If a bass-picker could, would and should pick a pick, which pick would a bass-picker then pick?

[mr zed]

On 18/09/2022 at 10:21, KingBollock said:

Dunlop Primetone 3mm

 

Unfortunately they have gone up in price from £8.99 to £11.99 per pack, and you can only buy them in packs of three. They do last a long time, though, and they’re nice and grippy, so not so easily dropped.

For years I used the green Tortex picks (0.88mm) which sound great and suit some of the more upfront and aggressive stuff I play - then a mate gave me one of these to try suggesting they get about as close to a finger style tone as it’s possible to get with a pick. Took a bit of getting used to but yep, the tone is definitely there. Horses for courses, I use both for different styles of playing, as well as fingers of course.

[StingRayBoy42]

Jim Dunlop Tortex Triangle 1.14mm - a fetching shade of purple!

[Vin Venal]

Tortex .88 accept no substitute!

[asingardenof]

On 08/10/2022 at 17:08, StingRayBoy42 said:

Jim Dunlop Tortex Triangle 1.14mm - a fetching shade of purple!

This was one of the reasons I went for these as I'm forever losing black picks on my black desk at home!

Edited October 14, 2022 by asingardenof

[Minininjarob]

I’ve just started out and I went shopping for a guitar at Rich Tone in Sheffield and they had some Fat Mike picks - had to buy them as I love NOFX. They are very thin (o.6) but I like them, but they aren’t cheap. But they are pink. 😂

I do have a single .9 Dunlop pick which has a knurled grip on it (not sure what they are called as it came in a variety pack) and I’m going to get some thinner ones of those as they feel really secure to hold. 

[Bassmidget209]

4 hours ago, Minininjarob said:

I’ve just started out and I went shopping for a guitar at Rich Tone in Sheffield and they had some Fat Mike picks - had to buy them as I love NOFX. They are very thin (o.6) but I like them, but they aren’t cheap. But they are pink. 😂

I do have a single .9 Dunlop pick which has a knurled grip on it (not sure what they are called as it came in a variety pack) and I’m going to get some thinner ones of those as they feel really secure to hold. 

I saw a video recently of fat Mike talking about these. He's one of the few, if not only people with custom Dunlop picks and he got them cos he got drunk with Jim Dunlop at a NAMM and badgered him about it till he agreed. You wouldn't think it to look/hear him but he has a very rigid view on the role of the bass in the band (basically support everyone else and make them sound better, to the detriment or otherwise of your own sound) so the thin pick gives a subtler, rounded sound that he's after.

[Crusoe]

I don't play with a pick, but for some reason I have a metal pick in the case. I've no idea where it came from.

[BlueMoon]

I use a felt pick for my  Höfner violin bass, much like that other guy who’s been around for a while.

[Minininjarob]

3 hours ago, Bassmidget209 said:

I saw a video recently of fat Mike talking about these. He's one of the few, if not only people with custom Dunlop picks and he got them cos he got drunk with Jim Dunlop at a NAMM and badgered him about it till he agreed. You wouldn't think it to look/hear him but he has a very rigid view on the role of the bass in the band (basically support everyone else and make them sound better, to the detriment or otherwise of your own sound) so the thin pick gives a subtler, rounded sound that he's after.

That’s interesting as his bass is always pretty obvious in the mix. 
I tried a thicker pick and I found doing fast alternate picking is much harder with one, I can see why FM likes a very thin pick as it doesn’t get caught on the strings. Probably my lack of skill doesn’t help but it seems to make sense. 
I’ll get a pack of .73 as well to try. 

[Tjhooker]

.73 for me too when I use a pick 👍

Same ones in grey

[MartinB]

I like a plectrum that doesn't shift around in my fingers, and I like the pointy tip of a Jazz III. Unfortunately they only make really thick, rigid Max Grip Jazz IIIs, so my compromise is to get standard Max Grip 1.14s, and sandpaper the tips to a point. The final shape is basically like a TIII.
 

[BassAdder60]

I’ve tried many different picks and settled on the Ultex Triangle 0.88 or 1.14mm

 

These are great picks for the tone I was looking for. 
 

So good I choose these instead of the warmer “pillowy” tone of fingers 

[Geek99]

Fender heavy. Accept no substitute, as Samuel L Jackson said in pulp fiction.

tort, naturally 

[moley6knipe]

Dunlop Tortex Triangle for me. Not a pick player: but when I do 1mm for heavy downstroke, 0.60mm for fast stuff/it’s the end of the night and my finger tips are killing me 😝

[sky]

tortex .88 or white fender heavy normal 351 shape on both, only the white fender ones though! theyre worse than tortex but i think they look so cool that im willing to suffer

Edited October 26, 2022 by sky

[PaulWarning]

I've just moved onto to thinner picks, I used to use 1mm on bass, have gone down to ..60mm nylon Dunlops, and for acoustic guitar down from .60mm to .46mm, less strain on the old thumb joint 😊

[warwickhunt]

I've got a variety of picks kicking about, in fact an estimate of 30 in one pot I keep to try and store them in... never happens though.  Some of them are true vintage and I must have had 35-40 years (J Dunlop grey ones), others I've appropriated from goodness knows where.    

 

I find myself in a position where I'm going to order some custom logo picks for a tribute band and I decided to go through my picks to reach a decision on type and thickness; well that was an eye opener!  

 

I've come to the conclusion that the pick I seem best easy to use and to give me the tone I want is a 'Jazz' style pick (22mm x 25mm x 1.2mm)!  The eye opener is, that I only own one of those picks, I've no idea where I got it and I mustn't have used it for a couple of years (bottom of the pot)!  

 

Go figure.    

[Lozz196]

Jumped ship to Fender F-Grip 346. 1.5mm thick so get a better attack sound with a softer touch, plus the sound they generate is quite “scoopy” so suits me well. And they’re triangular so still 3 picks for the price of one. Plus the indentation of the F makes for a good grip. And the red/tort makes them easier to see if dropped on stage.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Lozz196

[Low End Bee]

After years of big 1.20mm Clayton Triangles I’ve switched to green Dunlop 0.88 standard jobbies. Can’t say my playing has improved but they feel more comfortable. I don’t like finger style playing. Feels weird. So the right pick is important.

[Low End Bee]

After years of big 1.0mm Clayton Triangles I’ve switched to green Dunlop 0.88 standard jobbies. Can’t say my playing has improved but they feel more comfortable. I don’t like finger style playing. Feels weird. So the right pick is important.

[Wonky2]

For bass, I only play fingers these days but in my younger days I played pick style….. Dunlop tortex green. 
Now Believe it or not, i actually only ever had one, plus one spare and must have played 1000 gigs with it. 
never lost it, never broke it. 
 

i reckon that’s quite unusual. 
 

for guitar however, my washing machine is full of them 😂👍

[Lozz196]

And after a bit of thought and tinkering I’ve now gone back to my Dunlop Ultex 1mm Triangle picks. I just enjoy playing my bass with these more than any others, and primarily I play for enjoyment.

[BassAdder60]

2 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

And after a bit of thought and tinkering I’ve now gone back to my Dunlop Ultex 1mm Triangle picks. I just enjoy playing my bass with these more than any others, and primarily I play for enjoyment.

I’ve flipped from Ultex to Toretex, to Clayton, to Gator, to Nylon, to big stubby, etc etc 

Im back using Ultex but in 0.88mm instead of 1.14mm

I find I don’t drop Ultex picks and find the lighter gauge allows for faster picking. We have just added the Trooper to the set ( amazed how Steve Harris uses fingers to play that quickly) we play it fast too  !! So the 0.88mm Ultex just skips nicely across the strings for fast songs. Tone is a little brighter too but it just works well with roundwounds and a PBass 

Edited November 21, 2022 by BassAdder60

[41Hz]

21 hours ago, Wonky2 said:

For bass, I only play fingers these days but in my younger days I played pick style….. Dunlop tortex green. 
Now Believe it or not, i actually only ever had one, plus one spare and must have played 1000 gigs with it. 
never lost it, never broke it. 
 

i reckon that’s quite unusual. 
 

for guitar however, my washing machine is full of them 😂👍

Yeah, that’s very unusual! I only use a pic when I have to, currently 1 song in our set and yet I’m always buying the damn things, really not sure where they disappear to? Dunlop max grip 0.88 for me btw.

[garyt]

I use 3 types mainly:

Dunlop Tortex yellow and green

Ernie Ball prodigy 1.5mm std