A couple pictures of me looking like a lefty....

Valentines day Bar jam


Valentines Day bar jam with my 6 string bass


new years eve jam


ADN YES, EVEN EXTREMELY EXPERIENCED FINGERSTYLE PLAYERS NEED TO USE A PICK EVERY NOW AND THEN

Because you ARE a lefty!

Nice, man! Hey, you get a totally different sound and feel from using a pick...I think that's badass!

Chowderboots wrote:

Nice, man! Hey, you get a totally different sound and feel from using a pick...I think that's badass!

that is correct Martin, I use the pick for 2 reasons really.... 1 is to piss all the fingerplayers off, and 2 is when my nails are not long enough to act like picks, it DOES sound different

Why not use a pick? I think it sounds and looks killer. I think it looks a little more natural in its own way.

I do like a pick occasionally, I can't argue that the tone it gives you can't be reproduced with fingers.



Unless you're Geddy Lee.

Great shots, Mike!

Mo Beach wrote:

I do like a pick occasionally, I can't argue that the tone it gives you can't be reproduced with fingers.



Unless you're Geddy Lee.

that and the rics always has a great "snap/tick" tone with fingers just like any other bass with a pick

I'll slowly add videos back into the video section each in their own titled threads ( as not to overwhelm the new members with one thread with 80 posts in it )-

Thanks, Mike. I can't wait to see them!

amimbari wrote:

Mo Beach wrote:

I do like a pick occasionally, I can't argue that the tone it gives you can't be reproduced with fingers.



Unless you're Geddy Lee.

that and the rics always has a great "snap/tick" tone with fingers just like any other bass with a pick

I'll slowly add videos back into the video section each in their own titled threads ( as not to overwhelm the new members with one thread with 80 posts in it )-

I think his Jazz bass has a better tone, but that's just me

Tom Sawyer was Jazz bass all the way!

Mmmmhhh Rush...man I love Rush. Even Grace Under Pressure and stuff where they started to lose a lot of people. But Moving Pictures--DAMN! Talk about killer bass!!

did you ever see how long Geddy keeps his fingernails?

If I cut my fingernails, the tone instantly changes from ticky and twangy to dead and thumpy.

No I haven't. I know Steve Harris keeps his fingernails pretty long on his pointer and middle fingers and that's what helps him out a lot. I could never get the motivation to keep growing my fingernails out. Maybe it would give my "strum" a bit more of an edge.

classical guitarists do it for that crisp sound on the nylon strings for the same reason, and if your strumming with your fingernails and not flesh.....there you go. Just another tone technique.

for the bass, why use a pretty colored plastic/nylon pick when your body gives you 4 of them built in and they CANT slip out of your hand when you sweat ---hahahaha

is it ugly or gay for a guy to have long nails? I never thought so.

alternate picking with a pick is called 2 finger picking with your fingers, and when you get a lot of years behind you, you will be able to alternate on one finger almost as fast as stroking a pick up and down. a very good example is some of the double thumb slappers out there, curl their fingers a little more so the nails are not a factor, and the tone changes.

I found myself doing the 3-banger and I can't go back to using two fingers. It is a great way to pick faster than I can with a pick. And more evenly. And whatnot.

Great pics.

How you liking the Billy Sheehan Sig (or is that that even yours)? I love them, especially the black ones. Sexy as hell

amimbari wrote:

classical guitarists do it for that crisp sound on the nylon strings for the same reason, and if your strumming with your fingernails and not flesh.....there you go. Just another tone technique.

for the bass, why use a pretty colored plastic/nylon pick when your body gives you 4 of them built in and they CANT slip out of your hand when you sweat ---hahahaha

is it ugly or gay for a guy to have long nails? I never thought so.

I have a friend who plays guitar who keeps his nails really, really long for that reason. I don't think it's that ugly or gay or weird. One time he complained about breaking a nail, which was pretty funny.

I want to try it out, but I bite my nails so compulsively and I have no intention of stopping...

I did also until I realized that nails were something important ( to me anyway ).

I use my nails sometimes, but I find I have to keep them rather short to prevent them from hanging up on the strings when I am plucking normally.

We have a salon in Kirkistan called "Nail&You" which I think, apart from sounding like something else, is very appropriate to this thread