Right Hand Placement

Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

How many of you place the heel or outside of your right hand (opposite the thumb) either directly atop of or very near the pickup "cover" or directly above the pickup?
I've been noticing quite a few, of late, that are doing that. If you aren't one that does this, where on the neck might you normally place your right hand? AND what motivates you to pick from the place you have selected?

C Dixon · From: Duluth, GA USA

Ray,

Of course the closer to the PU, the tinnier the sound, the further away the more mellow. By moving one's hand closer or further, they can "blend" these two extremes into a desired playing sound.

Jerry Byrd IMO, is the master at finding the pecise spot that helps create his classic sound. More on the mellow side than some such as David Kelii. I opt for Jerry's sound. But others favor the more "plectrum" sound by moving closer to the PU.

I guess there is no more subjectivity concerning the steel guitar than this. So as always, it is a matter of pure taste. "One's cup of tea is another's anathema".

And that is life. May Jesus bless JB, rest David's soul, and bless ALL of you,

carl

A Better Way

Richard Tipple · From: Ohio, USA

Ray,,many years ago, my old mentor Jeff Newman, told me I should be able to see the whole pick up while playing. Over the years I have always followed his advise to some extent. My sweet spot is around the 23rd fret 90% of the time

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Untitled Page

richard burton · From: Britain

I usually pick 12 frets up from where the bar is.
R B

Eric West · From: Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.

What Carl said, replacing "Tinny" with "Less Mellow".

I've always hated anethemas. Mom used to give them to us... I'll take the tea.

EJL

Jimmie Brown · From: Fayetteville, NC, USA

like you said Richard.If nothing else i did learn from Jeff. how to hold my hand.He smacked it once when i was wrong and sure stuck after that

Jimmie Brown

HowardR · From: N.Y.C.-Fire Island-Asheville

Some of my right hand placements have gotten me a slap in the face...

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Same as Richard. I got "just play the melody" and "no speed limit" by Jeff Newman.
very good teacher, and steel player.

Ricky Littleton · From: Steely-Eyed Missile Man from Cocoa Beach, Florida USA

For me I find my right hand placement is normallybased on what I'm playing. As a rule, if I'm playing fast runs or playing any of the "Bakersfield-type" stuff, I'm over the pick-up. For slower things like ballads and such, I'm farther down towards the 23rd fret or so. I may even go farther for that nice "fat" tone.

Then again, that's just me...

Ricky

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Emmons LeGrande - 8x4
Session 400 Ltd
Dan-Echo, E-Bow, Ibanez Distortion, Boss Comp./Sustain, Ibanez Auto-Wah

David Doggett · Posted 1 Mar 2004 2:04 pm

What Richard said. I used to marvel at the deep rich tone of Bobbe Seymour. One day I just happened to move may picking hand away from the pickup, and there was Bobbe's tone (or as close to it as I'll ever get). Then I realized, duh, to keep that tone consistently you need to have your picking hand track the bar just over an octave higher. Playing exactly over the octave fret can give a little too much in terms of harmonics, but playing just beyond the octave can be a good compromise, and you don't have to track precisely. Just staying sort of close to that point helps a lot. Usually as your bar gets up to the higher frets, you sort of automatically move your picking hand closer to the pickup, and you can work on making this kind of rough tracking more automatic.

Another aspect of this is that you might want to track closer to the octave point when playing on the lighter strings, to help mellow them, and track closer to the pickup on the thicker strings, to give them more bite and less mud. This also works on an acoustic resonator.

[This message was edited by David Doggett on 01 March 2004 at 02:07 PM.]

John Bechtel · From: Nashville, Tennessee, R.I.P.

I tend to hold my right hand so that my thumb-pick strikes the strings around the 15th or 16th fret, on my 22 1/2” scale. I don't know about the longer scale, because; I don't play it anymore!
I can state that on PSG 24 1/4” scale, I did pick closer to the bridge.
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“Big John” Bechtel
http://community.webtv.net/KeoniNui/BigJohnBechtels

[This message was edited by John Bechtel on 06 March 2004 at 12:21 AM.]

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