How to tell is bassist is using fingers or pick

[bluelineman]

New guy here, switching over from the dark side. How can you tell if a bassist you are trying to play along with is using a pick or fingers? I know some guys exclusively use one or the other.

[Hamlet7768]

Usually you can look it up, or you can tell by the sound. Very generally speaking, basslines played with a pick have an inimitable crispness to them (though Geddy Lee's lines can sound picked at times), whereas fingerstyle doesn't really have that crispness. Some examples to compare (picked mostly for similarities, pick-user is first):

Chris Squire to Geddy Lee

Jason Newsted to Cliff Burton

John Paul Jones to John Paul Jones (or more helpfully, Heartbreaker to Ramble On)

[JimmyM]

It's not always easy to tell just by listening. I've been fooled before.

[Rev J]

Interestingly part of the reason Geddy sometimes sounds like he's using a pick is because he is using his fingernails to get the attack and sometimes uses an up and down motion with just his index finger. Incidentally after watching his instructional video and reading interviews with him Chris Squire hits strings twice once with the pick and once with the side of his thumb for every attack which can soften attack slightly.

C/S,
Rev J

[PlungerModerno]

There's no foolproof way AFAIK - and no real value in establishing it one way or the other as far as I can see.

If you are looking for a specific tone or effect you can try both and see which works. The opposite to the original may work best for you!

With effects and processing that you'll encounter in most live and recorded situations the precise tone hunt seems unproductive. Getting the best out of equipment you know well is time spent better IMO.

[guitardefector]

Originally Posted by bluelineman

New guy here, switching over from the dark side. How can you tell if a bassist you are trying to play along with is using a pick or fingers? I know some guys exclusively use one or the other.

My clue is 'plunky' versus 'buttery'. If the notes sound like heavy objects dropping in water, it's usually plucked. If it sounds smooth and satiny, it's fingered.

[oniman7]

There are tones which are with a pick or with fingers, but in general you can pretty much get either sound with either. I'm listening to Dream Theater (under a glad moon right now) and although John Myung had the aggressive subs of a pick, there's a bouncy pumping sound that I identify with finger players like him or Steve Harris