Do you use a pick to play bass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ido1957
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RejectionNinja said:
As you go through history, I think the only "world famous" bass player who regularly used a pick would be Paul McCartney.
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sid-vicious.jpg
 
If you want to call Sid Vicious a bass player, go right ahead. I would not. Nothing against punk music, everything against that guy's ability to play the instrument.
 
Sid didn't always use a pick - it's hard to hold onto with blood or snot on your fingers. Then again he barely played the thing anyway - listen to their live stuff with him - thank goodness the guitarist was suss enough to compensate.
Me? I use a pick usually but do opt for fingers when the song or bass needs it. For the same reasons as I have a solid body bass with round wound strings, a hollow body with flat wound and an acoustic: variety, needs, appropriatness et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
 
There is no wrong way to play(if it works and sounds good), I used to think using a pick was cheating which now looking back is hilarious. One thing very interesting I saw was an old Randy Jackson instructional DVD where he held his fingers like he was holding a pick and used his nail as a pick. This sounded amazing when he did it though it wouldn't be very useful for any crazy fast alternate picking. It also is an easy way to go from fingers to a pick like technique and sound.
 
I've said this many times and will say again. I play with a pick. I've tried playing with fingers many times, but I just can't get the attack, speed or precision that the pick gives me. Sometimes during a gig my thumb goes tired of holding a pick, then I play some notes with my middle and ringfinger, and I consider that ghay and I can never hear those notes really well, but the thumb gets a small rest, so I can start picking again.
 
For me, I just can't play with a pick. I tried, I failed. Playing with fingers just came naturally. Tried guitar, sucked balls. Tried bass, ain't too bad. Just need to somehow get better.
 
I've always played with a pick, only on really mellow songs do I feel the need to play finger style.
 
rayc said:
...Me? I use a pick usually but do opt for fingers when the song or bass needs it. For the same reasons as I have a solid body bass with round wound strings, a hollow body with flat wound and an acoustic: variety, needs, appropriatness et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
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I love being able to produce different sounds by my choice of fingers, pick, strings, bodies, percussion and other techniques. There are times when flatwounds on a P-bass are all that sound right, other times when the resonance of the semi hollow with zingy roundwounds are better.
I've seen every permutation of fingerstyle - one, two, three fingers, pick alone, fingers with pick (Carol Kaye with a pick, and dropping in her ring finger as well). I've heard stuff that sounded like a tasteful upright, monster buzzsaw walls of noise, fretless explorations of time and space, and just yesterday, a bass solo that made it sound like an Indian tabla, with a bottom drone and dancing, whirling rhythms.
This is what's beautiful about music - the music will tell you what it wants, and our challenge is to hear it, and try to do it justice.
 
I use a pick 100% of the time. I'm primarily a guitarist, and I never learned how to play with my fingers. That's a skill I'd love to learn tho,
 
I use a pick. Never got the hang of the fingers on the bass. On the guitar, sure, but not the bass.

This is not a preference...just fact. I never learned! My fault.

That said, I LOVE playing bass. Maybe even more than guitar!
 
The only time I play bass anymore is on my home recordings, for the most part I will use a pick and I will use a foam mute next to the bridge so the notes will all have a consistent volume from string to string-see photo below..
Bassmute-1.jpg

I will also use a felt pick if I want to sound a bit closer to an upright-without carrying around something that is the size of a grandfather clock!:eek:
 
While I've only been playing bass for about a year and a half, I never used a pick and prefer to attack the strings with my index and middle fingers. I always was one that thought playing with your fingers was, "the proper way", but to each their own. But using my fingers is/was painful. I got several blood blisters on the end of my index finger and one of the last ones I got finally left a callous after it healed. But then I was playing it not to long ago and got another blister on top of the callous that's still presently there and kind of still hurts. I'm still not very proficient at playing walking bass lines . I'd really like to get down to being able to employ slapping and popping. Watched a few Larry Graham clips and used to listen to a lot of Primus back in the day but still can't nail those two techniques down. I always thought Les Claypool was a little over the top. The bassists that really inspire me these days are Roger Waters and Geezer Butler. I'm not sure if Waters ever used a pick, but I've watched gobs of Black Sabbath footage and Geezer was clearly using a pick but in others he's using his fingers. I always sort of liked Bob Daisley, Roger Glover, and Glenn Hughes too.
 
true-eurt said:
Yes!! I use a pick!! I'm a sissy...it huarts my wittle fingers!:D:eek:
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I think there's something to that. Round wounds are pretty rough on the fingertips if you're not used to them. I played a sub gig last saturday and played 75% bass. I only used the pick on a few songs because I thought the sound was different (inferior) than what I thought it should sound like. This was a stock mexi p-bass. The next day, I was feeling it, for sure. Wore my finger prints clean off. Good day to be a safe cracker.
 
As a guitarist who dabbles on bass but mainly plays only while recording...

It's definitely easier for me to play with a pick, and for some songs the "sound" of picked bass definitely seems to work better for me. That said, I'll usually at least attempt a couple takes with my fingers - it's harder, but I feel that it does give you a bit more control.

I watched a video lesson/interview with Billy Sheehan where he claims that most of the difference in tone between a pick and your fingers goes away as your calluses harden, and that with good calluses and a strong attack you'll still get a lot of that "snap" that's generally associated with a pick. It certainly works for him, but he even admits it takes a month or so of woodshedding if he hasn't been playing much, before a tour, to get there, and honestly I barely have enough time to keep up my guitar practice these days. :/
 
I use both. I'm a classical guitarist but when I play bass I'll use a quasi-rest stroke or the pick.
 
I went from guitar to bass so I guess that's why I started using a pick and never stopped. I also like the attack and punch you get from a pick and subtle palm muting. I play an Eko Barracuda bass with black nylon tape wounds. They provide the warmth that fingers would provide and the pick rounds out the sound.

I have used fingers on occasion, but for me the pick is where it's at. I also loved McCartney's style and he seemed to do fine using a pick...
 
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