Plectrum or fingers for your Starfire Bass?

[lungimsam]

Do you mainly play fingers or plectrum, and why?
If plectrum, what plectrum do you use and why?

I am a fingers player but had a great time enjoying the tone with a pick today.

 

[fronobulax]

Fingers. All basses. Never took the time to learn how to use a pick so don't.

 

[krysh]

It depends on whats best for the song.

 

[hieronymous]

Not a Starfire but still a Guild (Alembicized M-85 II):



I'm using a Telefunken graphite pick that @edwin turned me on to. Nice even tone, thin but not too flexible. I usually use heavier picks, like 1.14 mm Dunlop Tortex (purple) or maybe the lighter one (blue), but I also like the Adamas 2 mm graphite - Edwin turned me on to those too!

As for the why, in this case it's because I'm emulating/interpreting Phil Lesh. I wonder what kind of picks he used back then?

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Part of the reason I switched to bass from playing guitar almost a decade ago was because arthritis started making gripping/controlling a flat pick for more than about 5 minutes a painful and problematic proposition. So it's all fingers for me. Don't slap for the same reason. And that holds true for any bass, not just Starfires. It can be limiting, but beats not playing at all anymore.

 

[nmiller]

I use a pick on all basses almost all the time. I prefer the sound, I prefer the attack, and I prefer the speed. It's easier on both my hands and my fingertips as well. I use Dunlop Tortex 1.0mm.

 

[fronobulax]

Don't slap for the same reason. And that holds true for any bass, not just Starfires.

Someone has a story about slapping on a Guild with the "harp" bridge and sending saddles skittering across the room. @Happy Face and a JS II?

 

[RVBASS]

I use both depending on the band and tunes, and the sound I want to get out of the bass.

 

[RVBASS]

Nice playing and tone, Hieronymous!

 

[lungimsam]

One of the problems I have not been able to completely eliminate in my finger style bass playing is the unwanted "pop" of the strings banging the frets when I play finger style. I can eliminate it by raising the action really high, but my left hand doesn't like the action too high.
So, using a pick I can play with really low action so my left hand doesn't suffer, and no banging against the frets cuz the strike motion is parallel to the bass face, not pushing down towards it, like finger style. I just cannot muster that delicate touch that some people have in their right hand and still get the power I want out of the sound.

But I haven't decided to go mainly pick yet. I guess I would do both styles depending on the song and sound I would want.

 

[lungimsam]

Wow! That is some massive, yet articulate tone, hieronymous. Really enjoyed that!! Beautiful!

 

[krysh]

and here a soundfile of my 2014 Newark St. M-85 for comparison:
M-85-1 pick with tone on, 2 Pick with tone off, 3 fingers tone on, 4 fingers tone off

 

[Okko]

Use my fingers. Can’t play with plectrum …. Haven’t the patience to learn now… DeArmond SF and Ashbory

 

[Happy Face]

Someone has a story about slapping on a Guild with the "harp" bridge and sending saddles skittering across the room. @Happy Face and a JS II?

Great steel trap memory!

Yes, the lead guitarist at a renion show grabbed the bass during a break and slapped and popped a saddle right out. Luckily I had watched it skitter across the stage so I retrieved it.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

To borrow from a descriptive term which references bass speaker cone movement, I think we should call that "saddle excursion".

 

[lungimsam]

So I tried playing through a set today with pic and turned out my mind was more occupied with making music and less occupied with technique and making sure I didn’t pop the strings against the frets (like when I play finger style). So it seemed like it freed up my mind to focus more on the music and less on technique. And I also was grooving easier. Way easier to play with a pic for me than finger style.

 

[hieronymous]

Wow! That is some massive, yet articulate tone, hieronymous. Really enjoyed that!! Beautiful!

In the signal chain was my CAE V-Comp tube compressor, and either Alembic F-2B preamp or Boss PQ-3B parametric eq. It's also fun that it's fretless (though listening back now I'm kind of embarrassed by the intonation) - no worry about fret clank! Though actually, it isn't much of a problem for me, with a low-pass filter (like in the Alembic electronics) you don't hear it so much.

So I tried playing through a set today with pic and turned out my mind was more occupied with making music and less occupied with my right hand finger technique and making sure I didn’t pop the strings against the frets so it seemed like it freed up my mind to focus more on the music and less on technique. And then I also was grooving easier.

That's interesting that you are having fret clank issues with finger style. I like both techniques (pick & fingers), I find that I play differently with each technique, though it also depends on the kind of music being played.

 

[lungimsam]

@krysh:
Your bass has a wiiiiiiide spectrum of tones to use!
@ hieronymous:
You definitely got the Phil Lesh tone down pat!

Both you guys use your picks in a way that it doesn't sound too "clicky", if you know what I mean.
I sound clicky, but then I'm using a really thin fender pick. I will have to try some others, though I like the sound I have now. Just some may find it too clicky.
Playing with a pick definitely changes the tone, and brings out the tone differently than finger style. I think it brings out the hollow body sound really well. I will have to try it on the Ric bass and see how it sounds on that bass, too.

BTW, across all the basses I ever played, I cannot control the clank of my right hand finger style playing. I am too heavy handed.
Only if I really raise the action can I avoid it. Playing with a pick definitely cleans up my technique, and no annoying pops and clank!
I did a blind sound test with my wife as the listener and she said she likes the pick tone better than my finger style tone. Pick is more clear and powerful sounding for her tastes.
I find my time keeping is better with a pick. With finger style, my middle finger sounds a little off sometimes. Probably no-one would notice but me.

 

[RVBASS]

Here is another example of a pick player, Andy West of the Dregs




I find a light touch with a thicker pick to be best.

I like low action as well, so for finger style I am conscious of plucking lighter when playing the lower frets (1-7 at least) to avoid string clanking noise.

 

[Minnesota Flats]

Just about every image of him on the internet shows Barry Oakley playing with a pick.