Skank guitar sound question

use a softer pick material like nylon.., some guys use paper, hard leather, etc, whatever you decide fits for you. turn the mids and treble down a bit and find a good mix for you

Thanks Derek, thats great.

I have been using a hard thick pick (as they are the only ones i use), so from what you are saying, that does seem to be the root of the problem.

I'll pick some softer ones up on my way back from work today and see how it goes.

Thanks

usually thick is actually the way to go, if its nylon. i find the softest pick out of the dunlop tortex series is the blue one. i forget which gauge it is but its one below purple..

I have been looking at funk/skank guitar lately, and I know that when I play I am muting all the strings other than the note I want to ring out. I know this because I pick each string individually when I practice to make sure that I keep the other 5 strings muted.

The problem is, that when I am amped up, the volume of the "scratch" over the muted strings is almost as loud as the volume of the string I am trying to play.

Is there some sort of sound set up, or something I am missing that wil allow the note I am trying to play to ring out far louder than the "scratch" sound?

Thanks, Al

In this situation, I'm usually using an upstroke with my middle finger, since my thumb and index are holding the pick ( I use a hybrid style ). This will give you a nice attack, with a lot of "meat" ( heh. sorry, but it fits. ) to the sound. You'll need to practice it a bit to build a callus though.

I'm with moonrider, but I usually start with a down stroke before on the and, especially for grimier skanks. To really get a good percussive sound the fretting hand needs to "bounce" with the rhythm, so only as the right hand is attacking on the beat the left hand squeezes the notes. That's the difference between imitating a skank line and actually doing it. When you get it right you'll hear it. It's a lot more like slapping than strumming. The right hand should attack more perpendicular than from a strumming angle, almost straight down onto the strings. Depending in if I'm using a pick or not (holding a pick I should say) I like to attack with the back of my pointer or middle finger then sound the note with the same finger on the up stroke for that dack-a-dack sound. The middle finger if I'm holding a pick. If i'm not, I'd more likely use my thumb and index. But you could use a pick too, or bowling ball.
So if the rhythm is: bap 2 3, bap 2 3, bap 2 3, bap 2 3, bap 2 3, 1 2 3 on triplets - the fretting hand would "clamp" the notes only on the 1 (bap). The down stroke would be on the and before 1 (first time through the phrase), the left and right hand would deliver the notes on 1 with the up stroke than the 2 and 3 with down strokes. and the feel is:
b-bap-k-b-bap-k-b-bap-k-b-bap
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1
Think of the kick playing the down strokes (and 2 -3) and the one being a snare hit.