bass players play w/ a pick?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Axis
  • Start date Start date

w/ a pick or w/out a pick

  • With A Pick

    Votes: 88 46.8%

  • Without A Pick

    Votes: 116 61.7%
  • Total voters
    188
Oops, sorry for the double post... I was having hr.com connection problems.
 
Playing bass with a pick is retarded. You loose the meaty sound of a bass when you play with a pick. Basses sound horrible when tinny. Plus your limiting yourself to only ONE right hand technique when you play with a pick. Listen to the maestro of bass playing Victor Wooten and you'll hear what a bass can really do. Better yet.... get a DVD of him and seeeeeeeee the master play.

~darknail
 
I have to agree, at least up to a point... but like it or not, some techniques require a pick. :(
 
Sir Paul

Axis said:
This poll is for people who play bass

just wondering how many of you play with a pick.
Click to expand...

McCartney has always played with a pick. I kinda like his bass playing. But, that's me. To each their own.

I agree with the person who said being able to do both is best. And no, ya can't slap with a pick.
 
Retarded?

darknailblue said:
Playing bass with a pick is retarded. You loose the meaty sound of a bass when you play with a pick. Basses sound horrible when tinny. Plus your limiting yourself to only ONE right hand technique when you play with a pick. Listen to the maestro of bass playing Victor Wooten and you'll hear what a bass can really do. Better yet.... get a DVD of him and seeeeeeeee the master play.

~darknail
Click to expand...

That's kinda strong. Well, maybe you'd know more about retarded than some of us ;)

Paul Mccartney still uses a pick. Chris Squire....I would hardly call those guys 'retarded' would you?
 
It's all in your style of playing...

I use a pick when playing metal mainly because of the speed requirements...

When playing blues and jazz I use my hands because the bass really comes out and it produces a much softer/mellow tone.

I don't slam anybody's style because there are people out there who can play their asses of with/without picks.
 
mikewahlquist said:
i prefer playing bass with my bare toes so i can play the guitar with my hands.
:p :p :p :p
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Hey I like this one :D , so where do you get your drumrolls from? :)

Eddie
 
darknailblue said:
Playing bass with a pick is retarded. .....Listen to the maestro of bass playing Victor Wooten and you'll hear what a bass can really do. Better yet.... get a DVD of him and seeeeeeeee the master play.
Click to expand...

No YOUR retarded :cool:

I don't play with a pick, but I know there is a time and place for it.

Victor Wooten is amazing, but I bet he could not fit his style of play into something out of the Motorhead playbook.

By the way I saw Bela Felk/Flecktones last year, they are all masters.
 
Whichever sounds RIGHT for the song. Even Will Lee (who has better technique than all but very small handful of players in the world, for all that you never see it) plays with a pick if that is what the song needs.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
Picks are for guitarists, and bass guitars qualify. But I don't use one. Follow me?
 
I played for many years with a pick when I used my old Rick 4001. It's retired now and I use my fingers on my Fender Jazz V. I do occasionally use a pick for recording the Fender just to get a specific sound. Its all good. :)
 
When I first started playing bass I had difficulty playing with a pick. I had trouble holding it correctly and striking the correct string so initially I was strictly a fingers player. One of the benefits of fingers is that you can feel the strings therefore you reduce the possibility of plucking a wrong string.

Then I started to use a pick. Mostly for reasons mentioned in the above posts, i.e. cuts through in the mix better, like the sound of the attack, etc. Also my ego noticed that I was a somewhat faster player with a pick than I was with my fingers.

Now I am primarily a pick player.

But then I watched The Who’s "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" DVD and I was COMPLETELY blown away with John Entwistle’s finger playing. I have always been an avid admirer of Entwistle and The Who (after my first exposure to "Live at Leeds") but watching this guy’s fingers, left and right hands, were so fast that even light had difficulty keeping up. If you have not watched this DVD, go out and get it now. I highly recommend it!

I still mostly play with a pick but I’ll use either depending on my mood.
 
I need my fingernails for guitar but they get in the way on bass, so reluctantly I a pick. A thumbpick actually.
 
Even though you cant slap with a pick, you can still get a nice sound if you play really hard with the pick. Picking is better for recording in my view as the notes are cleaner and more defined. But i still love the sound of slap and pop bass.
 
macmoondoggie said:
I played for many years with a pick when I used my old Rick 4001. It's retired now and I use my fingers on my Fender Jazz V. I do occasionally use a pick for recording the Fender just to get a specific sound. Its all good. :)
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Retired? Is it a white Rick 4001, what year is it, and what condition is it in? If you want to sell it send me a PM. I have 4003 and would like a 4001... I also have the Fender American J and P basses among others.
 
Hey DJL. It is a 1976 Blonde. It is retired but never abandoned. It is is in excellent condition. I love it too much to ever sell it, I'm sure you understand.
Its a great Bass.
Later!
 
Johhnyman - wasn't that a great gig :) They had just finished a tour and were tight as a gnat's wotsit. Great DVD.

I read an interview with The Ox where he talked about developing his right hand four finger playing technique to get more speed. Such a shame that they way they mixed records in those days you really struggle to hear the bass. (Same goes for Led Zep - John Paul Jones doing fantastic stuff and you can hardly hear it.) I don't like much about most modern music (grumpy old git :)) but at least these days the bass is up where it belongs.
 
macmoondoggie said:
Hey DJL. It is a 1976 Blonde. It is retired but never abandoned. It is is in excellent condition. I love it too much to ever sell it, I'm sure you understand.
Its a great Bass.
Later!
Click to expand...
I totally understand.
 
In my opinion there is no right or wrong.

Hey guys 'n gals, I really don't think there is a right or wrong way when it comes to bass playing using a pick, or fingers. When I play like Chris Squire stuff it's pick time.
"Round About" just doesn't get it with fingers. When I play Motown stuff like Jamerson then it's fingers time---get what I mean.

As far as you "pick only" guys go---here's one for you...

Last night I cut a track with an old '72 Rickenbacker 4001 bass using just my fingers. It was a glissando part using major tenths sliding from the one chord to the four chord. (Like that old tune "Take a Walk on the Wild Side")
Left hand fingering was with the first finger on the root, pinky on the 10th (a third above the octave, example: G on the low E string and B on the high G string...a 10th!), plucking the strings I used my thumb for the root note, and my first finger for the major 10th.

How are you going to use a pick for that? Can anyone hold two picks in one hand for chord intervals? I can do it with a pick and one finger doing the 10ths, but then it doesn't blend like it does using all fingers... so....

See what I mean? You really need to have both styles in your bag of tricks 'cause your missing out on some cool stuff if you isolate yourself with only one technique or style....

The "Y" (=:=)====#
Practice, practice practice...for then, and only then, will you'll realize you need more practice...
 
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