Plectrum Or Fingers

[Paddy515]

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

@Paddy515 just normal grip tips, my guitarist buddy got me a selection pack to try.

so far Deleon and Gel are my fave but I may explore further, nylon is too floppy 

OK, thanks for that - ive gone for a couple of the Derlin Red Rock Control as they look the most robust and also "rubbery" to use the reverse way round. We shall hear how they sound and will advise in due time.

Regards, Paddy.

Edited May 6, 2018 by Paddy515
mis-spelling

[Cuzzie]

Ha - auto correct should be Delrin!!

 

no worries fella, I used to use Dunlop Tortex big triangles, have not looked back with these

[Delberthot]

On 07/03/2018 at 20:47, Sandy 5 said:

The pick itself is the starting point, you get really flimsy picks on a bass and you will have an awful sound! There's a plectrum page on one of the other threads where people talk about their preferred picks...mines a Dunlop jazz III, they're thick enough to get good purchase on the string, comfortable to grip. 

I bought dozens of plectrums in order to find the one that was right for me in all thicknesses and materials. My personal issue was that I couldn't find one that I could hold without exerting a lot of pressure on it which made my hand hurt after a while.

The answer for me was Herco heavy gauge and i found them completely by accident. Happened to be reading an article on Chris Squire and that was what he used so I tried them and they worked

[NoRhino]

In one of my bands it's all pick. In the other it's 90% fingers. I have no preference. Play what fits the songs best. 

[BreadBin]

I play almost exclusively fingerstyle, but when I do use a pick I like the Dava Nylon Control as you can vary the stiffness according to where your fingers are. 

[ezbass]

I've recently been embracing the pick more, after seeing Bobby Vega at the LBGS. Currently using Dunlop Tortex .73mm, which is strange as I've always favoured thicker picks (1.5mm +) when playing guitar.

[SpondonBassed]

If I ever get this ingrown big toenail removed I'm curing it like a conker* with the intention of using it as a plec.

*How to cure a conker

[xgsjx]

14 minutes ago, ezbass said:

I've recently been embracing the pick more, after seeing Bobby Vega at the LBGS. Currently using Dunlop Tortex .73mm, which is strange as I've always favoured thicker picks (1.5mm +) when playing guitar.

Oddly enough, I only use .73 (or as close as). 

Anything from 1mm upwards, I find loses flexibility for my playing style, anything thinner & I’d be as well using a Rizla. 

I use the same gauge on guitar too.   Thinner ones are fine for strumming, but I’m hopeless with them for any pick work. 

[Woodinblack]

Primarily fingers here, but some songs go better with a pick, so for those I will use a pick. And if I have played several gigs in a row too hard and got blisters, then a lot more with a pick!

However, there are some songs I just can't play with a pick, where the reverse isn't true.

[Dood]

If it made the sound I was looking for, I'd use a dustbin lid  

[Skol303]

Nearly always fingers for me.

I’m just way too clumsy with a pick; but that’s down to lack of practice.

I do love the pick sound on some tracks though. When you need that attack, nothing else will do.

[Al Krow]

15 minutes ago, dood said:

If it made the sound I was looking for, I'd use a dustbin lid  

What is your preferred thickness of dustbin lid?

Your next pedal review will certainly go viral if it had you wielding an appropriate thickness dustbin lid in your right hand. Already looking forward to it.

[Dad3353]

21 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

What is your preferred thickness of dustbin lid?

Your next pedal-bin review will certainly go viral if it had you wielding an appropriate thickness dustbin lid in your right hand. Already looking forward to it.

Fixed. 

...

[josie]

No choice - long-standing RSI in the right elbow means I can't use fingers. So, you work with what you've got.

This has led to an account with TimberTones and serious Pick Acquisition Syndrome :-) So many options in material - resin, wood, stone, metal - and shape - size, thickness, sharpness of the corners, thumb-groove or not - your sound can change dramatically with a change of pick. I've been using flat hardwood with my electrics, but for an acoustic gig today found a thicker, blunter-tipped, thumb-grooved resin pick was easier to play and got a better sound.  Stone with sharper point for flat-wound strings (fretless).

Ymmv, but definitely worth experimenting.

 

[Al Krow]

@josie how about a pic of what sounds like quite an amazing pic collection? 

[paul_5]

25+ years with fingers but I’m starting to do some pick playing with my covers band; punk lines just sound better with a pick to me, and ultimately that’s what it’s all about. I’ve plumped for tekpick aluminium ones after auditioning numerous different kinds of plastic  ones.

[josie]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

@josie how about a pic of what sounds like quite an amazing pic collection? 

Here's a representative selection. The abalone is too thin to use with a bass, but too pretty not to keep in the tin :-)

[SpondonBassed]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

@josie how about a pic of what sounds like quite an amazing pic collection? 

Oo.  Picky.  Heeheehee

24 minutes ago, josie said:

Here's a representative selection. The abalone is too thin to use with a bass, but too pretty not to keep in the tin :-)

They are lovely things even if you never used them in anger.

[musicbassman]

4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

@josie how about a pic of what sounds like quite an amazing pic collection? 

Blimey!   Looks like you raided Granny's button box...... (successfully!)

I must try this...................

[paul_5]

I’ve found recently that I’ve started to mark my bridge pickup where I’ve been picking with the aluminium picks though... 

[oldbass]

On 1/21/2011 at 12:35, Bay Splayer said:

definitely fingers

you wont ever forget to bring them to gig or rehearsal

you cant drop them halfway through a song

Ha...this. Its the exact reason I changed from pick to fingers yonks ago...kept loosing them, dropping them..aargh....now I cant even hold a pick and if you can do Rythymn Stick with a pick your a better man than I..

 

[tb4sbp]

Picks are really for the extra brightness a pick adds when dealing with other instruments in the same sonic range. And when keyboards and synths really became a staple in music (late 60's onward) a lot of bass players opted to use a pick to cut though. I mainly use fingers but it because I lose picks all the time as well. I like using a pick and sometimes that is the sound the rest of the band wants. So I am easy either way. If up to me though I would use my fingers as that is what I like to do. 

[The59Sound]

Fingers all the way.

How many double bass players use a pick? Yet people put flats on an electric bass and use a pick.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

1 hour ago, The59Sound said:

Fingers all the way.

How many double bass players use a pick? Yet people put flats on an electric bass and use a pick.

And it sounds fantastic when they do.

[Muzz]

Dunlop Nylon .88s  I've been using them since forever (well, probably around 1979). I've been using my fingers longer, but mostly for picking my nose.