Bass players poll

I too prefer a pick overall but it really depends on the song. If I were playing Status Quo numbers I'd use a pick, for other lighter jazzier numbers I'd use fingers.

Fingers for sure.

Fingers, for some reason I dont like using the pick.

I'm a guitar player, so I use a pick whenever I can.

I prefer much more using fingers, i feel better and i think also i enjoy more the sound that fingers produces, but also i use picks sometimes.... anyway i haven`t practise lately

I prefer finger picking when playing Bass although I don't own a bass guitar. When playing electric or acoustic guitar I use the Steve Howe style, pick and fingers, it’s remarkably easy once you get used to it.

I really prefer a pick.  It's cleaner and it's got that attack.  Fingers may feel really good to use as a player, but their sound is overly fat and I feel it drags the song.  Of course it all depends on the song, and when you need great clarity with precise articulation, it's hard to turn away a pick.  Picks also handle more ranges better.  Fingers have a really nice sound in the first octave on a four string bass (E), but picks encompass range range of five and six string basses the best.

Fingers also - really just because it felt more natural when I first started playing. Although I did use a thick pick for 12-string bass for a while, just for more attack and that bright, crisp tone.
(Completely did my head in at first to move from fingerstyle upstrokes to pick-based downstrokes and to switch back and forth from song to song!)

I use my fingers and picks, but i only use the picks after i can play the song with my fingers.

Edited by progismylife - October 21 2006 at 16:29

AtLossForWords wrote: I really prefer a pick.  It's cleaner and it's got that attack.  Fingers may feel really good to use as a player, but their sound is overly fat and I feel it drags the song.  Of course it all depends on the song, and when you need great clarity with precise articulation, it's hard to turn away a pick.  Picks also handle more ranges better.  Fingers have a really nice sound in the first octave on a four string bass (E), but picks encompass range range of five and six string basses the best.

    
Picked strings have more attack - and I prefer to pick most bass lines, especially fast ones, and ones based around the lower strings, where I find that alternate pick techniques, etc., are more accurate and, more importantly more consistent in tone than alternating fingers.

I dislike the sharp "twang" of the higher strings - so I tend to use thick strings on one bass for picking, and thinner strings when I play finger style.

Both picking and finger style can sound great, but it depends on the effects you are looking for in your playing - and, personally, I don't find that I have any more sensitivity to the music, or difficulty in stretching across ranges on the instrument whether I use a pick or not.
    

Edited by Certif1ed - October 21 2006 at 18:31