Hi! I'm Greg and I'm a Rockaholic!
To play with a pick or not? OK, when I first started playing bass I plucked the strings with my fingers and did not use a pick. Why? Because I saw other bass players playing with their fingers, so I did the same thing. We were doing a theatrical musical in Colorado and after the show I'd hang in the bar of the hotel where they had a great jazz trio consisting of a pianist/vocalist, a stand up bassist and drummer. The bassist was great. He never played the same riffs on the same songs twice. I was blown away by his talent. Not only was he amazing but he played a fretless bass. How he ever knew where to find the exact notes on his bass was beyond me. But I marveled at his playing and his smooth style. His solos were awesome. Yes - BASS SOLOS! It worked great in this jazz trio. No electric guitar. No electric keyboard and the drummer played with brushes or else very lightly. I could hear everything beautifully.
So, for the first few years I plucked with my fingers, too. But soon a great drummer by the name of Jim Lafrano joined PIPER, my original and cover band, and could this guy play drums. He was great! He was a hard hitter and we suddenly became a loud band. We blew out several PA speakers, which were guaranteed for life . . . so we had to keep replacing the speakers until finally the music store took back the speakers and gave us our money back and said no more!
The higher volume of our band made me do three things - go out and buy a big-ass bass amp, buy a new bass guitar that had more of a cut-through tone to it, (I switched from a Precision Bass to a MusicMan Bass, which I still play today) and I switched to playing with a pick. I've been playing with a pick ever since. After time I developed my own rock and roll style. If it's rock n roll, I'm in!
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