Thumb pick question (again)

John Botofte · Post by **John Botofte** » 14 Jul 2015 12:32 am

My ordinary Dunlop thumb pick that I have used for several years on lap steels and pedal steel broke after a few hours playing a Gretsch Jim Dandy acoustic guitar with steel strings. Can anyone recommend a thumb pick that is good for both steel guitar and ordinary guitar?
Thanks in advance
John

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 14 Jul 2015 2:58 am

Blue Herco

Tom Quinn · Post by **Tom Quinn** » 14 Jul 2015 3:53 am

New Hercos are not the same as the old ones...

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 14 Jul 2015 7:16 am

I really like the Golden Gate thumb picks.
I started using them after my grandson broke my old pick.

Mike Wheeler · Post by **Mike Wheeler** » 14 Jul 2015 7:19 am

I like the Golden Gates also.

George Macdonald · Post by **George Macdonald** » 14 Jul 2015 10:36 am

What size Golden Gate would you recommend for the "average" size thumb? The blue Hercos fit my average size thumb. ha

Jerry Berger · Post by **Jerry Berger** » 14 Jul 2015 12:11 pm

I would like to give Golden Gate thumb picks a "Thumbs up" for their quality thumb picks!

Ray Montee · Post by **Ray Montee** » 14 Jul 2015 12:11 pm

After experiencing one such pick, I've never looked back.

"Compared" to what? I use a medium size clown puke I believe they called it.

richard burton · Post by **richard burton** » 14 Jul 2015 1:50 pm

I got fed up of my thumbpicks breaking, so now I use a Jim Dunlop metal thumbpick.

It took a bit of tweaking to get the angle right (where it connects with the string) and also to get it to grip tight to my thumb without hurting (too much)

Gary Cooper · Post by **Gary Cooper** » 14 Jul 2015 6:08 pm

BLUE HERCO

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 14 Jul 2015 6:42 pm

I don't play guitar, but I have an acoustic I use for learning songs. I use a John Pearse thumb pick. I also like Golden Gate picks. But... The Golden Gates come in different types. In a catalog or online, they look the same. I found that I have to go to a music store here in the bay area and try them out. The band and the tongues are different.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 15 Jul 2015 1:35 am

I go back and forth between the Blue Herco, and the Red Dunlop, which looks identical to the Blue Herco only different color... My only complaint is I wish theyâ€™d stay tighter longer.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 15 Jul 2015 3:29 am

Dale, I keep three. One on my thumb, one ready to go, and one cooling. Rotate every 6 minutes or so.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 15 Jul 2015 4:01 am

Lane Gray wrote:Dale, I keep three. One on my thumb, one ready to go, and one cooling. Rotate every 6 minutes or so.

I don't rotate quite that often Lane, but do rotate... I've got picks EVERYWHERE!!!... I'll try your method.

Bob Mainwaring · Post by **Bob Mainwaring** » 17 Jul 2015 5:23 am

Like Richard Burton,
I've been using metal thumb picks for many years - also for my old five string.
I've mentioned in the past, our finger picks are metal, why bother with plastic for a thumb pick when the actual sound/tone can be equalised by including a metal thumbpick.

All Z.B.est.

Bob.

Mike Will · Post by **Mike Will** » 19 Jul 2015 6:51 am

for a metal thumb pick, try these "geipel" thumb picks from banjogbridge.com

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 19 Jul 2015 7:27 am

I have been using Fred Kelly "regular" white picks for years. They are delrin of some sort. I don't have a problem with slipping even in the Texas heat. I am very happy with them.

John Booth · Post by **John Booth** » 19 Jul 2015 8:41 am

I;m very fond of the Propik hybrid thumbpick.

Stephen Williams · Post by **Stephen Williams** » 19 Jul 2015 6:19 pm

Fred Kelley speed picks are absolutely great. Way more sensitive feel and more attack for me

Lee Dassow · Post by **Lee Dassow** » 20 Jul 2015 3:17 pm

I just bought a whole bunch of Fred Kelly large thumb picks,Delron and Poly. Musicians Friend packs 24 in each order which is a ridiculous amount in my estimation. I usually use the large national picks, but they have never fit well on my wide thumb. I hope the Fred Kelly's are OK. If not I'll be selling em cheap on the Forum. Tenn.Lee

Larry Moore · Post by **Larry Moore** » 22 Jul 2015 8:22 pm

I must agree with John Booth. I have been playing with the same Thumb Pick for about 5 yrs.

It was well worth the cost. It is the Pro-Pick, Metal body with a Plastic tip.

I found a supplier In the Atlanta area, bought several more to go with my other steels.

No more slipping off or getting loose.

Larry

Tom Gorr · Post by **Tom Gorr** » 22 Jul 2015 8:28 pm

John Booth wrote:I;m very fond of the Propik hybrid thumbpick.

I used a blue herco for 15 years and they're not even close to the propik hybrid...I went with the long blade version because it rotated my wrist slightly into better hand posture. .. also. .. I find I can pick more accurately.

Tommy Dodd.. steel guru. .. sells them at steel shows with the metal parts covered in heat shrink or something. They wear more comfortably like that.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 23 Jul 2015 3:04 am

In thirty years I got as far as I could get playing slide guitar; and a pedal steel was the next/only door to kick on. So I stopped playing slide and played only steel for another decade. Fingers & thumbpicks. I did settle on the all-metal ProPiks, far better than the folded-tip Dunlops - Easley recc'd for tone matching. THEN: Sonny Landreth ambushed me, I had to slide again, thence play UPstrokes with the thumbpick. Ups on metal picks was way punk for me and I couldn't NOT do it on the steel too.

SO: Eventually I found the normal large Golden Gate was mi amore. Available in "Linen", "Pearloid" or, as mentioned... who wouldn't want to sport "Clown Barf" on their thumb?

They DO spread a bit with heat, so as mentioned... And the Planet Waves (made by Dunlop) are just as good as Dunlops! Imagine! Adequate Tier 2 emergency picks.
http://www.elderly.com/accessories/name ... --PK49.htm

Golden Gate also makes the pterodactylish X-Heavy thumbpicks, they're really strong and braced eve more against the thump with a flap - that you have to file off because it hits the strings on upstrokes. They're like 3/32" thick so they click some through a bit of gain, but they're the best if you need to kill something.

https://reverb.com/item/179238-golden-g ... Hwod5n4I1g Though that price is criminal.

All the really thin picks like Herco bugaboo, red Dunlops, Jim Kelly work if you push them up way high, to the joint, feels freaky to me. And any pick, I have to shorten the blade and file it into a sharkfin angle so that the upstrokes match the down. Like, if an upside-down shark is eating your thumb.

You will eventually end up trying out everything imaginable anyway, it's almost like you might as well just head to Elderly Music or Janet Davis's and order up the bucketful, get it over with. Although/except, if anyone tries to sell you one of the Secret Magic Precious-Resin picks handcarved by 500-year-old Tibetan monks from plans handed down from the last Pharaoh - i.e., anything over five bucks - ask them to point out all the blindfolded tone tests proving they sound better than the 95c goobs. A deafening response...

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