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Ransom Beers

 

Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 9:58 am    
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I'm using Erni Ball "Picky Picks" .015 gauge now.Tried the Dunlop's & a few of the others but the Erni Ball's seem to be more comfortable for me.
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Bent Romnes


From:
London,Ontario, Canada
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 10:31 am    
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I have two sets of the original Nationals and I guard them with my life. Nothing else will do.
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Calvin Walley


From:
colorado city colorado, USA
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 10:33 am    
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showcase 1941s for me, Zookies for the thumb
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Alan Kendall

 

From:
Maury County Tennessee
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 10:38 am    
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I use Fred Kelly regular dellrin thumb picks and Jeff Newman finger picks. The JF finger picks are pre bent,and I haven't found anything better.
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Brint Hannay

 

From:
Maryland, USA
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 10:39 am    
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Bent Romnes wrote:
I have two sets of the original Nationals and I guard them with my life. Nothing else will do.

Me too. I keep trying others, but I always come back to the Nationals. Even the NP2's won't do.
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Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 10:45 am    
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I've tried them all, Nationals, Dunlops, Jeff Newman's chrome plated ones, Chuck Brittain's powder coated red ones, etc. They all work, and I never noticed any difference in the tone they produced. The only difference in the way any of them felt when the string was picked, was that Jeff's chrome plated picks felt a little smoother, but even that was not significant.

The REAL difference is how well they stay on your fingers, and for that, the winner is Andy Hinton's picks with the part that wraps around your finger, coated with some sort of material that keeps them in place, while the blade remains uncoated. I think the actual picks themselves are Dunlops.

I'm very happy with Andy's picks and now use them exclusively.
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Bob Blair


From:
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 10:59 am    
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Mostly Nationals - ones I've had for years, but a few sets of them. I'm with Mike though. In a pinch I use whatever I have handy, as long as they are substantial. And I like to use different picks from time to time - I don't want losing a pick to be like losing a contact lens! There is a heavy brass (I think) pick called Acri that I like to use on my Weissenborn, but they don't suit me on pedal steel. As far as thumb picks go - whatever stays on. Mostly Zookies lately, but also Dunlop mediums are fine.
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Ransom Beers

 

Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 11:35 am    
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I use Zookie 20 thumb picks but I alter them by cutting the nose shorter & sanding a point on the end.I play close to the strings so that configuration works for me.When I played 6 string lead I never used any picks.I was watching a video awhile back of Mark Knopffler & he wasn't using any picks,damn I thought I was the only one,hee,hee.
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Johnny Thomasson

 

From:
Texas, USA
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 11:45 am     Picks
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Another vote for Andy Hinton's coated fingerpicks. Once you get them shaped properly, you put 'em on, they don't move and they're comfortable. They can't be beat. I use Nationals for the thumb.
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Bryan Daste


From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 11:55 am    
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I use a blue Herco thumbpick and 2 of the Jeff Newman "JF" fingerpicks, which only come in one gauge. I use 1/4" heat shrink tubing on the wraps of the fingerpicks to help them stay in place, which works great for me.

More detail about the heat shrink:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=149375&
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John Jeffries

 

From:
New Brunswick, Canada
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 5:07 pm    
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I use the split style "ProPick" (#2 blade angle)brass fingerpicks......with the split wrap-around, you can get a much better fit & more comfortable wrap on your finger, and the brass finger picks seem to sound a little warmer with less "pick Noise". I use the yellow "Fred Kelly" thumb pick, or sometimes the orange one for a little darker tone.
(You can Google "ProPick" and also "Fred Kelly Picks" for more info.)
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Walter Bowden


From:
Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 6:12 pm    
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I put heat shrink on my JF pics too and they work good. I also tried some "Roy's Own" finger pics w/heat shrink and like them too. The heat shrink tubing keeps them on my fingers better and since I am learning I seem to do better when the pics stay put.
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Brendan Mitchell


From:
Melbourne Australia
Post  Posted 16 Apr 2010 6:40 pm    
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I used to use Herco blue delrin t'pick and 2 finger picks . Stopped useing the finger picks a couple of years ago because it was hard to swap between playing and typing etc.
I had seen these a number of times but thought nothing of them until I tried them , now I use one all the time . I swop between steel and guitar and the thumpick stays on .I could never quite get comfortable with a thumbpick on guitar but this is the best so far and I love it with the steel because it STAYS ON .I think the big big flat bottom stops it from twisting .


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Paul King

 

From:
Gainesville, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 17 Apr 2010 5:27 am    
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I have for years used the blue thumb pick that Jeff Newman always recommended. As far as fingerpicks go, I use the Dunlop "Mini Picks". My fingers are just smaller than most mens.
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Ronnie Boettcher


From:
Brunswick Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 17 Apr 2010 6:14 am    
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I use the old Nationals on the fingers. I like a longer tine on my thumb picks, so I take a Dunlop, put it in boiling water till it is straight, then rebend it to the desired length of the tine I want. So now, the wrap around part is short, so I take a piece of a old pick, and super glue it to the newly bent one. then soften the plastic and form it to my thumb. Then on the inside of the thumb, I stick a piece of bathtub no-slip strip, and trim the excess off. Now have a custom thumb pick, the does not slip, and fits perfectly.
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Jack Ritter

 

From:
Enid, Oklahoma, USA
Post  Posted 17 Apr 2010 10:40 am    
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JF finger and L20 Zookies thumb.
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Ransom Beers

 

Post  Posted 17 Apr 2010 11:17 am    
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I just finished putting the shrink tube on my favorite picks & I must say it do make a world of difference in comfort.If I can remember I'll get some from Andy & try his method.
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Alvin Blaine


From:
Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA
Post  Posted 17 Apr 2010 11:21 am    
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I use Acri Picks, made by a good friend of mine Gordon Acri.
They NEVER pop off and they don't cut into your cuticles. You can get them in brass or steel.

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John Richmond

 

From:
New Mexico, USA
Post  Posted 17 Apr 2010 1:38 pm    
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I use a thumbpick and either 2 National fingerpicks or no fingerpicks at all. John
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Hal Higgins

 

From:
Denham Springs, LA
Post  Posted 17 Apr 2010 10:00 pm    
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For the last 5 or 6 years I've been using Zookies L-20 thumb picks....mainly because I only have half of a right thumb left because of an industrial accident in '79...and it fits good and feels good....I like the angle of it, too. For years I've used the Dunlop gauged picks...usually the .025's....and then I got Andy Hinton's coated picks....and after several tries at keeping the coating on....he finally got 'em right.....and I had him make me a set with bright blue coating (my Emmons is blue denim) and they are really outstanding and stay in place really well.
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Ray McCarthy

 

From:
New Hampshire, USA
Post  Posted 18 Apr 2010 1:42 am    
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I've been using the National NP2 finger picks from Bobbe's, and like them a lot for both comfort and tone. I've been using a blue Herco for the thumb, and it produces a noticeable difference in tone on the wound strings than some of my other thumb picks, but sometimes it starts to slip off my thumb.

Derby SD-10 (#316), NV-112, Cobra Coils
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John Billings


From:
Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 18 Apr 2010 6:58 am    
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I use National thumbpicks, cut very short. And these are my fingerpicks;

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Edward Meisse

 

From:
Santa Rosa, California, USA
Post  Posted 18 Apr 2010 7:24 am    
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I'm using Jeff Newman's finger picks. I haven't really found any thumb picks that I like a whole lot. I'm going to try propik thumb picks this summer.
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