The Steel Guitar Forum

Barry Blackwood wrote:

There's several videos of me playing a set of standards on YouTube and on one, I unconsciously fiddle with the flap on the left breast pocket on my shirt while I'm introducing the next song or the band. Nervous habit or something, I was unaware I was doing it so frequently.

Still searching for those cigarettes?

If Herb is a smoker or an ex-smoker, I'd bet my hat that that's the answer. I keep mine in my left shirt pocket. Concerning the saddle picks, it looks like some good thinking went into the design.

Mitch

A fellow quit smoking by keeping tooth picks in his pocket.
Instead of reaching for a cigarette, he reached for a toothpick.
He kicked the cigarette habit but died from dutch elm disease!

I have found that a little piece of scotch tape across the top of each pick goes a long way!!

the blade on the Thumb Pick looks kinda big and thick which might feel weird on the strings.

It's also triangular shaped, which wouldn't work for me at all - I play with a rounded-tip thumbpick, which gives me several dynamic/attack approaches. Sharp picks have a universally bright sound (I have several laying around), and I noticed on the video that when he was able to hit the strings with the thumbpick the banjo sounded very thin. It's also disconcerting that there was such a large mix of head-hits and missed notes - it's a very short thumbpick which I think may contribute to a loss of control.

The fingerpicks mount far too close to the joint for me; I've tried others that had need "fleshy area" mounting and felt a constant "pinch" at the joint.

And the price is just too high for me. I'll stick with my sanded-tip "Speedpick" thumb and National fingerpicks. No problem at all with any staying on and both are very comfortable.

I used to have my picks so tight that my fingers would turn purple on the ends. Now I have them loose enough so that they're are comfortable but I put a small sliver of scotch tape across the top of each pick and have not had a problem since. It works.

Bobby Bowman told me he sprayed hair spray on his thumb and pick fingers and never had any problems keeping the picks on....rj

Thank you for all your comments. This is why I invented this new finger pick, because it does not work the same way all other conventional picks work. Thy stay on by clamping on your finger. My patented picks work by using the same principle that cause your wedding ring to stay on your finger. That is, a ring on the back of the pick drops in behind the soft tissue on your finger, trapping the pick from coming off, especially when in the bent picking position. No one keeps pushing there ring on there finger and it is impossible to remove your ring from your finger in the bent position. And just like the ring on your finger it is not tight or clamped to your finger like conventional picks. By the way it's the soft pad of your finger that is pushing off your conventional picks when you bend your finger to play. Take a look at what is going on when you bend your finger to pick. video www.saddlethumbpicks.com