Finger Picks

Bill Groner · Post by **Bill Groner** » 17 Aug 2017 1:00 pm

I am totally new to Lap Steel. I have a set of Dunlop .018 picks. I went to the music store today and they are out of metal finger picks. I looked at the plastic ones, but I never saw anyone on Youtube videos using plastic (other than thumb picks). My question is, do any of you guys use this kind of pick? All help is appreciated.

https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel- ... B000NGVQKO

Bill Sinclair · Post by **Bill Sinclair** » 17 Aug 2017 2:03 pm

I tried some wire picks that were a similar open style but I'm back to the Dunlop .018's. Trying out a few different styles and gauges seems to be part of the process though. Those are cheap enough. Give 'em a try!

Rick Bernauer · Post by **Rick Bernauer** » 17 Aug 2017 3:32 pm

Bill,
I've used the ProPik finger picks that are similar to the ones you're looking at. The choice of finger picks is so subjective it's hard to recommend something to someone else. Here's what I see as the pros and cons of these types of picks. They fit well and stay on your finger more easily. The feel is similar to playing with nails. That's good and bad - you don't get the reach of other picks that extend further past your fingertip so your fingers stay really close to the strings. Pick blocking is easier since it's really just using your fingertips - no buzz or metal clicks when you touch the string. For someone fighting with finger picks they won't feel as disconnected from the string as can happen with other picks. But on the other hand (pun intended) you could develop some bad habits that would be hard to break if you switch to a National or other more traditional pick. I find they work well for lap steel while standard picks work better for pedal steel.

Bill Groner · Post by **Bill Groner** » 18 Aug 2017 1:38 am

Thanks Bill and Rick for your comments. I hope more guys chime in on the subject. I need to buy some picks and certainly value the feedback.

Steffen Gunter · Post by **Steffen Gunter** » 18 Aug 2017 2:38 am

Tried some pretty expensive designer picks but I prefer .018 Dunlops.

Former Member · Post by **Former Member** » 18 Aug 2017 3:24 am

Yes they're expensive, but by far the most comfortable picks I ever tried.
http://www.perfecttouchpicks.com/

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 18 Aug 2017 5:40 am

Get some cheapies Dunlop to try I use .025 Brass fingerpicks and a Medium Dunlop Ultex thumbpick.

ALSO buy a nail clipper so you can remove any hangnail as required.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangnail

OR buy some perfect touch picks as mentioned to avoid hangnail.

Mark Evans · Post by **Mark Evans** » 18 Aug 2017 7:24 am

Perfect Touch.
Went thru Many and I like the fit and feel of these
Nickel or brass. Have both. Love brass

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 18 Aug 2017 7:32 am

If you've got a pair of .018 Dunlops, look no further, you playing with my favorites.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 18 Aug 2017 7:54 am

I'm still using Kyser fingerpicks, .025... copies of the old Nationals. They're no longer made, but I bought a couple of boxes of them 20 years ago. The Dunlops are available everywhere nowadays, but I don't like them. The "strap" part that holds the pick to the finger is too wide IMO. It gets caught in the next string. Maybe it's just me, but that's what happens when I use Dunlops.

Terry VunCannon · Post by **Terry VunCannon** » 18 Aug 2017 3:59 pm

Perfect touch & nothing else for a decade plus. Flex & fit above the finger nails. Stay on, great tone, & no more pain.

Phillip Vaught · Post by **Phillip Vaught** » 18 Aug 2017 4:35 pm

Perfect Touch all the way, nothing more comfortable than those, brass works great.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 19 Aug 2017 7:32 am

Not when you have arthritic fingers.

David M Brown · Post by **David M Brown** » 19 Aug 2017 9:36 am

Terry VunCannon wrote:Perfect touch & nothing else for a decade plus. Flex & fit above the finger nails. Stay on, great tone, & no more pain.

Those pick look very much like the "thimbles" in one of the first steel guitar method books circa 1917!

Former Member · Post by **Former Member** » 19 Aug 2017 12:47 pm

I've got bad arthritis in my hands and fingers.
Perfect touch has given me extra life and dexterity playing.
I also chopped off 1/2" from my middle finger tip, and was unable to use it due to numbness, lack of feeling and a bit of deformity made dunlops unworkable.
Now using PT picks, I do pick with my middle finger with no worry of the pick flying off.
All 3 picks work as a system where they don't click against each other.
PT is one of the few makers that has a true left handed thumb pick. It's built in such a way that it keeps your hand in proper position.
I can't say enough about them!

G Strout · Post by **G Strout** » 19 Aug 2017 1:23 pm

I've been using Perfect Touch brass for about a year now. They have really improved my attack and hand position considerably. Plus the added benefit of staying on without the pain.

Bill Groner · Post by **Bill Groner** » 19 Aug 2017 1:24 pm

Ok, OK, I ordered a set of medium brass PT picks. But y'all don't have to stop posting, I enjoy reading them all.

Jonathan Scherer · Post by **Jonathan Scherer** » 20 Aug 2017 10:28 pm

I love my PT nickel, been using them 2 years.

It took awhile but I love the PT thumpick too. It is so comfortable, I had to use my old Fred Kelly speedpick the other night and my thumb was not a happy camper!

You guys got me interested in the brass now.

Stefan Robertson · Post by **Stefan Robertson** » 21 Aug 2017 2:29 am

Heck I just ordered a set as well. Brass.

Scott Thomas · Post by **Scott Thomas** » 21 Aug 2017 12:14 pm

Doug Beaumier wrote:I'm still using Kyser fingerpicks, .025... copies of the old Nationals. They're no longer made, but I bought a couple of boxes of them 20 years ago. The Dunlops are available everywhere nowadays, but I don't like them. The "strap" part that holds the pick to the finger is too wide IMO. It gets caught in the next string. Maybe it's just me, but that's what happens when I use Dunlops.

I got a set of old Nationals included in the case pocket of a Rick B6, and now I'll never go back to Dunlop. I'm spoiled now! Glad to know about the Kyser copies.

(Those Perfect Touch picks look pretty intriguing too.)

George Rout · Post by **George Rout** » 21 Aug 2017 6:06 pm

How do you folks use .018 thickness picks? They bend so easily in use. I've always used .025 since 1948, and I tell all my students to get none thinner than that!!!!!

Geo

C. E. Jackson · Post by **C. E. Jackson** » 21 Aug 2017 7:42 pm

My favorite metal finger picks are the old National Pat. No. 1787136 or National Pat. No.
1787136 USA. I don't know the metal thickness. They are expensive and can be found
on eBay occasionally. I have tried other types, but these have been my favorites.

My second choice is the Kyser USA and I don't know the metal thickness.

C. E.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 22 Aug 2017 12:00 am

There is very, very, very little difference between new National NP-2's, Kysers, Showcase 41's, whever else located a safe full of "pre-war" nickle-silver and started banging away with the weiss shears...

If I read it right, the ProPik company has 54 different models, with all sorts of miniscule differences in blade angle, pointiness, bowliness... the important part being single band vs. double band
https://www.elderly.com/accessories/picks/fingerpicks
I've been using "ACRI picks for a while, they just eliminate all the silliness. The bands are HUGE, they won't hurt or fall off. Some steel guitarists find a constant source of yuks dropping their bar and shooting their fingerpicks willy-nilly, I don't.
https://www.elderly.com/accessories/pic ... erpick.htm
I do jack around with them a lot though, shortening, re-angling and stuff. A minimum of two pair of pliers helps too. I think the most important part is to have at LEAST two sets of picks, because you can practice with the best ones, then work on the other pair while watching TV, driving, having sex etc. What you DON'T want to do is sit behind your steel and "practice" dicking with your picks all day - play music instead. When the TV picks get better than the users, they trade places.

Stephen Abruzzo · Post by **Stephen Abruzzo** » 22 Aug 2017 10:07 am

+1 to what David said about the Acri fingerpicks. They are HUGE with no muss, no fuss and most importantly NO pain/discomfort. $6.50 per pair.

I used these before I went bare fingers. Thank God for amps with volume control.

But, if I ever went back to fingerpicks, it would be these Acris......in a heartbeat.

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 22 Aug 2017 12:15 pm

I have been using .025 Dunlops since the 1970s for three reasons:

1) By necessity, I'm a cheapskate.
2) They're available nearly everywhere, and they're inexpensive (see #1).
3) If you can play with Dunlops, you should be able to play with anything. There's a learning curve playing with picks. Nobody said it was supposed to be easy.