Thumb Pickers?

[Floyd Eye]

The guy's wife was a complete ******. I'd have stayed in Willoughby too.

As for thumb, that's the way I started, but I rarely do it these days.

 

[SurferJoe46]

The guy's wife was a complete ******. I'd have stayed in Willoughby too.

And just tell me WHERE you'd plug in your amplifier?

 

[thebassgrognard]

I've been playing for 22 years and just did it for the first time this past weekend on stage. I had watched a great player the night before using his thumb to pick, so during a part when I needed some finesse, I just started doing it. I like to have a lot of different right hand techniques in my bag so that if a song calls for a little something different I can change it up.

About speed playing with the thumb, not sure how fast I can play, but Jamerson played some quick lines with just one finger, so I can imagine its possible to play pretty quickly with one thumb

 

[I<34080]

I use my thumb when playing certain parts that require me to hit a third string. Example, Rush's Force Ten, I hit the open A with my thumb and the D and G strings with my index and middle fingers.

 

[jb63]

I play using my fingers (index & middle), but also do the palm mute thumb thing.

I'm from Willoughby, Oh and heard that Rod Serling had passed through and thought it was the perfect little town and that was the inspiration. These days it's really hopping on the weekends with about 15 restaurants and bars, all in very close proximity. Sadly the Willoughby Brewing Co. is the only decent live venue. For me, it was a great place to grow up.

Willoughby Ohio

 

[kudzoorude]

I started out playing guitar when I was younger and developed more of a finger-style picking technique. When I switched to bass a few years later, I tried using a pick but kept losing them (ADHD kicking in...SQUIRREL!). I started using finger plucking style shortly after I lost my last picks and because all of the cool players utilized that style. But I kept coming back to using my thumb and fingers in a finger-style manner because it was easier for me to control the dynamics/palm muting and I found I had better speed/control when playing faster parts. Much like playing classical guitar. A few years back, I rediscovered Sting and the Police. I noticed that in the late '70s, he was using picks but later on he started using this kind of method. With it, I find that I can easily switch back and forth between finger-style and finger-plucking. This video of the Police in Rio shows what I mean.