Felt pick

[meisi]

What is this mythical device!?!

I had never heard of felt picks until the JHS beach boy video.

Holy smokes. Is this that thump thump recorded tone I’ve been looking for? I thought it was a finger/thumbing technique using the side meaty part instead of the tips (if that makes sense - think of a tight slap/pop grip but doing thump plucks).

Anyone else use these things? Curious any modifications to playing style encouraged compared to a nylon pick.

 

[SteveCS]

...
Anyone else use these things? Curious any modifications to playing style encouraged compared to a nylon pick.

I have one floating around - as you can see it spends more time collecting felt than being used. It is about 3mm thick. The grippy felt is a lot easier to hold than slippery nylon:

One advantage they have over hard picks is you can actually use the pick itself to mute as well as sound notes - just rest the pick back on the string for an instant, clean and noise-free 'off'. A related side-effect is that if you accidentally follow through too far and crash into an adjacent string there is no noise.

 

[turf3]

Ukulele players use these a lot. I do, because I don't have fingernails suitable for picking.

I've never tried one on electric bass, though.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

OP: try one and see how you like it. It's a cheap experiment that will cost a few bucks. They have a tonal place, but one downside is heavy use puts a thin coat of powder around the pickups.

 

[UntitledProject]

I have bunches of these. The on-stage (brand) felt picks can be gotten in a 3 pack with 3 different thickness (all useful). I have also purchased the dunlop felt picks. These are a little larger than standard picks and they are a little harder and stiffer than the other felt picks, kind of a middle ground between plastic and the uke picks. I prefer the on-stage ones. You can also find rubber and leather picks. Some prefer those to felt because they last longer but also give a more muted tone than plastic.

 

[bassdude51]

Please don't laugh......but when I first started playing bass.......way back in 1967......I started out using a felt pick.

Then went to plastic pick.

By mid 70s, went to index and middle fingers.

Then, around the early 2,000s, index finger only for 90% of playing.

Now, with this thread, I might give the felt pick a try again.

The felt pick sounds a lot like fingers and thumb.

Thank-you for this thread!

 

[meisi]

Love it! What a niche piece of equipment with history. Another tool in the shed for sounds if you will.

I ordered some the other day, whatever no-name that would show up next day out of excitement after learning of them and the thumpy sound I’ve been chasing.

Will order a few different ones now that Im onto the scent. thanks for the suggestions.

The ones I have are softer side and a firmer side, how they were stamped out. Down picking is more muted but upstrokes if desired can have some edge.

Cheap thrills between Christmas and New Years, lol.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Since my fingers are full of arthritis, I bought some felt picks, leather picks and some rubber picks. They are all alright, but I went back to my fingers with musicians gloves.

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

I have spent years playing guitar with a flat pick, either plastic or metal, so that is how I am accustomed to play a stringed instrument. When I play bass, hard picks have too sharp an attack for my taste, so I usually use felt picks, although occasionally I have also employed a rubber pick made by a company named Wedgie.

As another TBer mentioned above, using a felt pick will generate a fair amount of "felt dust" residue below the strings around the pickups and top of the bridge. Not really a big problem, as I generally just blow on the bass to disperse it or use my fingertip or the edge of a polishing cloth. I like the way my bass (strung with TI Jazz flats) sounds when I use either of these options.

 

[Saetia]

I bought 3 of them 25 years ago as a teen and still have 1.

 

[May Cassidy]

I used to use a felt pick every now and then when I had a Höfner Club. As you'd imagine, it still sounded like a pick but a little fuzzier. Unfortunately the felt pick and the Höfner went as my tonal taste shifted to brighter places, but a felt pick and flatwounds is still a cool sound.

 

[BuddhaFingas]

Its a pick without the click, I like it. Midway between fingers a hard pick tonally.

 

[monsterthompson]

I got a few to experiment with. It wasn't my thing, but it probably has a few uses.

 

[meisi]

I bought 3 of them 25 years ago as a teen and still have 1.

Ironically these are the first picks I’ve bought in probably 25yrs

 

[Lowbrow]

I tried these when I was a beginner and afraid of treble. I tried the bulky ones which were pretty unusable. I had some luck with these shield-shaped ones that were like a medium pick covered in a thin felt layer. I’m talking about like 45 years ago and I only saw them once. Bought 4, and RS66 shredded them in no time.

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

I use E.B. Prodigy because they are so soft and glide nice---no clicks. I have tried 100's of picks too. My mom had felt picks, for acoustic guitar--I tried them, but too much drag for faster sweeping + they wear out FAST.

For jazz with flats and very minimal click, i use these thumpers:

 

[Bruce Calin]

A player named Monk Montgomery came from the upright bass jazz world and played in that setting using I believe a P-bass with a felt pick. He had that concept and it sounded very much like an upright bass. I heard him live and it was a very convincing sound. The fact that he was a great player in that tradition certainly helped.

 

[Stedkey]

What is this mythical device!?!

I had never heard of felt picks until the JHS beach boy video.

Holy smokes. Is this that thump thump recorded tone I’ve been looking for? I thought it was a finger/thumbing technique using the side meaty part instead of the tips (if that makes sense - think of a tight slap/pop grip but doing thump plucks).

Anyone else use these things? Curious any modifications to playing style encouraged compared to a nylon pick.

I like using a hard rubber pick on bass. I use a pick occasionally and I always use a hard rubber pick.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

Wow!
I had not even thought of those for 50 years.
I like the description of them as half way between fingers and flat pick.

 

[DougBass]

I tried them back in my early days of bass, and I liked them broken in. I didn’t like them new for two reason they were hard and didn’t sound great, and the ones I had made a mess if I used rounds as they would flake dust off all over my bass. I’ve been using gold Hercos for 90% of my stuff for years and years. I found those with different strings and various muting techniques give me everything I need. The control of the Herco is more appealing to me.

Good luck