Unwanted pick noise

Rich Taylor · From: Florida, USA

I have a question I hope somebody can help me with , I've been playing Lap Steel for about six months. I thought I was sounding half way decent until I turned my amp up and started to play. I seem to be getting alot of unwanted pick noise , I try to palm block to eliminate some of it but when I do faster runs you can hear the picks scaping the strings. While I'm sure this is a common problem ,I don't know how to fix it , do I have to learn to palm block faster. Thanks in advance for your reply - Rich[/i][/b]

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

That's a big part of why I refuse to use them anymore. I played with them for about a yearr and a half and found more than one reason to drop them. The pick noise is not musical, the tone is too tinny, and it eliminates the dynamics you can get with your fingertips. Heck, Bobbe Seymour plays without them, so I just gave them up for lap steel. I still use them with dobro when I have one around, as you just can't drive those strings hard enough without them- and the pick noise is not so much of an issue.

Denny Turner · From: Oahu, Hawaii USA

If time to relearn wasn't such a premium for me I'd relearn without picks like Keith suggests; Or at least learn with a flatpick between thumb and index and finger pick with the remaining 3, ....which is how I play spanish guitar so you'd think it should be a piece of cake on Steel, but it ain't because I've gotten used to the forced amplitude and timbre of picks. Jr. Brown and many other Pickers use that common flatpick finger-style.

One thing that can help if a person is using a metal thumbpick and/or the factory shape of fingerpicks: Use a plastic thumbpick, ....and curl the factory shape of metal finterpicks business end so they fit near the shape of your fingertips right up to the fingernails. The amount of overall curve and the amount of curve near the fingernail will likely be important to the release attack and feel a person desires, which can be adjusted by how tight or loose the tip is next to the fingernail. The flatter a metal fingerpick is the more it can buzz, while less so with them curved. If the curve feels anoyingly different, then a person can start from what they do like and adjust a bit of curve in the pick about every 10 times they play, allowing that time to get used to each adjustment. Worked wonders for me anyway when it was brought to my attention about 15 years ago.
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Gerard Ventura · From: Texas, USA

Long time electric guitar player here, both w flatpick and sometimes just fingers for jazz Wes style.

Always being amplified, and non-folk music, so when I started learning lap steel, tried the fingerpicks but felt and sounded bad, and limited my control of the instrument. Being amplified, volume boost of a pick over the finger is not an issue.

Like said above, if Mr. Seymour can do w/out 'em....!

Currently I don't use a thumb pick either...same issues....
Am I missing something by not using a thumbpick (as I believe Mr. Seymour still does....)?

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

I do use a thumbpick for fast passages and songs with a lot of bass lines. It still has issues without fingerpicks, the picked lines are louder and have a lot more attack than the notes picked with fingers. I have developed callouses on my thumb and fingers that make it easier to articulate my notes.

Andy Sandoval · From: Bakersfield, California, USA

I've found that the angle at which the picks come into contact with the strings has a lot to do with "pick noise". I'm still tryin to correct myself from time to time when I slip into the bad angle habit. Picks are definitley not for everyone and if your comfortable playin with bare fingers, hey, go for it. It's all about the end result anyway, which is makin beautiful music.

Phil Halton · From: Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA

This might sound like a wise crack, but I'll tell you what Bela Fleck told a banjo player when he asked what to do about pick noise.

"hate it til it goes away"

Guess you had to be there.

Seriously, I don't play lap steel, but I do play banjo, and pick noise is a common problem on that instrument. A clean, flush and crisp contact between pick and string, while striking through the string (not glancing blows or inadvertent pick/string contact) solves alot of the noise.

Believe it or not, another little trick is to rub the blade of your picks against the side of your nose, or behind your ear to coat them with body oils--you'd be surprised how well that works.

Unfortunately, there's just no graceful way to do that on stage--it always looks like you're either picking your nose, or scratching fleas. Shocked

Hope it helps.
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Michael Hardee · Posted 28 Oct 2007 8:50 pm

Like others have said, you need to curve the blade of your fingerpicks around your fingertip. Having done that, practice holding your hand so the blade of the pick strikes the string square. Pick noise should disappear or diminish to the point it's not a problem.

Steve Norman · From: Seattle Washington, USA

Also try brass verus nickle, wider blades versus narrow. Try picking further from the bridge also. A lot of the "woody" tone on older recordings comes from the player picking way up the neck away from the bridge. I have heard that a lot of people pick half way between where the bar is and the bridge. That is more exreme than what I do but it is definitively a fuller warmer tone than right in front of the pickup. -On Pedal Steel I have trained my right foot to back off the volume ped slightly during the pick attack and return it immediately after. The result is clean balanced note. It takes awhile to kill the "pumping" sound, but it is worth it. Investing in a good steel volume pedal is a good thing in my opinion. Last thing, Pull up SLIGHTLY as you grab strings when you use picks, like a backhoe vs strumming. Watch some youtube steelers hands during fast stuff. They bounce up and down vs back and forth. That will help develop the proper angle you hit the strings with. I'll shut up now. Good luck, we all go through the hell of learning those *%#&_@% picks, but it is worth it. I think it has been the hardest part of playing steel. that and clean blocking...... oh man
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Charley Wilder · From: Dover, New Hampshire, USA

What Denny and Michael said! Exclamation

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I like to play with fairly light gauge picks. Nothing heavier than .018.
I think this tends to soften the pick noise.

Jim Bates · From: Alvin, Texas, USA

Only thing I will add that helps for me is to polish the pick surfaces regularly with either a jewelers rouge cloth or simichrome, and buff them to a very smooth, mirror finish. You then check out how polished they are by turning up the volume and rubbing the picks on the strings. You should hear very little scraping, if polished right.

Thanx,
Jim

Chris Drew · From: Bristol, UK

You could just rotate the picks on your fingers a little, so they don't hit the strings edge-first.

I've been using plastic or metal thumbpick and metal fingerpicks for about 6 months now, the noise was really annoying for me at first...

I tried angling my hand to get the picks hitting straight, which silenced the noise but screwed-up my muting/blocking and thumb-angle.

I also tried bending & shaping, which seemed to work better but it's just too much of a faff for me.

So try just turning them a bit.
It worked for me...

Steinar Gregertsen · From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.

Charley Wilder · From: Dover, New Hampshire, USA

How about plastic finger picks?? I've got a bag of those old Dobro plastic finger picks around somewhere. I'd try those maybe. I used them way back when and changed to metal because I was playing banjo and got used to metal ones. I liked the plastic ones okay on steel as I recall.

Keith Cordell · From: San Diego

I don't know, but if you want to get rid of some of those dobro picks let me know. I had 4 but lost them.

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

I've been playing longer than I care to remember....
and frankly, I've NEVER experienced the complaints some of you have expressed herein (pick noise)...and have never felt it was necessary to take any of the mechanical steps some of you have suggested.

I'm no exception........and not all that good a picker.

Initially I took formal guitar lessons....and probably benefited from the required learning steps.

I've noted some folks 'claw' at the strings with their two finger picks. WRONG! The thumb and two finger picks in most instances, should be coordinated in a 'ROLLING'.... picking motion. It's much smoother and produces a far less scratching noise.

It's also been noted that many of the newer pickers tend to use the pickup cover as ARM RESTS and/or palm rests which places their picking fingers nearly atop the pickup itself. This produces HARSH Sounds.

The more treble, presence and volume that is applied, the more likelihood of harsh sounding string noise.

I know most of you already knew this......and I apologize now for assuming what I had to say provided any benefit to anyone, however, I sincerely believe that they are issues that wanna-be players should want to examine closely.

Good Luck to you! I don't feel a lap steel should be played any differently that a pedal steel. Atleast I don't and they sound quite reasonable to me and countless others.

Rich Taylor · From: Florida, USA

Gentlmen - I thank everybody for their response. - Rich

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