Fingerstyle or Pick.. are your fingers the talkers?

[Sonic_Groove]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1302042' date='Jul 13 2011, 10:33 AM']Both - whatever gives the right sound and feel for the song. Also while I have a favourite that I use most of the time, in the studio I'll use different picks for different sounds. To me it's no different to which finger you are going to use or if you are going to alternate fingers when playing finger style.

Why limit yourself?[/quote]

+ 1000

P.S BigRedX have you tried the timber tones picks in different woods? (some good sounds & vibes)

B

Edited July 13, 2011 by Sonic_Groove

[TheGreek]

I own a plectrum - never used it though...

[BottomE]

I am fingers all the way. I used a pick a few times but found it distanced me from my instrument. Couldn't do anything subtle with it.

There is a guys who played bass for the Average White Band who played some decent funky stuff on pick though.

[Monckyman]

Mainly fingers, but occasional pick for that ultra snappy attack thing.

[risingson]

[quote name='ToneDeluxe' post='1301814' date='Jul 13 2011, 02:04 AM']you thought i was going to say what is best?... my curious Q is, have you ever switched styles for genres... i could, or some may say, that pick is for rock type stuff, and fingerstyle is for funky style bass playing.. obviously this is nonsence.. you could say that a pick cuts through way better for Rock,...

i have never seen a funk player play with a pick, but ive seen loads of rock players play with there fingers... go figure..[/quote]

I use both, for many different reasons. I had a guy come up to me the other night to compliment me after a gig but he mentioned he preferred my sound when I played with fingers as opposed to a pick. I think his point was less to do with the fact that he preferred my finger style playing and more to do with the fact that he didn't see the point in why I was swapping back and forth from pick to fingers. Both offer different things, and I find that for certain rockier tunes and maybe a sound more geared towards MacCartney/Carol Kaye sound can only be properly achieved with a pick.

[Conan]

Mostly fingers. A bit of slap when it's appropriate... But playing in a covers band there are some tracks which really need a pick if you want it to sound anything like the original band. Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" for example.

In an original band I might still use a pick just to get the type of sounds that I can only get with a pick! My fingernails are really soft and rubbish, so I keep them short. If I want that extra click/attack I will use a pick.

As BRX said, why limit yourself?

[Paul S]

I moved to bass from guitar (with a gap of 25 years in the middle, admittedly), both of which I play with a pick. I struggle to play finger style with the same precision, speed and subtlety as I do with a pick, so stick 100% to that. I sometimes think it would be nice to use both and practice finger style quite a bit but have yet to achieve anything useable for anything but the simplest lines.

[Maverick]

I was in a sort of death/thrash metal band a few years back, and the guitarist/mainman demanded I use a pick. It didn't last.

I do use a pick on occasion if I think it fits but I don't take kindly to being told what to do. He also p*ssed the drummer off by essentially trying to tell him exactly what drum lines to play, so it wasn't just me.

Edited July 13, 2011 by Maverick

[Danimal]

Fingers. I used a pick for the first 12 months or so of playing, and eventually reached a point where I just hit a brick wall with it and found it really hard to make any progress. Switched to fingers and hardly looked back since, although I still kind of wish I could be proficient with a pick for a few certain things. I've picked it up again a few times since, but I've never quite been able to get the knack of it. Always feels unnatural.

Edited July 13, 2011 by Danimal

[simon1964]

I use both, probably about equally. Some of the stuff we play in my covers band would be difficult to play with a pick (eg By the Way), but for a lot of other stuff I prefer the tone of a pick.

For some reason, it can actually vary according to the bass I'm playing. I'm more likely to use a pick with the Precision than with the Stingray. Just seems right for some reason!

Edited July 13, 2011 by simon1964

[Conan]

[quote name='Maverick' post='1302178' date='Jul 13 2011, 12:03 PM']the guitarist/mainman demanded I use a pick. It didn't last.[/quote]

Did you insist that he only play Cmaj and D7?

[Dave Vader]

Pick exclusively for years, then I knackered my wrist (nasty ganglion cyst on the tendon) and it hurt like crap.
So now I use fingers wherever I can get away with it. (Hurt a bit getting them used to it).
AMusingly my fingers are a lot louder than my big thick picks....

[icastle]

[quote name='charic' post='1301879' date='Jul 13 2011, 07:11 AM']1"! I may have just found why you don't get on with a pick! [/quote]

... and probably why most of the mobiles I've ever owned get string scrapes on them...

[ThomBassmonkey]

I stick to fingers, I find when I use a pick I have to re-eq or I lose all the power from my tone and I can't be bothered mid set or song. I also play slap in some songs and it's just not worth the hassle of messing about with one.

I also find that I have more feel with my fingers. I'm capable with a pick, I just never liked it. I recently decided to use one for a set, just for a change. It got dropped halfway through the first song when it didn't sound right.

[neepheid]

Fingers, I've dabbled in pick playing but never got the hang of it. Fingerstyle just feels so much more direct and natural to me.

[Marvin]

Depends on the song and what sort of sound I want.

I'm not very good with a pick but if I'm playing the Greenday track in our set list my fingers just don't get the attacking sound I want for it.

[Michaelg]

predominantly plectrum, occasionally fingers. its an 80/20 split in favour of picks

[fatboyslimfast]

Fingers. Can't get the hang of a pick at all.

[franzbassist]

Fingers (and thumb) ever since I started playing some 30-odd years ago, at least until a few months ago that is, when I joined a Jam/Weller tribute band and had to get my pick-playing chops up to speed sharpish!

It's actually been a good discipline to learn, much like bowing has improved my upright playing, and has made me appreciate it as another valuable string to the bass player's bow. Finding the right gauge pick for me was vital (0.8mm, since you ask).

Cheers

Gareth

[Wil]

I was 100% fingerstyle for many, many years, but now I find I'm probably 90% pick, 10% fingers. I've found it can be just as expressive and articulate as fingers, and the attack cuts through the mix in a loud band really well.

[tonyf]

[quote name='Doddy' post='1301838' date='Jul 13 2011, 02:47 AM']You're not familiar with Bobby Vega then? He's a really funky pick player-he subbed for Rocco with Tower of Power.[/quote]

+1

Bobby is just awesome. Total monster player....

[4 Strings]

Originally a guitarist I used a pick for a few years before holding my breath and becoming a 'proper' bass player and learning to use my fingers. Been fingers ever since.

There is definitely no right or wrong way, although I find fingers to be more versatile (until recently, did a cover of 'Your Sex is on Fire' tried with a pick but found it easier and more powerful sounding with fingers). There is a different sound with a pick, that click, but never really needed enough to use one. Closest was a church worship thing where I wanted that scratchy Entwhistle Live at Leeds sound and used a 10p coin.

I do admit to a certain prejudgement though, a player with a pick has to prove himself whereas one with fingers is expected to be good. Total nonsense, of course, but sub-conciously its there. Along with the thought that its probably a guitarist now playing bass.

Wilton Felder is another funky pick player - early Jackson 5 stuff for example (I Want You Back etc)

[bluesparky]

Fingerstyle for me.
There have been literally a couple of songs that i've used a pick for so i can get the sound i'm after but i feel like i'm cheating myself when i use one!

[lojo]

Fingers for me for 99%

Sometimes play the more aggressive stuff like I have a pick, but without the pick, seriously it works for me

[retrohelix]

Fingerstyle felt the most natural ever since I picked up the bass, and I started off as a pick weilding guitarist. I never really have any need to use a pick, although if I really can't get "that" sound with my fingers, I just use my nail.