Shockwave Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Hey guys. Something i have noticed in the years playing bass is that how few bass players who use plectrums more then fingers, do not or dont want to own a custom shop bass. (IE not a J or P clone) Why is that? I know its not the rule as i know at least one or two people who play with a plectrum exclusively and have custom shop basses (IE expensive), But for those who do not have that sort of bass and get by with a P or J, why do you avoid Custom shop basses? I have a couple of theory's. 1) A good ole P with heavy strings and plectrum sounds awesome. An expensive bass with god knows how much worth of wood and electronics in it, wont sound any better if not worse when played with a plectrum. 2) A plectrum dings up the nice woods of a unscratchplated bass. 3) Plectrum users have their feet firmly placed on the ground Also for those of you who do use a plectrum and have a custom shop bass, is it any different to the usual P or J clone? Why did you choose it? Anyway i am very curious, and please dont degenerate into a plectrum VS fingers debate. Cheers! Rob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Play with both fingers and plectrum, Have both custom and off the shelf basses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bythesea Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I read the title quickly and assumed you were after custom built plectrums! [size=1]Someone will come along now with a link to a custom pick maker...[/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Steve Swallow has a really unique custom bass and plays exclusively with a pick. John Entwhistle used a pick some of the time and his later basses were almost as esoteric. I rarely play with a pick but I like my unscratch-plated basses getting that nice authentic road-worn look. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Interestingly, having been more of a fingers player for the last few years, in the last couple of weeks or so I have picked up the ole lump of plastic again. My new 6 string seems to lend itself to smoother faster pick lines than maybe I have played before.. I rather like it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 [quote name='alexclaber' post='532048' date='Jul 3 2009, 09:31 PM']Steve Swallow has a really unique custom bass and plays exclusively with a pick. John Entwhistle used a pick some of the time and his later basses were almost as esoteric. I rarely play with a pick but I like my unscratch-plated basses getting that nice authentic road-worn look. Alex[/quote] I do know that plectrum players with custom basses exist The question was why do plectrum players seem to not aquire or use them as much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 [quote name='Shockwave' post='532038' date='Jul 3 2009, 09:20 PM']3) Plectrum users have their feet firmly placed on the ground Rob.[/quote] I think something along these lines is probably correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 (edited) I play exclusively with fingers. Custom built basses don't interest me at all. Edited July 3, 2009 by EssentialTension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I'm having a custom, made it's J/P/J in a P style, I just don't like furniture basses (I'm buying an ATK in natural though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 [quote name='waynepunkdude' post='532103' date='Jul 3 2009, 10:31 PM']I just don't like furniture basses[/quote] +1 It must have a pickguard even though I never use a pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 "Boutique" Basses? Played with a pick? Look no further... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Maybe it's because they have to spend their spare money on picks so can't afford a custom build. I've never really thought about this before, but I when I used to play mainly fingerstyle & all that stupid slappity thumb stuff I used a custom built bass, but when I returned to playing mainly with a pick I stopped using the custom build & went back to using an "off the shelf" jazz type bass. I think it's just that fingerstyle slappity players tend to be a bunch of egomaniac narcissistic ponces so they go for the flashy custom built basses..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamapirate Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I Want That Custom Bass +1 for spending all their spare money on picks - one place does them 75p per pick!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey R Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 [quote name='BigRedX' post='532114' date='Jul 3 2009, 10:56 PM'][/quote] Now thats a fine beast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 (edited) [quote name='iamapirate' post='532132' date='Jul 3 2009, 11:15 PM']I +1 for spending all their spare money on picks - one place does them 75p per pick!![/quote] My bro liberated a few from the music store he worked in as a saturday boy at school He gave me a few for Christmas. I've just loaded the last 12 new ones into my three pick holders, 27 years later ..... Edited July 3, 2009 by OldGit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 [quote name='BigRedX' post='532114' date='Jul 3 2009, 10:56 PM']"Boutique" Basses? Played with a pick? Look no further... [/quote] Oooh Nice Gusset Missus.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4000 Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I have both and mainly use a pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I suspect it looks that way because plectrum-only players are in the minority - proportionately I bet the numbers are the same. Over the last 5 or 6 years I've gone from being a 99% exclusive pick player to probably 75% fingers - yet I haven't any particular urge for a custom build. I think that's because the idea of commissioning a custom is to have the one perfect bass built to fulfil every need - and in the last 5 or 6 years I've gone from having 3 basses to having more than 20 coming & going! Variety is the spice! Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 It's an interesting theory, but without any hard stats it's going to be difficult to draw a definitive conclusion. As someone who 'get's by' on a P and a J using picks and fingers, I can positively state that the idea of a custom bass just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe I never saw one I liked enough to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesemt Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I think you are generalising the reasons people have custom basses made. I've got a Shuker in development as I couldn't get exactly what I wanted in an off the shelf bass - ultra light weight without being neck heavy/top Leds/active and passive with different volumes in a 33inch scale...with a buckeye top!! The only extravagant part of the build is the top - everything else I have found lacking in other basses. I play both styles - although mostly fingers as I keep losing plectrums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 (edited) Now that I've had a bit more time to think about a proper answer rather than just post some pretty pictures... [quote name='Shockwave' post='532038' date='Jul 3 2009, 09:20 PM']1) A good ole P with heavy strings and plectrum sounds awesome. An expensive bass with god knows how much worth of wood and electronics in it, wont sound any better if not worse when played with a plectrum.[/quote] I have no idea if "a good ole P with heavy strings and plectrum sounds awesome" because the last time tried one plugged in was probably some time in the late 70s. Since then every time I've picked one up out of curiosity in a shop it's been fairly quickly put down again due to it feeling clumsy and uncomfortable. [quote name='Shockwave' post='532038' date='Jul 3 2009, 09:20 PM']2) A plectrum dings up the nice woods of a unscratchplated bass.[/quote] I'm an aggressive pick player, and none of the basses have any kind of pick damage including my Fretted Overwater that was my main bass throughout the 90s and was subjected to at least an hour of pick playing a day during that time. [quote name='Shockwave' post='532038' date='Jul 3 2009, 09:20 PM']3) Plectrum users have their feet firmly placed on the ground [/quote] Ground? what ground? I think my taste in basses says it all... [quote name='Shockwave' post='532038' date='Jul 3 2009, 09:20 PM']Also for those of you who do use a plectrum and have a custom shop bass, is it any different to the usual P or J clone? Why did you choose it?[/quote] Again see the picture I posted... I play a mixture of fretless and fretted basses. Right now due to the music I'm doing the balance has moved back to fretted, but a year ago it was 80% fretless. The fretless basses never get played with a pick - it simply doesn't sound right for the tone I want from a fretless. The fretted basses get played with a pick or with fingers depending on what the song calls for. The Born To Rock Bass, is strictly a pick only bass simply because there's nowhere comfortable for me to rest my thumb and play finger style. I don't own any Fender-style basses because I find them uncomfortable to play and their design limits what I can play on them. TBH the main reason I have custom basses is because I like the way they look (of course they're also brilliant sounding and playing instruments). If I could find off-the-peg cheap basses that fitted all my needs for looks sounds and playability then I would be using those. However once you step outside of the styles of Leo Fender you're entering a specialised minority market and you have to accept the prices that go with that. Edited July 4, 2009 by BigRedX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 i used to be 100% plectrum player, but not i usually play with my fingers. on a purely aesthetic level, i just don't like 'coffee table' basses and prefer quite trad-design basses. just me i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Custom/Boutique basses don't have to look like coffee tables - see my initial post in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I find that the music I'm playing dictates whether I need a pick or not. I also use the same picks for bass as I do for guitar, which saves spending money on special picks There's only 1 rule about how you should play a bass. The rule is there are no rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 [quote name='BigRedX' post='532114' date='Jul 3 2009, 10:56 PM'][/quote] That is the bass a grandmaster of ecky thump would play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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