Pick players, what picks and pickups?

Reedt2000

Reedt2000

Supporting Member
Apr 26, 2017
8,531
20,442
6,381
47
#1
So, played an outdoor gig yesterday afternoon (only kind there are round my way nowadays) and by the end temps had dropped into the low 50s. I'm a fingers player 95% of the time (but I've played guitar for years so I know what to do with a pick), but with the chill setting in I started to get uncomfortably cold in my right (plucking) hand. I hadn't brought any picks to this gig so I reached over and snagged one from the guitarist's mic stand (where several were conveniently hanging out in a clip :D).

I had my MM/J Warwick and I had it set to 100% MM (running parallel). With my fingers I love this setting. It can be tight and punchy, open but aggressive, or warm and full, depending on how and where I attack. With the pick it was all nasal-y high mids. I immediately rolled the J in so they were 50/50 and it sounded great. I didn't have the versatility factor (other than palm muting to get some staccato notes and dull a bit of the brightness), but the tone was really nice, present but not thin and tin-y, beefy but not muddy, and (IMHO) one of the biggest benefits of playing with a pick is I don't need to be as cognizant of my attack to achieve consistency.

The pick I grabbed was a Dunlop Tortex orange (.60 mm). On guitar I find this size too flexible. I usually strike with just the top few mm of the pick when playing guitar and I prefer the green Tortex or purple (.88 mm or 1 mm). I was really surprised at how nice the thinner pick sounded and how easy it was to play with on the bass.

I'd like to hear from full or part time pick players what picks and pickup(s) you like and why. I think the perspective could be helpful in expanding my range, feel, and tonal options as a working bassist.

(Thanks in advance :smug:)
 
  • Like
Reactions: MCF
#3
I love the Tortex picks. I used to play bass with green triangles but I've switched over to yellow standards in the past few years. I like the feel and the grip, and how they wear evenly and don't get any little burrs. I've been using the orange standards on guitar for a long time now.

As for pickups, I have two different flavors of Bartolini in my Ibanezeseses. I don't love them but they're fine. I currently have both basses wired up passive, in parallel with dual volumes, no tone, and I usually find the growl I'm looking for with the bridge on full and the neck dialed back a little, to where the sound starts to open up and lose that parallel scoop.
 
#4
I've been playing with picks for most of the time since the early 70's. I have been using the Dunlop Gator Grip .58mm since the new century began. I used to like the Herco Flex .55 but for some reason they started to be hard to find and I moved on to the Dunlops.

Most of my basses are single coil, I've got a few with humbuckers but I guess I prefer the single coils.

Here are a few tracks with single coils / rounds /picks:





 
  • Like
Reactions: Need Gigs and Reedt2000
#6
Pick player for 30+ years, for 90% of the songs I play.
I like Clayton 1.0 mm large semi-triangular picks. You get three edges, and a nice non-slippery texture until they wear out.
I generally use Chromes for strings, nearly flat settings on amp EQ - if I EQ at all, drop some high mids & treble, maybe a touch of bass added depending on the room. Never roll off your mids.
I usually cut via the tone pot a little of the highs on my P bass.
Play away from the bridge unless you want a scratchy treble sound; close to the neck for as mellow a sound as you can get with a pick; over or near the pickup for “normal” sound.
Palm muting is essential for some styles of music. Pick control is everything. Practice 8th notes so your upstrokes are indistinguishable from your downstrokes.
Oh - stock Fender P bass pickups. Same applies to Jazz bass... slight roll off of treble.
And that’s all I got to say about that.

edit: added pickup info
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: G-Lol and Reedt2000
#8
as this thread will go on, you will hear about pretty much every kind of pick (from thin nylon, via thicker carbon to 15mm stone...), same for pickups and strings. Play what combination feels good to you or check what players use, that you like the sound of, but focus on tension free playing to avoid stress injuries...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reedt2000
#9
I've always used the Fender 355-style Heavies, the big triangles, or the D'Andrea equivalents. I never had a lot of luck with thin (or thin-er) picks.

355 Fender.jpg
355 Fender.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reedt2000 and Jim Burkland
#10
dunlop triangle ultex 0.60. as for basses, i like the sound of gibson basses played with a pick. they clean up nicely and have some rock attitude and sound. i also like my fender musicmaster with flats and aero pickup played pickstyle with my aguilar tonehammer preamp with some drive going on
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reedt2000
#12
I used to play only with picks (I learned from a guitar player and that was how I was taught). I have many basses very different from eachother. And on all of them I liked to up the treble so i got some nice intense articulation. I was playing in a band that was devoted to progressive rock an I felt like I held up the bass part very well. I was always busy or i was always playing a pleasant counter-melody.
That articulation was what really made me love playing with a pick. It wasnt till recently that I learned to play as well (if not better) with my fingers. And i feel like I've been missing a lot. However, I also feel like my experience playing for so long with a pick has given me a unique perspective.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reedt2000
#13
Reedt2000 said:
So, played an outdoor gig yesterday afternoon (only kind there are round my way nowadays) and by the end temps had dropped into the low 50s. I'm a fingers player 95% of the time (but I've played guitar for years so I know what to do with a pick), but with the chill setting in I started to get uncomfortably cold in my right (plucking) hand. I hadn't brought any picks to this gig so I reached over and snagged one from the guitarist's mic stand (where several were conveniently hanging out in a clip :D).

I had my MM/J Warwick and I had it set to 100% MM (running parallel). With my fingers I love this setting. It can be tight and punchy, open but aggressive, or warm and full, depending on how and where I attack. With the pick it was all nasal-y high mids. I immediately rolled the J in so they were 50/50 and it sounded great. I didn't have the versatility factor (other than palm muting to get some staccato notes and dull a bit of the brightness), but the tone was really nice, present but not thin and tin-y, beefy but not muddy, and (IMHO) one of the biggest benefits of playing with a pick is I don't need to be as cognizant of my attack to achieve consistency.

The pick I grabbed was a Dunlop Tortex orange (.60 mm). On guitar I find this size too flexible. I usually strike with just the top few mm of the pick when playing guitar and I prefer the green Tortex or purple (.88 mm or 1 mm). I was really surprised at how nice the thinner pick sounded and how easy it was to play with on the bass.

I'd like to hear from full or part time pick players what picks and pickup(s) you like and why. I think the perspective could be helpful in expanding my range, feel, and tonal options as a working bassist.

(Thanks in advance :smug:)
Click to expand...

I use all kinds of picks. One of these days I will have to take a pic of my pick holder and post it. But three of my go-to picks are yellow, green, and orange Tortex.

Simply put, I use different picks for different attacks and tones.

(And I also play with fingers, the side of my thumb, slapping, tapping, and pluck all over from over the fretboard to the bridge. I usually dime the tone knob on my bass and use style/technique to make my tone brighter or rounder.)

As far as pickups, usually whatever came on the bass. But I've become a Nordstrand fan in the last few years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reedt2000
#17
I mostly play with fingers also, but some songs I play with a pick.
This was my choice for years
Screenshot_20200921-040357.png


Bought a few of these a week or so ago, I need another practice or two with em but I like em so far
Screenshot_20200921-040421.png


My main bass is a G&L L2000 trib, and I do back the treble off sometimes when I switch to a pick, but not usually - I tend to keep the tweeter at half and the highs rolled back a tad anyways.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ThudThudThud and Reedt2000
#18
  1. I use a Fender Medium bass pick, the big rounded triangle ones. The lets me grip the pick loosely without having it fly out of my hand, which is great when I'm playing really fast music. Same goes for the pick not being too thick and stiff.
  2. For EQ, I definitely recommend a different setup from what you'd use with your fingers. On a Jazz bass, with fingers I'll have both pickups cranked (more high end, scooped mids) but with a pick I'll roll the bridge off just a little (less high end, fuller midrange). Same with a Ric, except rolling off the neck pickup.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Reedt2000
#20
.73 mm is money ticket for me. Dunlop or Ernieball everlasts. I used to play the next size up and before that i played very heavy picks but as I get older I have realized I dont have to play so hard on my bass and the lighter pick makes the pluck have a little give so I'm not destroying my hand. I use the same pick size when I play guitar also.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luther and Reedt2000
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back