How do you play?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 4:49 am

There are several ways to play a bass ...

The old '60's Mel Bay method was pluck with your thumb sort of like a pick ... this is why the '60's basses had the clear lucite piece below the strings. You would rest your fingers there while plucking with your thumb.

The there is the good old pick ... used by many bassists ...

Then you can pluck with one or more fingers ...

Also funk players thumb slap basses ...

Then there is the John Enthwistle typewrtier method ... a cross between thumb slapping and plucking ...

I find the ric 4001/4003 basses lend themselves to pick playing ...

I use a pick a lot but do some of the other methods as well ... except for the old thumb plucking ... that always seemed lame to me ..

dminer · Post by **dminer** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 5:21 am

Pick! I almost exclusively use a pick because I started out as a guitar player (forgive me!) and then MOVED UP to the bass. I use a Dunlop/black 1mm. Sometimes if I'm playing a quiet coffee house type gig I'll play with my thumb as in the Mel Bay method or my first 2 fingers like Berry Oakely, but I'm certainly the most comfortable with the Carol Kaye/McCartney/Squire pick and palm mute method. David

ojobob2 · Post by **ojobob2** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 6:06 am

I play ith a pick. I play like Bruce Foxton of The Jam (my favorite bassist too) Its so much more comfortable, and versatile, and you dont get the strings "clicking" against the frets or pickups. i just find that If you want a mellow sound, use the tone knob, thats what its there for!

As for picks, i like 2mm Big Stubby's. nice and rounded

turlu · Post by **turlu** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 6:59 am

Myself I mostly play the Rick using a Pick, and a Stainless steel one. It provides a very bright, "clinky" sound that I really enjoy.
At my last gig, this past Saturday, I surprised myself playing with my fingers a lot more and I liked it a lot as well !!! I obtained a tone that was cutting through pretty well.

jeff_ulmer · Post by **jeff_ulmer** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 7:05 am

I play both guitar and bass. My bass technique really depends on the song and the part. If picking, I use the same Dunlop 1mm nylons as David, but I also use the two/three finger approach a lot more these days, playing over the neck pickup. I'd also like to try some of those finger sticks at some point. I like the sound Tony Levin gets with those.

banta · Post by **banta** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 7:16 am

On my Rics, I use a pick 95% of the time, and a rather light guage at that - orange Dunlop Tortex. With the light guage I find that I can get more 'feel' of the strings and less click when desired. The relative tight spacing of the Rics, especially the five string, make them very suitable to picking. And the horseshoe/treble pickup cover make the perfect hand rest when picking. By contrast, when I play my Zons I almost always play fingerstyle because it's more comfortable.

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 10:23 am

Fingerstyle 95% of the time (though no rick owned at the moment)

I go between a standard "Let your fingers do the walking" two-finger pluck to a mutant thumb + index/middle renaissance lute weirdness thang for chords and arpeggios. + the occasional slap/pop. Works for me.

Last time I played a rick it felt fine, though different from my Jazz. Then again, I use fingerstyles for 12 string guitars too;) I never could get comfortable with picks.

Does anybody use a Geddy Lee one-finger madness approach?

robj · Post by **robj** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 10:27 am

I play mostly with my index and middle fingers and sometimes play with my thumb, index and middle as though playing classical guitar. I use the end of my index finger (I keep that nail a little longer) as a pick for more attack and I also play in the late great John Entwistle typewriter style when I want a slap sound. I can't slap to save my live for some reason.

carr · Post by **carr** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 12:42 pm

If I want a mellow tone I play neckpick up with fingers.. no thumb.. For a bright raunchy sound, I use a guitar pick nearer the bridge.Picks i use are Pyramid medium guitar picks or a Nylon .85mm or Fender medium tortoishell (imitation of course). Inthe course of a set I might sppend half the time with the pick clenched between my teeth so I know where it is and am not tempted to sing

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 4:07 pm

On the Ric I always use a 1.14mm Tortex pick, hand resting on the bridge pickup cover.

On my fretless J, I usually anchor my thumb on the end on the fingerboard or on the neck pickup for tonal variety and use my index and middle finger to pluck.

eddier · Post by **eddier** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 6:12 pm

I play both styles.
I use the serrated edge of a red, or white Landstrom Sharkfin pick.
Fingerstyle I use my index & ring fingers.

ricnvolved · Post by **ricnvolved** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 6:41 pm

Fingerstyle exclusively. I probably come the closest of using the Geddy Lee one-finger madness approach that John McKelvy mentions. But please rest assured that I'm nowhere close to having Geddy Lee's quickness or talent. It's mostly index finger playing with the occasional middle finger, and always over the neck pick-up. No thumb playing, no pick, no slap-and-tap stuff.

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Thu Mar 06, 2003 7:08 pm

I try to play with whatever method will best duplicate the original sound of the song. When playing with a pick, I hold it such that just a bit of it sticks out between my thumb and forefinger. I end up following the picks' contact with the string with the side of my thumb on the string. This approach seems to complete a circuit between my left hand and right hand resulting in a better feel and contact with my Rick basses. When playing with my fingers I use all but my pinky ala Stanley Clark. If it's a heavier sound I want I dig into the strings getting a Geddy Lee/John Wetton sound out of the instrument. Sometimes I also use a pick as before but alternate with my middle and ring finger by popping the string for kind of funk/disco sound. When combined with my 3001 with a horseshoe pickup and tuned to B*E*A*D with round wound strings, my 3000 with a 4004 pickup, rounds and standard tuning and another 3000 stock with Pyramid flats, I can pretty much get any sound I'm looking for.

low_rider · Post by **low_rider** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 4:41 am

"Then there is the John Enthwistle typewrtier method ... a cross between thumb slapping and plucking ... "

Aha! so that's what you call it!

I learned to play bass on F****r type bolt on neck basses finger style but later on used picks (everything from thin guitar ones to those big triangular Tortex) to get that trebly tone w/ more presence. More especially when I got my first bass which was a Hofner copy with all that mud and feedback. I tried thumbpicks used as a regular pick, supported by my index finger and then let go of it when using finger style then back if I wanted to. But eversince I got my Ric basses I never needed them. I now use "imaginary" picks with my fingers positioned as if having a pick but my index finger the one hitting the strings and go to finger style including my ring finger -on the fly. Sometimes I use both like playing banjo and I can sometimes get away with power chords and whole chords - as they say, Rics can make you think in melodically ( is that the word?). After a while, after getting my beat up P-bass from the guitar shop ( coz I felt so ashamed having it near my Rics on stage since it was "demoted" as backup bass - had it repainted to sunburst from natural and had the maple neck sport block inlays), I played it differently that before - I played it like a Ric! near the neck, better and faster.

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Fri Mar 07, 2003 5:10 am

This brings up a related question - for those of you that use the "yellow pages" two-finger pluck, where do you put your thumb? On a rick, I feel uncomfortable sometimes using fingerstyle on the "E" string because of the anchoring issue.