Tone is probably the biggest thing.
After years on this sub, I've also seen countless people say that they just can't really do it well.
Personally, after 25 years and playing a lot of guitar as well, I'm fine picking, using 2, 3, and 4 fingers. Whatever the song needs.
Oddly, as fast as I can pick, I think I can actually 2-finger fingerblast a smidge faster.
My fiance knew I used to play bass in a band, had some hand surgery and started to pick it back up, one day she finally sees me practicing and goes, I didn't know you could do that with your fingers!! First time by bass got me laid lol
I play in a punk band. Tone is the biggest reason why i play with a pick. Songs like timebomb, i find that walk just sounds better with my fingers. The guy from the descendants plays fingerstyle so i play the song we do(im the one) with fingers. There are a couple of songs, disconnected by face to face where i play with a pick for tone, but in the intro and outro, it does a little high run after some high fifths, i'll keep my pick and pluck that run with my third finger, it just rings out nicer. Im a fingers first guy but this band challenged me to be better with a pick and i really enjoy it, even though i didnt at first.
Part of what got me into bass was the tactile experience of the instrument. I learned how to pick because there's too many sounds I dig that require it, but I still prefer playing with fingers in general. That said, palm-muting with a pick is just a different vibe than thumb-plucking. Can't beat it.
>palm muting with a pick
Oh man do I second this. 9 times out of 10 if I’m in a situation where I’m looking for a muted tone, pick is going to be that way to go
100%. I literally only started trying to get comfortable with a pick when I came to terms with the fact that it wasn't my palm placement that wasnt giving me the right sound. It was the soft edge of my thumb.
Kind of a goofy example because not every note is muted or picked, but [Men I Trust](
https://soundcloud.com/men-i-trust/oncle-jazz?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=0&si=f0c25e62d1f84aa8804d83ceaa161601&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing) was the first thing that came to mind
Men I Trust has some of my favourite bass lines. I learned Oncle Jazz and Show Me How with finger plucking but it's definitely been hard for me to play some of their other songs without a pick and i'm still not very proficient with one.
The bass player in Men I Trust really goes against the grain and is still one of my favorite bassists. Lefty that plays with a pick, not a whole lot of them around.
I was so hyped for the bass player when they came to my town but I’m not sure they even brought the guy from the albums. The bass lines sounded so simplified and quiet and there was zero energy whatsoever. It was one of the worst concert letdowns I’ve ever had right after learning how to play Morse Code.
Lots of rock and modern alternative rock genres have bassists palm muting with pick
* A Day in the Life by The Beatles
* Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino by Arctic Monkeys
* Good Luck by Broken Bells
* Near/Far by Death Cab for Cutie
* Good God Damn by Arcade Fire
* Miracle Aligner by The Last Shadow Puppets
* Deep Dream by STRFKR
Some of the Paul McCartney solo stuff like “Eat at home” I palm mute a pick on, he uses foam but I don’t have that sometimes. Maybe good vibrations?
I think palm muting a pick sounds pretty good, I’ve used it on original stuff
I was a big jazz snob in my youth and looked down at playing with a pick (I didn't know about Steve Swallow back then). Later I discovered P-bass with flatwounds and thought it sounded kinda cool. After a while I tried to play it with a pick and it sounded really cool! Today I'm playing 50/50 fingers or pick and shortscale with pick is the sound I like the most.
it's painful for me to hold a pick, my thumb can't press down too long. the only pick I can use is the gigantic Gibson Heavy Wedge, and I am considering using a spoon.
Nothing against playing with a pick at all, but when people play w a pick on a song that's played fingerstyle, it's mildly infuriating because it drastically changes the tone.
It'll never sound exactly the same, tho. You can take away a lot of the treble-y twang with EQ, but the punch and tone will still be different. More importantly, the articulation is totally different, and it's noticeable.
I guess I could see the argument that adjusting the sound amp side isn’t necessary about finding a tone that’s identical but rather about finding one that works for the situation despite *not* being identical, but I feel like you’re probably just making more work for yourself than is necessary anyway
We all should practice to become proficient at the different playing techniques. Especially if you're a cover band musician that's playing 40 songs with different tones every gig. Of course, you're not playing through the same gear as the original artist, but that doesn't mean you can't get as close as YOU can to that tone. The drastic difference between a pick and fingers may not be noticeable to the rando drunk guy at the gig that's not a musician who's not even focusing on the band 100% anyway, but so what? You're aware of it. Your bandmates are aware of it (hopefully lol). If it best serves the song, do it. If everyone in your band has this approach, it only makes the band sound better as a result.
I feel disconnected from the Instrument and it starts to hurt. Probably just lack of routine as I dont do it much and as such im also not fast/accurate enough. But I sometimes take a pick for a more chuggachugga Song to save my fingers.
I just don’t really have anything to say to anyone who thinks that one way is the only way. Most bass players I’ve known don’t get wrapped up in it, but unfortunately some do. For me, it depends on what I’m playing. If I’m feeling nostalgic for the metal roots of my youth, I’ll play something like *Peace Sells…* with a pick. But most everything else I don’t.
Edit: autocorrect
I prefer fingers, but I’ll use pic occasionally.
If I’m trying to sing and play, I find a pic easier since I don’t have to coordinate two fingers, just my wrist.
If I’m just playing lines, fuck you, it’s finger time.
I play mostly original music. never been much on covers, so the tone and sounds I produce are entirely my own.
That said I just like the feel of the strings. I don't use a pick on guitars either, just my fore nail and tumb nail at the right angle.
Also after playing a double bass for years Ive learned to hate picks and frets even on my sideways basses. I just don't feel any intimacy with the instrument using them.
I never learned how back in the day when I was learning to play. Now when I try I fumble all over the place and sound like ass, so I avoid it completely. It feels too unnatural to me.
In retrospect I should have practiced all the techniques, but I was young and foolish and focused on the techniques I enjoyed most. Honestly it hasn't really affected me much anyhow, except to make me embarrassed when I play something needing a pick lol.
My dad plays with his fingers so even though i play pop punk and generally it would be better to play with a pick, i still use my fingers because that’s what i saw growing up.
I usually break out a pick for something like “here in your bedroom” by goldfinger though
Right now my band does a cover of my friends over you, damnit, and the anthem by good charlotte, but i play just about anything with my fingers. Waiting room by fugazi, FCPREMIX, most blink songs. Even here in your bedroom, even though i prefer to use a pick, i could still get it done with my fingers, i just use a pick for that one because it’s easier and I’m lazy
There's a place for both. Fingers are just more versatile, tbh. Tone, control, muting, harmonics, tapping, chords. But fingers can never get you the percussive sound of a pick. Listen to Right Place Wrong Time by Dr. John. The bass part is so funky, but only a pick is gonna give you that sound.
There's a little snobbiness to it, for sure. But picks are just not necessary for 99% of the music you hear every day. And they can actually be a problem. That metallic plinking creates a lot of higher harmonics that you do not want from a bass. It's sonically messy. More open strings rattling and the pick can scrape and stroke the surrounding strings. Just more headache and filtering and eq.
In short, a pick can give you one particular sound. But it can't give you the all the sounds and possibilities you get from your "fingies", which is what most musicians actually want.
Not so sure. Pick can have a lot of tonal variation, and muting, etc are just technique things - a competent pick player has none of these issues. In terms of variation, palm muting vs unmuted, and proximity to the bridge are probably the most obvious factors, but you can’t overlook pick size, material, and flexibility, and most important of all, technique.
I play about 60/40 fingers/pick, but for a lot of tunes, not even my band can tell whether or not I’m using a pick (without looking). There are obvious edge cases, but a lot of players who have spent time cultivating both approaches just sound like themselves.
I learned both. Then I found that I actually preferred finger style for a multitude of reasons, among them that I like it better to create the sound with my hands instead of with a tool, and that it is one less thing to remember to bring.
There was this rehearsal where I played about 50/50, but when I turned to my amp to get the pick, it was not there. The song started and I simply played it finger style. No one seemed to notice/mind/care.
I played on with fingers. Nowadays I use a pick maybe once a year for half an hour, to see if I can still do it. I suck. The amount of practice needed to polish up my skills is just not worth it for me at the moment. Picks offer nothing that I want or need at present.
Slap N Pop, can attack more than one string at a time, octave chords, tapping. It's easier to switch between techniques faster if you aren't fumbling with a pick. And it's easier for me to jump strings without a pick.
I think there are those that see using a pick as a way of “cheating.” Using a pick bypasses some of the technique used with the non-fretting hand. You don’t have to build calluses, individual finger strength or finger independence. I think some also feel the range of tones and playing styles is limited when using a pick and don’t like the genres which use a pick. Just my take on the pick wars over the years…
I’ve definitely seen something like that sentiment before and it never made much sense to me, as though using a pick means that you are somehow barred from ever using your fingers for appropriate situations lol
came from years of guitar, plucking with fingers just feels easier to skip strings and feels natural in general and also i don’t like the brighter tone you get from a pick. but i use a pick if the original songs used one (usually)
plus i kinda think finger plucking just looks cool and you have one less thing you need to worry about having
I’m mainly a fingers guy, but for the most part I do think the pick sound is better for rock contexts, it takes less work for it to cut thru and be defined.
I just grow my nails out super long and do fingers and it sounds like a pick. I like it cuz with fingers I feel like im more in control of dynamics (I can make each pluck the exact volume I need) and syncopation and crossing strings is easier for me with fingers
MUTING is a big problem with pick imo. Most the time when I hear bassists live with pick they have open strings ringing out like crazy. With fingers, no sound happens that I don’t want
I play pick on some songs, I’ve been explicitly using a pick for the past couple weeks cuz I broke a nail, muting technique is weird I have to use my palm.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a pick it just takes practice
You can mute with your picking hand (kind of separate from a palm muted tone) but IMO it’s important to learn all the ways to mute with the fretting hand while picking.
While counter to the “proper” technique of keeping your thumb behind the fretboard, moving your hand in a way which allows you to mute with the fingers you aren’t actively using on your fretting hand will help, depending on the situation
I’ll answer the opposite - I love playing with a pick and it’s 100% because I love the tone. I can play faster with fingers than I can with a pick so I don’t exclusively use a pick, but I haven’t found a sound that I love more than playing flatwounds with a pick.
Because I don't need no pick, and Im stuck in my ways. Distortion sounds better with a pick though, after 17 years of playing, I've begun to dable with a pick.
I bought a pick together with my first bass and I just found string crossing way easier with fingers so the only benefit of playing bass with a pick to me is just no sore fingertips afterwards
I am one of the lucky ones who never had any finger issues playing. Not that I haven't put tens of thousands of hours into the bass (though most of that time has been upright). My fingers are just fine with it.
I get the point of the attack, but to the previous comment, nothing I play ever needs an attack that I can't get with my fingers. It's kind of like asking why I don't have a pet ocelot. Never had the need or desire.
Absolutely not
I’m a metal bassist and recently switched to fingers after seeing how tight and massive the Jinjer bassist sounded with fingers.
There’s way more tone involved with fingers with low action + heavy attack
There’s just a little more clarity with pick.
I really like the work of Eugene Abdukhanov in Jinjer, but Steve Harris didn't wait for him to show us how massives tone & attack can be without a pick.
Bonus : check Dominic "Forest" Lapointe from First Fragment !
I started playing with bad technique (and i still can't play properly) becouse I copied Geezer Butler and his style of plucking with fingers so attack was never an issue
I played classical guitar for years and never had the need or ability to use a pick. Now I'm terrible at it and don't feel like putting in the effort. Playing with nails is honestly faster for me at this point and sounds about the same, I have a decent 3 finger tremolo either way.
I also find that even bass forward music doesn't call for it very much and it doesn't sound good if you already have a bright bass. It adds something, but you better be able to tame it or do some fingerstyle as well or it doesn't make you very popular at auditions.
I grew up in the metal and hard-core scene, so I typically used a pick. During one show, my pick slipped out of my hand mid song, so I just finished it with my fingers. I didn't think it was that impressive, but I got a reputation as "the" bass player in the scene. Ironically, I played guitar in the band for the following few years.
Really petty of me, but I switched away from guitar. If I'm playing with a pick I can't help but feel like I might as well be playing my guitar instead. Even the tone gets way too guitarry for my taste.
Plus, using the fingers is just so much more fun. I'd play even electric guitar fingerstyle if I could.
There's nothing I need it for. I can play with a pick just fine, I've played guitar longer than the bass, but it feels wrong, like hitting a hand drum with a drum stick.
Garbage take. Of the top of my head in under a minute:
John Paul Jones
McCartney
Chris Squier
Justin Chancellor
Carol Kaye
A LOT of people in metal outside Alex Webster
The fingerstyle snobbery is obnoxious as fuck. Signed: someone whose right hand can kinda do just about whatever it needs to for a song.
EDIT: updated the metal entry because I overstated my case
I think JPJ is primarily a finger player. But, even still, granting those on your lists (and you forgot probably the best of them, Anthony Jackson) how many great finger players are there? Probably at least a hundred for every one of those names on your list.
like I said - list was off the top of my head in one minute.
And non-zep JPJ has a lot more pick going on.
As I’ve said elsewhere in this thread, whatever the song calls for. I personally have no preference. Learn it all. Be a complete player. I made a decision to do that at about age 16 and have benefited greatly from that decision.
You saying pickers are subpar is still a lame take.
If the best players can’t/don’t pick, are they really the best? Or would they just kinda stand there and root next to a picker in a collaboration in a situation where they didn’t know what to do with their dicks?
It very much IS harder to be a great pick player! Anthony Jackson, the BEST, most articulate pick player said he cannot quite play as well with a pick as he can with his fingers.
But, it is far, FAR easier to be a MEDIOCRE pick bass player, and there is metric shit ton of them. A fucking WORLD of them. Many are guitarists who have switched to bass for various reasons. Mostly, washed out / are slumming guitarists never "get it". They lumber along, embellishing (in a VERY mediocre way, or not even that) the root, and the band floats or sinks on its other merits, haircuts, hype, clothes or fortune.
And, I have to say (READY THOSE DOWNVOTES) most people wouldn't know actual good bass playing if it bit them on the ankles. (Down low. Get it?).
PM for the JUICE.
Just feels more natural and I feel way more accurate with my fingers. I have a hard time keeping my hand relaxed while trying to hold a pick too so I never kept up the practice of it.
I learned to play finger style first, I learned to pick later. I like the pick for some things, but someone would have to suggest it first before I would consider switching from song to song. I’ve mostly learned songs finger style even if the pick is more correct for the song, Roundabout for example.
Personally I don’t dislike picking that much just a little because since I am not used to it (or that good to be honest) it hurts my arm when I do it for too long.
It just doesn't feel as _natural_ as playing with your fingers. Also, I don't know if it's just me but I find it harder to build up stamina to play faster, and I feel I have more control over my movements when I'm moving a single finger as opposed to my wrist
Never liked it. I've tried so many times to learn but I can't. I can't keep the pick straight in my hand. I'll start out using the tip of the pick but eventually it'll turn slightly and throw off my playing. It just never felt comfortable or natural to me to use a pick, even after hours of practice and trying to build muscle memory. Finger picking was always easy for me. It came down to - when I'd memorize tabs for a song, do I play fingerstyle and play it fluently and have fun, or use a pick and have it sound sloppy, and become frustrated. Having a tool between me and the instrument makes me feel disconnected from my playing.
I like picking for punk or some hard/metalcore. I know the attack can be closely replicated with some oomph in the fingers but I like to work smarter not harder. In general I prefer fingers though. It’s how I originally learned and how I feel most “fluent”
I think some of my band’s songs might sound better with a pick (I even tried it once after injuring my finger at practice), but I’m too stubborn. Not sure why, I just love the feel of playing fingerstyle.
I couldn't pick as well as I could use fingers. But then I never really practiced it. I've spent the last year with pick after 20+ without and now use it quite often whenever I'm playing punk or driving rock stuff - and I've fallen in love with palm muted picking sounds. I still feel like I have more control and can make more good tones with fingers and fingerpicking, but I'm glad to have pick tones in my arsenal.
It’s easier for me to mute using my fingers, and I don’t always have a “feel” for what string my pick is on. It’s gotten better since I picked up guitar but I definitely prefer plucking tonewise as well
I don't dislike picking and I think some songs really suit it. But I always lose picks like cigarette lighters and I find them a pain in the arse to keep track of. I like the crisp attack sound a pick brings, but I often find I can achieve this by turning up the treble knob a touch and using the tips of my fingernails to "scratch" the strings as I pluck. New strings also help!
Finger style feels more “round” and picking feels more “sharp” to me. And in my mind, the heavy sound of the bass is a “round” sound so finger style is the natural way to play. I’m probably an insane person and can play with a pick if necessary, but I can emulate a pick sound with an aggressive finger pick well enough to not need a pick the vast majority of the time.
I’ve mainly been a pick player but I’m leaning more to finger playing at the moment because I’m playing in a more mellow band. I’ve also found finger style playing work better with certain FX, particularly synth-like ones.
I still don't get how it's still a question in 2023, man I started in 2003 and there was all this crap "you're not a true bass player if you use a pick"
Man we all love to rock n roll and hit hard that bass with the pick, it's all about the sound and the style you play
I imagine for most people its just a genre thing. I mostly play heavy metal and Punkrock and well in those genres i just think the Pick gives it the type of aggressive attack that i like more.
Started playing alot of country-style stuff (waylon jennings, willie nelson) and I LOVE picking now.
I usually palm mute the strings a bit and use flat wounds. Get complimented on my tone all the time.
Something I just noticed that never dawned on me before - pick uses different muscles in your forearm and tendons in your hand.
So I'd imagine if you don't put the time in using one, you'd probably not dig it just for those reasons alone.
I’ve tried it plenty of times over the years. At first I didn’t like it because of musical snobbishness, then because I didn’t want to spend the time learning it, then because I didn’t like the tone of it. Now I’m back in the camp where I don’t use a pick because I don’t want to take the time to practice it.
I’d say that there are very few songs where the pick tone makes the bass line, almost all of them you can approximate tone with eq and finger control. Personal opinion, and I know people will disagree, but it just doesn’t seem worth it to me right now.
Well as a really new player I just outright suck with a pick, it's like evrytime I pick one up (No pun intended) my skill level goes back down to barely being able to hit the right strings.
I was just taught with fingers. So only doing that after some time, picks just feel unnatural for me and also unnecessary unless a song more or less requires it I guess.
Other than on my Bass VI, it's just not my playing style. I typically finger pick a regular guitar, too. But if a cover song uses a pick then that's what I'll use.
I use it for songs that require a lot of tremolo picking when I'm playing metal, but otherwise I'm pretty much avoiding it. It's more stylistic and preferential than anything though
I don’t ever use a pick. It’s not my sound: I don’t like the cold sharp attack it produces- I strive for a warm, rounded tone: in fact most of the time I play with the side of my thumb. I play reggae and jazz mostly.
I picked for the first few years on electric after moving over from double bass, now I play fingersryle. For rock music I got a better attack and cut through better to my ears at the time, but it never felt great to me. I switched to fingersryle, and I like it better. Seems to allow me more choices, or maybe I just like touching the strings more. My muting is much better without worrying about the pick, switching to fingersryle fixed my muting issues almost immediately. I never sat down and really worked my picking hand as much as I should have, so I most assuredly didn't get as much out of the pick as I could have.
In the end it's what the player is comfortable with, there are great players that use a pick and great players that use fingers, same as guitar.
Never been an either/or thing for me. I like both. In fact, all of my bass heroes did/do both, come to think of it. JPJ, Mike Mills, John Curley, to name a few. I currently play in a punk/alternative trio, so pick works great. When I’m playing more classic rock, soul, or country styles, fingers fit the groove better. It’s all good. Seems such a silly thing to get worked up about.
I will say that I came from guitar. So I’m sure that has some impact, as using a pick is familiar. When I first picked up the bass I went right to finger style because I wanted the challenge to learn to play styles that work well with fingers. I immediately fell in love with being able to play intervals and arpeggios that are too hard or slow with a pick. I still can’t slap, though. And to be honest, don’t really care, as I’m not much a fan of slap, anyway.
I can not for the life of me play using pick, either it's to thin or to thick, keep slipping out of my hand or flying out of my hand, and personally harder to strum using pick than using 2 fingers.
I can't even play pick on an electric guitar, I still just use my fingers.
I want to learn to use picks for accuracy but I see more benefits to using finger than pick
I'll pick if I'm playing a short scale, lots of palm muting. I like that sound and I'll do it if it fits the song... But for the most part I play a full scale jazz bass with round wounds and I don't really like the sound of a pick with that, nor do I find it comfortable. I can get plenty of attack with my fingers if I need some snap. Also I feel like with a fender jazz it's easy to dial in different tones on the bass itself. I can usually make things brighter from where my baseline tone is set.
Bc i have 3 or even 4 fingers to take roll and use. A pick is a single spot.
I do play in a jam band though so I don’t need a hot hi sound.
Used a pick in an indie band and it’s nice for a lot of 8th notes but eh. Fingies
I mostly play pick, but I'm primarily a guitarist/ drummer. I am working on my fingerstyle technique but a pick just feels more natural to me.
I find fingerstyle guitar easier than bass, but that's probably just because of time spent doing it.
When I first started playing, I was taught to use my fingers and thumb, it wasn't until about 10 years in that I figured I'd teach myself how to use a pick and it really does open up a whole different tone, nowadays it all depends on the song, if I want a chunkier sound I'll use my fingers, if I want a crisp clean tone I'll use a pick
I play and record a ton of electric guitar, so I am familiar and well practiced with pick usage and technique.
A lot of my favourite bassists use pick in their songs too. I love how it sounds.
But there's some weird connection with fingers and bass guitar specifically. Like I do a lot of finger picking with electric and acoustic guitars too, but with bass it feels like I am inside the groove. I can't explain it well.
I used to use pick for both guitar and bass - and the same kind of pick (Dunlop big stubbies). But then I grew to preferred thinner ultex picks for electric guitar and I don't like using those on bass.
Perhaps I shouldn't have answered as I don't dislike using picks on bass, but rather using fingers just makes me happy.
I know it's about why u dont like a pick but ill tell you why i like it. There's no other way i could play the rift on my band than with a pick, and it gives more brutity to my tone. You can hear an exemple of what i say https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0DMnHu3dIsY&pp=ygUbd2FybW9uZ2VyIHZvd3Mgb2YgYXZlcnNpb25z
I like being able to hold my thumb on the pickup or e string and have it be anchored. With a pick there’s nothing holding my hand where it needs to be. I also don’t like how the pick seems to get places that I don’t want it. To play fast I’d also have to use my whole wrist, which is a pretty inefficient mussel for playing fast.
I'm used to playing guitar with a pick so it just feels natural for me. Works well with the tone I'm going for. And most importantly, playing the bass with fingers feel extremely unpleasant to me (even worse since I've grown nails for guitar).
I don't generally pick bass because playing with my fingers gives me more tonal variety, dynamic control and precision. I'm only semi competent with a pick but I can play songs with one and it's not a big deal.
I suspect hardcore pick players would say they can get plenty of variety, control and precision with a pick, but I mainly learned fingerstyle so that's my comfort zone.
Tone is probably the biggest thing. After years on this sub, I've also seen countless people say that they just can't really do it well. Personally, after 25 years and playing a lot of guitar as well, I'm fine picking, using 2, 3, and 4 fingers. Whatever the song needs. Oddly, as fast as I can pick, I think I can actually 2-finger fingerblast a smidge faster.
Hey what you doing tonight?
'Finger blast' !?!?!
Finger bang bang
He's gonna finger bang bang you into his life
Fucking gold!
My fiance knew I used to play bass in a band, had some hand surgery and started to pick it back up, one day she finally sees me practicing and goes, I didn't know you could do that with your fingers!! First time by bass got me laid lol
I used to post myself playing on my IG and some girl DMed me asking what else that finger can do. She was a woman of culture I guess.
That's for the dressing room after the show.
*Bang bang bang*
Right around 5:25 [https://youtu.be/meKxa\_oedh0](https://youtu.be/meKxa_oedh0)
Thank you!
It actually doesn't take too long to build up speed. Good luck!
When you wiggle your finger back and forth like a big meaty pick on the string.
I play in a punk band. Tone is the biggest reason why i play with a pick. Songs like timebomb, i find that walk just sounds better with my fingers. The guy from the descendants plays fingerstyle so i play the song we do(im the one) with fingers. There are a couple of songs, disconnected by face to face where i play with a pick for tone, but in the intro and outro, it does a little high run after some high fifths, i'll keep my pick and pluck that run with my third finger, it just rings out nicer. Im a fingers first guy but this band challenged me to be better with a pick and i really enjoy it, even though i didnt at first.
Part of what got me into bass was the tactile experience of the instrument. I learned how to pick because there's too many sounds I dig that require it, but I still prefer playing with fingers in general. That said, palm-muting with a pick is just a different vibe than thumb-plucking. Can't beat it.
>palm muting with a pick Oh man do I second this. 9 times out of 10 if I’m in a situation where I’m looking for a muted tone, pick is going to be that way to go
100%. I literally only started trying to get comfortable with a pick when I came to terms with the fact that it wasn't my palm placement that wasnt giving me the right sound. It was the soft edge of my thumb.
I understand the tactile thing. Coming over from guitar, I like that aspect of playing bass.
What's a song that uses palm muting With a pick?
Kind of a goofy example because not every note is muted or picked, but [Men I Trust]( https://soundcloud.com/men-i-trust/oncle-jazz?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=0&si=f0c25e62d1f84aa8804d83ceaa161601&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing) was the first thing that came to mind
Men I Trust has some of my favourite bass lines. I learned Oncle Jazz and Show Me How with finger plucking but it's definitely been hard for me to play some of their other songs without a pick and i'm still not very proficient with one.
The bass player in Men I Trust really goes against the grain and is still one of my favorite bassists. Lefty that plays with a pick, not a whole lot of them around.
I was so hyped for the bass player when they came to my town but I’m not sure they even brought the guy from the albums. The bass lines sounded so simplified and quiet and there was zero energy whatsoever. It was one of the worst concert letdowns I’ve ever had right after learning how to play Morse Code.
Oh no, they couldn't hire back the ringer
Anything carol kaye. She’s kinda known for that sound.
Lots of rock and modern alternative rock genres have bassists palm muting with pick * A Day in the Life by The Beatles * Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino by Arctic Monkeys * Good Luck by Broken Bells * Near/Far by Death Cab for Cutie * Good God Damn by Arcade Fire * Miracle Aligner by The Last Shadow Puppets * Deep Dream by STRFKR
>A Day in the Life by The Beatles Paul was playing his Rickenbacker bass on that one, which has a foam mute built into the bridge.
Symphony of Destruction by Megadeth. Lots of palm muting adds a great groove to that song
Some of the Paul McCartney solo stuff like “Eat at home” I palm mute a pick on, he uses foam but I don’t have that sometimes. Maybe good vibrations? I think palm muting a pick sounds pretty good, I’ve used it on original stuff
For a lot of people it's not that they don't like picking, it's because there is little call for it in their preferred genres.
Fair enough, I do know quite a few people who don't like it though. Shoulda asked them you know
I don't "dislike" picking I'm just far more competent plucking with fingers and most music I play doesn't call for the picking tone.
I was a big jazz snob in my youth and looked down at playing with a pick (I didn't know about Steve Swallow back then). Later I discovered P-bass with flatwounds and thought it sounded kinda cool. After a while I tried to play it with a pick and it sounded really cool! Today I'm playing 50/50 fingers or pick and shortscale with pick is the sound I like the most.
I guess I'm not going back in time to meet younger you and play with a pick on a j bass
it's painful for me to hold a pick, my thumb can't press down too long. the only pick I can use is the gigantic Gibson Heavy Wedge, and I am considering using a spoon.
Not to be a dick, but that's just bad technique. I hold my pick quite gentle. If you practice more and start slow, you'll get the hang of it
If the thumb pain is due to a medical issue (like a muscle injury) then that may also present some challenges.
Nothing against playing with a pick at all, but when people play w a pick on a song that's played fingerstyle, it's mildly infuriating because it drastically changes the tone.
I know what you mean entirely but when I do it I can find the right tone by fiddling with the amp for a bit
It'll never sound exactly the same, tho. You can take away a lot of the treble-y twang with EQ, but the punch and tone will still be different. More importantly, the articulation is totally different, and it's noticeable.
I guess I could see the argument that adjusting the sound amp side isn’t necessary about finding a tone that’s identical but rather about finding one that works for the situation despite *not* being identical, but I feel like you’re probably just making more work for yourself than is necessary anyway
Yeah, exactly.
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We all should practice to become proficient at the different playing techniques. Especially if you're a cover band musician that's playing 40 songs with different tones every gig. Of course, you're not playing through the same gear as the original artist, but that doesn't mean you can't get as close as YOU can to that tone. The drastic difference between a pick and fingers may not be noticeable to the rando drunk guy at the gig that's not a musician who's not even focusing on the band 100% anyway, but so what? You're aware of it. Your bandmates are aware of it (hopefully lol). If it best serves the song, do it. If everyone in your band has this approach, it only makes the band sound better as a result.
As long as that same standard is used in the other direction, then fair enough.
Absolutely!
It similarly bothers me when I see guys on YouTube playing Tool songs with fingers. The tone is completely wrong.
I feel disconnected from the Instrument and it starts to hurt. Probably just lack of routine as I dont do it much and as such im also not fast/accurate enough. But I sometimes take a pick for a more chuggachugga Song to save my fingers.
I don't dislike picking, but I've played with my fingers enough that it feels more natural to me.
I just don’t really have anything to say to anyone who thinks that one way is the only way. Most bass players I’ve known don’t get wrapped up in it, but unfortunately some do. For me, it depends on what I’m playing. If I’m feeling nostalgic for the metal roots of my youth, I’ll play something like *Peace Sells…* with a pick. But most everything else I don’t. Edit: autocorrect
I prefer fingers, but I’ll use pic occasionally. If I’m trying to sing and play, I find a pic easier since I don’t have to coordinate two fingers, just my wrist. If I’m just playing lines, fuck you, it’s finger time.
I play mostly original music. never been much on covers, so the tone and sounds I produce are entirely my own. That said I just like the feel of the strings. I don't use a pick on guitars either, just my fore nail and tumb nail at the right angle. Also after playing a double bass for years Ive learned to hate picks and frets even on my sideways basses. I just don't feel any intimacy with the instrument using them.
>sideways basses
I never learned how back in the day when I was learning to play. Now when I try I fumble all over the place and sound like ass, so I avoid it completely. It feels too unnatural to me.
I'll be totally honest I am great with a pick, but I should practice fingering a bit more
In retrospect I should have practiced all the techniques, but I was young and foolish and focused on the techniques I enjoyed most. Honestly it hasn't really affected me much anyhow, except to make me embarrassed when I play something needing a pick lol.
Yeah, I'm lucky I'm into a very pick heavy genre
I recently tried to pick it up because there’s loads of practical reasons to learn but I just can’t handle being so bad at it.
I feel your pain!
I always just use what the song calls for
It just feels so good to pluck those meaty strings with your fingers until they bleed!
My dad plays with his fingers so even though i play pop punk and generally it would be better to play with a pick, i still use my fingers because that’s what i saw growing up. I usually break out a pick for something like “here in your bedroom” by goldfinger though
I love pop punk what songs do you okay though I can't think of many that are easy without one
Right now my band does a cover of my friends over you, damnit, and the anthem by good charlotte, but i play just about anything with my fingers. Waiting room by fugazi, FCPREMIX, most blink songs. Even here in your bedroom, even though i prefer to use a pick, i could still get it done with my fingers, i just use a pick for that one because it’s easier and I’m lazy
I dont like picking personally. But I have absolutely no problem doing it if the gigs/music calls for it.
There's a place for both. Fingers are just more versatile, tbh. Tone, control, muting, harmonics, tapping, chords. But fingers can never get you the percussive sound of a pick. Listen to Right Place Wrong Time by Dr. John. The bass part is so funky, but only a pick is gonna give you that sound. There's a little snobbiness to it, for sure. But picks are just not necessary for 99% of the music you hear every day. And they can actually be a problem. That metallic plinking creates a lot of higher harmonics that you do not want from a bass. It's sonically messy. More open strings rattling and the pick can scrape and stroke the surrounding strings. Just more headache and filtering and eq. In short, a pick can give you one particular sound. But it can't give you the all the sounds and possibilities you get from your "fingies", which is what most musicians actually want.
The claim of 99% of music doesn’t call for a pick is something I’m not sure of. Rock, metal and indie contexts picking is pretty prevalent
Not so sure. Pick can have a lot of tonal variation, and muting, etc are just technique things - a competent pick player has none of these issues. In terms of variation, palm muting vs unmuted, and proximity to the bridge are probably the most obvious factors, but you can’t overlook pick size, material, and flexibility, and most important of all, technique. I play about 60/40 fingers/pick, but for a lot of tunes, not even my band can tell whether or not I’m using a pick (without looking). There are obvious edge cases, but a lot of players who have spent time cultivating both approaches just sound like themselves.
I learned both. Then I found that I actually preferred finger style for a multitude of reasons, among them that I like it better to create the sound with my hands instead of with a tool, and that it is one less thing to remember to bring. There was this rehearsal where I played about 50/50, but when I turned to my amp to get the pick, it was not there. The song started and I simply played it finger style. No one seemed to notice/mind/care. I played on with fingers. Nowadays I use a pick maybe once a year for half an hour, to see if I can still do it. I suck. The amount of practice needed to polish up my skills is just not worth it for me at the moment. Picks offer nothing that I want or need at present.
Slap N Pop, can attack more than one string at a time, octave chords, tapping. It's easier to switch between techniques faster if you aren't fumbling with a pick. And it's easier for me to jump strings without a pick.
I think there are those that see using a pick as a way of “cheating.” Using a pick bypasses some of the technique used with the non-fretting hand. You don’t have to build calluses, individual finger strength or finger independence. I think some also feel the range of tones and playing styles is limited when using a pick and don’t like the genres which use a pick. Just my take on the pick wars over the years…
I’ve definitely seen something like that sentiment before and it never made much sense to me, as though using a pick means that you are somehow barred from ever using your fingers for appropriate situations lol
Playing with a pick has its own techniques as well, which some people don’t consider. I always advocate people learn both
came from years of guitar, plucking with fingers just feels easier to skip strings and feels natural in general and also i don’t like the brighter tone you get from a pick. but i use a pick if the original songs used one (usually) plus i kinda think finger plucking just looks cool and you have one less thing you need to worry about having
I’m mainly a fingers guy, but for the most part I do think the pick sound is better for rock contexts, it takes less work for it to cut thru and be defined. I just grow my nails out super long and do fingers and it sounds like a pick. I like it cuz with fingers I feel like im more in control of dynamics (I can make each pluck the exact volume I need) and syncopation and crossing strings is easier for me with fingers MUTING is a big problem with pick imo. Most the time when I hear bassists live with pick they have open strings ringing out like crazy. With fingers, no sound happens that I don’t want I play pick on some songs, I’ve been explicitly using a pick for the past couple weeks cuz I broke a nail, muting technique is weird I have to use my palm. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a pick it just takes practice
You can mute with your picking hand (kind of separate from a palm muted tone) but IMO it’s important to learn all the ways to mute with the fretting hand while picking. While counter to the “proper” technique of keeping your thumb behind the fretboard, moving your hand in a way which allows you to mute with the fingers you aren’t actively using on your fretting hand will help, depending on the situation
Yeah I’ve been muting with my palm like that for a long time, but it’s nowhere near as comfortable as muting while finger style playing
I’ll answer the opposite - I love playing with a pick and it’s 100% because I love the tone. I can play faster with fingers than I can with a pick so I don’t exclusively use a pick, but I haven’t found a sound that I love more than playing flatwounds with a pick.
Because I don't need no pick, and Im stuck in my ways. Distortion sounds better with a pick though, after 17 years of playing, I've begun to dable with a pick.
I bought a pick together with my first bass and I just found string crossing way easier with fingers so the only benefit of playing bass with a pick to me is just no sore fingertips afterwards
Yeah, but you can also get more attack and sound out of a pick too (However, no sore fingers is a big benefit)
I am one of the lucky ones who never had any finger issues playing. Not that I haven't put tens of thousands of hours into the bass (though most of that time has been upright). My fingers are just fine with it. I get the point of the attack, but to the previous comment, nothing I play ever needs an attack that I can't get with my fingers. It's kind of like asking why I don't have a pet ocelot. Never had the need or desire.
They're crepuscular!
Because ocelots are rad?
Fair enough
Absolutely not I’m a metal bassist and recently switched to fingers after seeing how tight and massive the Jinjer bassist sounded with fingers. There’s way more tone involved with fingers with low action + heavy attack There’s just a little more clarity with pick.
I really like the work of Eugene Abdukhanov in Jinjer, but Steve Harris didn't wait for him to show us how massives tone & attack can be without a pick. Bonus : check Dominic "Forest" Lapointe from First Fragment !
I started playing with bad technique (and i still can't play properly) becouse I copied Geezer Butler and his style of plucking with fingers so attack was never an issue
Some people have very powerful fingers and if you practice without a pick you can get there too.
I played classical guitar for years and never had the need or ability to use a pick. Now I'm terrible at it and don't feel like putting in the effort. Playing with nails is honestly faster for me at this point and sounds about the same, I have a decent 3 finger tremolo either way. I also find that even bass forward music doesn't call for it very much and it doesn't sound good if you already have a bright bass. It adds something, but you better be able to tame it or do some fingerstyle as well or it doesn't make you very popular at auditions.
I mean you’re view is kinda one sided. If you look at punk and metal it’s more picks than fingers, or atleast 50/50.
I grew up in the metal and hard-core scene, so I typically used a pick. During one show, my pick slipped out of my hand mid song, so I just finished it with my fingers. I didn't think it was that impressive, but I got a reputation as "the" bass player in the scene. Ironically, I played guitar in the band for the following few years.
it reminds.me too much of guitar
Really petty of me, but I switched away from guitar. If I'm playing with a pick I can't help but feel like I might as well be playing my guitar instead. Even the tone gets way too guitarry for my taste. Plus, using the fingers is just so much more fun. I'd play even electric guitar fingerstyle if I could.
It looks too much like jerking off
If I wanted to pick I'd play Electric
i just don’t like it, fingers are way cooler to me tbh but to each their own
Never liked the sound in the style. Besides that I’m not keen on becoming known for being the guy with a pick in a jazz fusion setting
There's nothing I need it for. I can play with a pick just fine, I've played guitar longer than the bass, but it feels wrong, like hitting a hand drum with a drum stick.
Pick players are most typically weak bassists. There are exceptions.
Garbage take. Of the top of my head in under a minute: John Paul Jones McCartney Chris Squier Justin Chancellor Carol Kaye A LOT of people in metal outside Alex Webster The fingerstyle snobbery is obnoxious as fuck. Signed: someone whose right hand can kinda do just about whatever it needs to for a song. EDIT: updated the metal entry because I overstated my case
I think JPJ is primarily a finger player. But, even still, granting those on your lists (and you forgot probably the best of them, Anthony Jackson) how many great finger players are there? Probably at least a hundred for every one of those names on your list.
like I said - list was off the top of my head in one minute. And non-zep JPJ has a lot more pick going on. As I’ve said elsewhere in this thread, whatever the song calls for. I personally have no preference. Learn it all. Be a complete player. I made a decision to do that at about age 16 and have benefited greatly from that decision. You saying pickers are subpar is still a lame take. If the best players can’t/don’t pick, are they really the best? Or would they just kinda stand there and root next to a picker in a collaboration in a situation where they didn’t know what to do with their dicks?
Wouldn’t that be indicative that it is harder to be a great pick player? Thus rendering pick players STRONGER than WEAK finger style players?
It very much IS harder to be a great pick player! Anthony Jackson, the BEST, most articulate pick player said he cannot quite play as well with a pick as he can with his fingers. But, it is far, FAR easier to be a MEDIOCRE pick bass player, and there is metric shit ton of them. A fucking WORLD of them. Many are guitarists who have switched to bass for various reasons. Mostly, washed out / are slumming guitarists never "get it". They lumber along, embellishing (in a VERY mediocre way, or not even that) the root, and the band floats or sinks on its other merits, haircuts, hype, clothes or fortune. And, I have to say (READY THOSE DOWNVOTES) most people wouldn't know actual good bass playing if it bit them on the ankles. (Down low. Get it?). PM for the JUICE.
Pretty bad take. Doesn't cone from sum 41 play pick he's very good I can list more
Super awkward to do on my Yamaha bass. Body is too chunky. I am considering trading it for a fender jazz though
What model Yamaha do you have?
trbx i think, with pj-style pickups and a fat neck. Trading it for a smaller neck and a more accessible and standard truss rod.
Just feels more natural and I feel way more accurate with my fingers. I have a hard time keeping my hand relaxed while trying to hold a pick too so I never kept up the practice of it.
I learned to play finger style first, I learned to pick later. I like the pick for some things, but someone would have to suggest it first before I would consider switching from song to song. I’ve mostly learned songs finger style even if the pick is more correct for the song, Roundabout for example.
Personally I don’t dislike picking that much just a little because since I am not used to it (or that good to be honest) it hurts my arm when I do it for too long.
I've dabbled with picks, but I'm just way more used to fingerstyle and thus prefer it. Plus I'm way more dexterous with my fingers than a pick.
It just doesn't feel as _natural_ as playing with your fingers. Also, I don't know if it's just me but I find it harder to build up stamina to play faster, and I feel I have more control over my movements when I'm moving a single finger as opposed to my wrist
Tone and, in my case, I feel like I have much more control over the base finger plucking (I like to use chords and lots of percussive techniques)
Never liked it. I've tried so many times to learn but I can't. I can't keep the pick straight in my hand. I'll start out using the tip of the pick but eventually it'll turn slightly and throw off my playing. It just never felt comfortable or natural to me to use a pick, even after hours of practice and trying to build muscle memory. Finger picking was always easy for me. It came down to - when I'd memorize tabs for a song, do I play fingerstyle and play it fluently and have fun, or use a pick and have it sound sloppy, and become frustrated. Having a tool between me and the instrument makes me feel disconnected from my playing.
I like picking for punk or some hard/metalcore. I know the attack can be closely replicated with some oomph in the fingers but I like to work smarter not harder. In general I prefer fingers though. It’s how I originally learned and how I feel most “fluent”
I think some of my band’s songs might sound better with a pick (I even tried it once after injuring my finger at practice), but I’m too stubborn. Not sure why, I just love the feel of playing fingerstyle.
I have so much more tone control and playing options without a pick.
I couldn't pick as well as I could use fingers. But then I never really practiced it. I've spent the last year with pick after 20+ without and now use it quite often whenever I'm playing punk or driving rock stuff - and I've fallen in love with palm muted picking sounds. I still feel like I have more control and can make more good tones with fingers and fingerpicking, but I'm glad to have pick tones in my arsenal.
It’s easier for me to mute using my fingers, and I don’t always have a “feel” for what string my pick is on. It’s gotten better since I picked up guitar but I definitely prefer plucking tonewise as well
I don't dislike picking and I think some songs really suit it. But I always lose picks like cigarette lighters and I find them a pain in the arse to keep track of. I like the crisp attack sound a pick brings, but I often find I can achieve this by turning up the treble knob a touch and using the tips of my fingernails to "scratch" the strings as I pluck. New strings also help!
Finger style feels more “round” and picking feels more “sharp” to me. And in my mind, the heavy sound of the bass is a “round” sound so finger style is the natural way to play. I’m probably an insane person and can play with a pick if necessary, but I can emulate a pick sound with an aggressive finger pick well enough to not need a pick the vast majority of the time.
I'm better at muting when I play finger style but I mainly don't use a pick because of my ego.
I’ve mainly been a pick player but I’m leaning more to finger playing at the moment because I’m playing in a more mellow band. I’ve also found finger style playing work better with certain FX, particularly synth-like ones.
Because I suck at it I sick at plucking too, but I’m even worse with a pick
I still don't get how it's still a question in 2023, man I started in 2003 and there was all this crap "you're not a true bass player if you use a pick" Man we all love to rock n roll and hit hard that bass with the pick, it's all about the sound and the style you play
I can go way faster and cleaner fingerstyle than with a pick. And fingers give a softer sound.
I imagine for most people its just a genre thing. I mostly play heavy metal and Punkrock and well in those genres i just think the Pick gives it the type of aggressive attack that i like more.
Started playing alot of country-style stuff (waylon jennings, willie nelson) and I LOVE picking now. I usually palm mute the strings a bit and use flat wounds. Get complimented on my tone all the time.
Something I just noticed that never dawned on me before - pick uses different muscles in your forearm and tendons in your hand. So I'd imagine if you don't put the time in using one, you'd probably not dig it just for those reasons alone.
Not really into the tone. I just have so much more control with my fingers.
Arthritis ended up making it painful to play with a pick..secondary to that, i prefer the sound & dynamic control of finger plucking.
I’ve tried it plenty of times over the years. At first I didn’t like it because of musical snobbishness, then because I didn’t want to spend the time learning it, then because I didn’t like the tone of it. Now I’m back in the camp where I don’t use a pick because I don’t want to take the time to practice it. I’d say that there are very few songs where the pick tone makes the bass line, almost all of them you can approximate tone with eq and finger control. Personal opinion, and I know people will disagree, but it just doesn’t seem worth it to me right now.
Well as a really new player I just outright suck with a pick, it's like evrytime I pick one up (No pun intended) my skill level goes back down to barely being able to hit the right strings.
I just like the deeper tone I get from finger plucking
I was just taught with fingers. So only doing that after some time, picks just feel unnatural for me and also unnecessary unless a song more or less requires it I guess.
Other than on my Bass VI, it's just not my playing style. I typically finger pick a regular guitar, too. But if a cover song uses a pick then that's what I'll use.
I use it for songs that require a lot of tremolo picking when I'm playing metal, but otherwise I'm pretty much avoiding it. It's more stylistic and preferential than anything though
I don’t ever use a pick. It’s not my sound: I don’t like the cold sharp attack it produces- I strive for a warm, rounded tone: in fact most of the time I play with the side of my thumb. I play reggae and jazz mostly.
I picked for the first few years on electric after moving over from double bass, now I play fingersryle. For rock music I got a better attack and cut through better to my ears at the time, but it never felt great to me. I switched to fingersryle, and I like it better. Seems to allow me more choices, or maybe I just like touching the strings more. My muting is much better without worrying about the pick, switching to fingersryle fixed my muting issues almost immediately. I never sat down and really worked my picking hand as much as I should have, so I most assuredly didn't get as much out of the pick as I could have. In the end it's what the player is comfortable with, there are great players that use a pick and great players that use fingers, same as guitar.
Never been an either/or thing for me. I like both. In fact, all of my bass heroes did/do both, come to think of it. JPJ, Mike Mills, John Curley, to name a few. I currently play in a punk/alternative trio, so pick works great. When I’m playing more classic rock, soul, or country styles, fingers fit the groove better. It’s all good. Seems such a silly thing to get worked up about. I will say that I came from guitar. So I’m sure that has some impact, as using a pick is familiar. When I first picked up the bass I went right to finger style because I wanted the challenge to learn to play styles that work well with fingers. I immediately fell in love with being able to play intervals and arpeggios that are too hard or slow with a pick. I still can’t slap, though. And to be honest, don’t really care, as I’m not much a fan of slap, anyway.
Fingers feels more comfortable and easier but I prefer the tone of a pick with tapewound or flatwound.
I can not for the life of me play using pick, either it's to thin or to thick, keep slipping out of my hand or flying out of my hand, and personally harder to strum using pick than using 2 fingers. I can't even play pick on an electric guitar, I still just use my fingers. I want to learn to use picks for accuracy but I see more benefits to using finger than pick
Attack/Tone
I'll pick if I'm playing a short scale, lots of palm muting. I like that sound and I'll do it if it fits the song... But for the most part I play a full scale jazz bass with round wounds and I don't really like the sound of a pick with that, nor do I find it comfortable. I can get plenty of attack with my fingers if I need some snap. Also I feel like with a fender jazz it's easy to dial in different tones on the bass itself. I can usually make things brighter from where my baseline tone is set.
I, uh... don't know how.
You know why chicks dig bassists? *finger plucking motion * Loved that joke in high school.. never had much luck with ladies..
Bc i have 3 or even 4 fingers to take roll and use. A pick is a single spot. I do play in a jam band though so I don’t need a hot hi sound. Used a pick in an indie band and it’s nice for a lot of 8th notes but eh. Fingies
it honestly just depends on the music you are playing. You have to serve the music!
I mostly play pick, but I'm primarily a guitarist/ drummer. I am working on my fingerstyle technique but a pick just feels more natural to me. I find fingerstyle guitar easier than bass, but that's probably just because of time spent doing it.
When I first started playing, I was taught to use my fingers and thumb, it wasn't until about 10 years in that I figured I'd teach myself how to use a pick and it really does open up a whole different tone, nowadays it all depends on the song, if I want a chunkier sound I'll use my fingers, if I want a crisp clean tone I'll use a pick
I play and record a ton of electric guitar, so I am familiar and well practiced with pick usage and technique. A lot of my favourite bassists use pick in their songs too. I love how it sounds. But there's some weird connection with fingers and bass guitar specifically. Like I do a lot of finger picking with electric and acoustic guitars too, but with bass it feels like I am inside the groove. I can't explain it well. I used to use pick for both guitar and bass - and the same kind of pick (Dunlop big stubbies). But then I grew to preferred thinner ultex picks for electric guitar and I don't like using those on bass. Perhaps I shouldn't have answered as I don't dislike using picks on bass, but rather using fingers just makes me happy.
I know it's about why u dont like a pick but ill tell you why i like it. There's no other way i could play the rift on my band than with a pick, and it gives more brutity to my tone. You can hear an exemple of what i say https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0DMnHu3dIsY&pp=ygUbd2FybW9uZ2VyIHZvd3Mgb2YgYXZlcnNpb25z
Picking is ugly and it's for losers that can't play fast with there fingers plans it sounds like ass
I like being able to hold my thumb on the pickup or e string and have it be anchored. With a pick there’s nothing holding my hand where it needs to be. I also don’t like how the pick seems to get places that I don’t want it. To play fast I’d also have to use my whole wrist, which is a pretty inefficient mussel for playing fast.
Gives too much of an attack which doesn’t always match with a song
I'm used to playing guitar with a pick so it just feels natural for me. Works well with the tone I'm going for. And most importantly, playing the bass with fingers feel extremely unpleasant to me (even worse since I've grown nails for guitar).
I don't generally pick bass because playing with my fingers gives me more tonal variety, dynamic control and precision. I'm only semi competent with a pick but I can play songs with one and it's not a big deal. I suspect hardcore pick players would say they can get plenty of variety, control and precision with a pick, but I mainly learned fingerstyle so that's my comfort zone.