Pick or Fingers for Live Playing.

[mrcbass]

I you're skilled in both methods, use the one that fits the song best. It's not either/or.

 

[chaosMK]

I play acoustic and electric guitar too and only use a pick (I enjoy the Snark picks actually) but on bass it's always FS... use an aggressive percussive attack and slaps notes when I need to for a more punchy cutting kind of sound. When I play proggy/technical metal I use a lot of techniques... tapping, chording, slapping, etc so I need to keep my fingers free.

Sometimes I love the sound of a pick in rock/metal though... a favorite was a chick bassist who used a J through an SVT II and it had an amazing top end grind. One of the best live sounds I had heard. I enjoyed old school Duff McKagan with his kind of scrapey picking.

 

[bassliner50]

I always keep my fingers on hand nearby, so thats what I use.

 

[Tottery]

I prefer fingers. I don't even use a pick when I play guitar. I simply favor the warmer tone the fingers create.

If I was in a project that required a pick I would use one and I surely don't look down on people that prefer picks. You should do what's best for you.

 

[lokikallas]

Yes.

 

[andruca]

For me it all comes down to groove. Some are for fingerstyle, some are for a pick. In my case I hit hard with a soft pick with a pretty guitar'ish motion (lots of left hand muting) for anything punk/HC/metal. Not because I can't technically get there on my fingers but because it just grooves better, that's the criteria really.

 

[zoonose]

I prefer fingers, used to use my thumb. When a pick is called for, I like the Dunlop Tortex 1mm.

 

[Heckmaster]

I always play with fingers, but only because I could never wrap my head around picking technique (I'm not half bad on guitar, but the string spacing and thicker strings make picking on bass super hard for me).
I've got nothing but mad respect for the pick players out there.

 

[TheReceder]

Primarily play fingerstyle, but when I use a pick I use dunlop .88s.They seem to last and don't slip. I might upgrade to the max grips next time round.

 

[mikewalker]

97.625% fingers/fingernails/etc, but when I do use picks, I use the Orange Tortex ones...

 

[MichelD]

When I started playing in a cover band in the 1970s I figured I just could not pluck fast enough with fingers so used a pick. I used to regularly wear the point of 1 mm Dunlop picks round.

Over the years I've become confident enough to use my fingers on everything though I will deploy a pick occasionally.

But I'm not playing "Back in the USSR," "Birthday,| "Saturday night's alright for fighting," or "Already gone" any more either.

 

[zenrad]

Both

Pick for Dead.
Fingers for Garcia Band and everything else.

Mid-jam in Dead tunes I'll switch to fingers - I'm sure folks wonder what the heck I'm putting into and pulling out of my mouth while I'm playing :-D (One day I'll get a pick holder...)
Pick of choice is a Dunlop Gator Grip 2.0mm. I have ONE Adamas graphite 2mm pick that I use with one bass, It has a bit more crispness to the attack. I'd love to find more.

 

[Fialka]

Use both really. I probably enjoy fingerstyle a little bit more, but when a song or a part of a song calls for a pick, I pick.
My favorite pick I use almost exclusively on bass(guitar too) is nylon Herco flex 75. Ive read somewhere that late great Chris Squire used them, so I got a few and did not look back.

 

[higain617]

I generally play with a pick, but think finger style often looks cooler.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

edit. Dunlop Tortex Standard 1.14 Millimeter.

Same with me, except I use the 1mm dunlop nylons. I like them because they only bend a little bit, I hit hard, they never rip apart, or grind down, and since they give slightly I get a little more mid range twang from them than with a brick pick.

 

[dwade]

Depends. I get a pretty bright, snappy tone out of my fingers but sometimes, I'll grab a pick. Whatever it takes to make something happen.
No rules!!

A few weeks ago a guy came up to me, shook my hand & thanked me for not using a pick. I thanked him for going out of his to try to be complimentary but I whole time I was thinking "***?"

 

[Stewie]

Fingers only. I've tried to learn how to use a pick quite a bit and wish I could do it. I keep a bunch with me for the guitarists. Mostly upright now, hand position is way wrong for picking, so I guess I get a pass


Hmmmmmm, what about that bow on top of the china cabinet?.........Nah!

 

[zontar]

edit. Dunlop Tortex Standard 1.14 Millimeter.

I mostly play with my fingers, but I might use a pick sometimes, and if I do there's a good chance ti will be the Purple Tortex, which is the pick I mostly use on guitar.

 

[NoSlapForYou]

I use both picks and my fingers live. Some of the live songs I have to play are fast. And once I'm up on stage and really exerting myself, my technique tends to go out the window. This means that I can't do fast finger picking as the night goes on. But for the slower and mellower stuff I still lean towards a pick. Also, I do some singing live and I find it's much easier to sing and play with a pick.

I always use medium-gauge picks and always break them. Lol. I clearly should use a heavy pick, but I find it's easier to do fast picking with a thinner gauge. So I just make sure I have a few backups. For some reason I really like the Fender Confetti picks.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

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.

This comes up so often I'm starting to wish there were a sticky for it, except what would it say other than "Play the way you want to play"?