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Fingerstyle sounds terrible after playing with a pick!

#81
I like to mix it up from song to song. Even when I use a pick I often use my middle finger in conjunction with it when it feels right. Most of the time I use whatever the original bassist used for the song. So my philosophy is: thumb, fingers, felt pick, plastic pick -- use 'em all for whatever works best at that given moment. Just don't ask me to "slap". :vomit:
 
#82
gjohnson441496 said:
This is true. Originally, I bought picks "designed for bass players"... NOT Good. Thick felt picks do not work for me. Then, I bought a variety pack, carbon fiber, nylon, tortex ranging in sizes from .88mm to 1mm or more. After some experimentation I'm favoring .88mm nylon because these are firm but flimsy enough to strum without getting stuck on a string. I also like the .88mm tortex. The tortex, like the nylon is .88mm. It is not as flimsy but it wears down. I've worn it down to almost a nub already.

As DavidEdenAria has stated, all picks do not respond or sound the same. The thicker ones are darker, the thinner ones are clanky. I'm using 40 - 95 gauge strings on my pbass (.88mm nylon pick), and 45 - 100 gauge strings on my jbass (.88mm tortex pick), and it doesn't work for me if I reverse picks to bass.

I will probably return to finger-style in the future whenever I tire of pick-style, but for now I'm really into using a pick totally unexpected, and I'm really digging it! Playing bass guitar for me is an experiment as well as an experience. I've always loved the instrument, as all of you do. I don't play in a band yet I have thousands of dollars tied up in equipment. I just love the sound of it, the look, the feel, everything about bass. I know you guys are just as passionate about bass as I am.

Geddy Lee said in 2112 - What is this strange thing that I've found. It has strings and it makes a sound.

Jimi Hendrix said in Manic Depression - Music, sweet music, I wish I could caress.

I just wanna play. pick, fingers, I"ll use my unit if have too. Just let me play.
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I got to see the '2112 tour' with Rush opening for Ted Nugent......that and seeing Jethro Tull REALLY opened my ears to what a bassist could contribute to a band as a young teen in the mid 70's....John Glascock being one of my fav pick playing bassists in Jethro Tull at the time before his untimely passing.
 
#83
FunkHead said:
>OP if you were happy with your finger style tone before, then it just may be that your ears are getting "used" to the Pick tone. That would explain why some people "revert" back after 15 minutes or so. It could also be ear "Fatigue" which could possibly be remedied by turning the volume up a bit more for finger style and Visa/Versa.
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I really believe you are correct. I played again after coming home from work and I really loved the tone of my Precision through my fingers. The pick tone sounded somewhat harsh and sharp but after several minutes of pick playing and adding overdrive, my finger tone sounded dull again. I guess it's something to be aware of. Can see it being a problem playing with a pick live, as I've always played with my fingers.
 
#84
DavidEdenAria said:
I got to see the '2112 tour' with Rush opening for Ted Nugent......that and seeing Jethro Tull REALLY opened my ears to what a bassist could contribute to a band as a young teen in the mid 70's....John Glascock being one of my fav pick playing bassists in Jethro Tull at the time before his untimely passing.
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Yeah man, I saw the 2112 show back in the 70's when they opened for Aerosmith. Actually Bad Company came on before Rush. That was back when concerts were general admission $5.00 a show!
 
#86
I am purely a finger player. I need the contact to the instrument thru the strings...feel the strings movement. I can't mute well with a pick and the attack is harsh to me. For my music fingers work, I also play guitar finger style.

I will say a pick sound on a bass can sound awesome but it's not for me.
 
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#87
Never will my fingers touch a pick. Maybe I'm just set in my ways, but none of the styles of music I play would work with a pick. I certainly don't consider it dull and lifeless. Just my opinion for what it's worth.
 
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#94
taylor16 said:
I really believe you are correct. I played again after coming home from work and I really loved the tone of my Precision through my fingers. The pick tone sounded somewhat harsh and sharp but after several minutes of pick playing and adding overdrive, my finger tone sounded dull again. I guess it's something to be aware of. Can see it being a problem playing with a pick live, as I've always played with my fingers.
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Agreed. The Pick raises the volume quite a bit. My guitarist pointed out that fact to me after I used it for Twilight Zone and ZZ Top "Just Got Paid". Electric bass is a Fairly new Instrument and there's no right or wrong way to play it so Pick away IMO.:bassist:
 
#95
FunkHead said:
Agreed. The Pick raises the volume quite a bit. My guitarist pointed out that fact to me after I used it for Twilight Zone and ZZ Top "Just Got Paid". Electric bass is a Fairly new Instrument and there's no right or wrong way to play it so Pick away IMO.:bassist:
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It's not louder really, but what your hearing is the full harmonic range of the string, because you're effectively plucking the string like a harpsichord. You don't have the subtly or nuance of the felt tip piano hammers that are more like our fingers.

You can illicit the full range of harmonics on a piano or with fingers on bass too. Plus we can play with a fatter warm or softer sound when the time is right.

The only nuance you have available to you with a pick is plucking soft or hard, but your tone will essentially remain the same, full harmonic range note blast in your face.

I'll stick by the idea that if you like the pick sound, go for it, whatever encourages you to play. I'd recommend to all student players to learn fingers first though.
 
#98
taylor16 said:
Damn. Didn't expect to turn this into a pick vs finger style war. Curiously, after waking up this morning and plugging in and playing with my fingers, everything sounded "normal" again to me. Then I picked up the pick and I was floored with the punch and attack. I just think that after playing last night for a couple of hours with a pick, my ear just became used to the tone abe the alternative just appeared dull to me. Just a matter of perspective, I guess.
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Unfortunately, any post that happens to mention both pickstyle and fingerstyle, no matter what the point or context, will immediately and automatically turn into a one-versus-the-other thread. No known force in the universe is sufficiently powerful to prevent this.

Getting back to the point.... Keep in mind that the perceived difference in tone will be especially striking when you're playing alone. In a full-band setting, the difference isn't likely to seem quite so pronounced -- and which tone sounds better to you might change as well.
 
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#100
This whole debate is nuts. News flash! Via different pick materials, location played along strings, and tonal controls, one can get everything finger playing offers plus all the ordinary benefits attributed to pick playing. And really, does complicating a style (if one wants to think of it like that as some actually do) truly make it more artistic or genuine....no way. In that case, take pics away from guitarists and sticks from drummers. Let`s return to fingers across the board and make drummers play with brushes. But until that happens, it`s high time for bass players to blend in tonally and humbly accept the fact that their instrument really is just a bass GUITAR. No fat sounding drummers, guitarists, or key boardists. But so many pretend bassist purists want a fat and sloppy sound. No mystery, then, why many studios demand that the bassist use picks. Of course among the alleged reasons finger snobs want us all sounding like them (recognize that arrogance and ignorance are two sides of the same coin) is that the electric bass is properly somehow an extension of the upright. However, the only thing an electric bass naturally has in common with an upright is its tuning. NOTHING else. Not the string material, not the neck scaling, not the way its held or even the way its ordinarily used. The differences are clearly far more than those distinguishing classical and conventional guitars. And yet, NO ONE suggests real guitarists should play with their fingers. I mean, isn`t it idiotic to suggest that flesh on metal is somehow natural....And who is actually going to say that Paul McCartney`(the world`s only billionaire bassist and who actually did not usually even play his Hofner in studio - he played it on stage mostly because people expected to see it), Carol Kaye, Bobby Vega. Carles Benavent, or Steve Swallow don`t produce `sweet sounds.` Or appeal to history when these and others such as Waters, Glover, Squire, Jackson, Osborne, Lake, Sting, Lesh, Ellefson, Stinson, Woody, Lemmy, Schacher, Wimbish, Gallup, Chancellor, Dirnt, and many more were predominantly pickers and many others such as Entwistle and Jones used picks quite often. Enough feeding into the stupid bassist steroetype, already. Because on this topic there is certainly lots of evidence to support it. And indeed, I`ve yet to hear a single high level finger player claim that picking is wrong. On the contrary. It`s mostly a bunch of amateurs who need a reason to believe they are special.
 
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