mattplaysguitar


I don't know if anyone else does this, but I play my bass with a very thin pick. There are a few reasons and they ultimately are there to mask the fact that I'm not a bass player by trade. Firstly, consistancy with how hard you pluck the notes. If you use a soft pick, you try and pluck really hard, and it still plays softly. If find trying to play hard with a soft pick results in notes that are always the same level. If I play with a hard pick and play hard, I'll often get a lot of buzzing as the strings vibrate against the fretboard. Playing with a soft pick also counteracts this. It does limit me in some ways, but if I'm finding that limitation in a certain part, I can just switch to a heavier pick for that solo bass section. It works very well for me, but I would only do this for recording. It's worth having a go and seeing if you get anything from it.

Hey Matt,

I normally use nothing less than a large medium gauge pick because generally the strings are usually heavier on a bass, and I get better consistency when I rest my hand on the tailpiece cover.  Yet I know people that prefer to remove the cover.  Also the sound is brighter/clearer closer to the bridge and when using the bridge pickup. Sometimes on ballads I might not use a pick at all.

For the style of music I do nowadays I'm happy using Bass samples (Vsti), my favorite patch is the Sonik Synth Ricky 4001 but I might get the DVi Fender.P also, and I'm jumping on the 8x1 Expansion-Tank wagon ;)

OT (in regards to Guitar), my guitar has the F/Rose setup that I use without the tremolo bar/arm attached, instead I use the heel of my hand for a more unique tremolo/effect thereby the 'lighter springs' suits me fine whereas most users will need a firmer setup.