Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

30 years ago I was 80% pick and 20% fingers, now its about 80% fingers. No big deal either way.

THE GUY IS A MORON

THE GUY PROBABLY PLAYS A SQUIER.

Rock on, Jeff!

Use whatever you need to use to play the instrument. Pick, fingers, thumb, palm, tapping, teeth, feet, bow, sword, nostrils, brick . . . whatever makes it sound how you want.

What a Bafooon!!!!

By the way Jeff, you were way to kind when you used the word "elitist".

For straight rock I used pick, but when it comes to more "subtile" notes and harmonics(flageolet) I use fingers only as I can feel the string response better. However some songs just need a pick.

"However some songs just need a pick"

Yep.

Jeff, what kind of strings do you use on "it's been a while"?

"THE GUY PROBABLY PLAYS A SQUIER."

I play a Squier, with a pick.

This topic irrates me.

I play a Rick, Squire.

I agree... use whatever you need to get the sound you want for the song.

Sword or a brick maybe a little over board... A little...

"I play a Rick, Squire."

Hey, me too!!

For myself it depends on the tone I'm looking for, whether I use a pick or not. I feel when I use a pick I can really dig in. I'm probably 50-50, but a Rick sure sounds good to me when using a pick.

I played fingerstyle from 1965, when I started, until 1971, when I heard Chris Squire. After that I played pick exclusively until I "quit" playing in 1983. Laid off for almost 20 years, started playing again and went with the fingers. I find that if I leave my fingernails slightly long, I can approximate a pick sound by changing the angle of my attack. Some styles and figures are easier for me to play with a pick, but if I want to funkify, I pretty much have to use fingers. Let me revise what I said initially -- I actually played all downstrokes with my thumb when I first started out. Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders' "The Game of Love" changed that -- I couldn't move my thumb fast enough to play the little bass runup in the middle. McCartney was my prime mover on bass -- I don't know why I didn't play with a pick sooner. Probably because by 1966, all my bands were playing Motown & Stax covers. Pick, fingers, thumb, Tony Levin's "Funk Fingers." Can't we all just get along? Now ... upright players who use a bow -- they are the real sissies.