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

[Hand slap]

In my 35 or so years of playing I started as a pick player and stuck to that until @ 10 years ago, when I put the picks away and forced myself to develop a finger style. I have stuck with playing almost exclusively with my fingers ever since.... until @ 3 months ago.

I haven't really played in a cover band in @10 years, but now I'm playing some songs that simply don't work as well with fingers, they need that attack and precision of a pick. So now I'm at @50/50 fingers/pick during my bands sets.

Anyone else coming to this realization?

For me, if it is a song played with a pick, and has that attack, I will try to get that sound, with my fingers first, then use a pick. I play better with my fingers.

 

[kev451]

Pick player, if I need to play a part which would mimic the tone and feel lower my mids and add a touch of bass and slow my playing down to give it that touch.

 

[Ash Jazz]

I mostly use fingers but will use a pick when it serves the song. Carol Kaye always used a pick and shes great. In her case it was in conjunction with foam dampening. The explanation she gives is that there were no compressors back in the day. Using the pick and dampening was the only way to get an even enough attack to make a good recording. She said everybody in the business at that time was doing it that way.

 

[KarelSam]

90 / 10 pick player..

 

[two fingers]

Not only do I do both, but I keep half a dozen kinds of picks on my pick holder for different sounds and attacks. I use my picks, my finger tips, the side of my thumb, the whole region between my fretboard and bridge with all of these, slap, tap..... whatever it takes to get the sound I'm after.

I rarely tweek my tone knob. It stays wide open. I use technique..... All techniques.... to change my sound.

 

[twinjet]

Whatever fits the song is what I do, but I am most proficient using fingers.

For me it's 98/1/1 finger, slap & pick. No tapping, drum sticks à la Levin, tongue KISSing or anything else remotely inventive.

 

[gjohnson441496]

Yep. When I got tendinitis in my playing arm. My doctor told me to stop playing bass for 2 months (I had just started back to playing after a long lay off and I started back like a mad man trying to recover lost time). After about a month, I decided to try playing with a pick. There was no pain, and I completely recovered. Thing is, after that, I didn't want to go back to finger style. That's when it occurred to me that some songs sound better with a pick, some finger style, some slap. A one trick pony is stagnant, and boring.

 

[inthebassclef]

For me the breakdown is:
40% fingers
40% thumb
20% pick

 

[bassbully]

Picks... fingers...whatever.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

I’ve pretty much been a finger player all along. Occasionally I’d use a pick if it seemed appropriate. In the last few months I’ve played on a few local recording sessions and both worked out much better with a pick. I used a Hofner and a jazz bass on these sessions and in both cases, using the pick allowed me to get the sound that the producer wanted. It’s been interesting.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Use whatever works - and make it work. Everyone said you need a pick and a Ric to nail the Chris Squire's tone, til Geddy did it with fingers and a Jazz.

 

[somegeezer]

I rarely play fingerstyle these days. Only when I really need the more muted tone or I'm playing flats. Rounds just eat up my fingers and my strings are probably happier for not being covered in dead skin. =D
But I similarly started on pick, moved to fingers, and now kinda go between when I need to. But definitely nowhere close to even.

 

[Captain Chaos]

When jamming with friends I use a pick and by myself always fingers.

 

[JohnDavisNYC]

oh god, i guess i'll bite too...

electric:
80% fingerstyle, 15% pick, 5% palm muted thumb, 0% slap or other flashy stuff (not because I can't, just because it hasn't fit my aesthetic vision for the last 20 years...)

upright:
93% pizzicato, 7% horrible arco

John

 

[beans-on-toast]

For those who play with a pick, it is important to note that they are not all alike.

I mostly use flat picks and fingerpicks made out of Delrin. Very good for bass. It’s a tough material but has a soft feel against the strings. Fred Kelly Delrin is available from a number of string shops or direct: Products Archive - Fred Kelly Picks.

Another option for a softer sound is a felt pick. Dunlop makes them. They were popular in the 60’s. Model 8012 or 8011.

 

[Sam Dingle]

what bassists almost only always played with a pick?

 

[Bass'd on a true story]

I am the opposite of the stereotypical guitarist turned bassist who relies on a pick and gets shamed for it.

I am the bassist turned guitarist who plays guitar with only fingers and gets made fun of for it

I envy people who can play well with a pick.. I cannot and I've given up trying.

 

[verstft]

I literally started playing bass because I was tired of dropping my guitar pick all the time

 

[xnewyorka]

It's nice to be able to pick between the two options. Take your pick!

 

[Gizmot]

I mostly play with my fingers, but if I have to whip out a pick, I use a super-thick V-Pick or a Gravity pick. Those picks are made of plexiglass and they don’t flex like regular ones do.

The difference in sound is absolutely notable.