Thanks for reminding me, I need to go check on my other bass this weekend. Shop’s had it almost two weeks now.
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This is a great way to mute for less orthodox styles. My left thumb does a lot of muting work - mostly for slap playing, but if it works, I like it for picking too.
Most of my muting with pick playing is done with my right hand. The meaty part of the palm along the pinky side of the hand rests along the strings when I play with a pick - right above, or just to the pickup side of the saddles. When I need mutes, I bring it down against the strings. If I want things to ring, I pick it up slightly. It’s called “palm muting” and it’s an absolutely essential piece of pick technique and makes for some lovely muting options.
As for my pick: (as championed by Bobby Vega, my funky pick guru:)
The mighty Yellow Tortex.
Here we see it in its various stages of wear:
Brand New – Logo worn off – Tip Worn down
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Ooh I’m trying the yellow one next
edit: it rocks! except my yellow one is a translucent 2mm 
The green 0.88 tortex feels good though.
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Whats the strangest thing yall have ever used for a pick? I always take the change out of my pocket at the end of the day and put it on my desk, which is near my bass. I always find that when I wanna play for like 5 minutes, I just use a nearby quarter. I actually really like the sound and feel of using one, but it takes time to get used to.
I remember another time I went on vacation to a beach that had a bunch of theses perfectly pick shaped rocks. So naturally when I got home, I tried them out. I had to stop using them cause rock shavings would end up on my bass.
Also when I am bored/ experimenting, I like to do the Tom Morello pencil tremolo thing. Its a lot of fun, but really hard to make good music out of.
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in an emergency situation, I already cut a pick out of a telephone or credit card, it worked not-so-bad. I’m not a big fan of metal pieces but I guess at some point we’ll have to try different metals and maybe think about different shapes.
I tried with a knife blade : same thing than with “real” metal picks, I’m not a big fan.
I’d like to try a rock pick ! also I guess I’ll have to try with a carrot.
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I saw an interview with Flea and he said back when he was just starting out he played all down…but that was because back in the Punk era if you Up picked it was considered weak…lol
Now Flea says he uses both up and down picking.
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Just bought a Wedgie 1mm (red) the other day. Best I’ve used so far though it seems to wear quickly. Highly recommend trying this. Has a dent for the thumb, v comfortable!
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I was playing my 5-string now that it’s back from the shop and was once again getting used to the strings being so close together, when I realized… I just bought a sweet bag of picks. What am I thinking.
tl;dr, 5-strings and picks are like peanut butter and chocolate.
Except the muting. That’s gonna take a while.
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I’m not familiar with this. Can you post a link?
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This is the vid I got it from. I dunno if he actually does it in the vid, but he does explain it. I also don’t think he was the first person to do it (I have heard of others doing it too) but this is the first time I had heard of anyone doing it. Basically you take a pencil or pen (or anything with a similar shape), hold it by one end towards the bottom strings, and let it drop on a string. Relax your hand while doing this, and it should bounce up and down creating a tremolo/vibrato sound. It probably works better on a guitar, but I just do it on my bass.
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HOW DARE YOU
Just kidding, I do that too! I just don’t let beginner students do it until they learn “proper” fretting technique, otherwise it becomes a problematic crutch.
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nice one
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Hahaha yep. Expensive pick!
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Oh yeah, another question. I usually play my bass sitting down, but I was wondering, where do you put your bass when standing up (with a strap of course) I usually put it kind of high, but that’s also cause I mostly do finger style. If I use a pick I notice its a bit uncomfortable. I also have noticed that most bass players who use a pick keep their basses pretty low to the ground. Whats your preference?
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nothing extreme, but yes I feel it’s better to keep the bass quite low when playing with a pick ! to me it’s very tiring to hold the bass in a higher position.
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Your bass should be in the same position whether you are sitting or standing. Otherwise it will likely lead to errors due to the geometric differences. This usually means the bass is higher than what you see in rock videos and such. It’s also horrible for your back to play bass super low.
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my bass is way lower when I play standing than when I’m in sitting position !
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I mean, that’s OK. It’s not a rule you have to follow, as with most things about playing the bass. However, if you think about it, you are having to make micro adjustments to your playing style depending on if you are sitting or standing because your body is in a different position. This may be easier for some to adjust to than others. I’d personally keep things as close to the same as possible so it is one less thing for my brain to have to think about. Plus, I’m just re-starting, so I’m not having to change what I’ve done in the past in this regard as I can’t remember what I did 20 years ago. 
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