Why is it wrong to play bass with a pick?

[NastyMojo]

I think its whatever feels right. I used to play bass in a death metal band,and I would switch between pick,fingers,and slappin' the strings. what ever felt right at the time ya know.

[bradpdx]

Originally Posted by Jackson Jackson

John Paul Jones, Paul McCartney, Sting, Chris Squire, Rick Danko, Roger Waters, Jack Bruce...

To which one may add the great Carol Kaye and the Dead's Phil Lesh - both 100% pick players.

If it's good enough for 10,000 hit songs AND San Francisco psychedelia, then it's good enough for me. Use whatever you want.

[soulman969]

OP thread title; "Why is it wrong to play bass with a pick"?

Who ever told you that it was emu? Some bass snob was thinks he has the answer to it all? Somebody whose never even played bass or just watched bassists who don't use a pick?

Bassist have been using picks forever including all of those mentioned in other posts and more. It's all about technique and what you're looking for tonally. It's like asking why it's wrong to play guitar without one and that's a question I've never even heard asked. Tons of blues players never use a pick when the play guitar.

Fingerstyle, pick, thumbstyle, slapstyle are all popular and legit techniques.

[fatboymjt]

...what man say this?...

[brookdalebill]

Early on in my illustrious country bar band career (75-80), most of the
bass players I encountered used a pick.
The standard rig was :
P bass with flats, almost always in (stripped) "hippie natural"
Fender Showman or Dual Showman (non reverb)
1 or 2 -15 JBL Showman cabinet
1 (curly) cable
1 Fender Heavy pick (some guys used felt picks-weird, IMO)
That rig, in the right paws was a beautiful thing.
Warm, full, not too loud, and with a slight picked "point" to the attack.

[telepath]

Sounds like the OP's colleagues are the 'pick-y' ones ;)
Are there really any 'rules' about how to play an amplified stringed instrument?

Can add Phil Lynott and JJ Burnell to that list of pick using Bassists.

[tedro]

check with Steve Swallow.

[DonMI6]

Don't mean to derail, but it's not really worth a thread on it's own. Do any bassists typically use their thumb & fingers when they play without a pick? I've seen guys play just with their thumb (slapping?), or using their fingers with the thumb anchored.

[soulman969]

Originally Posted by DonMI6

Don't mean to derail, but it's not really worth a thread on it's own. Do any bassists typically use their thumb & fingers when they play without a pick? I've seen guys play just with their thumb (slapping?), or using their fingers with the thumb anchored.

If you want to palm mute for more of an upright sound and you don't use a pick your thumb is the only game left in town.

[slauson slim]

Ask Joe Osborne.....

[JohnS]

You can play with a pick just as long as you keep away from those nasty old solid state amps. Same deal, really.

[Dave W]

It's an old canard started back in the early 60s by second-rate upright players who were jealous that certain guitarists who had converted to bass guitar were getting the best studio gigs. A lot of venom was directed at Joe Osborn and Carol Kaye. I'm sure they cried all the way to the bank.

Since then, several generations of mental midgets have kept the idea going. Ignore them and play however you want.

[Flakey]

I've been playing bass for 35 years. It's my primary instrument I started playing with a pick still use one and I play with fingers and thumb. I also slap, snap and pop too. I teach bass and I get kiddies all the time that get sucked into this kinda crap thinking. And it is crap! I tell them you are a bassist first. Not a rock bassist, not a jazz bassist, not a country bassist you're a bassist that must learn a variety of styles and therefore techniques related to the playing the instrument if you want to make a living and eat. Period! Its not one is better than the other but if you care about the instrument then you learn ALL techniques! Just like if you're a guitarist; you learn flat picking, finger picking, tapping, etc. if you care about working as a musician it is to your advantage to learn as much as possible and have the skill set in place to be the go to guy to keep your phone ringing.

[61fury]

There's a squeak I think I hear when someone's playing bass with a pick. I love it.

[gmann]

Originally Posted by Telemarkman

Sir Paul and Rick Danko use(d) a pick a lot ... But what do they know ... ?

Paul was the 1st I thought of.

[Paul in Colorado]

For some reason playing my P-Bass is really hard to do with my fingers. So I use a pick.I like that sound. Coming from guitar it made sense. I can play my Hagstem bass with my fingers much easier. It has a shorter scale and Half-Round strings. Maybe that has something to do with it?

[Johnston]

Originally Posted by DonMI6

Don't mean to derail, but it's not really worth a thread on it's own. Do any bassists typically use their thumb & fingers when they play without a pick? I've seen guys play just with their thumb (slapping?), or using their fingers with the thumb anchored.

I think Pino does sometimes.

[Justinvs]

Originally Posted by DonMI6

Don't mean to derail, but it's not really worth a thread on it's own. Do any bassists typically use their thumb & fingers when they play without a pick? I've seen guys play just with their thumb (slapping?), or using their fingers with the thumb anchored.

Thumb player here. I can use my fingers, and play a lot of fingerstyle on 6-string, but for some reason the thumb was just more comfortable and accurate for me.

Nothing at all wrong with using a pick, especially for faster and double-picked stuff. Hard to do that type of playing without a good heavy pick in hand.

Justin

[Seasicksailor]

Originally Posted by JohnS

You can play with a pick just as long as you keep away from those nasty old solid state amps. Same deal, really.

Yeah, well... unless money is an issue. For some reason, finding a reasonably priced tube amp for bass (compared to guitar amps) is near impossible!

[ledet]

It wrong to play bass without a pick.

j/k, fingers are obviously better suited for fusion and whatever, but theres nothing like a pick on an old Precision Bass, no matter if it's for rock, pop etc.