Electric Bass Players: Finger or Pick?

I know there are a couple of more options like tapping or bowing but I wanted to keep it simple.

I basically always play finger-style except for one song which is basicllay non-stop eighth notes in a very simple pattern.

I always played with fingers only, mostly jazz groups though if that matters.

What, no slap? :slight_smile:

I prefer fingers since that’s how I learned, but there are some things that just need a pick, fast songs or lines that require a really sharp tone that a pick can do better than a finger.

I’ll grab a pick every now and then when it’s called for, but I’m a finger style guy first.

I’d consider slap to be on the finger-style side of things. I can’t slap while holding a damn pick. :slight_smile:

Always fingers for me.

I use a pick only if my fingers are blistering or hurting.

I haven’t actually played in many years, but when I did it was always fingers, with exceptions for a few really fast songs.

I’m a complete klutz with a pick. I started on upright, so a pick didn’t even become an option for many years.

I use both, depends on the tone for the tune.

I don’t play, but I voted for my bass player ;). Fluent in both; great with a pick for balls-out punk and rock songs - the Ramones type stuff - but uses a pick for everything else…

So, he uses a pick for everything, but is only great with it for balls-out punk and rock? :smiley:

I learned bass fingerstyle, tried a pick a handful of times over the years and always hated how I lost my thumb “anchor” and intimate contact with the strings when using it. So, I’m a lousy pick player.

I can do both, but I use a pick most of the time (0.73mm Jim Dunlop Nylon). To my ear, finger style just doesn’t compare to the percussive attack of a pick and the nice, even note that follows it.

The main exception is when I’m trying for a sound more reminiscent of an upright bass. Then I play finger-style.

I prefer to use fingers, but as I double classical guitar and bass, I have to use a pick. I’m sure there’s a way to play bass without totaling your nails, but I’ve never done anything but wreck my nails trying to find it.

That’s interesting because at least for my fret hand, longer nails are much worse when I play guitar than bass. I can see the plucking hand can use longer nails, though.

:smack: …fingers for everything else…

Sorry, to clarify - on my left (fretting) hand, the fingernails are trimmed and filed to just below the quick, i.e. no white at all. On the right (plucking) hand, the nails are grown out from the pad of the fingertip by about 3 - 4 mm, and shaped to allow plucking of the strings from different angles for different tone colours. The strings on an electric bass are too thick and immobile for my guitarist’s nails, and I’ve yet to find the angle of attack that will allow me to play without smashing my nails to bits. I can play double bass with fingers or bow, as the angle is different, but short of putting the electric between my thighs and playing it like a cello, (never tried it; it might work.) I always use a pick or bust my nails.

Fingers only. I lost the taste for playing anything with a pick a while back, I like the control you get over your tone with your fingers a lot better. I can mimic the sound of a pick with my bare hand, but I can’t mimic the sound of my fingers with a pick.

I prefer finger picking, but like others here said, sometimes the song requires the pick tone. Since I also play regular 6-string too, I’m comfortable using the pick when I want to.

Fingers. The way it was *meant *to be played. :smiley:

Now, now. Next you’ll argue for fretless :wink: