pick tone with fingers?

[PainKiller8191]

hey...i've got a little issue

my band wants to cover an arch enemy song, and I'm up to it...but I can't replicate the guy's tone to save my life...you see I play with fingers, and i really dislike using a pick, only when i have to, for really fast runs that i absolutely cannot play with fingers....

is there anything that can get me close to pick tone, with fingers?
i just need some tips:wave:

[Polyamarous]

Im not familiar with the Marcus Miller jazz, but it seems to have all the bells and whistles. I'd say somthing trebley, bit of gain perhaps, you dont wnat to loose the lows but the highs are perhaps more important, also finger near the bridge.

[-whitey-]

grow nails,or ping the string really fast,but pinging will hurt,and if not done fast enough you may get harmonics

or dip your fingers in molten metal :P

pick is the only way if you want to get that tone,but to be honest if it was live,it would be hard to tell

you can push it and turn the treble up a bit more than normal

[PainKiller8191]

wow. thanks:)

[Criss Frantic]

Im not familiar with the Marcus Miller jazz, but it seems to have all the bells and whistles. I'd say somthing trebley, bit of gain perhaps, you dont wnat to loose the lows but the highs are perhaps more important, also finger near the bridge.

Pretty much 123. But I find that I'm not as comfortable fingering near the bridge, the extra tension there is kinda hurty on the fingers. I think i'm just weak.

[wicked_child]

yeah, play near the bridge, and boost some gain. goodluck

[Marly]

Grow long nails.

[DesolationRow]

Actually, contrasting to the bridge thing, i find that keeping your fingers on the neck gives you a lot of growl. That might help, too. And yes, boost high mids and treble, as well as gain.

[HaVIC5]

If you want a pick tone, why not just use a pick? Makes sense, doesn't it?

[PainKiller8191]

it does but then I don't feel free at all.....i feel like all my creativity is lost when I play with a pick....and i know it's for one song but i just don't like it

[Phalanx]

it does but then I don't feel free at all.....i feel like all my creativity is lost when I play with a pick....and i know it's for one song but i just don't like it

I don't get it, you want to use a pick for the tone. Yet you want to use your fingers because of *feel*. In my opinion you'll just have to sacrifice one or the other. For one song

[trumpeter]

it does but then I don't feel free at all.....i feel like all my creativity is lost when I play with a pick....and i know it's for one song but i just don't like it


You aren't really being creative if you cover a song...

Just play with a pick for that one song then throw i to the crowd.


It will sound "right" if you can't get that tone otherwise.

[Jimbobntnr]

I play fingerstyle. When I find that I need to get a pick tone on a song what I normally do is use a pick.
There. I said it.
I don't slap much either, but when I have to really get that slap tone out of a song, well, I slap it.

[Skit]

I play fingerstyle. When I find that I need to get a pick tone on a song what I normally do is use a pick.
There. I said it.
I don't slap much either, but when I have to really get that slap tone out of a song, well, I slap it.

:eek: Your crazy!! :p


Its one song man, just use a pick.
And your bitching that you cant be creative... but your playing a cover?

:confused:

[WHoRRID]

yea dude use a pick, if ur playing a show ur gona have to stop and change ur eq and gain etc. just to play the one song then change it back o play the next.

and theres alot of things that he does u simply cant replicate with fingers, for example alternating picking will sound alot different than two fingerslyte (MIMIMI) no matter how much eqing u do.

[Tryxx]

I do with my Modulus/Bart/Epifani set-up, but that's kind of a specialized situation. But the jist of what I do is: Fade to the bridge pup, substantial boost in mids, bass flat (or a little above if you prefer), treble up halfway.

You'll have to do little things here and there to accomodate for hiss and string noise, but I find that helps sometime to define the tone.

[WHoRRID]

ok so maybe u can get the tone if u buy a graphite neck bass and some sweet *** rig, or you couldspend all of 30cents fora pick. but i still believe the attack style will sound different no matter what.

[Tryxx]

It does. It's going to it. It is different and there's no way to replicate that. I use a pick most of the time anyway when I want that sound, unless I lose the picks.

But that's to me, still a good model of where to start with your EQ if you perhaps: Don't have access to a pick, can't change between songs, or you have to change technique in mid song. Because more often then not, when I use my fingers for the "pick tone" it's when I want to incorporate something else in the song that I can't while constantly using the pick. Slapping and popping with a pick may be possible, but it's difficult.

Going with that scenario, it works.

[Untitled]

hey...i've got a little issue

my band wants to cover an arch enemy song, and I'm up to it...but I can't replicate the guy's tone to save my life...you see I play with fingers, and i really dislike using a pick, only when i have to, for really fast runs that i absolutely cannot play with fingers....

is there anything that can get me close to pick tone, with fingers?
i just need some tips:wave:
Well now you have to, so stop ya whining and buy a plec.

Theres nothing better then a plectrum for a pick tone, just like on drums if you want a certian tone, you'd use sticks insted of brushes.

I play prodimatly pick, but i play finger when the song requires it, its not hard to transfer over.

[PainKiller8191]

yeah i guess you're right...i'll just suck it up and use a pick

/pointless thread

[pukeboy66]

it does but then I don't feel free at all.....i feel like all my creativity is lost when I play with a pick....and i know it's for one song but i just don't like it

well ... you're covering someone elses song ... how much freedom are you really going to need?

[FenderSRX]

just learn to play with a pick, its not difficiult and will improve your versatillity.

[pitchfork]

Wse a pick, i have a few on top of my amp incase my fingers get tired and for one song i play acoustic with a pick.

[Jaded]

Lots of treble, use a bass with active pickups, play close to the bridge, and use your fingernails.

[Hardinge]

just out of interest which arch enemy song

[PaulR]

Do you really need to replicate the tone totally?

You're doing an "interpretation" of the song.

[Chris K]

Sharlee has awful tone, do it yourself and do it better!

Grabbing a Ric might help, but in reality, it's hardly the most prominent of bass tones, so it it really necessary to clone it?

[MyFriendOfMisery]

Try buying finger picks that they use for banjos. I dont know if it would work but it may.

[Luchesi]

pick is the only way if you want to get that tone,but to be honest if it was live,it would be hard to tell



Yeah, but if you're REALLY recording (I don't mean a crappy Pro-Tools basement set-up, I'm talking a good quality recording) you can mess around and get just about any tone imaginable.

[Luchesi]

Try buying finger picks that they use for banjos. I dont know if it would work but it may.

I tried that once, but they were metal banjo picks and it sounded pretty nasty. :( Nonetheless, I still maintain that banjo rolls are the best way to learn Wooten's style of playing.

[the_uber_penguin]

Try buying finger picks that they use for banjos. I dont know if it would work but it may.

I tried that one, it doesn't work.

I found learning to use a pick properly was pretty useful. I play in a jazz/wind orchestra ensemble, and I get some difficult stuff, some I couldn't do with my fingers because it was too fast, some I couldn't do with a pick because it was too dodgy rhythmically.

So I learned to play the piece both with fingers, and with pick, and hybrid (palming the the pick when I don't need it).

Now I'm three times as versatile on bass as I was before.

It's well worth it, in my experience.

[JMDavis07]

to get a brighter tone on my bass, i play closer to the bridge

[king of suede]

yeah, you could play near the bridge,
or grow out your fingernails on your index and middle finger and... it's really twangy but it'll work,
or you can act like you're holding a pick, but just run your fingernail over the string
(also... this won't help you with your case, just thought i'de pop this in... if you do my 3rd suggestion but run your fingernail instead of straight on, run it a little slantways and you'll get a wee bit of delay, well you get the 'thunk!' of your nail hitting the string, then it fades in when you pick... it's really cool, i acualy just found that like 20 minutes ago, haha)

[Aukai]

picks are trebly right? So play near the bridge, add some treble, just don't go over board and get hiss.

[PainKiller8191]

just out of interest which arch enemy song
i wanted to play one of the new ones like nemesis or my apocalypse...
but they're leaning towards the overdone we will rise
which is fine also, good song

[Hardinge]

nemesis IMO is there best song

[sr800bkBassist]

use a pick.
it can actually be more rewarding if you work at it enough.