OMG, He's using a PICK!!!!

[Craig4003]

I played with a pick at first (age 14) because it was what my British Invasion and British Prog heroes did. I probably didn't even know there was another way to play at first. These days, I use either fingers or pick.

 

[ghostinthemach]

A good musician should be prepared to use any technique that makes the song sound right.
Picks, fingers, fingerpicks, slapping, tapping, harmonics, ebow, broken bottle, funk fingers, etc.
You can't cling too preciously to one.

I believe you left out teeth

 

[mcclurer16]

Mg bass teacher always discouraged the pick but I use it when I need a particular sound or when I can't move my fingers fast enough....

 

[ghostinthemach]

90% pick, 10% fingers. Been that way for about 30 years.

Funny I’m the exact opposite these days, but it’s always varied by the band/material for me. I’m at home with either pick OR fingers. What gets me frustrated is slap.

 

[ryco]

Have been a finger player all of my life, prob cuz I started on standup in gradeschool. A couple of years ago was left a tele copy 6 string guitar from a friend passed away and wanted to learn to play. Wanted to learn to play with a pick and got it down pretty OK. The interest in guitar didn't stay - I did learn how to read pretty quick and went the through a few beginner books. Decided to try playing with a pick on bass. Am doing OK with it. It's pretty fun! Liking Dunlop 1.5 PrimeTones.

A few times in the studio engineers have asked if I could play with a pick. Some prefer the attack and the tone. So to be a well rounded player it is a good technique to develop = another tool for your toolbox.

 

[Bassbeater]

"A few times in the studio engineers have asked if I could play with a pick."
-more like, "pretendgineer"

 

[B-Mac]

Have been a finger player all of my life, prob cuz I started on standup in gradeschool. A couple of years ago was left a tele copy 6 string guitar from a friend passed away and wanted to learn to play. Wanted to learn to play with a pick and got it down pretty OK. The interest in guitar didn't stay - I did learn how to read pretty quick and went the through a few beginner books. Decided to try playing with a pick on bass. Am doing OK with it. It's pretty fun! Liking Dunlop 1.5 PrimeTones.

A few times in the studio engineers have asked if I could play with a pick. Some prefer the attack and the tone. So to be a well rounded player it is a good technique to develop = another tool for your toolbox.

Actually, the recording studio is where you will quite often be requested to play with a pick....and if you can't do it you're sent packing.

 

[donCameron]

"A few times in the studio engineers have asked if I could play with a pick."
-more like, "pretendgineer"

No offense intended, but that's just nonsense. Someone who has earned far more money as a session bassist than we will ever hope to (Carol Kaye) insists that the only proper way to record bass is with a pick and that you need a foam mute by the bridge to kill the overtones. I wouldn't say that's the only way to play, but her roster of hits does lend weight to her argument.

I tend to use my fingers 99% of the time these days, but there are some songs that just need to be played with a plectrum.

 

[Jon Jensen]

I never use a pick... even when playing guitar... When I need the attack or the staccato of a pick, I position my right hand, like I'm "holding" a pick, but I use my index fingernail to get the attack... Useful for some Chris Squire stuff. Then, if I need to switch to flamenco style to play the Geddy stuff, no pick to lose.

At a gig a few months ago... when we finished, a guy came up to the stage to ask me for my pick... I felt bad telling him I didn't use one

There is certainly no shame in using a pick... it IS a guitar, after all. Some of the best players play with one... I just prefer the flexibility to change my sound with the tools I have, always readily available, and never have to worry about losing my plectrum

 

[beans-on-toast]

All you ever wanted to know about picks (but were afraid to ask):

Guitar pick - Wikipedia

 

[stevieg]

50/50 too

For me, a solid pizzicato player, I found that occasional use of a pick adds nice coloration and attack to the tone.
My solution is to use a thumb pick. It doesn't interfere with my fingers and I casn use it as required, anbd it's always attached so I don't have to stop and get a pick.

stevieg

 

[MikeD]

Pick, all the way. I use Fender Thin guitar picks.

 

[stevieg]

Pretty strange. Bass players who use picks and guitar players who use fingers. (Excluded in this group is Jimmy Vaughn, Stevie's older brother who also plays guitar with fingers.)

Ten Guitarists Who Give It the Finger

Just to mention three:
Albert King, Albert Collins and Robbie Krieger (who studies flamenco and just stayed with his fingers)

 

[stevieg]

Paul McCartney, Carol Kaye, Chris Squire, Anthony Johnson, John Paul Jones, Noel Redding, Bobby Vega, Peter Hook...the list of "offenders" is long, illustrious, and OLD, so no...not a recent realization for me

As a working session musician you need to be able to quickly achieve whatever sound is right for the song, which frequently includes swapping out basses or playing techniques: it's all about knowing your tools and how to get the most out of them

One item I question. How can you place Noel Redding in the list with the others? For my $.02 he was as useless as George Thorogood's rhythm section. The bassists Thorogood uses are as simple as I have ever heard with a major artist.

 

[MDBass]

One item I question. How can you place Noel Redding in the list with the others? For my $.02 he was as useless as George Thorogood's rhythm section. The bassists Thorogood uses are as simple as I have ever heard with a major artist.

I know him for his work with Jimi, and he was phenomenal in the Experience.

I don't see anything in his discography about working with George Thorogood, I think you may have him confused with someone else

 

[stevieg]

I trained with and used only fingers for a long time, and I think most tunes can be played with fingers using the proper technique. Geddy played Chris Squire's part for Yes using fingers and showed you can get that attack with the right plucking style. But I like to play with a pick, too, because for many songs it just feels more natural. And maybe, a little bit, maybe, because it also looks cool.

One of the covers bands I was with played a number of Yes tunes. For all of them I played pizzacato. No problem or questions from bandmates. Also I read somewhere, I think, that Squire actually used a filed quarter for a pick. Veracity check may be needed.
-stevieg

 

[MDBass]

"A few times in the studio engineers have asked if I could play with a pick."
-more like, "pretendgineer"

Some of the most recorded bass players in history, and some of the most beloved bass parts in history, were recorded using a pick.

Your statement is invalid

 

[Ramonesfan59]

Just to mention three:
Albert King, Albert Collins and Robbie Krieger (who studies flamenco and just stayed with his fingers)

One very important one you left off your list: Bill Carter of the Screaming Blue Messiahs...

 

[Craig4003]

One item I question. How can you place Noel Redding in the list with the others? For my $.02 he was as useless as George Thorogood's rhythm section. The bassists Thorogood uses are as simple as I have ever heard with a major artist.

There's nothing wrong with simple. I haven't kept up with Thorogood since his heyday in the early '80s, but the original Destroyers were a powerful band. I thought their bass player had a great groove.

Noel Redding was a guitarist who took up bass to play with Jimi and always seemed to resent playing second banana to a black American. But the way his and Mitch Mitchell's playing pushed Hendrix was part of what made the original JHE as exciting as it was. Noel was the right bass player for that band whether he liked it or not. I also love the later music Jimi made with Billy Cox on bass, but it's very different.

 

[stevieg]

what bassists almost only always played with a pick?

Steve Swallow always uses a pick, which for a jazz player is unheard of. So he's a jazz rebel in two ways: electric, though that is not looked down upon so much. Particularly since Miles gave electric bass his imprimatur, secondly Swallow uses a pick. And he is an outstanding musician, and probably underrated.