ive noticed recently that rob appears to finger pick the bass, while jason used picks to play it- this is probably going to sound really stupid, but i have no knowledge on bass guitars at all- is there an actual difference between these two styles in terms of sound, or is it just preference? :unsure:

Yeah it does make a different sound (dont ask me to explain im no bass player either) but i remember reading a lars interview, he said that one of the things that helped them decide to ask for rob to join was that they were looking for a finger pick sound instead of a pick sound... so there you go

thanks, that had me really confused. i guess you cant really do slap bass with a pick either..but then metallica hardly have any slap bass

finger style: softer attack in the tone, but sounding fuller and rounder, more bass in the sound (sounding like hummmmmmhummmm)
pick style: harder attack, but overall sound is a little thinner. (sounding like dummmmdummm)

:D i think this was a really messed up explantion but its pretty accurate.
slapping is defined with finger playing, but if you pick hard you get a similar sound (think of iron maiden ~ they have this sound)
But it al depends on the bass and amp used and the mix and the effects etc...

:wavey:

cool, didnt know about the pick slapping

I'd have to say that finger picking is to get more of a low end style because the end of your finger tip's aren't as hard as a plec so they make more of a dull sound, mostly done in blues, soul and jazz music to get that rubbling bass line, whereas using a plec you can play faster, hit the strings harder and also you get more tone from the bass as your plucking the strings harder making them flap on the neck alot more. Slapping the strings gets the highest tone from a bass because of the force your using on the strings but you can't really get a lot of low end frequency from slapping I prefer using a plec for speed and tone. Who else plays bass here?

I play bass, and i would say that its a preference thing as to how you play really. I used to play entirely fingerstyle but when i got into Metallica i had to become proficient with a pick because I wanted to be able to do what served each song best, so for the Jason stuff i used a pick and i try to do all the Cliff stuff with my fingers......

did cliff use his fingers then? i cant seem to find out anywhere

yea cliff played bass with his fingers

u got live shit, watch the 20 minute metalli movie and see him do the bellz intro, im a guitarist so when i play bass i use a pick

i dont have live shit

Cliff only used his fingers, he never used a pick. He used his index, middle and ring fingers to get the Metallica rhythms from the early stuff........

i know this bassist called dan hes really crap but i have to have him in my band coz there isnt many bassists where i live
he uses a pick i think

i play bass... i think ive played for about 2 years now... and i finger pick becuz i find that i can pick faster that way. i also finger pick because it sounds bassier. if u want to hear wat a pick sounds like listen to sacrifice theory by afi.

I've been playing bass for 3 years and from personal experience finger style gives a deeper rounder sound and pick gives a sharper tone with a bit of a click at the beginning of the note. I play most stuff finger style but on weekends my band make me play for about 5 hours at a time so eventually my fingers blister. That's when I use a pick. Not that anyone cares what I think.