Would you have caved in & used a pick?

[retslock]

I get called because some people like what I do too. And that is whatever it takes for the track. I don't consider it puppeteering at all. I consider that, giving people what they want.

Yes that’s fair enough. I just never got asked to use a pick in a long career. I guess if they wanted a pick player someone else got the gig. That’s ok too. There are all sorts of players for all sorts of gigs. The smart producer/band leader calls the person best suited to do the job. That wasn’t always me. I made a living for many years so I must have done something right. I’m not saying my approach is the right way necessarily but it worked well for me for a long time.

 

[Lagado]

Yes that’s fair enough. I just never got asked to use a pick in a long career. I guess if they wanted a pick player someone else got the gig. That’s ok too. There are all sorts of players for all sorts of gigs. The smart producer/band leader calls the person best suited to do the job. That wasn’t always me. I made a living for many years so I must have done something right. I’m not saying my approach is the right way necessarily but it worked well for me for a long time.

Would you be offended if someone wanted dead flats with a pick for that classic click tone? You know the one.

 

[retslock]

Would you be offended if someone wanted dead flats with a pick for that classic click tone? You know the one.

I don’t think I’d be offended. At this stage I may be reluctant though. These days I can afford to be philosophical and suggest that there might be a player more suited to the gig. It’s hard to know what may have happened if it was put to me as a younger player. I probably would have coped ok. I actually started out as a guitar player and my first couple of years on bass I used a pick but after that I never did for the rest of my career. It never came up.

 

[Koshchei]

Would you be offended if someone wanted dead flats with a pick for that classic click tone? You know the one.

I don't have a bass that fits that description. I wouldn't be offended, but I doubt they'd be willing to wait for a decade while I let a P-Bass with flats "season" in the pasture.

 

[JimK]

My very 1st recording "session" (late '70s)...for an acquaintance of a friend...about 5 minutes prior to recording my part, the songwriter tells me "...Alan (the recording engineer) is gonna ask you to use a pick".
"Why"?
"The bass records better that way".

Maybe I had only been playing about 5 years...but I knew enough that you cannot just ask someone to use a pick when the someone had never used a pick prior. Muting issues aside, too much focus on the pick & not the music.
I did not cave & things worked out OK.
I was playing my Schecter P-bass & that bass did record nicely.

 

[Lagado]

I don’t think I’d be offended. At this stage I may be reluctant though. These days I can afford to be philosophical and suggest that there might be a player more suited to the gig. It’s hard to know what may have happened if it was put to me as a younger player. I probably would have coped ok. I actually started out as a guitar player and my first couple of years on bass I used a pick but after that I never did for the rest of my career. It never came up.

I consider it part of the job.

 

[dwagner]

You don’t usually get hired to be a puppet. I find that people call me because they want what I do. I try to make the gig work by playing well. It usually works. If it didn’t I wouldn’t get called back.

reading OPs post, it sounded like to me there was a “hang” involved with this band too. It’s one thing to play and do your part and be paid to do it. But hanging and being friends requires a different mentality, one that is not strictly business

 

[bmb73]

OP, I don't see how you are in the wrong at all.

 

[retslock]

I consider it part of the job.

And that’s to your credit. I imagine it will stand you in good stead. I’m happy with my approach but then I’m in the twilight of my career and I am able to say no from time to time without fear of losing future work. I’ve established good working relationships and people know what they’re getting.

 

[Lagado]

I don't have a bass that fits that description. I wouldn't be offended, but I doubt they'd be willing to wait for a decade while I let a P-Bass with flats "season" in the pasture.

Then you would use a suitable mute.

 

[Koshchei]

Then you would use a suitable mute.

Not quite the same tone... if we're ball-parking it, I'd probably just mute my GWB a la Carol Kaye, roll off the treble, and pluck over the pickup (I use LaBella gold tapewounds).

 

[Lagado]

And that’s to your credit. I imagine it will stand you in good stead. I’m happy with my approach but then I’m in the twilight of my career and I am able to say no from time to time without fear of losing future work. I’ve established good working relationships and people know what they’re getting.

That's what I get hired for, attention to detail. I was once hired because a singer from an established popular band who recognised that I had taken down Nick Seymour's bass lines for a Crowded House tribute note for note at a gig. He particularly liked Seymour's playing, so do I. A couple of months later, I was in his band. For the next thirteen years. Good players, good work, rent money. Sweet as. That'll do it. I'd been in the locality about a year.

 

[Lagado]

Not quite the same tone... if we're ball-parking it, I'd probably just mute my GWB a la Carol Kaye, roll off the treble, and pluck over the pickup (I use LaBella gold tapewounds).

You know that you can get close enough though. What if someone asked you to do it? Heaven forfend...

 

[RoaDan]

I love the "pick/no pick" debate. It is probably one of the most useless but it is fun. Aside from the smarmy attitude of your fellow ex-band mates my theory is that if you are in a COVER band you can rearrange a song to your hearts content. If you are in a COPY band, well then, you have to come as close to cloning the song as possible. What's the point of that? The original song is established in the minds of an audience so when it is your turn to play it, give them something different.
I use a thumb pick on everything. It is my style. I play in a cover band that throws in originals. Time and again people tell me they "love that song but haven't ever heard it done that way..." That is what I want to hear... not "wow, you sound just like the original"!!! Because that is damn near impossible.

 

[Lagado]

I use a thumb pick on everything. It is my style.

It sounds very one dimensional.

 

[LowActionHero]

I play mostly fingers, but I play a few songs with a pick. There are many songs we play where the original was with a pick and I play fingers instead.
I basically do whatever I want, never been told I should switch, but I'd probably consider it if asked, with a decent reason. If we were recording (not a live show) I might switch for the tone, but I'm of the opinion that it's not all that noticeable in a live situation, other than being a Lil louder and a Lil brighter.

 

[friskinator]

Musicians can be the worst sometimes. So much obsession over details that the audience will never, ever notice.

 

[40Hz]

I wouldn’t necessarily mind using a pick.

But I wouldn’t tolerate being talked down to or being insulted like you were either.

Here’s my question for the man with the supposed MA in music (most likely in music education too I’d be willing to wager):

If you’re such a hot shot professional musician - with a graduate degree in music no less - what are you doing playing in a local cover band? Why aren't you in NYC or LA raking in the industry credits and big bucks with the rest of the heavyweight studio cats? Or out touring with a big name band?​

I’ll guarantee the answer you’ll get back from him will be unintentionally hilarious.

 

[Lagado]

Musicians can be the worst sometimes. So much obsession over details that the audience will never, ever notice.

I will. I take pride in my work. It's paid off.

 

[RoaDan]

It sounds very one dimensional.

It isn't... My sound comes from decades of playing and personal preferences regarding "my sound". Every drummer I have had the honor of playing with has called me one of the best bass players they have come across because I don't waste their time ignoring them and I lay down a solid groove. I play the type of music I want in the way I want. It works for me. So you can go be multidimensional all you want... I will still get the dance floor rocking...