finger tapping and getting the volume...

[timrocks311]

hey guys,
i'm not sure if this is the right forum for this question or not...but when i finger tap it's always so quiet. i can't seem to get it loud enough and i'm looking for help.

i've adopted a keep-it-simple method recently and pretty much plug right into a Hot Cat 30. i play a lot of heavier rock that includes some tapping leads and some tapping rythmn (see Funeral for a Friend's "Roses for the Dead"). i think part of the problem is i'm in an apartment right now and can't crank it up. so when i tap, it's really quiet that i sometimes have trouble hearing it. i feel like i've got the technique ok...not perfect...but i'm not sure if i should change my amp settings slightly or do you use a pedal to boost? or is it more technique and i just suck?

thanks,
Dan

 

[Swain]

Well, make sure you're not rushing. Keep everything in time, and build up speed. Can you hear every Tap, AND every Pull-Off? Try to hit right behind the Frets, for the clearest Notes. And get used to Starting many of the Licks and Runs with your Fretting Hand, as opposed to the "Picking/Tapping" Hand.

Also, maybe add a little Compression.

 

[countandduke]

+1 for compression if you are at low volumes.

I find bigger frets and a nice low action facilitates tapping too so...

Chris

 

[timrocks311]

nevermind...

 

[Member 995]

Are the volume issues with the taps or with the hammer-ons/pull-offs that follow?

Try tapping on an acoustic guitar and see if you can get volume out of it.

 

[buddastrat]

Practice, build the finger strength. When you first started, I'd bet your hammer ons/pulls were'nt very loud. If you rely on gain/compression, you may stay weak. You need to build strength, endurance. In time most people will get a callous which will help you if you still need power. With practice you'll find it's really easy and your fingertip will hammers those as loud as you'd ever want, even on a solid body electric unplugged.

 

[timrocks311]

Are the volume issues with the taps or with the hammer-ons/pull-offs that follow?

Try tapping on an acoustic guitar and see if you can get volume out of it.

it's really when i tap with my picking hand. the pull offs seem ok and my fretting hand is good.

 

[GovernorSilver]

Try tapping on an acoustic guitar and see if you can get volume out of it.

:AOK

Any legato technique on electric requires even less effort for me, after just a month of practicing primarily on acoustic guitar. I was pleasantly surprised how amenable today's "affordable" acoustic guitars are to legato - a hammer-on does not require as much energy as you might think, despite the typically heavier gauge and slightly higher action. Yet, there's still a strength training benefit to playing today's acoustics.

I find I have to back off on my touch now when switching to electric.

 

[Lucidology]

Super light strings for both Legato & Tapping is what I've heard ..

Having played some of Holdsworth guitars (did he ever tap BTW...?)
They had super light strings ... starting with an 8 but even lighter then the usual stock set ..
Very flat neck ('20 radius) ... monster frets (baby bass frets),, etc.

 

[Austinrocks]

Are the volume issues with the taps or with the hammer-ons/pull-offs that follow?

Try tapping on an acoustic guitar and see if you can get volume out of it.

prefer an unplugged electric guitar, acoustics generally screw me up, play them sitting down, really need to stand up if your going to leave the house, my strat is pretty easy to practice with that way, find that it takes practice to get the volume up, and really need to keep at it, really recommend standing with a strap when practice, this is for everything, stuff that works sitting down does not always transfer when you stand up. Tapping is one that really changes that way.

as far as cranked amps and compression, really good tappers can tap an acoustic and sound good, so would not rely on effects or amp settings to get you by on this, develop the strength and technique to do it on any thing and hold a pick in my pinky of your picking hand, watch all these youtube idiots in their bed room throwaway the pick when they are tapping if you play with a pick learn to go back and forth smoothly and not loose the pick.

 

[GovernorSilver]

Super light strings for both Legato & Tapping is what I've heard ..

Having played some of Holdsworth guitars (did he ever tap BTW...?)
They had super light strings ... starting with an 8 but even lighter then the usual stock set ..
Very flat neck ('20 radius) ... monster frets (baby bass frets),, etc.

Holdsworth at least taps here - in both the theme and the solo (I remember seeing it somewhere, but forgot exactly where):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlnL3k0vf1I

Light strings and low action will help a lot. However, my acoustic guitar has higher action than my electrics and a .012 gauge. Hammer-ons just require a little more authority. Today's acoustics are such an improvement over the $30 beater that my ex-roommate got at a flea market in the late 1980s. That axe had a ridiculously high action by comparison.

 

[timrocks311]

alright, i'll just have to practice more and getting the strength with my tapping fingers. i can hold a pick between my thumb and index and tap with my middle finger. unfortunately i use a heavier string, usually Ernie ball 10s or 11s since i tune mostly in Db...or C sometimes

 

[Member 995]

unfortunately i use a heavier string, usually Ernie ball 10s or 11s since i tune mostly in Db...or C sometimes

.010s in Db are basically the same tension as .008s in standard tuning. 73.3 lbs of tension vs. 70.6 lbs.

 

[dspblues]

.010s in Db are basically the same tension as .008s in standard tuning. 73.3 lbs of tension vs. 70.6 lbs.

Wow, no offense, but that can't be right. I've been tuning down for years and it doesn't feel anything like even 9's tuned to std.. Though, it's all based on my experience.. I never measured the tension.