Eight Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 I'm more of a fingers guy really.. but I've been doing a fair bit of plec playing recently. Just switched to a heavier pick but *it* makes horrible scraping noises when I pluck a string. Obviously there's something wrong with my technique i.e. striking the string at the wrong angle... but I can't quite see what I'm doing wrong. Short of twisting my picking hand uncomfortably to ensure the plec makes contact in a perpendicular motion, I can't figure out what's up. I thought I'd fixed these issues a while ago but the heavier plec reveals otherwise. Are there any common causes for this that I can look into? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 (edited) Sorry, its not an answer but have you tried going the other way and playing with a very bendy pick? I use these Aliens (in medium size) and find them extremely fast and totally quiet. I am guessing from your liking of Nikki Sixx and Blackie Lawless that you are not a jazzer ( ) and that you probably play RAWWWKKKK. Well I play in a pretty fast punk band and these work brilliantly for me (waynepunkdude rates another bendy type of pick, can't remember which though). At 50p a pop its not a painful experiment if its doesn't work out! [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/299-alien_ebe_glow_in_the_dark_guitar_picks_medium_heavy_"]http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/29...s_medium_heavy_[/url] Edited September 4, 2009 by Clarky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 (edited) I've just come from using Plectro picks (similar to the blue pointed one here, but the "bass" ones are black) Which are quite bendy. Got on ok with them but felt a bit more in control with the harder pick. I don't know really... I should probably go back to using softer plecs (might order some of those Aliens that you suggested) rather than fight this. Edit: Forgot to say, , Ja, bang on about not being a jazzer. Edited September 4, 2009 by Eight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Are you sure that your holding the pick right? How you rotate the pick as needed and bend your thumb/ fingers you should be ok unless your wrist motion is way off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 [quote name='charic' post='590006' date='Sep 4 2009, 06:38 PM']Are you sure that your holding the pick right? How you rotate the pick as needed and bend your thumb/ fingers you should be ok unless your wrist motion is way off.[/quote] Now that you've said it... I'm not sure. I hold it the way I used to as a kid (playing guitar) - what I tend to call Leopard style (like kung fu). But I could have it wrong... something to double check. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 a long while back someone posted a link related to holding a pick and wrist motion. I cnt recall what it was called though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 I think you could be right on this one. Just been and had a quick play for a few minutes trying different things... With the way I traditionally hold the plec, all angling of the plectrum has to come from my wrist. Hard to describe but my thumb is essentially locked straight in place (which I' always got away with on guitar but obviously not on bass). Whereas with a few adjustments I start to be able to add/remove angle with the thumb. Definitely getting less scraping by doing that. Not sure yet what's right (or right for me at least) but it's definitely interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eight Posted September 5, 2009 Author Share Posted September 5, 2009 Oh grief - this is going to take a lot of hard work to sort out. I've just discovered that another part of the problem is my picking motion. Mainly on upstrokes I have a tendency to actually lift the pick up slightly (in a direction heading away from the string + bass body) as it comes into contact. So before the note sounds there's a split-second where the pick is scraping instead of plucking. It's a good job I prefer fingerstyle anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 pick playing on here every so often gets the usual grief. Few seem to realise the amount of work that goes into getting everything right. theres a lot of tonal versatility that can come from just altering your picking style. Good luck with sorting it out. Heres some songs I particularly enjoy with a pick: black lung: rancid face down in the dirt: motley crue screamager: rancid and the real me : the who all great fun. Rancid is particularly good for technique imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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