G'day
I was wondering why John used a pick later on in queens history. On live at wembley john uses picks on tie ya mother down, 1 vision, hammer to fall, seven seas of rye. but in early footage of seven seas and tie ya mother down he uses fingers. being a bass player, i no that using a pik is easier, but y did he change from fingers to pik in the heavy songs in the 80's.
Hi Liam,
welcome to the board!
Probably he used the pick to have more attack on the sound - it is a Martin pick, minimum 1.00 mm thick plectrum, so it is not as "slappy" as a thinner one, giving more attack to the string in the mid-low range... eventually it has to do with the stage setup on the late 80s tours, probably they used another kind of compressor, DI-boxes, amplifiers, whatever.
Btw, I have often thought about why he uses picks - and the only answer I found for myself is the rapid musical change they had in the 80s, using more synth-supported basslines. So they changed the setup (like the drums on the Works tour). If done so, the bass runs more flat because of the compressed sound, and for more attack he uses picks - for more punch he plays an active electronics bass (like the Elite or the Stingray, which have a mid-range boster).
Hope this helped you...
Nikos wrote: maybe he did that cause it had to sound more modern, but it is also possilble that he used another bass with a differnt sound.
John plays his old Fender Precision since 1974 - it is the same one as the natural and the black finished, he stripped the paint down first, later in 1985 or 86 he painted it black :)
And I doubt that playing with pick is more modern than finger style, it is a question of comfort and punch in the attack of the sound.