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Topic: Metal Thumb Pick |
Sigi Meissner
From:
Duebendorf, Switzerland
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Posted 30 Nov 2010 5:38 am |
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As we all know, plastic thumb picks tend to wear thinner and thinner the longer one use it. For shure much quicker than a metal thumb pick. I wonder why the metal pick is not standard for steel players. What speaks against it? Sound? Feeling? Not comfortable to wear?
Thnx for any coments
Sigi |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 30 Nov 2010 6:51 am
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I guess it's the picking-sound and comfort in wearing that makes us choose plastic thumb picks over metal ones.
Myself, I alternate between a plastic thumb pick and a metal one, depending on the sound I want. Both thumb picks are filed short to go with my picking-style, and the metal one is shaped thin and a bit "flexy" to create pretty much the same picking-sound as my finger picks.
My picks are slightly unusual, they say ... see picture...
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Ryan Barwin
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 30 Nov 2010 6:59 am
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Maybe it's just my technique, but all the metal thumbpicks I've tried sound too harsh and bright, and the tone is very different than the metal fingerpicks, whereas I can get basically the same tone with a plastic thumbpick as with metal fingerpicks. Don't know why.
Haven't tried filing the thumbpick though...good idea. Your fingerpicks do look unusual...what are they?
_________________
www.pedalsteel.ca |
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Leonard G. Robertson
From:
Ozark, Mo. USA
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Posted 30 Nov 2010 5:11 pm metal thumb picks
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| I prefer a thumbpick made of metal wrap & plastic tip. To each his own. |
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Arne Odegard
From:
Norway
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Posted 1 Dec 2010 3:31 am
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| I use a Dunlop metal thumb pick. I find it's more comfortable. |
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Emmett Roch
From:
Texas Hill Country
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Posted 1 Dec 2010 6:38 am
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I've been using a metal Dunlop thumbpick on PSG for years. They never lose their shape or fall off, and after a little getting-used-to, the tone was about the same as what I was getting with a plastic pick.
_________________
On Earth, as it is in Texas |
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 2 Dec 2010 7:55 am
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| Ryan Barwin wrote: |
| Your fingerpicks do look unusual...what are they? |
The finger picks are some crappy and stiff no-brand picks I bought back in the early 80s - I didn't know any better then 
They are a bit harder and thicker than most picks, and hold shape much better than any of my new ones.
I straightened them and filed them down to nearly half the original thickness near the tip to make them flex ever so slightly - leaving a tiny bulge at the very edge for a more exact and powerful "snap" effect as the pick leaves the string. Then I filed the edge at an angle so I can variate how wide a surface of the picks hit the strings by changing the angle of my hand, and polished (only) the area that hit/scrape the strings thoroughly with toothpaste on paper - took a while to get right... 
The metal thumb pick is also a crappy no-brand, that came with an autoharp I bought back in the mid 70s. It had a very long tip originally, that made it unsuited for anything but raking strings on the harp. Since I prefer playing with bare fingers/nails on the autoharp, I threw it in a drawer along with other "accessories".
Years later I gave it a similar treatment to that of my finger picks, and now use it just as often as I use the blue plastic thumb pick - that I also shortened and shaped a bit.
I like being able to touch/mute and rake the strings with my fingertips/nails while using picks, which for the most part explains why my picks are straight and short and why I have gone through all the trouble of shaping these old picks. Haven't found any new picks that work equally well for me - at least not yet. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 2 Dec 2010 12:12 pm
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I liked the all-metal ProPik (thnx Easley) much better than the Dunlop, trimmed down to proper length natch -
http://elderly.com/accessories/items/PK43-L.htm
But then a few years back I got in deep with the Sonny Landreth "whole-guitar" slide style, and started doing a lot of alternate picking with the thumbpick.... the cross-contamination had me doing upstrokes on the steel with the ProPik, ack. I'm back to a standard or "Heavies" Dunlop, with the point trimmed to a sharkfin angle so it'll do ups and downs at equal volume. I tried the Dunlop thumb/flat pick and the Kelly Bumblebee, but the Dunlops work just as well for me. One thumbpick, four instruments, keeps the crazies & scrapies down. |
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Bob Mainwaring
From:
Qualicum Beach Vancouver Island B.C. Canada
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Posted 3 Dec 2010 8:22 pm Metal Thumb Pick
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I've been using a metal thumbpick for many years and find them to be a much better tone than the plastic ones.
When I was using the plastic ones, I always placed a few ridges with the pointed end of a sharp knife inside/across the flat area to eliminate them sliding off when playing.
The metal ones have the holes placed in them which helps them to stay on.
I also keep it in place for the ol' five string.
All Z.B.est
Bob Mainwaring |
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Bob Mainwaring
From:
Qualicum Beach Vancouver Island B.C. Canada
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Posted 14 Dec 2010 9:50 pm Metal Thumpicks
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I forgot to mention Sigi.....to make it easier to figure which finger pick goes where, I borrow the wife's nail polish and paint the 1st finger pick around the top, it's way easier than trying each one wondering which goes where.
All Z.B.est.
Bob Mainwaring |
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