Would you have caved in & used a pick?

[Lagado]

Can the guitar player play Fleetwood Mac with his fingers like Lindsey Buckingham, who does not use a pick on guitar?

That's a bit of a false equivalence. Buckingham has a very particular style, plectrums have been around for quite a while.

 

[Lagado]

To start at the end, I've washed my hands of the mainly 90's cover band I played bass in. The reason stemmed from me not wanting to use a pick because I found the tone that I, like all of us, have sought after.

But it isn't just you in the band is it. I think, you've cut off your nose to spite your face.

 

[2playbass]

That's a bit of a false equivalence. Buckingham has a very particular style, plectrums have been around for quite a while.

Longer than fingers?

 

[Lagado]

Longer than fingers?

Comparing assimilating the whole of Buckingham's playing technique to using a flat-pick, is a bit of a stretch don't you think?

 

[Butch Bobcat]

I would have done it with a pick IF your bandmates weren't being so-

I would have done it with a pick IF your bandmates weren't being so-and-sos about it, but they clearly were.
If you can't literally win, do it figuratively by voting with your feet!

I wouldn't even be in a room with folks who treated me like that, let alone be in a band with them, if I'm being completely honest.

In truth I have ended relationships over this sort of thing, including a TB member who came to my humble abode, fiddled with the knobs on my rig while I played it (w/o asking first) & then promptly came on here to trash my rig!
Before you comment it's not the same, it's stemming from a deep lack of respect in both cases.

-sos about it, but they clearly were.
If you can't literally win, do it figuratively by voting with your feet!

I wouldn't even be in a room with folks who treated me like that, let alone be in a band with them, if I'm being completely honest.

In truth I have ended relationships over this sort of thing, including a TB member who came to my humble abode, fiddled with the knobs on my rig while I played it (w/o asking first) & then promptly came on here to trash my rig!
Before you comment it's not the same, it's stemming from a deep lack of respect in both cases.

I actually used to play Welcome to Paradise by Green Day with a pick because in the middle part where it went down to bass only for a bit, it just didn't sound right to me without a pick.

Yeah, as soon as the guitarist started talking down to me like that, I decided then that I was done with the band. Like you, I don't take kindly to that sort of thing.

 

[devnulljp]

Pick, fingers, bow, whatever gets the job done. I don't care, it doesn't other me in the least. Never seen the point in the continual big endian vs. little endian arguments in most of life never mind music (pick vs. fingers, pedals vs. straight in, maple vs. rosewood). I know it's human nature to dichotomise things, but it's boring and pointless.

That said, I wouldn't be hanging, let alone playing, with people who talked to me like that.

 

[Thumper]

My bands have never asked me to use a pick, just seems to be a skill I should have in the quiver, but I'll always be a finger style bassist. I did use a pick some back in the 80s with my '76 Thunderbird.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

I'd like to hear some opinions from fellow bassists on whether it matters to you that a bassist uses a pick in a cover band when the original bassist recorded with a pick.

To start at the end, I've washed my hands of the mainly 90's cover band I played bass in. The reason stemmed from me not wanting to use a pick because I found the tone that I, like all of us, have sought after.

Okay, so I was in a cover, not tribute band. I feel that gives me more liberties to not have the exact tone as the original bands.

The guitarist & singer argued that we don't play songs that we used to like In Bloom, Killing in the Name, or Song 2 because me picking with my fingers makes the songs "sound like s#&t" even though they take liberties of their own in the music. When I tell them that they & the 2 purist musicians in the audience are the only people that will care that the tone isn't exactly like the original recording.

Ultimately, I decided to leave the band after hanging out the other night for the first time since the lockdown started because of things like being told that my knowledge is inferior to the guitarist because of his master's degree in music. Also that I'm ignorant to what the music needs to be & sound like. There's plenty more drunkardly trash talking & belittling of my abilities that I won't get into. I will however say that for over an hour of this argument, I was literally not able to finish a single point I was trying to make before getting interrupted.

I know this was long winded, but with all the BS aside, what are your opinions on using a pick or fingers in a situation like this?

Sounds to me like departure was possibly the best solution available.

 

[LuckyScott]

F Em! Nobody cares if you use a pick or not.......

 

[Sam Dingle]

I don't mind using a pick. if the gigs pay ill do it and if the music calls for it ill do it. The whole "pick vs fingers" thing for me is such a purist argument that I don't see a point in.

 

[Butch Bobcat]

If the gigs pay and they book the gigs, just use a pick.

If a pick really ruins the experience for you, then don’t torture yourself.

Maybe they hear something in the mix that you don’t hear.

But it sounds like they were powertrippers anyways.

I would use the pick personally. The older I have gotten, the more I appreciate any kind of meaningful musical direction from band leaders.

I booked about half the gigs, brought the most people out, & did the most promoting so there was no actual band leader.

I can respect what you said about taking some direction from bandmates. Once I hit my late 20's, I started opening my ears & mind to suggestions a lot more. Although, I do realize that I'm still stubborn about some things.

 

[Lagado]

Perhaps they were looking for versitility. They haven't exactly asked you to dress in lederhosen and do some yodelling have they.

 

[Butch Bobcat]

Sounds like you won't enjoy the the hang, or playing the music. Unless the money is stupendous, 33% is a failing grade. Bye.

Yeah, it was mainly a hobby/second band that played out at most once a month for fun & a few extra $$ for all members. To me, it wasn't worth the headache anymore.

 

[kevin wells]

For most of the bass playing part of my life, I used the 2 or 3 finger method. I always just felt more connected to my bass. Then I had an opportunity to do something really different, start a tribute band, but the bass player in the band we portray uses a pick exclusively. I decided to bite the bullet and start using a pick. Two years on, I feel like I have a good technique, plus I'm very comfortable using picks. Just another tool in the old toolbox is the way I look at it. Plus, while I could dial in a decent grindy tone with fingers, using a pick takes it to a new level.

 

[Butch Bobcat]

I wouldn't have caved. I would like to think that, after listening to the originals, I would have said, "oh, the sound of this being picked is important in this song," and decided to do it on my own. Or not.

My band plays three sets and I use a pick on ONE song because I felt that was integral to the sound of that song. The rest of them, nobody cares, including me. The drummer laughs at me because he thinks that song was played without a pick because a silly video shows it being played incorrectly. But I laugh at him because he's wrong about that. He has proven to me many times that he thinks he has a good ear, but it's not as good as he thinks it is.

If I liked the guys, and they asked me NICELY, I might have tried it. I don't have "a tone," I have many tones, depending. But beyond that, I need to be in a band where we respect one another. Ordering me what to do, unless you're paying me good money, isn't going to work for me, but I know it works just fine for some others.

We used to play Welcome to Paradise by Green Day & I used a pick on that song because I felt that in the middle where it dropped to only bass, it just didn't sound right with my fingers. We stopped playing that because people let the bar every single time we played it.

I'd also use a pick if I was in a punk band because that aggressive sound is absolutely what is called for in my opinion.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

I don't think the pick was the issue(s) here...

 

[SunByrne]

Sounds like there are two different things going on here: the relationship with the band, and the pick vs. fingers issue. I think the real problem is the first one, and the second one just kind of is the excuse or the catalyst or whatever.

For me, it just depends on the song. Some songs, to me, really feel like they need to be played with a pick to sound right (e.g., Jimi Hendrix's "Fire"—just has that really aggressively picked attack; any song with really clicky ghost notes). Some only sound right with fingers, and for some it just doesn't seem to really matter which way. I readily submit that people with better technique than mine (which is probably most of the folks here) might not need a pick to get the right sound for songs where I need it, but for me, some songs need a pick. In general, I'd be open to feedback about this from bandmates...

...but maybe not feedback delivered like that.

 

[Butch Bobcat]

From 1.40 on, try it with your fingers. It's difficult enough with a pick.

I could play that with my fingers. However, just off of the first listen, I may honestly use a pick depending on what it sounds like when played with the rest of the band. I feel that it may take away from the bass & in affect, the whole song's integrity. There are definitely songs that I think don't work if I play them without a pick.

 

[SunByrne]

I'd also use a pick if I was in a punk band because that aggressive sound is absolutely what is called for in my opinion.

Exactly. Imagine someone playing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" fingerstyle with no distortion. It'd just be wrong.

 

[Butch Bobcat]

I would have left, too.

I’m always receptive to feedback so long as it’s constructive. Likewise, I’ll voice my thoughts if it’s in service of the band and not someone’s ego (including my own). However, when someone starts making things up and insults me then they can pound sand. Life’s too short.

Agreed on the constructive criticism. I suggested a whole back that the guitarist played his improvised solo in Mary Jane's Last Dance, he try playing it in the pentatonic box because of how the rest of the song is put together. I told him that it was, of course, ultimately his decision.

I felt that was a respectful was too suggest something like that instead of demanding him to do so.