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Let's spread some musical misinformation

#2,241
Jay2U said:
The mystery of the best pick for metal has been solved. Allround metal picks are an illusion. For heavy metal lead alloys are most suitable. For speed metal titanium picks are an absolute must have. Hard rock, as one might expect, is best played with granite picks.
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Sludge Metal, depleted uranium.
Death Metal, bone. (Don't ask where it's from.)
Progressive metal, every song is played with a different pick, working its way up the elemental table.
Doom metal, I've got this pick made out of pure Sodium, stored in a glass bottle full of mineral oil. Be careful when you open it.
 
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#2,242
Jay2U said:
The mystery of the best pick for metal has been solved. Allround metal picks are an illusion. For heavy metal lead alloys are most suitable. For speed metal titanium picks are an absolute must have. Hard rock, as one might expect, is best played with granite picks.
Click to expand...

Your guidance is spot on, in fact if you're a rock player here's a handy guide to have...

MOHS HARD ROCK SCALE for PICS
The hardness of a stone is one of the properties that contributes to identification and is also an attribute which is important to be aware of, because it may determine what stone may be used for different types of bass playing.

You may want to familiarize yourself with the Mohs Scale of Rock Hardness. This will help you understand the relationships between stones according to their hardness and subsequent use for various rock generes.

The Mohs Scale of Hardness consists of 10 classifications, 1 being the softest, and 10 being the hardest. The only mineral that is an exception to this is mercury, which is liquid and is typically only used for new wave music.

To give you a few reference points, the diamond is of course the hardest, rated 10 and is the ultimate pic material for extreme hard rock music such as Pantera (but not heavy metal music, as noted in the post above - all metal should be payed using the appropriate metal pic). Your fingernail is a 2 and much better suited for Pop Music and other easy listening songs such as early Beatles music. A piece of glass is a 6-7 and works well for more agressive mainstream rock songs like ZZ Tops "Sharp Dressed Man".

When searching for the right Rock pic at the store you may find that some vendors have all the pics mixed up in a bin at the counter. Just remember each rock classification will scratch the one preceding it. As you know, a diamond (10) will scratch glass (6-7). This hardness classification and scratch technique is commonly used by shoppers at Guitar Center for initial pic identification. When shopping there its good to have samples of some of these stones with you in order to perform the test. Just be sure to politely ask the cashier behind the counter (before you pull the stone samples out of your pocket) if they mind if you get your rocks off in their store, some store managers frown on you bringing samples in with you.
 
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#2,251
Atshen said:
OK then, what can I do with my stupid nylon picks? Oh, I get it, those things are ******* useless! :(
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I've always viewed guitar pics as an accessory. And as any female will tell you, its important to void clashing when accessorizing. Hence, I always wear nylons when using a nylon pic and I'm extra careful to make sure my leather guitar strap, man bag and shoe colors are coordinated as well. :laugh::p:oops::whistle:
 
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#2,252
Atshen said:
Cool! Thanks!

Or can I put nylon strings on my P-bass? I'm sure they're gonna be a bit hot on my magnetic pickup...
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Luckily there's an easy fix that makes regular pickups work with nylon strings - you simply cover the pickup's pole pieces with a layer of saran wrap. The electrostatic attraction between the nylon strings and the saran wrap generates currents that the magnetic pickups detect, much like they would react to metallic strings. If the output is very low at first you can just add more layers to tune the output level.
 
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#2,255
Jay2U said:
Defretted basses are easier to play than fretless basses, because they remember the fret positions.
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For those unlucky bass players who regret buying a bass with an unlined fingerboard, i.e with no fret position memory, you can now buy fretted strings. These strings have extra thick windings in all the fret locations (there are different versions for 20, 21 and 24 frets), making playing an unlined bass as easy as playing a regular fretted bass.
 
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#2,259
Many music instructors will underscore the importance of learning the "circle of fifths" when it comes to bass playing especially in an improv situation or when playing by ear. Here's a quick cliff notes type lesson on playing the circle of fifths.

After plugging in your bass and bringing it fully to tune simply place five shot glasses on the counter in a circle. Using a fifth of your favorite alcohol top each shot glass up. Now select one glass and take a bottoms up shot. Then play an open G. Do the same thing with the next glass but instead of playing an open G play an open D and repeat the shot/note process with the A and E strings as well. You should now have one full shot glass left. Simply take that last shot and then play an E#. If you aren't able to find the E# then start all over with newly filled shot glasses and the G string. Repeat this until you're certain you hear the E# or until the fifth of liquor is empty.

By the time you've completed this exercise the room should be spinning in circles, hence the name "circle of fifths".

Note: if you are a 5 string bass player you'll need 6 glasses to play all the open strings and the final glass will be used to play the Fb note.
 
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