Have I discovered the BEST pick for bass?

[@Longy_b]

Give me a thumbs up if you use the dunlop sharp picks!

[@BrantleyAllen]

Playing bass since 79. Started on fingers in jazz band. Started using a pick in early 80s, medium. Today, I do what ever gets the tone I want. Picks are Tortex .96 and 1.16mm.

[@stevemoore3587]

Really informative. Thanks Tom, I needed that.

[@Bentobls]

I went through the same thing with the pick holding. I used to hold it exactly as you described and end up hurting my finger by the end of the gig. So I figured it out, the same way you did, a new way to hold it. Also I use the regular tortex 0.73. Now I should give the sharp one a try. Cool video. Peace, man!

[@ditorresyt]

On gigs I use the 0.6 Tortex, easier to play, if I tense up they act as a natural compressor by equalizing the strikes and prevent injuries. For recording I use the 0.88 or 1mm, because of tone and dynamics, harder to play, but in a recording setting I can take my time to get the take I want.

[@Longy_b]

Nice! Adam Nolly Getgood talks a lot about the natural compression that lighter pick gauges allow - it makes a lot of sense to me too.

[@alcolol48]

This is the first big hurdle I've encountered playing the bass (3 years in, still crap)... I'm always getting caught on the strings, but I went straight to Dunlop's 1.14 Lemmy picks not knowing any better. Everything you've said makes perfect sense now and I'll be trying out the .73 and .88 mm Tortex Sharps next. Thanks, dude! :D

[@Longy_b]

Nice! Let me know how it goes for you :D My best advice would be to try loads of different shapes, gauges and materials and see which just 'feels right'.

[@alcolol48]

@@Longy_b Will do! I have a bunch of picks from Pick Geek, but they're all different gauges (though it doesn't say what mm) and they're too small, but I like the medium on those best.

[@reese4379]

I started playing bass inspired by a lot of punk rock so I was always using a pick, but I thought that thicker strings needed thicker picks, because of that I faced a lot of struggles in just using the pick, and ESPECIALLY with learning alternate picking. I eventually went out and got a tortex 0.6 pick (Huge blink fan, and mark hoppus uses those) and everything clicked from then on. 0.6 all the way for me, the flex of the thinner pick while still having some more rigidity compared to like a .5mm pick is ideal, it helps the strings have a much more dynamic and variable movement than I would get with a ticker pick and it just makes it sound more authentic.

[@mrbbbme]

I think it is so funny how close my experience has been to yours. I’ve been playing for about 3 years and for the last 18 months I’ve used the yellow tortex large triangle that you mentioned. I hold it between my thumb and both my index and middle finger. I found that using the larger pick with these three fingers keeps me from holding too tightly. Before moving to 3 fingers I would at times not be able to hold the pick part way through a set and I had to constantly remind myself to loosen my grip. After watching your video I may sharpen a few of the picks and see if that is an improvement. Thanks for sharing the process you went through.

[@dupgab]

I use the exact same as you on bass. Sharp 0.73 yellow. This pick stay me in tune and have good attack. I was a good user of the tortes 0.60 orange. But I feel this one does all the good things of the orange one but it is way better for downpicking stamina.

[@davidddavid7977]

My personal favorite picks for my bass are the Dunlop 1.5mm Sharp Picks. Idk the size, sharpness, and thickness just seem to work very well for me

[@pepesanchez977]

I like using different gauges, depending on the song and style. I like a 2mm regular shaped pick that it's so thick that you can clearly see how it has worn out! I really like the power it gives when picking the thicker strings, but I also like a 0.77 triangle shape for speed. Years ago I found on the street a triangle shaped 2mm that had a circle in the center for griping it, it wasn't flat, had some kind of curve to it that I don't know how to describe, it was my fav, idk what brand it was and I've never seen it again in a store or online, I lost it :( Some years ago as well I had an old driving license and I cut it around my face to the shape of a pick to have a pick with my face, it was just ridiculous but it had a very particular sound that I liked and no pick woukd give it!

[@Longy_b]

I made a pick with my old driving licence too! I had one of those ‘pick punchers’ things. It was like a hole punch but created pick shapes through just about anything

[@pepesanchez977]

@@Longy_b oh wow! I didn’t know that device existed! I just placed a regular pick around my face and with a marker I drew the shape of the pick that then I cut around with a cutter on top of a cutting mat. That sounds very barbaric after knowing a pick puncher exists 😅 It came out very decent though!

[@robertc2619]

18:40 Great video on picks and pick playing and differing guages,basically playing some rock tunes the attack from a pick is unbeatable,but using a pic is a learning process as it is not easy to use,using trial and error I like the big triangular Gibson picks although they break easily,but if you are playing fast triplets like on Duran Duran planet earth light picks def to start with as well as slowing the piece down in tempo to get it down correctly ,same with stranglers Straighten out intro a light pick slowed down gets you there with practise then increase speed till you can play it is all about playing fast without rushing, starting slow gets you there,no pick is to light if you like using it,the bass pick attack on video is superb and takes a lot of practise ,now if you had full tab for your version of suspect device,and made a video showing your technique position playing ,how you approach learning it etc it would be a superb learning video and would improve most bass players knowledge and technique ,although an easy number to learn your fills when changing chord and position would benefit us bass players technique as well as your pick playing and great sense of timing ,showing this slowed down would help greatly and you are easily understood ex plaining technicalities a superb video ❤BTW the way I'm a lefty driven bass player who is not always happy with my pick technique also,what about warm up before playing i always need to warm up to be effective in movement,what you think?

[@Longy_b]

Thanks mate 🙂. I think warming up is important - I don’t necessarily have any specific exercises that I use, I will typically just play along to slower songs for a few minutes and gradually pick faster and faster songs. Ultimate Guitar have ‘pro tabs’ that allow you to change the speed so that you can practice the songs at a slower tempo. For Suspect Device, have you tried using the playback speed settings on KZbin? You can slow my video down which might help you figure out the parts.

[@robertc2619]

​@@Longy_bgood advice as you know there is a lot of bad advice and all tutorials are mainly finger players i found a new warm up cycle of 4ths on A string 1 finger per fret no open,starting on C String then diatonic scales using also triads on C scale starting on 8th fret so using fundamentals on warm ups starting on 60bpm so far so good, good videos good narration and I have Moises app so can slow it down sometimes easier option eludes you keep it up❤

[@ajsharpy]

That's a sharp pick alright... Adam Sharp(e) you might say...

[@Longy_b]

😏

[@rustee_nyfe]

For last 10 years of my career I been using Dunlop Gator 2mm. Thinner are harder to play fast (especially that Tortex Sharp) for me. BTW love that JazzIII (not XL)

[@Longy_b]

Interesting! When it comes to thicker gauges, I actually find I prefer a thicker pick when it comes to playing guitar, but not for bass. Not something I would have expected at all when I first started.

[@rustee_nyfe]

@@Longy_b I was really surprised when you said thinner are "faster". For me Tortex .88 requires more moves.Definitely it is a matter of taste

[@Ride-Tahoe]

Heretic!!!