Bassist question!

Have you ever oiled your strings in a recording session? (to relieve the screeching noises while sliding?) I only ask as there is song I'm recording at the mo which is resulting in a lot of screeching noises. The engineer has suggested putting cooking oil on the strings. The strings will be bollixed, however, it could yield the results I'm after, so it could be worth it. Opinions please...

Doctor J

Jaco used to smear his strings with fried chicken grease, so it's not unknown. I wouldn't do it personally, not in a million years, you're bound to get some of that ****e into the wood of the fretboard. I can't believe that sound of sliding is that big a deal though and should pretty much disappear when everything is mixed. TBH you'd be better off just working on your technique. One exercise that should help would be to play a chromatic run low down, say on frets 1 2 3 4 and then the same an octave up 13 14 15 15 then back down on 2 3 4 5 and back up 14 15 16 17 etc etc. Do that across all the strings and you'll get rid of a lot of the sliding noises.

Eoin Madsen

If you put new strings on less than a week before the session, this could be your problem. Just play them in as much as possible. There's enough oil in your fingers.

david

Try some FastFret... It lubricates like oil but without the mess!

freakonaleashx

freakonaleashx wrote:

Try some FastFret... It lubricates like oil but without the mess!

Tried and failed

david

Well i like my bass strings well broken in... about a month and whatever way my technique is i get no buzzing/scratching when i play. Maybe its just that the actions a bit high. I dont use fastfret either

BeardyGit

Depending on what you're playing you could try a set of flatwounds

Sometimes hard to get a hold of but I've got a spare set of Rotosound Jazz 77's if you're stuck. Let me know if so and I can pop into town and get you sorted.

Gil

Ravelleman

Doctor J wrote:

Jaco used to smear his strings with fried chicken grease

Mmmm tasty.

Mr. CooL ICE

This may require re-recording, but try turning down the treble pickup on the bass? Or if possible, leave the treble pickup alone and just pan the pan-pot until the screeching stops.

What kind of a slide is it? The screeching may reduce or be easier to control if you play a B to D slide from the 2nd to 5th fret of the A string, instead of say, 7 to 10 on the E string.

Eoin Madsen

Try and resolve without resorting to EQ if at all possible (but at the same time, without eating away half your fingerboard by throwing oil on it). The last thing you want is a hideously dull bass sound cause you had to shelf off the top to get rid of the squeek.

If all else fails, I have managed to suppress screechy strings with a de-esser and some selective manual editing in the past. But that depends on whether your engineer is up to the extra effort.