Finger Tone Club

[EssentialTension]

Brian Wilson on the thumb and tugbar ...

 

 

[Dood]

On 27/09/2021 at 21:11, BassAdder27 said:

Following on from my post The Pick Club I thought I would post a Finger Tone Club !

 

The tone from fingers instead of a plectrum or pick is very different and near on impossible to mimic with a pick.

 

The tone is warmer, fuller and contains lower bass tones 

 

The physical connection to the bass is greater and that has advantages in feel 

 

We are lucky to have many techniques available to us .. I love the pick sound for rock but miss the connection and full ( depth ) to the tone 

 

What about you guys ? 

 

One of my lovely students bought me a big plectrum as a gift. It's made from leather and is very thick. Although not exactly the same, it's the nearest a plectrum has ever come to sounding like fingers in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing with it.

 

So, to cross-contaminate threads, it's kinda of a best (or worst) of both worlds depending on your view point. 

[Reggaebass]

@SumOne, you may have already seen it but Glen Browne talk’s about the thumb in capture land  🙂

 

[Rich]

On 28/09/2021 at 11:43, Trueno said:

I have to keep my the fingernails cropped on my picking fingers as I don’t like the clanky sound… some might.

 

On 28/09/2021 at 12:13, goingdownslow said:

I don't like the fingernail click either, it even puts me off my playing as I try to pluck differently to eliminate it.
I try to remember to carry nail clippers but there have been times I have ground my nails down on the brick wall outside the gig.

Can I join your club? Although I generally like a snappy tone, I don't like it to come from my nails. I have a pair of nail clippers as a permanent passenger in my gig bag, having been caught out too many times and resorted to teeth.

[EssentialTension]

+1 on very short fingernails. I can't bear any length at all.

[EssentialTension]

Oh, and I play with one finger, two if really necessary.

[Dan Dare]

Horses for courses. If you want that tic-tac sound, for example, you need a pick. If you play reggae, you need fingers and/or thumb. No point in struggling to make a less than ideal method work.

[BassAdder60]

I like the more rounded tone from fingers 

 

I think it also depends on the type of band you play in and music and number of other rythmn instruments etc

[Skybone]

Had to relearn how to play when I stopped using a plectrum. It was worth it IMO. Just something very satisfying about playing.

 

Though, as others have said, horses for courses. There's merit in all techniques.

[Waddo Soqable]

Telstar vid indeed featuring Heinz Burt with the rather "bright" hair !

Sadly died in 2000 apparently, only in his mid 50s.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Waddo Soqable

[Waddo Soqable]

Here's another cracker from Joe Meek.

Note the bass player using a single index finger throughout on his groovy Burns bass.. (Ok I know they're miming, but presumably thats how he played it )

Apparently he was the brother of the excellent Honey Lantree on drums too

 

[MacDaddy]

On 27/09/2021 at 21:27, Downunderwonder said:

One of my finger tones is to use just the very tips closer to the bridge. Close enough to a pick for me.

 

Agreed. Getting the 'attack' associated with playing with a pick can easily be got from fingers.

[Mickyk]

3 hours ago, Waddo Soqable said:

Here's another cracker from Joe Meek.

Note the bass player using a single index finger throughout on his groovy Burns bass.. (Ok I know they're miming, but presumably thats how he played it )

Apparently he was the brother of the excellent Honey Lantree on drums too

There's something about this lady i like. great player.

 

 

[Downunderwonder]

15 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

 

Agreed. Getting the 'attack' associated with playing with a pick can easily be got from fingers.

I wouldn't go that far. Maybe if I practiced more I would have properly leathered tippy tips.

[BassAdder60]

I’m enjoying playing finger style again 

 

Decided next rehearsal it’s without Pick !

 

Set amp up again to suit the difference in EQ and will see how it compliments the guitar drums etc 

[EssentialTension]

1 hour ago, Mickyk said:

There's something about this lady i like. great player.

 

Megan Davies Interview

[Bassfinger]

On 27/09/2021 at 21:11, BassAdder27 said:

The tone from fingers instead of a plectrum or pick is very different and near on impossible to mimic with a pick.

I spent some months applying myself to that problem and cracked it - its hard to describe, but one kind of needs to stroke the string with the oblique edge of the pick rather than twang or pluck it, and using flats helps.

 

After a little work I'm good enough that I can't tell on some recordings whether I used a pick or fingeroonies (although for physical reasons I tend to default to the pick these days).  

 

Since this not-so- revilutionary breakthrough I've found a few others in a similar position who can mimic fingers to the point where its diffocultmor impossible to tell. I believe our very own FinnDave is in a similar place with that.

 

So fingers don't hold court in a sacred place where the pick fears to tread, at least for fairly conventional fingering (fnaar!) they don't.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Bassfinger

[JapanAxe]

I came to bass from guitar so I started out with a pick. It took me a long while to crack the standard two-finger approach, and a few years ago I moved over to fully floating thumb.

 

Nowadays my preference is fingerstyle - I love the feeling of connectedness to the instrument. I still use a pick where either that particular sound is required, or I need to play fast repeated notes.

[Mickyk]

17 hours ago, EssentialTension said:

 

Megan Davies Interview

Thank you for that ET,i really enjoyed reading that, I remember the record (Tell me When )vividly although I was only 4 yo at the time, I had three sisters the two older ones were  in their mid teens, and I remember them dancing around the front parlour with their boyfriends to this and others (Beatles) great memories..

[Bassfinger]

What makes me cringe is the wsy some fingerstyle plyers hold their writpst at an acute angle to dangle their hand down the front of the instrument.  Thats an RSI waiting to happen.

 

Elbow up, a much shallower angle betwixt hand and forearm is both less likely to cause injury and allows greater control.

[SteveXFR]

On 28/09/2021 at 14:02, Hellzero said:

And remember that it's easier to forget to take a pick (plectrum for the others) for a gig or rehearsal than a finger, without speaking of losing one. 

 

Forget picks? The bloody things end up everywhere. I recently took the dash board out of my car and found a couple yellow tortex picks in there. Every pair of trousers or coat I own seems to have them in the pocket. I can't escape the brightly coloured triangular bastards.

 

I play both styles (never slap, I hate slap) and both have their benefits. There is something about fingers and fuzz that I particularly enjoy.

[police squad]

On 29/09/2021 at 18:09, Waddo Soqable said:

Here's another cracker from Joe Meek.

Note the bass player using a single index finger throughout on his groovy Burns bass.. (Ok I know they're miming, but presumably thats how he played it )

Apparently he was the brother of the excellent Honey Lantree on drums too

 

I recently watched the film Telstar: The Joe Meek story. Well worth a watch and according to wikipedia it's all true

[Waddo Soqable]

5 hours ago, police squad said:

I recently watched the film Telstar: The Joe Meek story. Well worth a watch and according to wikipedia it's all true

I did watch that some while back, but I'll definately give it another look as it was very well done and worth seeing again👍

[M@23]

On 29/09/2021 at 13:15, Rich said:

 

Can I join your club? Although I generally like a snappy tone, I don't like it to come from my nails. I have a pair of nail clippers as a permanent passenger in my gig bag, having been caught out too many times and resorted to teeth.

Maybe we should start our own club! 😂 I hate the nail sound too and have 3 pairs of clippers about the house. My gig bag pair got lost and need replacing. 
I also hate nail biting (OCD/germ thing…) but, if needs must, in the car on the way to the venue the index and middle are getting gnawed!

 

I do prefer playing with fingers, probably the feel of it more than the sound. I started on guitar and played bass with a pick in my first band. But since then it’s only been the odd song as required. I’d actually rather double thumb now and get the pick effect that way. 

[Hellzero]

Woops, played a new composition with a picktrum today during our bass duet rehearsal. Will I be banned forever ?