No more pick jokes

[Bunk McNulty]

From an interview with Joe Osborn:

On switching from guitar to bass:
"...I was the new bass player. Still got the pick, lotta treble on the amp. I didn't know anything about playing the bass or what it's supposed to sound like. I got it where I thought it sounded just fine. I wanted to hear the notes instead of booming around. Some of the upright bass players and electric players who had converted from upright, were busy trying to get their new electric bass to sound like that. And I got a lot of flack playing this clicky sound with a pick. "Oh no! One thing you need to know," they were telling me. "It's that the bass needs to be felt and not heard." Well, that snowed me for a second, And I thought "Well, if I gotta do that, I can't do it, so forget that, this is what I like." I don't care whether it sounds like a bass or not. Sounds good to me! So I stuck with that, and it eventually proved to be good."

 

[Lance Bunyon]

So...no more pick jokes? Did the motion receive a second, and was the vote 2/3 quarum?
A guitar pick, a bass pick, and an icepick walk into a bar...

 

[SharpCat]

…and the icepick got all the attention because he was looking sharp.

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

You can pick your friends...

 

[Tommy Sparks]

I like the pic.

 

[Killing Floor]

Picks are ok with me.

 

[HolmeBass]

I gotta say, the whole “felt not heard” thing is pure BS. IMHO.

 

[Five or Six]

I gotta say, the whole “felt not heard” thing is pure BS. IMHO.

I think it's both.

 

[Derry Murbles]

I like the pic.

I miss the pic

 

[jnewmark]

Carol Kaye used a pick also, and sometimes a mute. Might be a studio/recording thing, I dunno. I've tried it over the years and have always found it awkward as opposed to using my fingers. I use a pick to play guitar but it never worked for me on bass.

 

[Jay2U]

To pick or not to pick, that's the question. Use whatever technique serves the mix best: fingers, picks, finger picks or felt picks.

 

[REV]

I always bring a selection of picks (nylon, felt or hard plastic, different thicknesses) into the studio just in case. Sometimes the producer asks for a different sound and I'll offer to try using a pick.

 

[StyleOverShow]

Couple months back started playing with a bar band classic rock bs stuff some of which sound much better, as in articulated with a plectrum…BTO for instance (Buck Tooth Overbite)

 

[SLO Surfer]

Sounds good to me! So I stuck with that

This is the way… whether it’s pick/fingers, flats/rounds, tubes/digital IR, in ear monitors/floor wedges, four strings/24 strings, beets/carrots.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Nearly every band that I've shared a bill with over the past few years had a pick bass player. And more than half of them played short scales. People can complain here all they want, they're just showing how out of touch they are.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Every band I was in which asked me to use a pick and/or play 4 string got the boot.

 

[HolmeBass]

I think it's both.

Felt and heard? I know, right!?

 

[mdogs]

I really thought we had done away with all this, “you can’t use a pick on bass” nonsense. It is ridiculous and perpetuated by people who are incapable of using a pick. No one questions slapping on a bass, but pick playing is far more prevalent in music than is slapping. I can’t slap, not because I’m incapable, but just because I don’t care about it. But, I don’t claim it is an improper way to play bass.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Felt and heard? I know, right!?

Felt The Herd- band name

 

[LowendG]

I really thought we had done away with all this, “you can’t use a pick on bass” nonsense. It is ridiculous and perpetuated by people who are incapable of using a pick. No one questions slapping on a bass, but pick playing is far more prevalent in music than is slapping. I can’t slap, not because I’m incapable, but just because I don’t care about it. But, I don’t claim it is an improper way to play bass.

As long as there is TB we will never be done with this silly discussion. Never mind probably 50% or more of the most famous hit songs recorded since the electric bass appeared on the scene have pickstyle bass on them. And when you walk into a session with a big time producer in pop or rock you better know how to play with a pick if they ask for it.