Pick players, a question....

rickfan63 · Post by **rickfan63** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:01 pm

I use a pick about 95% of the time, alternating up and down strokes most of the time. On a few songs I'll use down strokes only. I find by using a pick I rarely break a string!

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 4:40 pm

Great! I'm not the only one who started out playing punk bass!

I might be going off topic a little... but a 4003 makes a damn fine punk rock bass!

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 4:58 pm

I'm with you, Bob! I started out with the Sex Pistols, Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Replacements, etc. and yes, they do work very well for punk!

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 5:17 pm

Speaking of Black Flag ... what a lovely combination, Kira Roessler, and her 4003 .....

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 5:40 pm

Why in all my years of Black Flag worship did I not know that....
a. Kira played a Ric...
b. Kira looks a scary lot like Olive Oyl!!??!!

Add Bad Brains for me... due to fortunate geography I've gotten to know them pretty well.

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 5:55 pm

If i do play with a pick. Its mainly depends on what notes and it normally goes back and forth from up and down.

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:28 pm

down!

then up...

chucksimms · Post by **chucksimms** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:28 pm

I can pretty much only play with a pick, and it's downstrokes. BTW, I saw Black Flag around the 'Slip It In' tour (their last LP that I thought was truly great) and they were phenomenal. I remember Kira was wearing a wedding dress; I seem to recall she had a white Ric, but I might be wrong. I believe it was some SST jam type band opening and they were horrible.

ken_swearingen · Post by **ken_swearingen** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:49 pm

Pick players suck!LOL[just kidding]

sabbath_of_bass · Post by **sabbath_of_bass** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 8:57 pm

Ken man.... i agree..... now lets run b4 we get attacked.

Then again... there are some songs that you really just want that pick on. Rock 'n' roll is an example. Damn song kills your arm.

foolycooly · Post by **foolycooly** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:42 am

I've always played with a pick, sometimes fingers but hardly that often. my picking style is also somewhat unorthodoxed. I pick like a guitar player would, down then up, but I'll either play with the pick backwards so that the fat end is hitting the strings, or I'll play with only the very very tip of the pick. I hold it between my thumb, index, and middle fingers ala Royston Langdon and Chris Squire. If I'm playing Yes stuff then I pick up then down. If I'm playing my usual stuff the technique is reversed. Hope that helps.

bear · Post by **bear** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 3:02 am

For emphasis on a single note I use a downstroke with a pick. Although if it is a passing sustained note I use an upstroke. Ascending patterns begin with a downstroke while descending patterns begin with an upstroke.

desertgoldenboy · Post by **desertgoldenboy** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:02 am

New guy here. Check out Will Lee on the Letterman Show. When he plays with a pick, 95% of the time it's an UPSTROKE.

titanic_tony · Post by **titanic_tony** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 7:14 am

Les,
I'm with you man, an upstroke kinda guy! I play with a pick most of the time, and find myself being much more comfortable with an upstroke. Of course for speedy passages, it's both up and down.

greg_mitchell · Post by **greg_mitchell** » Fri Jul 01, 2005 2:51 am

I tend to alternate up and down fairly evenly when I pick. BTW, that's a skill I recently acquired after about 20+ years of finger picking. It has really enhanced my technique and sound.