Anti - pick snobs

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:33 am

Ok, well since you asked

December1978, Sunrise Mall, Corpus Christi,Texas. I'm 20.
Local punk band The Stiffs, are visiting the mall on a busy Saturday afternoon during the Christmas rush.
Their bizarre(at the time) attire/look is getting the desired results but the band still wants something...more.
They come to the center concourse, and there, surrounded by a hundred kids and parents, is Santa f-ing Claus.
The Stiffs' bass player, while very shy, is also a real instigator. As the band approaches Santa's Workshop, said bassist shouts out "Eat Me Santa"!, and the rest of the band joins in with equally colorful "suggestions" for Jolly Ol' St.Nick, who quickly becomes decided less jolly.
The band darts for the escalator which will eventually lead them to the 2nd floor and beyond that, the parking garage where the trusty Stiffmobile awaits.
Meanwhile, as they head up the escalator, Santa has lept to his feet and grabbed a huge bucket full of hard candy. He proceeds to pelt the band with handfuls of candy as they rise above the bedlam, the bass player doing his best Queen Elizabeth wave.
The gig that night was great but afterwards, over several rounds of Lone Star, the conversation never wavered from The Santa Incident.

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:53 am

Dumb things? I never did dumb things.

Unless you count the time that I, carrying my guitar player's Twin Reverb to the truck, thought it would be funny to pretend to stumble with it. But the "pretend" stumble became real and I dropped the amp, on cement, separating one of the corners. He wasn't amused.

However, that incident quickly became less dumb the next week, when one of our roadies tried to drive our 10' tall truck under an 8' overhang. Ooops! Dented box, broken nose, crumpled overhang.

Ah, youth ...

nattiep · Post by **nattiep** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:13 am

Ronn, sorry I said that. Apparently whenever I post an old opinion of mine you get on me about it.

I thought that because I was a kid. Like 14. Ignorant kid. Just getting into Geddy Lee and moving away from McCartney and Waters. I loved Paul and Roger, but their basslines were slow, and ddin't do much. Then Geddy came along. I was forced to learn my first Rush song by my Dad who said drop the pick and try this. Plus when I would jam with my uncle before my dad forced me into Rush he told me "No, drop the pick. I don't want to see you use a pick for at least a year." So having my two family musical influences tell me to drop the pick made me think it was inferior. They're both amazing, my uncle and my dad, and I take what they have to say to heart.

So I'd see people with a pick and say drop that and try fingers, because I was brought up to play without one.

I did use one for like my first two years of play. I couldn't play without one. I'd cut up old plastic calling card to use as a pick, or do the Mel Bay thumbing thing.

I mainly just repeat my family and friends opinions of me. Like the argument we had about the ego? I posted what my family and friends said. Honestly I think I suck and I'm very limited.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:30 am

Aaaaa....forget about it. I was just venting. I told you this topic pisses me off!

I'll be at rehearsal with a beer in my hand in a couple hours and all will be well.

rickaddict · Post by **rickaddict** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:41 am

Okay...My Frosty Incident...One night after band practice in the mid 80's we looked outside and noticed that it was snowing A$$ outside. And what is more fun when you're a teenager than going out driving in the snow? So the five of us piled into my brother's '78 T-Bird. The stuff had come down so fast that no plows had been out yet and there was a good 6 inches on the roads. We were having a blast fishtailing all around like dirt-track racers when one of us saw a glowing plastic Frosty the Snowman on a neighbors over-decorated lawn. So my Bro stopped the car and our singer ran out, kidnapped Frosty from the lawn and threw him in the trunk. Then we drove out of the neighborhood to what is normally a busy 50 MPH street and stood Frosty up in the middle of a lane, facing traffic.

I'll never forget that big, smiling, happy face grinning at us as we repeatedly plowed into it at 50 mph and dragged it under the car, screaming: "Frosty...GET OUT OF THE WAY...NOOOOOOO.....Ohhh, Frosty!!!"

Ahh, just one of a thousand fond memories of youthful delinquency!

Yes...we were bad, but I have paid for it many times over when things get stolen from me, when kids paint grafitti on my garage door, when kids bust the mufflers off their scooters and circle my house at full-throttle all night long etc, etc.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:54 am

OK, this thread is getting better, great story Jeff.
Remind me to tell y'all the story of how The Stiffs, Elvis Presley, and Patti Smith are the only acts ever to be banned from ever again playing a certain rock n roll establishment.

ghs_boomer · Post by **ghs_boomer** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:36 pm

Andy West of "The Dixie Dregs" fame plays with a pick (except when he is playing his fretless)Lets here that moron try to play a "Duel" with him...

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:17 pm

"And I don't care that you got a clue and "respect the people that use picks now though", I wanna know why you guys had such strong, silly opinions. "

Yes, it is really silly, but I'm sure you had strong, silly opinions when you were young too. We all did. I used to think people who played bass with picks were taking the easy way out. Then, of course, I actually attempted to play with a pick, and realized that it is not somehow easier than fingers. It's not more difficult either; just a completely different way of attacking the strings. People have strongs opinions all the time about stuff they know nothing about: picks and Rics come to mind . . . it's the same thing when people go on about Rics only getting one sound . . . if these people actually took the time to mess around with one, I doubt they would say that. They might still dislike Rics, but there'd be no denying that you can get far more than one sound. Same with picks: I criticized picks until I tried them and realized that using one was not a copout. I've heard punk bassists here at school criticize other punk bassists for NOT using a pick. Where is it written that you must use a pick if you play punk? Needless to say, I often have very heated discussions with people over these stupid little prejudices . . . and, admittedly, I wish someone would've told me off back when I thought the same way. I think it's just part of being human, and it's especially evident, though by no means only, when one is younger.

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:15 pm

Ronn Im about the same lines as Nate. I just started bass. I hardly knew what one was. It seemed finger style would be harder... and most of the good players I knew at the time played figure style. So basically just a stupid kid thinking he knows what hes talking about. Im still just a stupid kid... I just learned not to not judge what I dont know so much. Which... I slowly get better at haha.
I think no matter which you prefer. I think you should at least play a little bit of everything. Theres something to learn from everything. And who knows maybe one day youll need it.
A guy i know (mainly a finger player id say) got ****** one night and punched just about everything in his house. Not sure why he did it. It kinda just happened. He managed to bruse his whole hand and part of his harm... Couldnt more his fingers but didnt break anything. He had a gig the next time. He had to play it with a pick and half way thru the night it got so bad they taped the pick to his hand so he could finish the show.
I thought it was funny... but I guess theres at least a reason to learn to play with a pick.

Thanks for the comments on my FG.
Nate, I havent cut my hair in 3-4 years. So yeah its pretty long. I just stoped cutting it one day for some reason.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:07 pm

Ronn where you The Stiff's bass player by any chance?
It was somewhere around 1974-75, I had my giant 2 and a half ton '66 Pontiac station/band wagon at rehearsal. The guitarist must have been smoking something, he motions me ahead in the driveway, I pull up, up, up and crunch, I stopped right on top of his Guild something or other which was on top of his SG with my left front wheel. Of course he blamed me, haha!
What's this got to do with picks? Nothing; who the hell cares how you play, it's how you sound that matters. I've played with mostly my fingers now for years and years and am envious of good pick players. You can get a great crisp sound with a pick. This anti-pick bias thing has been going on at least as long as I've been playing and it's stupid, I do both now. There was a point during the 70's where picks were preferred by many people in bands and studios for it's clarity.

iamthebassman · Post by **iamthebassman** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:12 am

"Ronn where you The Stiff's bass player by any chance? "

rickfan63 · Post by **rickfan63** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:19 am

I started out as a fingers only player. But now I play with a pick on everything except slow songs. And even then I might use a pick if I think the song needs it. That dufus that insulted Rath probably can't play at all. He sounds way too ignorant to me to know anything about musicianship.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:17 am

he is probably spending too much time in his mom's basement ... he probably can't find a real band to play with so he vented at me ...

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:39 pm

Just a case of WAY too much time spent using his fingers... and I don't necessarily mean on his bass...

delberthot · Post by **delberthot** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:42 pm

When I was a lad just starting out, I remember buying a copy of 'Bass Player' and seeing this guy with far too much blonde hair and thinking 'what a pratt'. I didn't actually come across his playing until a couple of years ago - it was Billy Sheehan!

Man, how could I have missed him during the past 20 years?

I have been a fingers only player since i began playing when I was 11 years old and it is only now that I am really into Yes that I have begun using a pick and really appreciating the difference it can make.

I learnt "Parallel Universe" by the Chilis fingerstyle and wondered why I had cramp by the end - Flea used a pick to play it.

I have also dabbled in Tony Levin's 'funk fingers' with mixed results - I play hard so my action is higher than what would be ideal for this style.

When it boils down to it, it doesn't matter what you use to play- fingers, pick, bow, drumsticks, kettle, toaster - as long as it sounds nice to the ear and fits in with the rest of the song that's all that really matters.