LiamPodmore Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Both, depending on the song, how i feel that night, how tired i am, and how sweaty my right hand is. Mostly finger, but some stuff i use pick for. Liam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisthebass Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Fingers for me - never really got on with a pick from day 1. Have tried to use one a few times but I'm really c**p with one. Cheers, louisthebass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinynorman Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Pick. It's all about rhythm for me, just can't get my fingers to hold a steady beat. Never had a problem getting any tone I want with a pick. Can't slap with it, obviously, which bothers me not at all. If all the picks in the world disappeared, I'd use my thumb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 So what we're saying is pick players are the rare elite and finger players are the boring standard *Searches for burn ointment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Swap over eons ago... as I wanted that softer bass sound that I couldn't get from my amp and a pick. Nowadays I have a thumb mute style to emulate a 60/70's West coast film score sound should I want to ..but don't use a pick. Other Funk players with picks...?? Randy Jackson. The guy from PAL....can't recall his name, but am sure someone here will. Glenn Hughes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogien Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Only fingers and thumb. It is also nice when both can be mixed in one tune. Never could play using pick, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ern500evo Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Mostly fingers but working in a covers band there's some songs that sound better with a pick. In a 30 song set i probably use a pick for about 4 songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender73 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 If the song calls for a pick, i'll use one, but love the different dynamics i can get from using my fingers. Cheers Graeme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I swap a lot of the time. We've got some real galloping tracks, where the rhtyhm just comes better with the fingers; some of the more conventional songs work best with the pick and plenty of attack. Wouldn't mind an attack pedal, or something, to bulk up the fingerstyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademan_98 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I have never used a pick on a bass. I don't use one on a guitar anymore (can't grip it for more than a couple of minutes anymore ) Fingers only (or thumb when the hand gets too bad) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grassie Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Started playing in 94 using fingers only. I used to be of the opinion that if you were playing with a pick then you were somehow less of a musician. 17 years later, and I have recently found myself struggling to get a consistent, even tone using my fingers. I had problems last year with pain in my plucking hand whenever I played fingerstyle (mainly constant eighths and sixteenths), and the band I was in was playing more songs which required the use of a pick for that "attack", so I found myself playing more and more with that tricky little bit of plastic. Now I'm finding that I'm rarely playing fingerstyle at all, my overall tone has improved, and I can get more sounds from my bass by picking at different positions across the strings as I ever could playing with my fingers. I use a fairly light gauge pick as I find the flexibility allows me to play up-down strokes quicker and more precisely than using a heavier gauge as I tend to "catch" heavier picks on the strings. There are many players about at the moment who play with a pick, but who get a fingerstyle tone that impress me a lot. Foo Fighters Nate Mendel and Kings Of Leon's Jared Followill are two of them. Watching Nate play recently, I noticed that it looks like he's "stroking" the strings rather than picking them; he plays with such a gentle touch but still gets a monster sound. And I love Jared's tone full stop, that boy can get a little funky with it too (I love that little solo section in the middle of "Charmer"). He doesn't play the obvious and his tone is so warm and rounded for a pick/Thunderbird combination. Picks rule! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jampottt Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I was fundamentally a guitarist when starting to play bass, so I was a pick player for a week. Then I started using my fingers and haven't looked back. Love just watching the elegant walk of a fingered bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Thought Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Pick almost exclusively these days. Can use fingers and have often done so, depending on the song, but by and large I prefer the pick. Last practice we were working up some new ones, I was using fingers and it was OK but not really quite there. Started using the pick, big smiles all round. Just seems to work better for me and the stuff we play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gust0o Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I forgot to add, to my previous contribution to this thread, that fingerstyle is the only method for Youtube - unless you want swamping by the ill-tongued off-spring of our transatlantic cousins, the utter, utter f***wits. "Nice cover bro but nxt time use yo fingers like a man". [Insert "I wore my fingers out on your mum, so can only use a pick" joke] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenny B Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Both - good enough for Entwhistle and JPJ, so good enough for me. The song / sound dictates whether or not I use a pick - I must have gone 10 years without one, but recently had a listening resurgence to Bobby Vega and Dave Ellefson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbuQgbabZf8&feature=related) so actually practicing my picking technique again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merello Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Both as suits. Learned on a pick but 30s into my first gig I threw it away. Mainly fingers but occasionally the song cries out for a plectrum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grassie Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 [quote name='Gust0o' post='1304644' date='Jul 15 2011, 12:31 PM']I forgot to add, to my previous contribution to this thread, that fingerstyle is the only method for Youtube - unless you want swamping by the ill-tongued off-spring of our transatlantic cousins, the utter, utter f***wits. "Nice cover bro but nxt time use yo fingers like a man". [Insert "I wore my fingers out on your mum, so can only use a pick" joke][/quote] Now that has made me laugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Almost 100% fingers, occasionally use a plectrum. Nothing to do with the sound, it's that some fast repeated notes I can't manage properly with fingers since someone broke my hand 30+ years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazy_olie Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I do like the sound of a pick (although maybe not when I'm playing jazz) but find it so much easier, faster and natural to play with fingers so it's a rarity. I probably have fairly poor pick technique though, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingBollock Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Pick, almost exclusively now. I started out playing finger style for the first couple of years but about the age of 14 I started dabbling in electronics and always seemed to have either burnt or sliced open fingers, so I tried a pick as it's difficult to play with plasters on your fingers. I sort of tried to keep up with using fingers, especially for slow bluesy type stuff, but not so much anymore. I sometimes play three finger (well, two fingers and a thumb) like I do with the Banjo, but even then I will usually use my metal finger and thumb picks. I use a 3mm Big Stubby. They're so thick it's almost like using a finger anyway! They're really nicely tapered so they're a lot more dynamic than you'd think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 What ever suits the song. Fingers, pick, slap, Entwhistle "Crab claw", Geddys Flamenco finger nail strum, thumb pluck, karate chop (ouch) never say never & use all sonic devices at your disposal. Q for the forum? Who was the awesome pick player who played with Zappa for a while? Simply stunning technique! Churrs, Norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Norm' post='1306572' date='Jul 17 2011, 12:22 PM']Q for the forum? Who was the awesome pick player who played with Zappa for a while? Simply stunning technique! Churrs, Norm.[/quote] scott thunes or tom fowler? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd_gU03mcZ4&"]tom fowler[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx8tRwErVvg&"]scott thunes[/url] Edited July 17, 2011 by steve-bbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 [quote name='steve-bbb' post='1306948' date='Jul 17 2011, 07:11 PM']scott thunes or tom fowler?[/quote] Arthur Barrow did some cool pick stuff too. Although...I'd plump for Scott Thunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Doddy' post='1306952' date='Jul 17 2011, 07:13 PM']Arthur Barrow did some cool pick stuff too. Although...I'd plump for Scott Thunes.[/quote] scott thunes was/is good but i prefer [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gr6Re7LKY0"]patrick[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQTezHnMtQQ&"]o'hearn[/url] Edited July 17, 2011 by steve-bbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GЯДИКФЯ Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 pick like 95% of the time. I never slap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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