This year marks my 20th since I took my first bass guitar lesson. I decided back then that I would ONLY use my fingers. For the next 19 years, I was religiously against picks, and felt that they were cheating. Bottom line: Picks and bass guitars were never meant for each other.
I've been working on a new band project recently, and doing a lot of recording at home. For one particular song we do, I decided to try a pick to see if it would make the bass cut through the mix better. Well guess what? It not only was more fun to play with a pick, it sounded badass! I've decided to record a few of the other songs with picks as well. I get a nicer groove on some songs with them.
So... For you bassists out there who use picks: What is your favorite thickness to use? I've just been using a couple of Fender mediums that I had lying around. Any recommendations?
I'm not converting to a pick-player. I'm still all about the fingers. I've just realized that some songs just sound better picked...period.
In all honesty, it depends on how fast you are playing and how bright of sound you are looking for from each stroke.
I personally use Dunlop .60mm vinyl picks, which are much more flimsy than many bassists use, but I find it allows me to move around the strings much easier while still keeping a good bright sound.
If you want something that really cuts through, you may look as large as 1mm picks, but for me those always seem to hang up on the strings and slow me down.
Just my two cents.
Sad thing is, I can't play any of our stuff using fingers anymore without my hand getting exhausted after only a couple of songs.
~Scott (a.k.a Weasel-Boy/ The Punk Rock Ewok)~
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I haven't played professionally since the Regan administration, but back in the day I was in a lot of cover bands so I had to change up styles and tone pretty often. I ended up splitting about 50/50 between fingers and Ernie Ball thumb picks (designed for banjo and mandolin) which I wore all the time so I could switch easily. I don't know what gauge they were but it seemed like they were roughly equivalent to a fender medium. They were a lot stiffer though because the pick point is fairly short. I also installed a thumb rest above the strings and about midway between pickups on every bass I ever owned so I had a point of reference when I was fingering. (I drank a lot - also put a duct-tape "X" on the stage sometimes so I wouldn't get lost)
Try switching between the pick, fingers, and slapping in the same bar or even the same measure. You will be worshipped as a bass god.
[b]Patrick[/b]
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For Enkrya I use 1.17mm bass picks.. Used to use those little ones.. but found the bigger ones way easier to use! i used to use a flopper one .60 or something, but the pick was too flimsy and would add a scrapping sound at times..
The only "investment" with a guaranteed high rate of return is EDUCATION. Go rent a cheap shack and get your asses back to college or trade school. Don't come out until you're not stupid anymore~ Pat the Wise!
Picks are for guitarists aka gay homosexuals! If your bass ain't punchy enough, you just ain't hittin it hard enough.
The only "investment" with a guaranteed high rate of return is EDUCATION. Go rent a cheap shack and get your asses back to college or trade school. Don't come out until you're not stupid anymore~ Pat the Wise!
We are in 100% agreeance on the validity of this term.
Don't worry Bloody, I still bat for your team. It's just a couple of songs. You'd probably also be very upset with me if you heard the music we're playing too. It's as un-prog as possible, with much of the music only requiring a single finger on the left hand to play.
I've gone both directions (fingers and pick). It just depends on the sound I want to get and my mood. I love playing with a pick and equally love playing with my fingers. I've never been a snob about it and I really don't care what anyone else thinks about it either. Lately I've been trying to develop a new finger picking technique so I'm kind of starting all over again but with practice comes improvement (I really should practice more ).
But to answer your question I use Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm (the purple ones). I used to use thinner picks but I find that I'm more articulate if I use a heavier pick. Plus you can lay into it more. For guitar I used to use really thin picks (.50mm) but for the past 5 years or so I've just been using the same for both. Probably just out of laziness but I have found that it forces me to be more articulate there again.
PnDsCm wrote:I'm still not sure why there are 4 strings on the damn things.
Mine has 5 fuckin strings thank you, AND it's bigger!
The only "investment" with a guaranteed high rate of return is EDUCATION. Go rent a cheap shack and get your asses back to college or trade school. Don't come out until you're not stupid anymore~ Pat the Wise!
I play bass with a my fingers and I play bass with a pick. Bottom line is, I pwn every one of you at the bass, and I don't even really play the bass. Sometimes I will pwn with a pick just to pwn you, and then other times I will just start pwning with my fingers like crazy just to show how much I can pwn. I don't mean to show off, it's just when you bass pwning is so mighty as mine is, you can't help it. Yeah, wake me up when you got a real problem.
peace.
[b]R.I.P. Chelsie[/b]
[b]JJGC [/b] [SIZE="6"]4[/SIZE] [b]LIFE[/b]
Hard work never killed nobody, but I ain't taking no chances.
LIVE FO RETSINIM wrote:I play bass with a my fingers and I play bass with a pick. Bottom line is, I pwn every one of you at the bass, and I don't even really play the bass. Sometimes I will pwn with a pick just to pwn you, and then other times I will just start pwning with my fingers like crazy just to show how much I can pwn. I don't mean to show off, it's just when you bass pwning is so mighty as mine is, you can't help it. Yeah, wake me up when you got a real problem.
peace.
LMAO!!!!
just made coffee come out of my nose.. i just got PWN'D.....
LIVE FO RETSINIM wrote:I play bass with a my fingers and I play bass with a pick. Bottom line is, I pwn every one of you at the bass, and I don't even really play the bass. Sometimes I will pwn with a pick just to pwn you, and then other times I will just start pwning with my fingers like crazy just to show how much I can pwn. I don't mean to show off, it's just when you bass pwning is so mighty as mine is, you can't help it. Yeah, wake me up when you got a real problem.
real bass players play with real fingers,bassists who use picks are wanna-be guitar players.in fact eveyone is a wanna-be guitar player,except guitar players.just how gay does BASS-HERO sound?
gunther wrote:real bass players play with real fingers,bassists who use picks are wanna-be guitar players.in fact eveyone is a wanna-be guitar player,except guitar players.just how gay does BASS-HERO sound?
Typical elitist rant, right there.
I go for the best sound. Most of the time fingers get just that, but sometimes it takes a pick. I don't care what you, or anyone else thinks about what I do.
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