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Topic: Nix The Picks |
Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 5:19 pm |
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For longer than I can remember, the dissatisfaction with string breaking picks has been rekindled by recent posts. Picking too hard or hooking the strings accounts for the majority of string breakages. Much blame has been directed erroneously at the 3rd string breaking sooner than expected. It's time to focus on the real culprits; the steel fingerpicks.[This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 27 December 2006 at 02:20 AM.] |
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Steve Hinson
From:
Hendersonville Tn USA
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 5:36 pm
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| Quote: |
| It's time to focus on the real culprits; the steel fingerpicks. |
What would be the alternative?
Steel picks of a "better" design? plastic picks? or no picks at all?
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My Site - Instruction |
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Jim Bob Sedgwick
From:
Clinton, Missouri USA
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 5:48 pm
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I must be doing it wrong. I play with picks and haven't broken a string in two years.  |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 5:53 pm
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Doug, I'd say "take your pick" but I would be kidding around by saying that. "Better quality picks" would be the best of the three choices, but the use of fingerpicks detracts from a player's full potential. This occurs due to sacrificing the sense of feel that one experiences by touching the strings without picks. |
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Dick Wood
From:
Springtown Texas, USA
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 6:34 pm
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FWIW-In 24 years,I have NEVER broken a string anywhere close to where the pick hits.
They always break behind the finger UNTIL I started using Jagwires two years ago.
Since changing to that brand I haven't broken a string yet. I intentionally kept a set on a guitar for almost six months before the third broke. |
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Frank Parish
From:
Nashville,Tn. USA
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 7:15 pm
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For all this time I've played with my picks pointing upward so they couldn't "hook" the strings and didn't know I was doing it wrong. I think the reason I break strings is probably due to me grilling out on the steel guitar and grabbing them steaks with the tongs and the heat would probably have something to do with it too. I just hate it when I "hook" them strings and my steak goes sailing out in the living floor and me and the dog have a race to see who gets it first. |
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Doug Seymour
From:
Jamestown NY USA (deceased)
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 8:11 pm
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| I have stopped using picks on my C6th S10. I do remember thinking that the E9th stuff sounds better with picks. Maybe it's just me? |
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Jerry L Miller
From:
Sublette, Kansas, USA
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 8:22 pm
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i switched to jagwire some time back? not sure how long ago 2 months maby 3. the last time i broke the 3d was mmmmm aaaaw before i swtched to the jags. when they did break it was at the finger....i use metal finger picks ?
jerry  |
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BJ Jenkins
From:
Dunn,North Carolina
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 8:53 pm
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Guys , I feel so foolish !!
All this time , I just KNEW that the pressing of those pedals and using those knee levers was stressing the string and causing some wear....
Now I find that it was PICKS all along !!
Im gonna start playing MY steel with a BOW !!
bj
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BJ Jenkins
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John Bechtel
From:
Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 9:05 pm
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I'm going to keep right on using Dunlop .025 gauged finger-picks until they are no longer available. Then and only then will I switch to another brand or thickness! And dat's dah troof¡ I don't wanna feel them thar strings on my finger-tips!
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“Big John”
a.k.a. {Keoni Nui}
Current Equipment
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 9:47 pm
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Funny when I use my favorite pick the laminated ones
Jeff was recomending, I break the picks...
I play more on C6, and like big voicings,
so I tend to play no picks or just a thumb pick.
I get great fingertip blocking like this
and attack I find acceptable.
I do use picks, especially on Dobro,
but not as much as with none on PSG.
If I like the sound then it works.
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 26 Dec 2006 9:53 pm
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| Quote: |
| the use of fingerpicks detracts from a player's full potential. |
Several years ago Buddy Emmons played his entire set at the PSGA show using No finger picks! Thumb pick only. And he sounded... just like Buddy Emmons! Amazing. So bare fingers will work, but I'm not ready to toss out my finger picks yet.
As far as string breakage, every string that ever broke on my PSGs broke at the roller nut, not at the point of pick contact.
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My Site - Instruction [This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 27 December 2006 at 12:48 AM.] |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 2:19 am
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String breakers and nonstring breakers, please reread what I've written. Misperceiving a message, and visualizing a connection with the steel picks cutting the strings is not what is meant to be conveyed in this post. I want to clear up thoughts that entertain this as a possibility. It isn't possible to cut a string with a metal pick, try as you may. Even cheap pliers with a "cutting" feature, fail to cut the tough metal strings. It requires a quality pair of side cutters to do the job properly. No, I'm very much aware of how and where the string breaks. In reality, the teasing of the metal strings at the location of the changer, is where the breakage occurs. The explanation is simple. If you bend a hardened wire back and forth it will eventually break at the bending point. Strings are not different in that regard. By stressing the string further with metal picks, that tend to lift or hook the surfaces, in waves of player excitement, results in breaking the metal at the bridge's curvature. I've read in this thread where a player admits playing for two years without breaking a string. I can only say that all this talk on the forum about string breakage, must have flown past, and escaped notice. Accounts of string breakages are for the most part fragmentary. It's the "tip of the iceberg" routine, whereby, accounts of breakages are not reported.
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 3:07 am
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| Quote: |
| ...stressing the string further with metal picks, that tend to lift or hook the surfaces, in waves of player excitement... |
OVERSTIMULATION is always an ISSUE, even among sedate, sit-down steel players it seems. My problem is, when I play more than three or four hours without picks, my fingertips hurt so much I want to stop playing. This is an ISSUE IN ITSELF - to play, or not to play? That is the question. |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 4:47 am
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David M., my own admission of playing with a customized thumb pick and resolutely abandoning metal finger picks, is now introduced as a preferred method of achieving differing tones. I'm sure that you'll agree that excesses made, that involve a continuous repetitive motion, will eventually require a rest period. Moderation will allow you to return to practice routines daily, without discomforts that are reported by the overzealous, who may
attempt to emulate a robot. You've heard people say, "no pain, no gain".. well, I'd say, use caution if you follow that advice. [This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 27 December 2006 at 04:52 AM.] |
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Ernie Pollock
From:
Mt Savage, Md USA
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 5:41 am
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I have been using the Jeff Newman picks for a long long time, I have not noticed any excessive string breakage of any kind with either Jagwire or Geo L strings. I will put my two cents in here and say that I have never heard a steel player that played with bare fingers get anywhere near the tone that a player using picks would get. If your having a string breaking problem from picks, you got a problem!1
Ernie
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 5:52 am
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as Ernie states:
If your having a string breaking problem from picks, you got a problem!
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This may just be the most accurate detailed post for all of 2006.[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 27 December 2006 at 05:53 AM.] |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 6:56 am
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Blaming string breakage on picks is like blaming the car for running into a telephone pole!  |
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Russ Tkac
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 7:20 am
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| ...it's not the picks... |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 8:59 am
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| C'mon Bill, you struck out on this one - admit it .... |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 10:04 am
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Barry B., surely, you jest, I'm not walking into any debate blindfolded. There is a ton of "hang-ups" associated with steel finger picks. Not everyone agrees with a specific gauge, nor how much to bend the picks, contrary to manufacturer's specifications. The steel used in their manufacture is unfriendly. Luckily, the fingers tolerate the foreign metal surfaces. The ability to strum catchy rhythms after donning metal picks is nil. Take for example, "The Irish Jig". What if some party reveler whips that on you while you're surrounded by a contingency of Irish born dancers? Unlikely, I agree, but I've managed to experience the tight situation. The "Mexican Hat Dance" will keep you on your toes; as well. The pickless index finger will carry the snappy tempo to fruition. The most important payoff is the triple harmonics, made possible by avoiding the steel picks. [This message was edited by Bill Hankey on 27 December 2006 at 12:47 PM.] |
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Chris Schlotzhauer
From:
Colleyville, Tx. USA
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 10:38 am
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No picks..no tone.
Pick soft....no tone. |
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Bill Hankey
From:
Pittsfield, MA, USA
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 10:51 am
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Chris S., try to explain how the foremost steel guitarist of the world, (Buddy Emmons) manages to achieve tone without finger picks. |
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 27 Dec 2006 10:53 am
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At Drogheda 2 years ago there was a set from
an English or Scotish steeler who doesn't use picks ever.
His tone was great and was commented on by several people to me and in other groups.
I can't remember his name.
I am sure Richard Nelson or Alan Thompson would know.
I agree on finger wear,
but not on the inability to get good tone.
I read here that Buddy E. said he liked playing
with no picks, until he broke a finger nail before a set.
So he went back to picks. |
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