Pulloffs?

[Timothy Lyons]

Alrite, I'm playing some stuff, with pulloffs and hammerons. My hammers are nice and clear, but my pulloffs are muffled and somewhat unclear. Is there any way to ensure clean pulloffs?

[Mr. Phil]

Practice??

 

Thats probably it...

[Timothy Lyons]

I can do it, but it requires a very heavy attack, and, well, it's too heavy. LOL.

[Scoot]

Letting the amp do the work is one of the biggest keys. Don't use too much hand motion. Think of your pinky (or whatever finger is doing the pulling) as "flicking" the string. A slight(!) pulldown of the string and quick release.

 

Make sure you have good fretting position on the note you are pulling off to. The note will ring better (a good tip for any note, not just pulloffs.)

 

Wait, am i giving advice on technique? That can't be good.

[Timothy Lyons]

Thanks, that was the one thing that my teacher tried to show me before I kicked him out on his @$$

[cruzbass]

practice going from one fret to the other slowly.

 

repeat until it works! then observe what made it work and try to produce the same effect.

 

make sure the presure you are exerting with fretting the 1st and 4th fingers are landing right behind the fret every time. be aware of what muscles in your hand and forearm are being used. is that fretting finger landing right smack on the middle of the string? or is it going somwere else?

 

for a pull-off you may need to apply more presure to the fret than usual..ESPECIALLY if your are trying to do a pop then pulloff. that is: the frett your are pulling off to needs more presure aplied, not the starting note.

[Rik]

Letting the amp do the work is one of the biggest keys. Don't use too much hand motion. Think of your pinky (or whatever finger is doing the pulling) as "flicking" the string. A slight(!) pulldown of the string and quick release.

That's pretty much what I do, too. On a guitar you can often get away with just lifting your finger off the higher fret. But on bass you sort of have to give the pulloff a little encouragement, so to speak. So when I lift my finger, instead of lifting it straight up I move it up and a tiny bit to the side. The tip of my finger actually bends the string to the side a tiny bit and then let's it go. I'm sort of plucking the string with my fingering hand, but not nearly as heavily as I pluck with my plucking hand.

[orphan wells]

When practicing try this triplet that i do. Pluck normal with right hand, hammer with left index finger, and pulloff. When you pull off pluck the string in a downward motion like you were signaling someone to you. Remember to keep you thumb in the middle of the neck and wrist perpindicular (90 degrees) to the neck. That is the most proper way to do it. if you want to be a little less technical...do a little twist of the wrist with your thumb resting just over the neck almost on the fret board. attack the string with your finger at an angle towards the body. this will give you a harder attack and an easier setup for the pull off. Try the same triplet with this technique. Remember, right hand, hammer-on keeping the finger stiff and on the string, twist the wrist towards the body for the pull off. Try using all fingers when you figure it out.