Bassists - How many fingers?

[PlaysLikeMyung]

where's the option for 3 and thumb and slap....

Slap is on there, and if you use 3 and thumb you would be the first person I ever heard of doing that, which would probably be why it's not on there.

I use my thumb for more melodic lines, like Solar Groove

But I can't slap. I never learned how, and I don't see myself really using it

[Dark Master Of Sin]

where's the option for 3 and thumb and slap....

Slap is on there, and if you use 3 and thumb you would be the first person I ever heard of doing that, which would probably be why it's not on there.

I use my thumb for more melodic lines, like Solar Groove

But I can't slap. I never learned how, and I don't see myself really using it

Personally I don't think it sounds good, so there is no point of learning it.

[Volk9]

Is it blasphemy to say I use a pick?

Same here, I can't play any good with just my fingers.

Get good at it?

Yeah, it just takes practice. I started only using pick because I didnt like using my fingers, but I was kinda forced into it. Its not as bad as it seems, but I know what position youre in.

Btw, who voted 5?

[Dark Master Of Sin]

Btw, who voted 5?

I've been wondering that too...

[Bombardana]

Thread Hijack....
Do you guys cut your nails short? or let them grow a bit? I tend to keep mine a little bit longer to give the notes more of an attack.

[Dark Master Of Sin]

Thread Hijack....
Do you guys cut your nails short? or let them grow a bit? I tend to keep mine a little bit longer to give the notes more of an attack.

I cut them, they don't matter to me really.

[brakkum]

I never let my nails on my right hand get long enough so that they could interfere with my playing in any way.

where's the option for 3 and thumb and slap....

Slap is on there, and if you use 3 and thumb you would be the first person I ever heard of doing that, which would probably be why it's not on there.

I don't mean all at once, if that's what you meant. I play one of those three depending on what any song calls for to help it fit better with the song. If I'm playing reggae I'll typically use my thumb. Slap for funk or something of that tone, and fingers for anything else usually. Maybe even a pick for something real hard.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

If my bass player had a bit better tone and possibly a little more gain and compression, I'd love to do some Billy-style pinch harmonics with my fingernail, but alas, it is not to be.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

god damn I still can't do proper pinch harmonics. It's the only thing keeping me from learning Birdland all the way through 

[sonatafanica]

ALL OF THEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x3pI7EZ1r8

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

god damn I still can't do proper pinch harmonics. It's the only thing keeping me from learning Birdland all the way through 

I've figured them out, but I assume the trick is having the proper amp/effect setup to allow them to ring properly.  My bass player's set up, when I try a PH, all you hear is my nail hitting the string and almost next to nothing afterwards.

I have a buddy who plays bass and is undoubtedly the best bass player I know personally.  I've got an email out to him about this very thing, because he's into that kinda stuff.  He has been able to very accurately reproduce a Sheehan-like sound.  I'm interested to hear his take on it.  I'll let you know if I get any helpful info.

[brakkum]

setup can definitely help with pinch harmonics, but you should be able to hear them any time you tr aif you are succesfully doing it. its a tough thing on the bass.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

When I do them, I can hear them, but they're so faint and dull sounding that it has to be the amp setup.  I've done it on other setups and been able to hear them far better.  I reall should think about getting a bass amp, on the off chance I'd ever have to do do a fill-in gig on bass.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

I learned through the internet, so I'm probably doing it wrong. Are there any videos that demonstrate how to do it properly? Even my Jaco book doesn't really explain it

[brakkum]

Search Jaco Lesson on youtube, you'll find a lonnnng chopped up video of Jaco explaining all kinds of stuff. he briefly explains his pinch harmonics somewhere in there but watch the whole thing anyways it's worth it.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

My bass guru indicated that the obvious and best way to get a good sounding PH out of your rig is to have a little grit in it (of course, assuming you have the technique correct), through some sort of distortion or overdrive.  A very clean sound isn't going to produce that ringing bell-like tone that you would expect.  Now obviously you don't want to have a full blown bass distortion, unless that's your style, but that was kinda what I was figuring.  Any thoughts?

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Well, I know Jaco played with a shit ton of reverb, so that may have something to do with it

[brakkum]

Well, I know Jaco played with a shit ton of reverb, so that may have something to do with it

??
Never noticed. also I don't think that would really help much.

[fivestring]

I play WITH A PICK.  It's not cheating, nor am I any less of a bassist than any of you.

I'm damn impressed with a lot of people's finger-style bass playing.  I just use what works for me.
Excluding "use a pick" out of the poll is quite biased and was short-sighted.

[brakkum]

no offense to any pick users, but i just see it as extremely inferior. the lack of tonal and dynamic control that you get with fingers just doesn't make sense to me, unless all you play is something like metallica then sure that makes perfect sense.

[Dark Master Of Sin]

I just find it more fun to play with fingers, if you use a pick, might as well play guitar.

[Algo Fonix]

I normally use 2, but I've been trying to move towards using 3.  It's hard though, because I always find myself slipping back into using just 2.  Damn habit's hard to break, man.

[black_biff_stadler]

I lean toward two 99% of the time. The other 1% is 3-finger for faster triplet patterns and the occasional arpeggios.

[Dark Master Of Sin]

I prefer two all around, even for triplets. I play triplets just fine with two.