"Real bass players don't use picks"

[Lewmorg]

I use both. Separately of course. If it sounds good can't see the problem personally :S

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1340023449' post='1697719']
Apologies Coilte, not singling you out on purpose to make that point. Wouldn't be the first time my sense of humour didn't come across well.

My genuine opinion is that playing any instrument in any way is valid as long as it makes the sound that's desired. As for who is more important in a band- every role is important and should be respected as such.

My feeling is that folks who think bass should have four strings and be played with fingers in a subordinant role are missing the point of music in general. Music (and instruments) are in a constant state of evolution. To have the progress of that evolution stop at a certain point seems redundant to me and shows up a particular characteristic about someone that I really don't like.

Like Frank Zappa said - a mind is like a parachute. It only works if it's open.
[/quote]

I agree, absolutely. I think some people worry that "traditional" music is under threat from these new fangled 12 string basses or whatever. I couldn't agree less with that myself; you still have people playing concertos from 1756 in their orchestras. There is no reason you can't choose to play bass in the "traditional" way (IE the 1950s sort of way) but equally, there are going to be people who want to push the boundaries.

[Samashton12]

Macca used a pick, i play exclusively with a pick because i love the tone i get. Jared Followill is a mainly pick player too..

[Telebass]

I'm one of those who cannot use a pick, have never even tried, mainly because I think the sound you get from a pick is crap, basically. I do use one on one song, Ace iof Spades, because it really, really wouldn't be right without one, and in all honesty, I could not do it justice with my fingers.
Having said all that, one of my favourite bassmen is Joe Osborn, who sounds great despite doing it ALL wrong. Pick, flats, Jazz Bass. All wrong. But his lines are sublime, and I love a great deal of the Carpenters music for that reason.
But I have met him some of the way toward the middle - I only play flats now!
As an example of why I hate, hate, HATE the technique, I refer you to 'Let's Go to San Francisco' by The Flowerpot Men. Aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh! And it was played, horrifyingly, by none other that John Paul Jones!
I rest my case, in my case.
However, the point is that you play with what you play with, whatever works for you. No different from one's taste in basses.
I hate fancy coffee-table basses, but if that's your definition of a good instrument, so be it. And so on...

Edited June 18, 2012 by Telebass

[Skol303]

It's all horses for courses, surely?

I don't use a pick - I prefer the tone of playing without and to be honest find pick work clumsy. But that's my own failing not a comment on using a pick generally.

Certain genres of music demand the 'clacky' pick sound; Lemmy and the likes of Rob Wright (NoMeansNo) spring to mind.

[risingson]

[quote name='Samashton12' timestamp='1340044694' post='1698246']
Macca used a pick, i play exclusively with a pick because i love the tone i get. Jared Followill is a mainly pick player too..
[/quote]

Refreshing to see Jared Followill as a key influence! Some of his newer bass parts have been really interesting.

[bertbass]

Played finger style for years but the band I was in at the time started writing songs that required some seriously fast playing and it was getting hard work trying to keep up so I tried a pick. What a revelation, a bright sound with loads of attack, loved it. Played with a pick ever since.

[lettsguitars]

A pick is sometimes necessary for certain styles where dynamics aren't important. Real guitarists dont use picks either you know.

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1340035983' post='1698024']
I agree, absolutely. I think some people worry that "traditional" music is under threat from these new fangled 12 string basses or whatever. I couldn't agree less with that myself; you still have people playing concertos from 1756 in their orchestras. There is no reason you can't choose to play bass in the "traditional" way (IE the 1950s sort of way) but equally, there are going to be people who want to push the boundaries.
[/quote]

I like that something that was new and controversial in the 1950s is now venerable enough to be 'traditional'. I wonder if old rockers who say 'slap is not proper bass playing' see the irony?

Picks, can't be doing with them myself but I do like the sound Carol Kaye gets on Pet Sounds a lot, the pick attack really contributes to the overall production. Don't like bad, guitar-style pick playing, all muddy and with poor muting ie the kind you get at jam nights where there are 700 guitarists and not enough bassists.

[BassTractor]

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1340060996' post='1698663']bad, guitar-style pick playing, all muddy and with poor muting[/quote]

Innersting! Could you tell more about that? Are you referring to the typical sound amateurs produce when strumming chords with picks? Something else? How would that translate into bass playing? I get the poor muting part, but not the muddy part.
If you do answer: noob level please.

[discreet]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1340059443' post='1698636']
A pick is sometimes necessary for certain styles where dynamics aren't important.[/quote]

OK, I'll rise to the bait! I use a pick exclusively and have no problem whatsoever with dynamics.
Ultimately it's what you're used to, I suppose.

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1340047444' post='1698319']
As an example of why I hate, hate, HATE the technique, I refer you to 'Let's Go to San Francisco' by The Flowerpot Men. Aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh! And it was played, horrifyingly, by none other that John Paul Jones![/quote]

Funny old world, because I love that song to death, in part for the bass.

For me, Jonesy's sound on this track is the epitome of that 60's plimpy-plump tonal cliche and it never fails to make me smile. The unaligned may judge for themselves at 1:14 - 1:38 and 2:20 - 2:40

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr5WDhPtFys[/media]

[color=#ffffff].[/color]

Edited June 19, 2012 by skankdelvar

[SlapbassSteve]

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1339794827' post='1694654']
Mostly just 15 year old kids who think just because they have learned how to play their favourite Mark King song using just their fingers, it means they are the best bass player who has ever lived and everyone who uses a bit of plastic must therefore be inferior. Do you think any of these dickheads have ever tried using a pick for any length of time? Maybe if they did, they would realise that it actually does wear out your hand, trying to play fast and accurately on just one string. Picks aren't just for pussies or failed guitarists. I use a pick maybe about 75% of the time. I try to let the music dictate what I play, rather than just because that's what my favourite fret-****** does...

/rant.
[/quote]



Haha, that was me when I started! There was a time I'd watch someone playing live and judge them if they didn't slap at all, because of course if couldn't don't see someone do an epic slapbass solo in the middle of a set of 90's rock covers they therefore must've been incapable of doing so and therefore must be inferior...oh dear.

Grown up a tad since then(or so I like to think), and am now in a covers band using fingers, plectrum, occasional cheeky bit of slap and also in a couple of places a reggae/Marcus Miller-style thumb/palm mute technique over the course of a set. It's all a means to an end and depends what you're doing and the degree of genre authenticity(knew degree level music would come in handy at some point!) you want to bring to the party! I also think recording technology has developed to such an extent now that it makes more of a difference then ever before how sound is produced, as the tone and attack aren't lost under a tonne of analogue hiss, so it's important to find your own sound, if a pick does that best then so be it.

...However a bass is considerably easier to play the last chorus of Dakota on behind your head with fingers, I tend to drop my pick just before!

[Telebass]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1340059443' post='1698636']
Real guitarists dont use picks either you know.
[/quote]

Aha! Nice one!

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1340060996' post='1698663']
I like that something that was new and controversial in the 1950s is now venerable enough to be 'traditional'. I wonder if old rockers who say 'slap is not proper bass playing' see the irony?
[/quote]

That is it, exactly! Hence the quotation marks around "traditional" and everything like that.

[Samashton12]

[quote name='risingson' timestamp='1340056188' post='1698536']
Refreshing to see Jared Followill as a key influence! Some of his newer bass parts have been really interesting.
[/quote]

Thanks man

[D.I. Joe]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1340059443' post='1698636']
A pick is sometimes necessary for certain styles where dynamics aren't important.
[/quote]

Dynamics are always important! If you can't play quietly with a pick then you can't be a real bass player...

[Gust0o]

Just avoid looking at Youtube comments, and the rage should pass shortly. They're full of bawbags.

[BigRedX]

All I can say is that from the comments I've seen here, some of you must have to put up with some real sorry excuses for "musicians".

Never in the 35+ years that I've been playing in bands have I come across any of these small-minded prejudices form my various fellow band members. Occasionally, I hear stuff from people in other bands, and then I'm thankful that I'm in the band that I'm in and not in a band with them.

Remember these idiots only exist outside of their bedrooms because other musicians put up with them.

[Samashton12]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1340102563' post='1699003']
Remember these idiots only exist outside of their bedrooms because other musicians put up with them.
[/quote]

+462

[KevB]

Never got the whole 'fingers only' argument and I've had a few interesting discussions with far more talented players than me about it. I'd say I wasn't a 'real' bass player if I wasn't playing with other musicians to be more pertinet than what method I happen to employ to make a string vibrate.

[D-L-B]

I haven't read the entire thread so I may be repeating somebody else.
I've always thought that by deliberately limiting the techniques and resultant tones available to you when playing you're limiting yourself as a player. Simple.

I imagine there must be some kind of childish competitive angle on it whereby it's far easier to compare yourself to others when what you're comparing is whittled down to a very specific element.

[phil.i.stein]

[size=5][b]buy this man's LP ^^^^^^^ ![/b][/size]

i just did. it kills.

[url="http://alphamaleteaparty.bandcamp.com/"]http://alphamaleteaparty.bandcamp.com/[/url]

Edited June 19, 2012 by phil.i.stein

[BassTractor]

I'm dead. Goodbye.

[dave_bass5]

I use my fingers to hold the pick, so im real and multi talented lol.

I do use a pick 98% of the time when playing live. I just cant get up to speed without it but at home i never use a pick.

To be honest i dont always like the tone i get from a pick, but is what im most comfortable doing.