How often do you use a pick?

Pick one.

  • Picks are for guitars and teeth. Fingers are my only weapon.

    Votes: 123 27.8%

  • I use a pick every once in a while. Maybe 5-10% of the time.

    Votes: 129 29.1%

  • Picks are okay. I use them 20-30% of the time when the song requires it.

    Votes: 70 15.8%

  • Six of one, half-dozen of the other. I finger half the time, and pick half the time.

    Votes: 54 12.2%

  • I like using picks. I use them 70-80% of the time.

    Votes: 20 4.5%

  • I normally play with picks, but I'll use my fingers 5-10% of the time.

    Votes: 22 5.0%

  • What? I can't hear you. Try using a pick, like I do. If I'm playing, I'm picking.

    Votes: 25 5.6%
  • Total voters
    443
#62
I use a pick when I can but really don't do it well. Hurts my wrist. I can play some pick tunes OK but I doubt I'll ever master "Got The Time" by Joe Jackson or "Footloose" or maybe even "For The Love Of Money" with a pick.

BBB
 
#63
JRA said:
i voted, "i use a pick every once in a while. maybe 5-10% of the time," although it's probably <1% of the time: studio/recording settings for effect.

not gonna lie = i'd use a pick more frequently if i was better at using it. :) i only want to play 'pick' like bobby vega! :drool: :thumbsup: :bassist:

Click to expand...


It's <1% for me too, but I voted not using a pick as it's well under 5%.
 
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#64
For a while, playing guitar in a band, I used a pick. Normally, I'd strum guitar using my fingers and nails, but I was playing guitar more due to being in a band playing guitar and it was simply wearing out by fingernails. Even armouring them with nail varnish wasn't effective. So I bought a dozen picks between .46 and about .89mm. This was 30 years ago, and I still have almost half of them. I've gone back to playing guitar entirely with fingers. About the only thing I can't do that way is pinched harmonics, but it's not the 90s any more so I don't really need to get that sound anyway.
 
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#66
I hate picks as much as I hate non-amplified acoustic guitars. Meuh…………

The right answer though should be "when the song calls for it" or "when the original version has been played with a pick".

Did I mention I hate picks ?

Instead, I now have 6 basses in my arsenal so when I need the edge a pick can bring for a specific song, I pick………I mean I choose the right one that is edgy enough to fake the attack of a pick.

So with the options I have now, I can play White wedding from Billy Idol without a pick and it sounds very close to the original version played with a pick.

The bright switch on my Mesa Subway D350 amp also helps.
 
#67
I play with a pick about 80-90% of the time. Now that I'm dialled in for it I think it generally sounds better for the stuff I'm playing.

That said, my fingerstyle has started to get sloppy and I find that kinda concerning.
 
#71
I believe that the last time I used a pick to play bass was somewhere around '83.

While many of my favourite players from Sir Paul to Steve Swallow are "pick players" I never really warmed up to the concept. Even my electric guitars are played fingerstyle 90% of the time.

To each their own.
 
#72
I like the pick, and I have messed around with it enough to know that it would take me time to get good with it, and I just don't want to spend the time doing that at this stage. I revamped my whole right hand technique over the last few years, and spending time on the pick isn't very appealing to me, at least right now.
 
#74
When the song calls for it. (Coverband, maybe 5% or less).

Didnt see that as an option, I guess 5-10% would be closest. The poll looks like it's set up for when people like to use a pick, I use it when it's called for, if that makes sense.


T$
 
#75
For the first many years, always, then sometimes, as for most recent years, rarely.

I just prefer the tone I get with my fingers, but if I needed that unique snappy emphasis of the attack that only using a pick will do, I wouldn't hesitate to do so.

I don't always use a pick, but when I do it is a Dunlop Tortex .060mm.
 
#78
I pick most all of the time. It makes my attacks rock solid or when playing staccato.
I do use my fingers if I need a softer sound. I'm comfortable with both. It's just my preference.
I was in a band for 3 years before anyone noticed that I picked. I watched myself in videos, and it's not obvious.
 
#79
I’m equally good with a pick and my fingers/hands (have played guitar and bass for 30+ years) Prefer my fingers on bass because of the extra muting and subtleties I can do. But while some songs really need a pick to sound legit, (for gigging) there’s the practical aspect of not wearing out your fingers chugging away at songs that we’re originally played with a pick.
 
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#80
Trying to teach myself to use a pick, so that I have that tool in my toolbox when needed.

Am more comfortable with fingers, because I started playing BG like that, and played that most of the time, years ago. It also doesn't require extra equipment, which is nice.

Even so, I'm forcing myself to practice with a pick almost as much as I do with fingers. I want to be proficient at both. To me it's part of being a complete bassist. I believe that working past discomfort and awkwardness should occur during practice, because that's how you learn. If everything is easy and goes perfectly, to me it's not a useful practice session.

Getting a proper pick has helped. My old picks were a Fender medium (under 1mm thickness) and some other brand in 0.96mm. Yesterday I got some Dunlop Big Stubby 3.0mm picks. Seems easier to pick mo' better with the much thicker pick.
 
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