as a bass 'player', I like to hit my beast. not like some spasticated poser twat, but y'know, along with the beat/vibe. i could never hold my bass high and tickle it.

if i try and play electric guitar i find myself wanting to hit it, rather than delicately pluck it that my guitarists seem to do. im just used to playing bass, i like the percussive nature of it, i think it suits my 'less-muso, more caveman' approach ;)

and yoo?

Pounder. I recently learned from our new guitarist that it's possible to strike the high strings before the low ones. Apparently this is something called an "upstroke." Still not sure how I feel about it.

Why choose? Depending upon what's needed, I range from a light caress to beating on my axe with my fists.

I don't know, you tell me.

Dude! I've seen you break a few guitars over the years. One of them was pretty much shattered. (GUILD)

Yeah, that was a really, really bad shot with the old picking hand.

I think I've gotten better about it since those days...except when I'm doing Danger Bird sets. Broke four strings once in a three song set. It's like the Skyball days all over...

I agree... It's called "dynamics." My main rhythm tone is just broken up, so I can almost make it clean by playing really lightly, without even touching the volume. Then when I smack it, it's crunchy deliciousness.

Depends on what the song calls for. Sometimes I play my bass with a pick, sometimes finger style, even within one song...I move around where I pick/pluck the string as well. I like to keep things dynamic and locked into what fits in the context of the song. I like being able to throw in some Geezer type light touch finger style up near the neck here and there. I have pounded the crap out of a few basses playing in punk and hardcore bands in years past, but not so much anymore.

fair enough!! you all make lots of sense and makes the question a little dumb i guess. wrong place to ask it!! heh.

i like generally hitting it tho i too have to chill on the gay moments. my problem is, being fairly new to the process as our band had only done 2 gigs and we're still nailing our set, is that if i rock out too much i end up fucking something up! ;)

and yeah Dinger, im definitely getting a 'must try harder' vibe from that clip! ;))))))

(joke, ya big yeti!)

I'm a sensitive artist and you've really hurt my feelings.

Er, what? Geezer hits harder than just about anyone out there. They had to tell him to dial it back on the early records because he was constantly bouncing his strings off the frets and pickups.

As for me, I play bass pickstyle and I try to keep my picking hand nice and relaxed and not hit too hard. It's much easier on the hand (less chance of carpal tunnel down the road, don't'cha know), and makes it a lot easier to get different dynamics.

I do get the urge to beat the hell out of my bass sometimes though, and on those occasions I like to go full Geezer and pluck fingerstyle right over the fretboard.

I'm a wimp, I pretty much baby my gear. But the other reason is that I find that I have more nuance by not just slamming down on strings.....i'll use a two finger attack sometimes while playing leads and sometimes no pick at all, and that's hard to really get a feel for the parts (at least for me). I know some guys can have good nuance and definition while wailing away on the instrument, but I lose most of my definition that way. That being said, I do mostly downstrokes on faster/ aggressive parts.

Metallica had said that the reason why Cliff's bass was so low in the mix was because he'd hit the pickups and have an unwanted percussive noise in the mix. Jason's bass from "And Justice For All" has recently been isolated and leaked online, and the action is super low, so there's a whole shitload of fret buzz. Doesn't really matter to me though, but I wonder if that's not why they essentially mixed it out.

Ok.

I dig pretty hard on my bass. So much that after an hour or so my fingers are done. And when I play guitar I pick on the upstroke, like Im playing bass. I can alternate pick when Im thinking about it, but the second I stop thinking I go back to the upstroke.

I'm pretty rough on my strings. Had to lighten up after a period of breaking 3 or 4 strings in a 2 week period.

That is some heavy punishment.

As "touched" upon, if you strike with only one touch, it'll sound like it.

Depends, I use to be a gentle stroker but in the past couple of years I have become a pounder, I guess getting angry.

I switch it up depending on what I need but I'm definitely a delicate stroker most of the time. You can't really dig in playing as fast as we are playing and keep that bass clear enough.

Some parts do need me to just rip on my strings through.

^ This guy might be hitting a bit too hard