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Pick or fingers?

AthenasGhost	Date: May 15, 2006 @ 11:30 PM Always my finger, mind you, I am used to a pick, but I only play bass in jazz band, i'm not allowed to use a pick, unless it's a really fast song.
mattbanx	Date: May 16, 2006 @ 3:06 AM Both! I tend to use a pick with the faster songs myself too. I often play the electric guitar with my fingers.
Britmick	Date: May 20, 2006 @ 7:29 PM Blimey this really stired up some response eh?. OK as a bass player for over 30yrs I think I have some valid comments. Pick is as fast as fingers, it depends on style. Sound is the main thing here I think, it will depend on other factors though, amp, speakers, the bass itself and of course strings. I use pick mostly, sometimes both at the same time, sometimes just fingers, it really does depend on the song and what feel you need to give it. As a bass player you don't ever play the bass.....you feel it. It IS a feel instrument. So many aspects of the instrument are never touched upon, they are just taken for granted by those who have natural ability. Bass players are born and a breed apart. It's not what you play....it's what you dont play. To all my fellow bass players, male and female..... Groove on.
HerSweetSoli...	Date: May 24, 2006 @ 9:27 AM Eh... I couldn't really imagine playing without a pick. It's just how I began learning. I don't play bass, but when I go to my guitar lessons I take em' off the wall and mess with them. I try playing with my fingers on my guitar... It just hurts me. =/ I'm probably doing it wrong... But when I try it just doesn't sound right. XD
EvilPicnic	Date: May 24, 2006 @ 9:30 AM Any technique sounds shit the first time you try it; it's only through practising you find the sound you want.
Opossum	Date: May 29, 2006 @ 1:04 PM I've never used a pick on a bass, ever. That's probably why my fingers are sometimes five different colors...yellow, blue, green, purple, and red. Seriously.
zedsalt	Date: May 30, 2006 @ 11:02 AM Of course, as an opossom, you have the benefit of opposable thumbs on your back limbs as well.
Opossum	Date: May 30, 2006 @ 12:48 PM
GeneHilbert	Date: May 30, 2006 @ 1:05 PM Hey didn't you use to play for Ratt......?
Opossum	Date: May 31, 2006 @ 11:15 AM Actually, my half-brother goes by Rat (short for Muskrat), so technically...yeah...
Opossum	Date: May 31, 2006 @ 11:19 AM ...Or techincally no, depending on what meaning you assign to "technically"...
zedsalt	Date: June 1, 2006 @ 11:11 AM On CSI:NY last p.m., they had a story about a guy who was found dead with a dummy cartridge, a pick, and a whole lotta glue in his throat. One of the forensic experts identified the pick as being that of a bass player, and they canvassed local music stores to find basses that had just been brought in for repair. They confiscated a really sweet Warrick, a Fender Jazz, and a Danelectro. I thought for SURE it was the Danny. I mean, playing with a pick for a clicky-clack sound, it's gotta be the Danny, right? Nope, it was the War. At the end of the episode, they had Sinise playing bass in a jazz club, doin' "Blue Skies". It looked like he was actually playing it.
hate9wicket	Date: June 1, 2006 @ 12:08 PM http://www.ltdanband.com/ yep, really
OfficialFSsite	Date: June 1, 2006 @ 12:13 PM definetley fingers. it lets you move around the bass/switch strings faster...idk
JamesThomson	Date: June 5, 2006 @ 7:22 PM I use a pick but that's because I'm crap with walking bass but i don't play much bass anyway.
Opossum	Date: June 6, 2006 @ 1:27 AM The only way I could play bass with a pick is if I superglued it to my finger...
Joeymarshmallow	Date: June 15, 2006 @ 2:54 PM There's rarely a good time to use a pick on bass, you get a nicer, more whole tone with your fingers. And you should be able to play just as fast with your fingers as with a pick, you can use three fingers if needed.
MindlessFreak	Date: August 14, 2007 @ 3:57 PM dude ... no one fuckin uses picks... seriously... thats the pussy way to play!! i only play with my fingers (haha ...that iddnt sound rigth) lol.
leedsquietman	Date: August 14, 2007 @ 5:12 PM Plenty of people use picks. Most beginners tend to use picks. I mostly use fingers but if I want that stabby short decay sound that is prominent on punk/pop punk stuff like The Ramones or dum-dum-dum-dum on the beat stuff, I might opt for a pick. It's easier to record a bass with a pick as it's tone lays down better on the recording. But playing bass with fingers gives more expression. I keep my mind open and use whatever gets the job done but that's fingers about 85% of the time.
ChillinBuzz	Date: August 14, 2007 @ 5:25 PM When I played bass live for the first time in 1992, I used my fingers although I'd practiced a lot for a few years with picks, for that harder edge sound. Also, I found it easier to play rapidly with a pick, strangely enough, never had the finger movement like Steve Harris from Iron Maiden. Later bands I was split, some songs I used the pick, again for a harder edge, then switched back to fingers as I got more confident (and played more funk and reggae). Nowadays I rarely use a pick on either a bass or an electric.
NickSawyer	Date: August 14, 2007 @ 10:30 PM pick or fingers... ooh tough one... oh, wait, I don't play guitar though

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