Pick with most gentle attack?

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Sink Pisser

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Aug 21, 2017
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#1
I’m a guitarist but love playing bass too. I write and record my own music and am strictly a bedroom studio guy. So... I am mostly a finger picker because to me it sounds warmer and I can get the feel right when I play with my fingers. I feel more connected to the instrument that way.

Anyways sometimes I use a pick when the bass line is technically beyond my right hands ability. Being a guitarist I can always execute the bass line with a pick. I try to minimize the attack of the pick sometimes when I don’t want that sound. I do my best on my playing end of it but wondering if there’s anything else I can do.

So I’m just wondering if there are any picks, maybe made with different material, that are preferred for this?
Or are picks just picks?
 
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#2
There's softer picks.

There's felt picks, but the ones I've tried had a hard plastic core to give them some stiffness, and the felt pretty quickly wore away leaving me with a typically clicky pick, but with a nice felt gripping surface :)

There may be better felt picks out there, though.

There's also rubber picks, which I like quite a bit -
Wedgie Rubber Picks

Very finger-like.
 
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#3
A Dunlop Primetone 5 mm.
It's thick with a rounded tip.
Like your finger.
It slides off the strings producing a full,dark tone.

Dunlop Primetone.jpg

And will not eat away and leave dust like a felt or rubber pick.
 
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#4
There are picks made of felt and other soft materials, although I don't know anyone who uses them. My preferred approach is to use one of the two rounder ends (not the point) of a Dunlop Tortex 1mm pick (the blue one). To my ear, that allows me to have medium amount of attack that I can accentuate by picking harder and closer to the bridge, or minimize by picking more softly closer to the neck, depending on how much I want it to sound like I am using a pick. Between that picking technique and learning techniques on how to gain more attack on fingerstyle notes (Bryan Beller is a good reference), I find that I am able to get an appropriate attack and tone with either fingerstyle or picking using the same gear, so I can choose which style to use based mainly upon whichever is more comfortable for me on a given part versus feeling that only one of the two will sound "right."
 
#18
I've always hated rubber and felt picks. The rubber gets stuck on the strings, and the felt is so thick and wears out so quickly that I find it wholly unsuited for bass. But between the two, I'd take the rubber every time.

Me, if I want a dark sound, I use Dunlop Big Stubby 3 mm. The way the tip is tapered allows for a darker sound. Very interested in trying the Primetone 5 mm's, but haven't as of yet.
 
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#19
+1 on rubber / felt not being the best (for me) if you want the feel of a real pick
California Clears are MUCH better than standard picks for a softer attack
 
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