Pick or Fingers for Live Playing.

[FunkyFever]

There is always the pick vs fingers battle in the world of bassists, and I tend to use them interchangeably depending on the song at hand. I wanted to know which you prefer and if you prefer picks, what pics do you use. I use 3 pick types
1: Fender Large Thumb Pick (I won't drop them)
2: Dunlop Jazz III Pick
3: Dunlop Tortex Standard 1.114 Milimiter.
I like really heavy picks because I hit the strings with a lot of force, and am in general play heavy music that require forceful picking, so heavy picks dont bend (like fender mediums or lights touch my thumb when I use them) and require less force to hold.

 

[FunkyFever]

edit. Dunlop Tortex Standard 1.14 Millimeter.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Finger style is my preference. Some songs sound better with a pic. Injuries are great for practice with playing EVERYTHING with a pic. And that can be very challenging when you play lots of different material .

I use Dunlop .88s.

 

[Kro]

Both. Depending on the tone and composition of the song. Sometimes a piece just flows better if a pick is used, or vice versa.

I find that I like a certain amount of flex when I play with a pick, and that the perfect amount of flex is a combination of string flex and pick flex. I tend to use thinner picks (like 1mm) with my more stiff Medium Chromes, but with more flexible strings like Slinkeys I preferred the 3mm Big Stubbys.

Sweetwater used to have a few different pick packs that had varying assortments of picks in a bag. Great for testing them out to see what you like the best - that's my top recommendation.

 

[James Collins]

I don't think there is a battle. Maybe in the minds of pick players because they feel judged inferior, but I don't think anyone else cares.

 

[grimjim]

Almost always fingers. I do play in a cover band that has a couple songs that just need that pick click, so I do use one occasionally. Not really enough to decide on a favorite pick though. I'm using the Tortex 1.14 also, but just because that's what the store had that I thought I'd like. Probably get used to them and have them as my favorite, knowing me.

 

[FunkyFever]

Finger style is my preference. Some songs sound better with a pic. Injuries are great for practice with playing EVERYTHING with a pic. And that can be very challenging when you play lots of different material .

I use Dunlop .88s.

honestly I prefer both equally, but lets say I had a gig were I was doing Jefferson Airplane style songs, I would go with fingers because that fits the style more, but if I was doing a gig with a band were we did songs similar in style to Bongripper, then a pick is obviously the way to go.

 

[FunkyFever]

I don't think there is a battle. Maybe in the minds of pick players because they feel judged inferior, but I don't think anyone else cares.

Yeah u have a point, but I have seen like in stores bassist get very snobby about "fingers is the only way" and their wearing a Nirvana T-Shirt and Novoselic plays with a pick. So there is both no battle and a battle.

 

[James Collins]

I think bass guitar is an interesting instrument because it is in between guitar and double bass so techniques from both seem to form the foundation of technique. And of course there is only one way to do anything.

 

[DavidEdenAria]

There is always the pick vs fingers battle in the world of bassists, and I tend to use them interchangeably depending on the song at hand. I wanted to know which you prefer and if you prefer picks, what pics do you use. I use 3 pick types
1: Fender Large Thumb Pick (I won't drop them)
2: Dunlop Jazz III Pick
3: Dunlop Tortex Standard 1.114 Milimiter.
I like really heavy picks because I hit the strings with a lot of force, and am in general play heavy music that require forceful picking, so heavy picks dont bend (like fender mediums or lights touch my thumb when I use them) and require less force to hold.

I Definitely use heavy picks...but i prefer to let the amp do the work (as in LOUD).

 

[two fingers]

These days I'm at about 60/40 fingers to pick. I usually have half a dozen different types of picks on my pick holder for different attacks.

 

[Gustopher]

I play both, but I come from a long past of playing guitar and my picking game is strong. When I started playing bass, I made myself learn fingerstyle because I wanted to have the control and dynamics from that. During out sets, out of 45 songs, I probably use a pick for 10 of them. Mostly because it has its own unique sound that I enjoy on those songs.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

I’ve not seen any evidence of a pick vs. fingerstyle battles, at all, anywhere. That being said, I play mostly fingerstyle but I make it a point to keep my pick-playing chops up because some songs absolutely require it.

 

[FugaziBomb]

There is always the pick vs fingers battle in the world of bassists, and I tend to use them interchangeably depending on the song at hand. I wanted to know which you prefer and if you prefer picks, what pics do you use. I use 3 pick types
1: Fender Large Thumb Pick (I won't drop them)
2: Dunlop Jazz III Pick
3: Dunlop Tortex Standard 1.114 Milimiter.
I like really heavy picks because I hit the strings with a lot of force, and am in general play heavy music that require forceful picking, so heavy picks dont bend (like fender mediums or lights touch my thumb when I use them) and require less force to hold.

I use a pick in the studio, but typically not too much live. In the studio I literally use whatever picks are laying on the floor or the mixing console... table, whatever.

 

[Pings Bass]

I tried using a pick on my P bass in the 80s playing jam bandy stuff (melodic bass lines, improvised counterpoint under gtr. solos, etc.). I was really looking for the attack/high-end bite that you've got to coax out of a P. I found I could get that tone I was after more naturally from two-pup basses or a stingray eventually, and that fingers offer a broader expressive range. I can also play faster finger style.

Picks just aren't for me, it turns out, but I don't play any styles that would demand it. Some do. And for people who like that kind of thing, that's the kind of thing they like.

 

[Bruiser Stone]

Fingers for Funk, Picks for Punk.

 

[trofud]

Song demanding. I use any Tortex 1mm pick when I need one.

 

[dramatwist]

Fingers. Always.

 

[micguy]

Fingers - I have very hard callouses on my plucking hand, so tonally I'm a bit of an in-betweener. If that isn't enough attack, my basses are set up so that, if need be, the frets aren't that far away, and I can bounce the strings off 'em for certain sections or songs.

I do sometimes (not too often), when I want a softer attack, use my thumb, but if I practice that too much, it gets a callous that's as hard as my fingers, so mostly I use that technique at a gig.

For some reason, I carry a few picks in my gig bag, but I've never used them at a gig.

I don't look down at pick players, but I have had a few comments from other musicians here and there that they liked me better than some other bass player who...used a pick (said with derision). So, that perception is out there, but I'm not the one feeding it.

Feel free to pick your bass on stage, but not your nose.

 

[bobba66]

Yes.