitting the adjacent string (for example...my finger would hit the E string after plucking the A string), causing it to hit the fret board.

 

[MattOfSweden]

Plus I found when I was striking the strings instead of plucking, the actual CLICKING wasn't from the PUP, but from the strings hitting the fretboard.

This was my experience too.

 

[fevitz]

+1 .... and I tune down one whole tone.

When I play with excess abondon [can you say that ?] I do
get some snappy poppy effect, usually on Sterlings, seldom
on a Ray .... altho I don't think it's related to contacting the
PU with the strings. I think it's generated somewhere up on
the neck.

`

Abondon / abondon / abondon : now you got me going . Ill keep working on it !

 

[jlepre]

Where's the OP? Beuller?