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Post new topic How Eddie Rivers Wears His Fingerpicks
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Author Topic:  How Eddie Rivers Wears His Fingerpicks
Regan Branch


From:
Alabama, USA
Post  Posted 23 Nov 2019 12:12 pm    
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Anyone else wear their fingerpicks like this? It looks so out of control. Is this common? I can see how it would help. Just starting out, my fingernails on index and middle finger get caught on the strings a lot when I'm coming back up. This would of course solve that problem, but it does look unusual to me.
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 23 Nov 2019 12:25 pm    
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Whatever works for ya'.
Here's a (slightly out of focus) closeup of the right hand of the late Buddy Emmons:

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Joe Scherzi


From:
New York, USA
Post  Posted 23 Nov 2019 1:16 pm    
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Jerry Byrd from his video. Hard to see but the fingerpick tips are almost perpendicular to the fingers.
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Regan Branch


From:
Alabama, USA
Post  Posted 23 Nov 2019 2:09 pm    
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Cool examples. Gonna have to wrap mine up more then. I've noticed the necessity from playing. Just terrible when I hear my nail hit the string.
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J.D.White

 

From:
Lafayette, Louisiana
Post  Posted 5 Jan 2020 3:32 am    
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I have a couple of 10 year old Jeff Newman finger picks that came pre-formed - just like the ones Eddie Rivers is wearing in the photo.


Tried to zoom in and see if they have the diamond shaped holes - but I can't really tell.
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Douglas Schuch


From:
Valencia, Philippines
Post  Posted 5 Jan 2020 3:40 am    
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I think it depends somewhat on what your your arm is doing. If your elbow is out, then if you align the picks with your fingers as you would assume, then the edges hit the strings, not the face - so you rotate them as Eddie has. If you keep your elbow in, as is generally taught, then you align them with the fingers as you then are picking straight on to the string. But I find, if I keep my elbow in very tight, then my thumb pick ends up hitting the strings at an angle - if you have a long thumb that curves back easily, that is probably not a problem, but my thumb doesn't do that. Thus, I end up with my elbow mostly in, but not too tight - trying to hit the spot where my thumb and my fingers are attacking the strings as square-on as possible.
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Tim Whitlock


From:
Colorado, USA
Post  Posted 5 Jan 2020 8:52 am    
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Of the three examples, the Buddy Emmons photo is the most conventional. The other two are some pretty radical approaches, although who can argue with the results of those great players. Eddie's picks look like they will flop, shift or even jump right off due to a lack of contact with his fingers. For me accurate picking requires the pick to be as stable as possible on the finger.
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 5 Jan 2020 10:42 am    
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Maybe Eddie has to wear them like that because his fingers are the size of tree stumps. I’m with Tim- wondering how they stay on.

As a finger style guitarist who doubles on steel, I am used to picking strings with bare finger tips, so wearing the picks so they go just barely past the end of my fingernails feels the most natural.
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J.D.White

 

From:
Lafayette, Louisiana
Post  Posted 5 Jan 2020 10:52 am    
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- deleted

Last edited by J.D.White on 5 Jan 2020 11:49 am; edited 1 time in total
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David Matzenik


From:
Cairns, on the Coral Sea
Post  Posted 5 Jan 2020 12:14 pm    
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I don't see how Eddie Rivers' middle finger pick could stay on during the playing of a complex passage. Maybe the picture is satirical.
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Andy DePaule


From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
Post  Posted 5 Jan 2020 7:56 pm    
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Jack Hanson wrote:
Whatever works for ya'.
Here's a (slightly out of focus) closeup of the right hand of the late Buddy Emmons:



I also like them snug and just past my fingers.
Thats also how I play just like Buddy Emmons, but just a lot worser on my best days.
The way Rivers has his would scare me to death. I'm sure they would fall off. Embarassed Laughing
Thats my 2¢ worth.
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David Knutson


From:
Cowichan Valley, Canada
Post  Posted 5 Jan 2020 10:56 pm    
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I just found that Western Swing Rules video, and that's how he's wearing them. I'm guessing superglue. Very Happy
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Gene Tani


From:
Pac NW
Post  Posted 6 Jan 2020 6:58 pm    
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Gary Carter seems to do same/similar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYd1HqxbpBw&t=44s
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Tommy Martin Young


From:
Sacramento-California, USA
Post  Posted 8 Jan 2020 7:31 am    
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I'm a pick-less fingerstyle guitar player and I tried using standard fingerpicks on lap steel but it felt like I was a "million-miles away" - I wasn't directly connected to the strings (which is my favorite part of playing) I went hog wild with a pair of needle nose pliers and some F-Tone ProPiks and changed their profile to create these Wolverine-type of fingernail extensions. They grab just a little bit of nail so the string pluck resonates in my fingers.

I glued a rhinestone on the #1 finger, #2 is a split wrap and #3 is a single wrap - so I can put them on in the dark. I forget I have them on. Big fan of the Fred Kelly Speed Pick on thumb.

Re: Eddie Rivers - my favorite part of the video was seeing how meaty his paws were and thinking that like mine, no one's probably ever mistaken them for a piano player's.
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Gregg Thacker


From:
Pasadena, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 10 Jan 2020 7:48 pm    
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Ouch Confused !! From the looks of the picture, those fingerpicks look REAL small and he forced them to fit 😂 ...
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Terry VunCannon


From:
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Post  Posted 11 Jan 2020 8:32 am    
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To each his own. I prefer to play in comfort. There really is no right way, or wrong way to play.

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Johnie King


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 11 Jan 2020 2:06 pm    
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Jeff Neal

 

From:
Johnson City Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 12 Jan 2020 1:15 am    
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What ever works is right for you is correct. But if you look at Jerry’s and Buddy’s right hand you will see the famous shape of the Jeff Newman picks. Mike Aldridge used these picks for Reso guitar and steel. Steve Lenard introduced me to these picks back in the 90s and after hanging out with Mike I soon realized why this pick shape was the best. I have tried other picks such as national and pro picks but they just don’t work for me. If you want speed and not a lot of hang ups go with the JF pick style. Also look at Buddy Charltons right hand. I don’t know if these are still available but luckily I have 12 sets that should last me for my lifetime.
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Jeff Neal

 

From:
Johnson City Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 12 Jan 2020 1:38 am    
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Jeff Neal

 

From:
Johnson City Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 12 Jan 2020 2:05 am    
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Here are the JF picks
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Georg Sørtun


From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
Post  Posted 12 Jan 2020 3:13 am    
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Old pictures, but use same straight "no-name" picks today as 30 years ago as they don't wear (except the strings) and only need a light tip-polishing every 10 year or so…



Flesh on fingertips are involved in creating the desired attack-sound variations, as well as in muting.
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