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Thumbpick stuff


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I'm a regular thumbpick user. Can't play without one, actually. For the past couple weeks I've been A/B'ing the Fred Kelly Delrin mediums (orange) with the Dunlop polycarbonate medium (white). I have to say that I'm convinced the Delrin picks produce a much better sound than the polycarbonate type. The polycarb sound is muted by contrast with the Delrin and the pinch band is kinder to the thumb.

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I'm the opposite. I prefer thumbpicking bareback. It just feels more natural. I won't say it sounds better but I play so infrequently nowadays it's more about comfort than it is tone. Of course, I've been trying to use one of those gawdawful thick plastic Dunlops and it chokes the {censored} outta my thumb, plus the pick surface (?) is about an inch long which is murder on the wrist.

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I use a dunlop (white one) too but it is really tight (chokes the {censored} outta my thumb too...) I saw something where a guy put one in boiling (or nearly boiling) water and then put it on his thumb to mold it. Seems like it would work but has anyone tried it? After 20 mins to a half hour of play with it on at the minute my thumb feels almost numb when I take it off which cant be good...

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I, also, prefer the orange Fred Kelly...best thumbpick I've found, and a perfect fit from the get-go!

 

Bullettoothtony, yeah, that how it's done...boiling water to soften it up a little, wrap it around your thumb, then immediately dip thumb and pick into a bowl of ice water to get it back as before. Also, you can trim the blade to a more comfortasble length w/ a file and then polish it smooth again, but try out the Fred Kelly thumbpicks...you might like 'em as-is.

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I wear my nails long with pride and use them almost exclusively. I've never liked the traditional thumbpicks (or fingerpicks) and would rather use flesh than resort to the horrible things.

 

HST - a few months back I badly broke my picking thumbnail so I tried out an Alaska pick. To my surprise I found it very comfortable and easy to use. I think this is partly because I use the classical picking technique with my fingers perpendicular to the strings and my thumb somewhere between perpendicular and 45 degrees. The other reason is that the back of the picking edge fits under the nail which gives excellent control - much the same as using the nail.

 

http://www.alaskapik.com/

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trady guy here (almost), Dunlop Zookies 20 Medium here, the one with the 'twist' which I use because of my 'angle of attack' of my thumb.

I'll need to try out some o' these new fangled things, these for instance look interesting -

The Perfect Touch Nickel Thumb Pick

perfect-touch-thumb-pick.jpg

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trady guy here (almost), Dunlop Zookies 20 Medium here, the one with the 'twist' which I use because of my 'angle of attack' of my thumb.

I'll need to try out some o' these new fangled things, these for instance look interesting -

The Perfect Touch Nickel Thumb Pick

perfect-touch-thumb-pick.jpg

 

That's interesting...

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After struggling off and on to adjust to thumb and finger picks I was happy to hear Mark Hanson, a very good player and instructor from Portland Oregon, say that he quit using a thumb pick when he was at a party and someone handed him a guitar. He reached in his pocket, discovered he didn't have a pick and realized that he couldn't play anything. His arguement is that if you learn to play with all your flesh and nails you can do almost anything that you would need a pick for, and so much more. Kottke quit using them when he developed tendonitis - that is good enough for me.

 

I still try to use them when playing lap style because I think it sounds "right" but then I catch a pick on a string and it jumps under the couch and hides and I go back to my nails.

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I played bare-fingered until a few years ago. I had to play graveside at my father-in-law's funeral and needed to be heard, so I got a thumb and finger pick; now I use them all the time. I especially like them with the 12-string. I use the Dunlop thumb pick and the Alaska finger pick. The thumb picks are bit tight unless I luck into an extra-large.

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