Do you use a pick, why or why not?

[picker]

I went to a jam a couple of weeks back, and did something I don't usualy do. I had a guitar pick on me, and for some strange reason, I decided to play bass with it.

 

I'm usually a finger style bassist. It's the tone I like best, or at least am most familiar with. But I really liked the way the bass sounded with that pick that night.

 

How many of you guys play with a pick, if so why, and if not why not?

[bassplaya619]

I have been playing for over 20 years and I would say I started picking about 2 years ago. I must say, you shouldn't be judged by it and I was never comfortable with it. But I like it, it is something different and I like downstrokes rather than up down strokes.

[Ross Brown]

fingerstyle.... have done some picking but I am better fingerstyle.... more groove for me...

[b5pilot]

I play with a pick sometimes. I started out using a pick which was a carryover from when I only played guitar. Most times now I just use my fingers. I still use a pick for songs that originally were played with a pick or songs that have long strings of 8th or 16th notes. I've actually had a couple people say I should play with a pick more often because it adds more punch and clarity to my playing.

 

Maybe I should. Hey, it worked for Bobby Vega!

[JBFLA]

I used a pick in the 70's when I was in a band that covered Yes, Kansas, ELP ...

 

It fit what was needed at the time, but I was never really comfortable with it.

 

In the 80's I was doing some studio/jingle work where the producer preferred the pick sound. I just let my fingernails grow long and either he didn't notice or it was close enough for him.

 

Haven't used a pick since, but it does have a particular sound/attack.

[Cthulhu Fhtagn]

I sometimes use a pick. I sometimes don't. Depends on the song and how much attack I want/need.

 

Kind of Hush - fingers.

Runnin' Down a Dream - pick.

Brown-Eyed Girl - fingers.

Break Up Song - pick.

 

etc.

[Bobby LowTones]

Have played fingerstyle since the beginning (1970ish). That was until 2008 when I started playing in a Beatles band (where I felt picks were the appropriate tools). Although we don't play copycat, we still make it sound pretty much like the Beatles, you know...

 

Sometimes, without warning, I switch to fingerstyle at an appropriate spot right in the middle of a song - not any song but one which would benefit from it. The obvious tone change makes the guys to look at me ...with a "Yeah, sounds good!" look. This always makes me laught.

 

Bob

[Bottom End]

I play with both, it really depends on the sound I am trying to get for the song. I am not as fast and clean as I would like to be with a pick yet, so I play fingerstyle if I have to go fast (rarely). I do really need to make a better concentrated effort at improving my picking for a consistent attack, and too not grip the pick too hard and avoid cramping.

 

If you really want a cool sound, Palm mute over the bridge while picking, or use a foam mute under the strings with a pick, or both. Very percussive and thumpy, and you can hit the strings hard without getting too much twang/sustain but still cut through the mix.

 

There are dozens of great players in a variety of who used a pick at leat 50% of the time, I think it's a valid tool and technique.

[Bobby LowTones]

Snip... If you really want a cool sound, Palm mute over the bridge while picking, or use a foam mute under the strings with a pick, or both. Very percussive and thumpy, and you can hit the strings hard without getting too much twang/sustain but still cut through the mix. ...snip

Works for me too!

[Richard W]

Learned bass finger style, but been trying to learn to play with a pick just so I have more options for songs.

[Paul K]

I have a couple five stringers that used to be four stringers, so the strings are closer together. They're a little cramped for slapping, but for fingerstyle or picks, the spacing is great. And for picks, the closer spacing is a real big benefit. I don't use a pick very often, mostly when my fingertips are sore from hitting the strings too hard, but when i do it works very well on those basses. Wider spacing, not so much.

[rumpelstiltskin.]

i learned finger style, but i also used a pick early on for a different sound. i did so when i realized that green day's "dookie" bass tone was simply J + SVT + pick. when i bought the chili peppers' "californication" and heard flea's tone on "parallel universe" i stopped using 1.0mm big stubby picks and switched to the 0.60mm orange tortex picks i also used with guitar.

 

i use a pick almost exclusively now. i think it's a big part of "my sound", but only within the context that "my sound" has a lot more to do with note selection, voicing, and melody than tone. however, the reason why i use a pick so much now is that i love the attack i get, particularly when using overdrive and distortion effects, which i also use quite a lot of these days. i also appreciate the way it makes double stops sound. i use a lot of double stops, and the pick makes both notes more even. that, obviously, could be fixed by improving my finger plucking technique; double stops are often easier to finger pluck, but sometimes they're easier to play with a pick. but i'm usually using a pick, and i still love the attack, so i've worked to improve my pick technique on double stops.

 

Snip... If you really want a cool sound, Palm mute over the bridge while picking, or use a foam mute under the strings with a pick, or both. Very percussive and thumpy, and you can hit the strings hard without getting too much twang/sustain but still cut through the mix. ...snip

Works for me too!

 

i do this as well, particularly if i'm going for a rootsy, americana feel. it really works well for me to use the neck pickup (which i usually do, anyway) and roll off the highs and lows. i also use this tone for a lot of 60s and early 70s songs (works so well for "come together").

 

i also like to palm mute and use my thumb to pluck 8ths or 16ths when i need a round, pulsating sound with very little attack. it's very tiring, but nothing else sounds like it. and when it's right, it's really right.

[SteveC]

Always fingers for me. I have used my fingernail on rare occasions, but very rarely.

 

Don't hate pick players, just prefer finger style.

[5 string Mike]

I use it on certain songs- mainly rock stuff

 

Hard to Handle

Runnin' Down A Dream

You Wreck Me

Stranglehold

a funky version of Ring of Fire we do

 

Other times it's when I need to stand out in a mix

 

It does add a nice punch to the sound- especially with flats.

 

Playing with a pick has helped me be more versatile. For example, at church, I'm transitioning to guitar, so having the experience with a pick has helped make the transition easier because that pick control curve was a lot smaller.

[Danzilla]

I use fingers 90% of the time. I feel I have more control and options with fingers. A pick is handy for certain tones, and songs that have straight 16th or 32nd notes and such. I do wonder if, as I get older and less nimble, I should look into using a thumb pick like John Wetton does, due to arthritis.

 

For what it's worth, I also use my fingers for about 50-60% of the time that I play guitar. This is partly due to the influence of playing bass finger-style, and partly due to Jeff Beck.

[jcadmus]

I was about 75 percent pick, 25 percent fingers when I first started playing, but now I'm about 98 percent fingers. My pick chops suck, and I have a hard time getting a tone a really like.

 

Pick guys I love:

Tom Hamilton -- a tone monster with a pick

Chris Squire -- hey, he's Chris Squire

Jason Newsted -- Mr. Downstroke.

[The Bear Jew]

I sound like crap both ways.

[Richard W]

I sound like crap both ways.

 

You're multi-talented!

[Bobby LowTones]

Snip...

It does add a nice punch to the sound- especially with flats.

...snip

 

Yes, forgot to mention that ALL my axes (4) are strung with flats.

[jcadmus]

Snip...

It does add a nice punch to the sound- especially with flats.

...snip

 

Yes, forgot to mention that ALL my axes (4) are stringed (SP?) with flats.

 

Strung.

[Cthulhu Fhtagn]

Snip...

It does add a nice punch to the sound- especially with flats.

...snip

 

Yes, forgot to mention that ALL my axes (4) are stringed (SP?) with flats.

 

 

 

Strung.

 

Strang.

[Bobby LowTones]

Corrected to strung.

Oops, Strung or Strang?

[jeremy c]

Sturm and drang.

[ZZ Thorn]

Been playing with pick a lot recently and I think there's things I can do with a pick I just can't do with fingerstyle. To me it's that different. Just like there's things you can do with slapping that you just can't do with fingerstyle. You can't sound just like Larry Graham on 'Release Yourself' with fingerstyle.

 

Playing with a pick gives me a lot of different ideas rhythmically that I'd never come up with fingerstyle.

 

For me it's another tool in the tool belt, but a big one.

 

I'm prone to upstrokes instead of downstrokes - perhaps its because it's more of a 'pulling' motion that fingerstyle uses.

 

I'm a big fan of James Brown funk guitar with the muted notes, like the O'Jays "Love of Money"and I'm sure I could get close to that sound with my fingers (if I was better), but it's much easier with a pick.

[jcadmus]

 

Strang.

 

Yes, but only in Texas.

[Cthulhu Fhtagn]

 

Strang.

 

Yes, but only in Texas.

 

... and all George Jones covers.

 

"... and she was stranging ..."

[jeremy c]

Larry Graham never played with a pick. He plays everything with his thumb except for the plucks with his index finger. I just saw him perform a few weeks ago and I will report that he is sounding better than ever and the new version of Graham Central Station is a great band.

[ZZ Thorn]

Right, I was talking about slapping at the time. I don't think you can play "Release Yourself" fingerstyle and have it sound like it does on the record. Same goes for a lot of picked bass.

 

I missed GCS over here a few months ago due to work! I saw them a couple years ago - totally killer. I have a great poster but I don't know how to upload it to this board.

 

 

 

 

[Russkull]

I use fingers 90% of the time. I feel I have more control and options with fingers. A pick is handy for certain tones, and songs that have straight 16th or 32nd notes and such.

This.

 

When I started, somebody told me "real bass players don't use picks". Now that I know a little more, I'm convinced that person didn't actually know the names or playing styles of any famous bass players....

 

Anyway, that discussion did have a benefit - because I came from guitar, I might have only used a pick when starting bass and never really got into fingerstyle. Now of course it's the other way around: it still feels a little funny for me to use a pick, although I think it's absolutely the right thing for some songs (i.e. a lot of Hillsong that we play at church).

[Nicklab]

Is it Groundhog day already? This is the eternal Groundhog day bass forum technique question if there ever was one.

 

Fingerstyle? It's a technique for attacking the strings. YAY!

Pickstyle? It's a technique for attacking the strings. YAY!

Slapping? It's a technique for attacking the strings. YAY!

 

I use whichever technique suits the material the best. And having as many of these string attack techniques as possible at your disposal makes you a more versatile musician. YAY!