Sound through your fingers?

[bassplayerphill]

I've seen lots of people say, "I mainly get my sound through my fingers." What does that mean to you? What sound do you get? How do you get it?

For me, I get a nice agressive thumpy sound by using my index and middle fingers at the same time, among other little things I do.

What about you guys?

[Robin H]

Err.. for guitar, this can obviously only refer to your fretting hand. How hard you fret the note and the vibrato that you give it.

I suppose what they're talking about on bass is a particular finger tone. You can vary the tone a bit by picking at the the string with the very tips of your fingers. It sounds very bright and 'bell'-like. They might be referring to dynamics.

Other than that, I have no bloody idea.

[funwith151]

I don't know exactly what they mean, but I definately prefer my fingers to a pick. I feel more in touch with the music, and the tone is a lot warmer.

[raven_bass]

Originally posted by bassplayerphill
I've seen lots of people say, "I mainly get my sound through my fingers." What does that mean to you? What sound do you get? How do you get it?

For me, I get a nice agressive thumpy sound by using my index and middle fingers at the same time, among other little things I do.

What about you guys?

getting tone through your fingers is a fundamental of playing. it starts with the way your pickups work.

pickups are basically copper wire wrapped around a magnet, creating a weak electromagnetic field. any time a ferrous metal moves (vibrates) within an electromagnetic field it creates an electrical pulse or frequency, the same way a generator creates power.
the vibration of a string creates millions of various electrical pulses, forming a wave. the way you touch your strings is unique, like a thumbprint. practice and time in the studio (where you can actually see and control the shape of each note) can help give you the most consistent tone in your playing.
whats awesome about playing an electrical instrument is that you arent just making sound, you are generating electricity with every pluck and strum, if only a little.

[bad smell]

whats awesome about playing an electrical instrument is that you arent just making sound, you are generating electricity with every pluck and strum, if only a little.
That's some sort of guitar poetry right there. Somehow, somewhere i see it being transformed into a pickup line.

I think i agree with both hands leaving their marks and unique-ness with the instrument. I've heard the "tone of fingers" remark several times about achieving sustain. I'm sure to some level it is BS, but with all the ways your hands interact with the guitar and all the possibilities, surfaces, timing, and force, there is a ton of magic that comes from that seemingly simple connection.

or not:D

[Crank]

I think the force used in the attack of the string and the direction of the pluck (or however you want to call a finger playing a string) are two of the most important aspects to getting tone. A softer pluck is smoother and more mellow than a harder pluck, and playing the string straight down to the fretboard gets a different sound than playing the string parallel to the fretboard. These are two things i try to think about every time i play a bassline.

[Aureate_7]

Well what they really mean is that if you play your blues scale with enough of a conviction and belief in yourself that you could deliver pwnage to SRV, then your fingers will generate a warm overdriven blooze sound that will transfer from strings to pickups to cord to amp and out the speakers.

[There of course, are no pedals, because all the tone is coming from your fingers. At the right parts of your songs, your fingers will produce reverb, wah and echo sounds.]

Wait...this is the bass forum...shucks.

[Fuzzhead]

Originally posted by Aureate_7
Well what they really mean is that if you play your blues scale with enough of a conviction and belief in yourself that you could deliver pwnage to SRV, then your fingers will generate a warm overdriven blooze sound that will transfer from strings to pickups to cord to amp and out the speakers.

[There of course, are no pedals, because all the tone is coming from your fingers. At the right parts of your songs, your fingers will produce reverb, wah and echo sounds.]

Wait...this is the bass forum...shucks.
I made a big ol' post sorta like this, until I saw it was the bass forum. :D

But yeah, I halfway believe in the "tone in the fingers" thing. On the obvious side, there's no way you're going to get good tone from a crappy rig. But on the other hand, good technique and guitar playing (er... bass playing) can make the listener forget about how crappy the tone is. (I live somewhere between those two extremes :cool: )

[raven_bass]

Originally posted by Fuzzhead
I made a big ol' post sorta like this, until I saw it was the bass forum. :D

But yeah, I halfway believe in the "tone in the fingers" thing. On the obvious side, there's no way you're going to get good tone from a crappy rig. But on the other hand, good technique and guitar playing (er... bass playing) can make the listener forget about how crappy the tone is. (I live somewhere between those two extremes :cool: )

a local guitarist, willie phoenix, defies the "no gear, no tone" myth. ive seen him multiple times, so eccentrically devoted to his instrument that he cant keep his phone on and he literally has an assistant who works for free that keeps him alive. the last time i saw him he was playing a squire strat (he must have hocked his 70's mia strat along the line) through 2 100 watt solid state kustoms.
and he ripped. it was ****ing magic, i couldn't believe it

[raven_bass]

Originally posted by Fuzzhead
I made a big ol' post sorta like this, until I saw it was the bass forum. :D

But yeah, I halfway believe in the "tone in the fingers" thing. On the obvious side, there's no way you're going to get good tone from a crappy rig. But on the other hand, good technique and guitar playing (er... bass playing) can make the listener forget about how crappy the tone is. (I live somewhere between those two extremes :cool: )

a local guitarist, willie phoenix, defies the "no gear, no tone" myth. ive seen him multiple times, so eccentrically devoted to his instrument that he cant keep his phone on and he literally has an assistant who works for free that keeps him alive. the last time i saw him he was playing a squire strat (he must have hocked his 70's mia strat along the line) through 2 100 watt solid state kustoms.
and he ripped. it was ****ing magic, i couldn't believe it

[asatbluesboy]

Originally posted by Fuzzhead
I made a big ol' post sorta like this, until I saw it was the bass forum. :DOops... *goes delete the first post*

[Asland]

My jazz instructor told me that once while I was at college and I kind of dismissed it at first. Granted, the fingers are the only way to play. I'm guessing it means something like pluck style and which fingers you use. You even get a noticeable tone difference between index and middle fingers. I've always played around with plucking distance from the pickups (like a classical guitar from the soundhole) to change tone as well. For harder pops, I stick closer to the bridge. When I want synth-like full tones I'll pluck around the 12-17th frets.

Asland