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Pick users...
- Thread starter PuNk BaSSisT
- Start date
Can all the people with nothing constructive to say who wanna tell everyone that they don't like picks go start another thread? Call it "why picks suck", and eat your hearts out.
I'm serious, we've all heard it before, and i don't give two sh|ts if you don't like picks. It's about as relevant to everyone else in this forum as what your favourite colour is. We don't care. It's not the topic of this thread and we don't care for the signal-to-noise ratio to drop through the floor on account of a few self-inflated people with nothing to say.
I'm serious, we've all heard it before, and i don't give two sh|ts if you don't like picks. It's about as relevant to everyone else in this forum as what your favourite colour is. We don't care. It's not the topic of this thread and we don't care for the signal-to-noise ratio to drop through the floor on account of a few self-inflated people with nothing to say.
When somebody says "picks suck" I automatically translate that to "I don't have the interest/patience/creativity to try new approaches to getting different sounds out of this instrument I love so much." What other piece of equipment can give you such a different tonal/dynamic palette for less than fifty cents?
I've always had good luck with Jim Dunlops: my absolute faves are the magenta .96 and pink .71 500's, as well as the black or dark gray nylons and the green Tortexes. Much of the time I use one of the two blunter edges to get a bigger sound and switch to the pointy end for a more cutting tone. I also find that I can get a much bigger sound by brushing the strings at a slight angle toward the bridge as opposed to striking them right on.
You can also get a big variety of tone by playing at different points along the string and by varying how much "meat" you put into it-you'll get a bigger sound if you're moving from the elbow or shoulder instead of just the fingers or wrist. Of course, this works best on slower parts.
One of my favorite things about playing with a pick is matching the up and downstrokes to the phrasing of the music. It's very similar to the "hand-over-hand" percussion technique or strumming on guitar where you're always keeping your picking hand moving in 8th or 16th notes. With a little practice you can get some very cool articulations happening on 16th note funk lines or unison parts with other instruments.
I've always had good luck with Jim Dunlops: my absolute faves are the magenta .96 and pink .71 500's, as well as the black or dark gray nylons and the green Tortexes. Much of the time I use one of the two blunter edges to get a bigger sound and switch to the pointy end for a more cutting tone. I also find that I can get a much bigger sound by brushing the strings at a slight angle toward the bridge as opposed to striking them right on.
You can also get a big variety of tone by playing at different points along the string and by varying how much "meat" you put into it-you'll get a bigger sound if you're moving from the elbow or shoulder instead of just the fingers or wrist. Of course, this works best on slower parts.
One of my favorite things about playing with a pick is matching the up and downstrokes to the phrasing of the music. It's very similar to the "hand-over-hand" percussion technique or strumming on guitar where you're always keeping your picking hand moving in 8th or 16th notes. With a little practice you can get some very cool articulations happening on 16th note funk lines or unison parts with other instruments.
- Apr 1, 2000
- 17,401
- 9,834
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
I wholeheartedly agree, and you can have moderator support on that.
(and I don't even use a pick!)
i dunno i used to use thin picks but i switched over to yellow dunlops becuase i was breaking the thin ones like crazy
BigWig Will
RIP Rock N Roll
I generally do use lighter picks, when you play with really thick ones some of the sound gets absorbed into them and you lose the "twang" that is signature in a lot of punk songs. I think that Thick ernie ball picks in packs of 12 or 20 or whatever are best, they're cheap, and believe me, if you play punk you'll be going through a lot of them.I tried a gator skin Dunlop 1.14 mm, then I lost it, I can't really recall how it sounded, but it was really study in my hands. Also, I think guitar picks are better, personally, bass picks are too bulky.
I use white Fender 351's. Medium. I tried a green Dunlop once. I think it was .88mm. It was pretty cool. The only prob I have wit the Fender picks is if they rotate in my fingers.
First of all, i don't often use a pick, but i do use them. when i use them i usually use a big stubby 3mm. they play really well and they look so darned cool. also, i use a 1.52 mm triangle by i-can't-remember-who (it has an eagle like harley davidson's eagle on the front). for slower punk songs i use my personal favorite: felt picks. they have a sound that's really jazzy-like a double bass bow had a kid with your fingers, and the bastard child had another kid with a pick (follow?). only drawback is thay wear away quick and thy're hard to find
and if you hate picks, why are you reading a thread SOLELY about picks?
and if you hate picks, why are you reading a thread SOLELY about picks?
not punchier, it's....different. i suppose it would be punchier if you play hard with them because you can hit harder with a pic than fingerstyle. in the end, it's attack is smoother. it's more like stroking the string than striking it.
I only use picks when I have to, like a cover but I always use a Jim Dunlop Big Stubby 3mm and sometimes a 2mm. A tear drop shape pick just feels good and they are easy to hold onto when you start slammin out those tones. The only problem I have had with them is sometimes you just cant flow over the strings like with say a .75mm pick.
Dunlop Gator .71's. They last me about a month of practice playing, or one show.. maybe i oughta ease up...nah.
Green .88 mm Tortex. I used to use the yellow ones, but and I actually prefer them as far as comfort goes, but they make my bass sound thin.
I found a tight (IMO) pick. Its the Fender heavy pick. It looks like it has gray swirls on it, and it pretty much is crap. BUT what i do to make it tight, is take a nail file and file the picking tip to a sharp point. I learned it from a friend of mine, and filing makes all the picks that ive tried tighter. But if you people who wanna file down the hella thick ones like 2 mm and up or metal picks, its not really worth it.
