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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 5:41 pm
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i only play with my fingers, but that is because thats the only way ive ever tried. the few times that i have attempted a pick i was extremely slow and not that accurate with it, so ive just always stuck to fingers. i would say it mostly depends on your sound and all but i would still choose fingers.

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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 12:42 pm
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Having played guitar for most of my life, playing bass comes with a pick in hand however I like to be as varied as possible. It really depends on what type of music im playing. I've found that when I'm playing with the band im in I will switch between pick and thumb, just tuck the pick into the palm of my hand for the mellow parts of the tune. When I play with a pick I'm mostly palm muting as well, it's just more natual that way for me. When I'm playing session gigs especially for Musical Theatre it's almost always fingers or thumb.

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Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:12 pm
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always finger :!: :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:


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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:12 pm
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Pick 90% of the time. The growl I get with the pick is the sound I've always had in my head. Fingers for the slow, sappy tunes. :lol:


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Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 2:13 pm
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depends on what im playing... if its fast i mostly use my fingers... but most of the time i use a pick ... i pick down near the end


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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 11:41 am
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Do yourself a favor and become proficient in both. I prefer a pick, but i can easily play both ways.



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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 3:43 pm
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fingers - 99.9% of the time
pick - .01%, only when I want that plunky sound, or playing Robert Smith Bass VI style melodies
I like the plunky sound (tic-tac) alot, don't get me wrong.


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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:31 pm
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I use my fingers because I can get a lot more sounds instead of using the pick . I can even get a pick sound using my fingernails just like Geddy Lee . I'm much faster with my fingers and have more control over dynamics . But if I'm asked to use a pick I'll use it .

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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 6:24 am
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Honestly, I like using both methods, but for better sound quality (for me at least) a pick is best to use.


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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 2:18 pm
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I use 2 fingers sometimes 3 if i cant be bothered to gallop with 2 but i used to use a pick when i started and now i cant stand playin with a pick and i hate watching ppl play with a pick unless if there lemmy or someone awesome.


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Post subject: HI
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:53 pm
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I think that the finger is better

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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:54 pm
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jlarocho wrote:
I use my fingers because I can get a lot more sounds instead of using the pick . I can even get a pick sound using my fingernails just like Geddy Lee . I'm much faster with my fingers and have more control over dynamics . But if I'm asked to use a pick I'll use it .


Hear hear, the control over dynamics is what most people do. Sound comes from amp adjustment. Dynamic control is what you do to keep time while playing the bass.

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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 5:04 pm
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I play the bass with my fingers and/or thumb not with a pick. I've seen magnificent players that play with a pick. Eddie Jackson plays with fingers mostly but also plays with a pick sometimes and you can't tell the difference.

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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:47 pm
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With my fretless P, it's fingers 99.9% of the time but I probably use a pick around 25% of the time with the 5 string (fretted) J. Using a pick was highly frowned on back when I was taking lessons in the mid-60s but nowadays, you should master using one on at least some tunes. It adds interest and there are certain sounds that are easier to "get" that way.

I've long since dropped any traditionalist objection to a pick and mostly use fingers because I inherently prefer deeper and more mellow sounds.

Then too, I probably only use a pick 65% of the time when playing electric 6 string. The flatter tone is just a personal preference all around.


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Post subject: Re: Pick or finger???
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:01 pm
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edsmyth wrote:
I have used both and prefer the basic two finger techinique but I've got to admit that the pick provides more punch and is probably better for certain applications. Remember, one of the great early bassists, Carol Cane from the motown sessions band, used a pick almost exclusively


Let's clear up a couple of things right now because this erroneous post is how misinformation gets out on the Internet.

1. I believe you are referring to Carol Kaye who is the First Lady Of Bass and not to Carol Cane who is an actress.
2. Carol Kaye was a first call session bassist in Los Angeles working mostly with ace drummer Hal Blaine and the loose collection of session musicians that became known later as "The Wrecking Crew." This cadre of studio cats cut the majority of the Top 40 music heard on the radio in the 60's and 70's. If it came out of L.A. the Wrecking Crew was probably the instrumentalists. The rest of 60's and 70's music was mostly Detroit Motown, Memphis Stax-Volt, miscellaneous NYC sessions and British Invasion music in the 60's with Philly stuff added in during the 70's.
3. Carol Kaye was not in the "Motown sessions band." James L. Jamerson was the bassist in "The Funk Brothers" who were the Motown house band during Motown's Detroit era and was the only member of the Funk Brothers to relocate to L.A. with Motown.
4. Carol Kaye and other Wrecking Crew musicians did play bass on a few Motown tracks that were recorded in L.A. prior to Motown's move to L.A. Other bassists also played on some of the L.A. Motown sessions. Most of these tracks prior to Motown's relocation to L.A. were not the original hit recordings, but remakes such as when the Temptations covered a song that was a hit for Marvin Gaye in order to fill up their album with songs published through Jobete which was the publishing house owned by Motown's Berry Gordy. Motown did that a lot. Also Ms. Kaye along with the Wrecking Crew did some bass tracks for Motown television specials. Some of the Motown L.A. recordings done before Motown's L.A. move were recorded as "demos" that were ultimately released fronted by the star artist. If you've ever seen the "Snakepit" at Motown's Detroit Hitsville USA studios you'll know that you couldn't fit an orchestra in there.
5. Carol Kaye's most significant contributions to popular music have nothing much to do with Motown. Carol Kaye did over 10,000 bass tracks including much of the Beach Boys catalog including the entire "Pet Sounds" album. In addition she was the bassist on the Monkees recordings, the Grass Roots, the Phil Spector Righteous Brothers sessions, Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls, Glenn Campbell (who was a breakout Wrecking Crew member), Sonny & Cher, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Ike & Tina Turner, Herb Alpert (another Wrecking Crew alumni), Issac Hayes "SHAFT" soundtrack including co-author credit on "THEME FROM SHAFT," the original "Pink Panther" soundtrack for Henry Mancini, multiple TV soundtracks including "Ironsides," "Mission Impossible," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," and many more. A more complete list of her recordings is here: http://www.carolkaye.com/www/library/index.htm Ms. Kaye never played with her fingers ever. She always played with a pick. A very, very think pick.
6. She is the most recorded bassist of all time, not just one of the "great early bassists." And she is probably the best bass instructor you could EVER hope to have. I've learned more about playing bass from Carol Kaye than from all other sources COMBINED!

I buy and use her picks. I like them pretty good, but I play mostly finger-style! In spite of the fact that I learned so much from her most of what I play is more Duck Dunn and James Jamerson stuff. I might play with a pick every now and then on some pop songs. I can go months without using one. But sometimes I'll pick one up and give it a whirl. Just because I find Ms. Kaye a huge inspiration and the best instructor ever, it does not mean I have to copy her. I have to find my OWN way.

Ms. Kaye came from a Bebop Jazz guitar background playing with a pick and wound up filling in on Electric Bass (then called Fender Bass) when the bassist called for a session failed to show up. She nailed the bass part and was hooked. The rest is musical history. For about 98% of those 10,000 plus bass tracks she played a FENDER PRECISION BASS. The other 1% was a brief experiment with a Gibson Ripper and an early Dan Electro used for special applications only. She now endorses Ibanez and plays their SRX700 through GK amps. Her recording session days ended abruptly following a severe car accident which injured her so severely that she was unable to play for many years. She turned to instructing bass and was bass instructor at the Henry Mancini School of Music at UCLA for a great while in addition to tutoring students like me and many much more famous and successful bassists.

I wanted to set the record straight about Carol Kaye and James L. Jamerson because Ms. Kaye and Mr. Jamerson are too important to American music history and to the Precision Bass legacy to have misinformation about them appear within the Fender Precision Forum.

Thanks for letting me set the record straight.
Brother Dave


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