hey pick players ?

[SKATE RAT]

well i was reading Uwe's T-bird challenge and all the talk about the Opti-grab got me thinking....................when i first started playing bass in the late 80's i was all about hardcore punk thrash.fast and hard.i played with a pick back by the bridge (Squier P) i broke strings pretty often. then in the 90's i explored my instrument (he,he,he)checked out all different types of music (jazz,soul,blues etc..)learned to play with my fingers which made me play with my bass lower.then i realized that i really just wanna play raw fast hardcore punk.i haven't played with my fingers in ten years! but still play it low but now i play between the neck and pup.i never go anywhere near the bridge.its too bright and tight back there.and i haven't broken a string in years.so my question is do you guys play by the bridge, in the middle,or up front like me.do you change picking position for different songs or styles? i'm just curious about picking styles..........i use green Dunlop picks and i use 'em once.i alternate pick really fast so i wear them out quick.

[pamlicojack]

I've never broken a string in nearly 25 years of playing with a pick and I play right off the bridge because it's more comfortable...

I only use my fingers for my upright.

[hieronymous]

I play with a pick 30-50% of the time. I like the D'Addario Delrins - regular plastic picks wear down to quick and leave plastic shavings all over the bass under the strings - I pick pretty hard too. I also prefer up by the neck - you get more low-end that way, though if you pick by the bridge you can compensate at the amp. I generally don't break strings, but I don't play out much either, and it's rare for me to play full-bore without a drummer alongside.

One of my new hobbies is collecting unusual picks. In Japan I bought a bone pick from France - it's very thick, and I wish I had also picked up an abalone one. I also found a pick made from petrified woolly mammoth tusk - I think that's my favorite, though I'm afraid to use it with roundwounds, I've only used it with flats - nice and FAT! It really sounds different with different materials. The guy who did that mammoth pick sent me some free wooden picks too, from cherry and walnut. They sound different too, though they are very soft - already wore one down playing on roundwounds for just a few minutes.

Oh yeah, I've also used Wedgie rubber picks, with flats mainly - totally different feel - sound I can't really say since I was most likely playing with fuzz and a Moog filter at the time. My newest pick is a Wegen pick - he doesn't say what kind of material he uses, but it's supposed to mimic tortoiseshell.

[SKATE RAT]

i had a metal pick but it sucked,though i know a guitar player who swears by them.i've also tried felt but they're just weird.

[Andrew]

I can play with my fingers because that's how I started playing, but I've been using a pick 100% of the time for years now. I also use the green dunlop picks. I always play over the pickup, and use either P-basses, jazz basses or Musicman basses most of the time. I do break strings, but I also pick pretty hard (maybe too hard, but that's my bad technique).

[Dave W]

Whether pick or fingers I never play near the bridge. Usually somewhere in the middle but it depends on the bass.

I've used different picks over the years, I've been using Dunlop nylon .88s for a while now.

[Bass VI]

Well if I'm going to be picky ( couldn't resist ) I play with the side of my palm resting on the bridge cover ( just about all of my basses have them ) and pick just ahead or over the bridge pickup. About the only time I pick towards the neck is if I'm doing a big chord "rake" at the end of a song. I've been using Dunlop Ultex picks for the last few years ( the goldish ones with the rhino on them ) in .88 or 1.0. I should add that they're the large rounded triangles not the more usual 351 shape, never could manage to hold on to a smaller pick.

S.

[Bert]

JD 2 mm and JD big stubby 3 mm picked above the neck pickup with my hand rested on the handrest or above the neck (of my Ricks). Last string I broke was in car accident. And I wasnt playing my bass then.

[ilan]

99% pick player since 1976. Dunlop 1mm nylon (black) or Carol Kaye's extra-heavy white picks, or Fender extra heavy. I play about 2" behind the neck, between the neck and the front pickup, palm anchored on the pickup cover. Except when I palm-mute. Haven't broken a string in more than 20 years.

[ramone57]

I use a pick (Fender medium) about 50% of the time, sometimes it just feels more comfortable.  only two broken strings is 30+ years, an A & G, while playing fingerstyle.

[godofthunder]

 I use Fender 346 extra heavy, thats all I can use ! For the most part my plam rests on the bridge but I do travel from the bridge to the butt of the neck for different sounds.

[lowend1]

I started as a pick player, using those felt picks - gradually, I incorporated fingerstyle. Currently, I use a pick about 40% of the time. When I do, the edge of my hand lays atop the bridge, with my ring and pinky fingers lightly curled under the G string for stability. I will slide my hand forward to mute, but I very rarely stray far from the bridge area. I typically use medium picks because I like a little "give". I love the Dunlop stuff, but I see them as a luxury since they cost so much more. Because I switch between pick and fingerstyle within a song sometimes, the pick frequently winds up on the floor or on top of my amp, and has a tendency to disappear - hence the frugality factor.
With my fingers, I don't restrict myself as much, but I still prefer to play on top of the bridge pickup, anchoring my thumb on it. I find it is easier to finger-mute (play ghost notes) there. For more wide-open Entwistilian stuff, I move towards the neck, sometimes playing on the fingerboard and anchoring my thumb on the edge of it.

[Basvarken]

When I started playing bass in a band (25 years ago ) I started with finger style playing. Coming from a classical background with a nylon string guitar playing arpeggios it felt natural for me to use all fingers on my right hand.
Plus Steve Harris was my hero back in those days, so I sort of copied his finger style playing.

It wasn't until I started a Thin Lizzy cover band back in 1992 that I learned myself to play with a pick. Phil Lynott had a very "even" almost pulsating style of playing. Songs like "Waiting For An Alibi" or "Cold Sweat" really forced me to practice the pick style.

Round about that time I sort of re-discovered the Dutch band Sweet 'd Buster with bass player Herman Deinum. This man is the King of the pick style playing as far as I'm concerned. Check out his bass playing in the song Manja.

I'm glad I learned how to play pick style because I still use it today.
I'd say it's 30% pick and 70% fingers these days.


I use heavy guitar picks. Dunlop 1.1 mm or similar.
And I roughen them by carving a few crossed lines on both sides. I have better grip this way. If I don't roughen them they tend to turn while playing.

[Barklessdog]

I use Carvin mediums. My old band's guitarist swore my stone picks, made of agate or something.

[TBird1958]

 Live and at rehearsal I'm a pick player 98% of the time, for most of our music I'm doing a rather furious downstroke using Dunlop .73's. I'm always very near the bridge and tend to want to keep my basses on a pretty short strap, I break strings E's and A's playing live on a consistant basis, so I try to cycle them at no more than 3 months on my "players"and ALWAYS take 2 basses to a show. Earlier this year we took a 3 show trip and I took the black 77 'Bird with me and played it 2 of the 3 nights, it had two week old strings on it at the time. After those 2 shows they were completely dead, lifeless junk.
 So............I play too hard, I break strings. I love my Thunderbirds