Bass - Pick vs. Fingers Shitstorm

Lumpy · February 13, 2015, 07:47:31 PM

I'm a finger-picker and previously never cared to learn pick style, but I can see it would be better if I could do both. I don't understand some peoples' complete dismissal of pick players. YES, you can pretty much do anything with your fingers that you can do with a pick (but maybe not easily). And vice-versa. Cannibal Corpse guy plays thrashy metal with his fingers... Carol Kaye plays funky stuff with a felt pick. However, there are many situations where playing with a pick would be preferable, IMO. Fast metal, punk, anything fast and repetitious might be easier to play with a pick, and fingers have no advantage. Why deny it? (Nobody talks this way about guitar players, BTW... only bass players get criticized for using a pick).

Check out the isolated bass track from "Run to the Hills". Steve Harris is a bass god, but - I'm sorry - this bass track would be better with a pick. Any dynamic advantage that fingers offer (subtle variations in volume, attack, making the music seem more human, alive etc) are wasted on this song. You want steady repetitive hammering on this kind of music.

That's right, I just said Steve Harris would be a better bass player if he played with a pick.

Lumpy · February 13, 2015, 07:55:07 PM

Keith Brammer of Die Kreuzen

Darryl Jennifer of Bad Brains

Etc.

RacerX · February 13, 2015, 08:54:28 PM

Quote from: Lumpy on February 13, 2015, 07:47:31 PM
That's right, I just said Steve Harris would be a better bass player if he played with a pick.

That's sticking your neck out, alright...

RAGER · February 13, 2015, 10:46:24 PM

One of my all time favorite bass sounds is Dave Curran so.....

mortlock · February 14, 2015, 01:03:11 AM

its is an electric bass guitar. it is an electric guitar built for the bass range. technically it can be played either way, much like there are many classical guitar players who finger pick.

liquidsmoke · February 14, 2015, 04:15:09 AM

Both styles are great but I will say that for faster stuff and for metal I prefer a pick.

It's interesting to hear Harris isolated. A pick probably would sound better but in the mix his finger style is fine.

khoomeizhi · February 14, 2015, 08:33:04 AM

ever since i cut the tendons on two of my right-hand fingers, i don't have as much finger control in enough/appropriate fingers for it to be a reliable way to play. missing some nerves there too, which doesn't help. i had been 'mainly pick' beforehand anyway, just kinda sealed the deal. jeez, it's been almost 16 years.

Pissy · February 14, 2015, 08:47:29 AM

it serves well to be able to do both. I've noticed that I have a tough time with finger plucking being even across both my plucking fingers. my middle finger being more intense. I am almost exclusively a finger player, it's just the way I learned, and I have a tough time playing with a pick because my wrist angle is weird. It's like I need to adjust my ride height to play with a pick to get the angle of attack to where it's comfortable.

eyeprod · February 14, 2015, 12:03:47 PM

I like this just fine. There are dynamics, but yeah they might be a bit wasted on this song. Still, the end result sounds good, so I find it nice to hear a guy like him also plays a little sloppy when it comes down to it. Human.

I do not agree, however, that this would be better with a pick. It would sound too stiff. Part of their sound, a big part, is his bass. Just wouldn't be the same. Not even close, and I suspect that it would be pretty lame if played with a pick because you'd probably lose that "just slightly off" syncopation and in it's place would be too tight of a percussion sound that would not work as well with the guitars.

I play mainly with fingers, but use a pick for super repetetive single note punk type stuff. I also play guitar with fingers a fair amount of the time and have done so for around 20 years. Knowing both keeps you well rounded, but most guitarists don't take the time to learn. Fingers definitely have a great sound, in any case.

liquidsmoke · February 14, 2015, 03:58:36 PM

Quote from: eyeprod on February 14, 2015, 12:03:47 PM
I like this just fine. There are dynamics, but yeah they might be a bit wasted on this song. Still, the end result sounds good, so I find it nice to hear a guy like him also plays a little sloppy when it comes down to it. Human.

I do not agree, however, that this would be better with a pick. It would sound too stiff. Part of their sound, a big part, is his bass. Just wouldn't be the same. Not even close, and I suspect that it would be pretty lame if played with a pick because you'd probably lose that "just slightly off" syncopation and in it's place would be too tight of a percussion sound that would not work as well with the guitars.

He'd sound fine with a pick but you make a good case. He's been killing it for over 35 years using finger style... while literally running around on stage. God damn Iron Maiden rules.

VOLVO))) · February 14, 2015, 04:56:14 PM

Definitely a finger player, and finger-style lover.

Mr. Foxen · February 14, 2015, 06:51:26 PM

I play air bass with an air pick. But when I actually play bass its all fingers and thumb. Keep intending to get pick playing down, but basically every time I drop it, I switch to fingers and never pick it up again.

lordfinesse · February 15, 2015, 12:18:02 AM

I think both pick and fingers have their place.

And yeah, for rock bass it really gets no better than Steve Harris. In piecing together a fantasy rock band of living musicians, he would be my choice for bass.

Beta Cloud · February 15, 2015, 01:11:22 AM

question-
What do a bass and a lawsuit have in common?

answer-
Everyone is relieved when the case is closed.

closest i could come to a shitstorm.
sorry.

Danny G · February 15, 2015, 12:28:03 PM

As a finger picker I get a little frustrated when bassists use a pick more out of laziness. But there is no right or wrong way.

Plenty of awesome players use a pick. Dug Pinnick, Mel Schacher, Carol Kaye etc

Dangling Fury · February 15, 2015, 12:54:58 PM

I believe John Paul Jones uses both and he said he views the pick in a similar way that guitar players view the volume pedal.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

RacerX · February 15, 2015, 01:00:47 PM

That bouncy Ramones style Punk bass stuff always sounds good with a pick—lotsa definition.

Lumpy · February 15, 2015, 05:15:35 PM

Quote from: RacerX on February 15, 2015, 01:00:47 PM
That bouncy Ramones style Punk bass stuff always sounds good with a pick—lotsa definition.

That's what I'm saying about the Steve Harris track. Bouncy is one of his 'things'. All the fingerstyle level and tone variations don't add anything positive to the sound. They don't hurt the mixed track because there's 37 other things happening with the other musicians. But solo'd, his track reveals some flaws.

RacerX · February 15, 2015, 06:36:42 PM

Quote from: Lumpy on February 15, 2015, 05:15:35 PM
Quote from: RacerX on February 15, 2015, 01:00:47 PM
That bouncy Ramones style Punk bass stuff always sounds good with a pick—lotsa definition.

That's what I'm saying about the Steve Harris track. Bouncy is one of his 'things'. All the fingerstyle level and tone variations don't add anything positive to the sound. They don't hurt the mixed track because there's 37 other things happening with the other musicians. But solo'd, his track reveals some flaws.

Rh, in the mix, it sits like a champ.

Besides, the Steve Harris gallop is different from the Dee Dee bounce.

eoin_not_ian · February 16, 2015, 04:35:58 PM

I don't care either way. I play with fingers because they are cheaper than buying picks.

Hagard · February 16, 2015, 08:12:50 PM

I use both it depends on whats best for the song

bbottom · February 18, 2015, 05:41:13 PM

I play with my fingers and I am horrible with a pick. It's only recently that I've been trying to play more with a pick. My guitar player says that I have "palsy hand"

The majority of my favorite bass players mainly play with a pick. In hindsight it's a bit odd that I didn't start out playing with one

spookstrickland · February 19, 2015, 08:16:13 PM

What about pick vs fingers on guitar to add to the shitstorm! I'm a finger man now because of tendonitits.

VOLVO))) · February 19, 2015, 08:22:28 PM

I do both. I also jack it with my opposite hand sometimes.

THE STRANGER.

BastardCthulhu · February 20, 2015, 07:09:08 AM

I use both, depending on the amount of fatigue I'm dealing with in my right arm...I may start out with a pick, until I lose all feeling in my hand. that results in me just flailing away and hoping I'm hitting the right string..then I go to the fingers, that allows my arm to relax a bit...then it's back to the pick. I've refined my fingerstyle to the point where I can attack the strings and make it sound like a pick...