Glassjaw.net: The Justin Beck Interview (June 2008) (Page 6 of 6)

dude 99% of the bassists i play with finger. from what i know its just based on choice but im sure each one has its pros and cons... but for funkadelic sex jazz, fingers are best.. finger those strings babay yeeeeah

I'm a bass player. When I started playing I used a pick (my heroes were Justin Chancellor [Tool], Greg Edwards [Failure] and Danny Lohner [Nine Inch Nails/A Perfect Circle]) and they all used picks. I really regret starting with a pick. At this point I can play with my fingers accurately, but not anywhere near as fast as I can with a pick. You get a very, very different sound. I think fingers sound better when you're doing something that requires a warm tone. Picks have their place though, brighter parts sound good with a pick. Also, there's a lot you can do with a pick. If you hit one way it just adds definition to the note, but you can also hit in a way that sounds more.. scratchy. Of course fingering is pretty limitless too. And of course, everything depends on how powerful your pickup is. When I was playing with a fender there wasn't a massively noticable difference between fingers and pick; but I switched to an Ernie Ball and now the difference is like night and day. The pick is so, so noticable with the humbucker..