JF Thumbpicks?

[Larry Dering]

What company made the JF thumbpicks? Has anyone found a suitable replacement thumbpick? They look like a double layer pick as if two were bonded together.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I don't know if they made them themselves. You are correct though, they were laminated material in several colors.

I love the way they were made and were very comfortable, but they wore down too quick for me in the red/white. One of the other colors was heavier material, maybe the checked on black, but those weren't always available.

Yellow/black, black/white was similar to red/white in material. I still have a handful of them, but they are all worn down past the outer layer. Don't know why I'm keeping them.

[Doug Earnest]

Jeff and Fran's son made at least a great many of those. Fran claimed he made a lot of his college money with them.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Found this shot of the checked/black thumbpick from JF. It also wore down the point as you can see, but wore a lot longer than the others.

It'd be nice if someone revived this type of pick.

Thanks for the reminder about Jeff Jr. making these Doug. I now remember Rick Kornacker writing about that a few years back.

[Larry Dering]

Thanks Jerry and Doug for that info. I thought they were 2 layers. I'm surprised nobody else took up the method and made a similar pick. If they were homemade the process can't be too complex. Any additional info on what material and a source would be great.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I am in error about the layers. The most popular colors were triple layers. R/W/R, Y/B/Y, B/W/B, but the checked and maybe other less used colors are 2 layer.

I measured one of the old ones. The material used is app. 1.10 mm or .043 thick. I searched around the net but didn't find anything yet in that size with multiple colored layers.

I don't know the materials, but possible ABS...don't think polycarbonate as they weren't that dense.

[Doug Earnest]

I looked around a few years ago trying to find out about the material, as Fran would not pass that information along. The closest candidate I found was the stuff that we always used to see as nameplates on doors, desks, etc, where the letters were routed away leaving the other color showing. It came in the likely colors and the right thickness.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I saw some of those. They were listed as engraving sheets, but didn't see anything of the thickness grade we need for forming picks. I'm sure they are out there, I just didn't come across them yet.

[Larry Dering]

Jerry I am looking too. The engraving sheets can be had in various materials and I seen a 1/16 thick. If that was laminated together 2 pieces is .125 making it pretty thick. The type of material would be important.

[Jerry Overstreet]

I corrected my decimal place in the earlier reply, but yeah, 1/16 (app. .063) is a bit too heavy.

Seems from the measurements I took, ideal thickness would be app. 1.10mm or .043.

I'll have another look as I had a brain fade with the earlier decimal place.