Pick players, a question....

rickengeezer · Post by **rickengeezer** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:09 am

I don't "all upstroke"....I just usually begin with one if there is a series of notes, or will typically just upstroke if there are single notes. Which is apparently unusual, although this thread has reassured me that I'm not the only one on the planet. I also tend to rest my hand on the pickup cover and often loop my ring and index finger over the g-string (I play a 5-string) to keep my wrist locked in place. Weird, eh?

david_schwab · Post by **david_schwab** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:21 am

Shaun, I hold a pick much like other people, except I also have my middle finger on the far side, so I guess it is like you hold a pencil. My index is on one edge and the middle on the other, and the thumb in the middle of the side facing me. I usually have my hand resting on my somewhat extended ring finger and pinky, which rest on the bass' body.

I'm faster with a pick for some things, but I'm plenty fast with my fingers as well. That's kind of been my thing ever since I first heard John McLaughlin play guitar! I wanted to play fast like him, only on bass. I like playing with my fingers better now, but sometimes I think about using a pick more, simply for the speed.

This was a clip a did for the Bottom Line mailing list. There was a discussion about plucking hard, which I often do, and someone said you can't play fast that way, which I disagreed with. I also pointed out the sound difference between picking hard and soft, so I recorded a short solo piece illustrating soft and hard picking, and playing fast while plucking pretty hard!

http://www.david-schwab.com/music/solo_bass.mp3

Kevin, I remember Min'd picks! I always wanted to try one. At the time I started using a stainless steel pick I made myself. Looked just like a Fender style pick, but was about 1mm thick. It sounded great, but would kill my strings! I lose too many picks to be spending a lot of money on them!

Now I like either the purple Tortex (1.12 mm, not 1 mm like I posted before), Dunlop Ultex, or these thick white Clayton picks... I think they are 1.12 mm and have an eagle on them.

Up-picking has a unique sound, I think, a bit different sounding from down picking. More like your fingers.

rickengeezer · Post by **rickengeezer** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:46 am

Hey, I use the Clayton picks also...they come in a variety of different thicknesses, I usually use .80m but sometimes use 1.0mm, which seems pretty stiff to me. 1.12mm must be like using a quarter!

david_schwab · Post by **david_schwab** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:02 am

Yeah, the 1.12 IS like a quarter! I might like the 1mm Claytons better. Lately I can't find any of them.... I think my wife forgets to check my pockets when she does the wash!

I have my lone 1 mm Ultex pick left, and a bunch of Carol Kaye picks too! Those are too small for me. She sent them to me because I told her I used to use them back in the 70's... and still had a few left.

rickengeezer · Post by **rickengeezer** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:13 am

These are the ones I use (acetals), I also have a bunch of his "ultem" picks in the same gauges but I don't like those as much, too "clicky":

http://www.steveclayton.com/acetal.html

David, I listened to your mp3, nice; I definitely hear that McLaughlin influence in there. Very fast, I started getting carpal tunnel symptoms just listening! Was that all picked?

david_schwab · Post by **david_schwab** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:37 am

Thanks Les. That was all played with my fingers... and sloppily I might add! I hadn't played in about a week, didn't warm up enough, and my right hand was cramping a bit. I got so used to picking hard with a pick, and liking the way the notes really snap, that I try to get that sound with my fingers. I hate a blurry sound... I want to hear every note (unless of course I want the bass to blend in). So I tend to pick closer to the bridge and pluck fairly hard.

I'm surprised I don't have more RSI symptoms then I do, especially since I work on a computer all day, but I try and keep my hands relaxed, and it seems to help.

If I don't play everyday, which I never seem to get a chance to do, my right hand gets tired fast... which is one reason I sometimes play with a pick. I can play a bit faster with a pick too.

henry5 · Post by **henry5** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 11:17 am

David, I just listened to your clip and my girlfriend was outside the room, heard your playing, and thought it was me! Your sound is slightly different to mine (v nice sound though, slightly Stanley-esque, more like my Alembic sound), but your playing is very similar, albeit you were using your fingers. But then John McLaughlin is my all time favourite musician too. Strangely it was Frank Marino of all people that got me wanting to play fast (hadn't heard John then); I'd been playing about a year or so when I heard "Ain't Dead Yet" on the radio and thought "that's how I want to play the bass, really fast and fluid". Of course John takes "fast and fluid" a step further....the concert featuring him, Larry Coryell and Paco is the most inspiring thing I've ever seen. I love the bit where it shows them warming up playing Guardian Angels twice as fast! BTW, I also tend to anchor my picking hand on my outstretched ring and pinky fingers...maybe we were separated at birth!

I also think up-picking sounds slightly more like playing with your fingers; as I stated in my post, I seem to get a softer attack than when down picking. I was interested in those Min'd picks, but given that I'm bad at replacing strings as it is, I somehow don't think they would've worked out...I use the larger Gibson heavy teardrop shaped pick, but I've just been told they've been discontinued..there goes my career

.

BTW, what bass did you use for the clip?