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Topic: Pick Placement? |
Brett Hansen
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 16 Nov 2019 7:21 am |
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| I'm new and trying to figure out how to wear picks. Do you wear the thumpick under the cuticle or over the nail? I'm also trying to figure out how far to bend the fingerpicks to match the curve of the finger. Does the pick need to make full contact with the fingertip? |
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Ian Worley
From:
Sacramento, CA
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Posted 16 Nov 2019 12:13 pm
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You're probably going to get a lot of divergent answers here, there is no one right way to wear picks. The most important thing is to fit them so they are comfortable on your hand, and so they address the strings at the correct angle relative to your picking style and hand position.
Some players wear their thumb pick near the end of their thumb, others with it up near the first knuckle, and most somewhere in between. Same with finger picks, some have the blade extending out fairly straight, others curl it around tight to the tip of their finger, some twist the blades severely to get a specific angle of attack depending on their individual hand position.
Do a forum search, there have been dozens of discussions about this over the years, there is a lot of useful info here already along with copious opinions.
Maybe start here?:
https://www.google.com/search?q=finger+thumb+pick+site:steelguitarforum.com
Have fun! |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 16 Nov 2019 2:21 pm
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From Jeff Newman who has probably taught more people to play pedal steel than anyone.
...or quite possibly the best right hand in the business here:
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Gene Tani
From:
Pac NW
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Posted 17 Nov 2019 4:14 am
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Look up old threads in the search box about bending fingerpick bands into a slight cone shape rather than a cylinder shape, bending the blades, expanding thumbpick bands with hot water, and reshaping (filing and buffing) plastic thumbpick blades. Be careful bending thumbpick bands out, once they're over expanded you can't really close them up again (but you can put cloth tape on them of course
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=317059
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=284206
To shape metal pick blades i'll either put short piece of 1/4" vinyl tubing over the jaws of the needlenoses, or work a small socket wrench into the back of the blade and push it into a carpet or other soft surface.
There's also jeweler's pliers at hobby or art supply stores https://www.firemountaingems.com/shop/pliers
_________________
- keyless Sonny Jenkins laps stay in tune forever!; Carter PSG
- The secret sauce: polyester sweatpants to buff your picks, cheapo Presonus channel strip for preamp/EQ/compress/limiter, Diet Mountain Dew
Last edited by Gene Tani on 18 Nov 2019 7:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Brett Hansen
From:
Michigan, USA
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Posted 17 Nov 2019 11:05 am
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| Thanks guys I can see I have a lot of things I need to change, the pics help thank you |
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Gene Tani
From:
Pac NW
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Posted 18 Nov 2019 11:17 pm
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In the early few months, there's lots of experimenting you have to do w/LH, RH, feet, knees, I have to say it's a lot more complicated than guitar, banjo, mandolin. Best thing to do is find in person lessons w/a competent teacher or Skype if not, the next best thing is to watch people play in person, look at how their instruments fit them, how they hit knees, angle the feet over pedals, pick, hold bar etc.
The "Players" and "On the web" forums have lots of info, this thread also https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=2876105
_________________
- keyless Sonny Jenkins laps stay in tune forever!; Carter PSG
- The secret sauce: polyester sweatpants to buff your picks, cheapo Presonus channel strip for preamp/EQ/compress/limiter, Diet Mountain Dew |
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Jacek Jakubek
From:
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 26 Nov 2019 5:54 am
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Check it out! "3M Durapore" tape to secure the fingerpicks in place nicely and make you feel like the fingerpicks are your natural-born claws. Looks silly but it works like nothing else.
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Jon Voth
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 26 Nov 2019 7:57 pm
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I would like to, with respect, advise against using tape to adhere picks.
You can shape picks, regarding how they fit on fingers, as well as how they strike a string, using non-marring needle nose pliers (you'll have to buy that).
The secret is to lick your fingers before you put them on and they will stay on perfectly, kinda hard even to get them off.
Same idea with using triple flange ear plugs at the range (you can guess how that would taste). |
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