Do your Picks hurt your fingers?

Michael McNeill · From: Maryland, USA

Hey !

I am about to take a fellow (on the FORUM) up on an offer he made me of pre-bending me a set of finger picks the way he uses them.

I have been playing for a long time. If I am playing several hours a day or night, sooner or later I will get a "Hangnail" (for want of a better term) that hurts like crazy. I have always used National or Dunlop picks, not real heavy gauge

Lately I tried some Pro Pick Reso- L. They have a split part that goes around your finger and goes around the nail. They don't stay on.

I have put Shrink Tube (for circuit wiring) on them. Helps a little.

Do you guys wear your picks around your fingernail or the meat around the cuticle?

Buddy Charleton wears them around the fingernail only. Does not come in contact with his cuticle. Either I am not smart enough to bend the picks or my fat fingers are doomed to be sore.

I would be interested to know how you do it.

Have a great day

Steve English · From: Baja, Arizona

I play 2-3 nights every week. They probably always hurt, but I pretty much blank it out. I've ended the night with bleeding fingers many times, but the fun always overrides the discomfort.

I just tried both the dipped coating and the shrink wrap. I didn't care for either. I had a horrible time with the finger picks rubbing against each other and getting hung up.

If I use Dunlop .013 they don't hurt, but they're a little too thin for me. I typically use .015, and anything over .018 not only hurts more, but I lose all the feeling of pick to string contact.

I doubt that they'll ever be anything that will make me change the way I've been doing things, so I don't fret these kinda things myself. Very Happy

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Tony Glassman · From: The Great Northwest

Sometimes I'll use New Skin liquid bandage over a hangnail. It stings initially, but protects the hangnail and decreases the pain overall with the finger pick on. It will last about 2 days.

Cal Sharp · From: the farm in Kornfield Kounty, TN

Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

Nope! Hardly know they are on my fingers.

Bo Borland · From: South Jersey -

Only when I wear them for a couple hours at a time, like at rehearsals.
Otherwise I don't even know they are there.

I think it's a chemical reaction rather than being tight that makes them hurt. Also when your favorite ones get real old I think the plating inside wears a little and makes it worse.

A drop of super glue can help close a cut cuticle... oh , and let it dry before you put your picks on. Laughing

Bari Smith · From: Spartanburg SC USA

Don't have that problem......but try ya some Jeff Newman picks ....best I've tried!Stay on good and comfortable! Very Happy

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Chuck Snider R.I.P. · From: West Virginia, USA - Morgantown, WV

You might want to consider getting a set of Perfect Touch picks.

They are very comfortable, and can be worn for a very long time and do not hurt your fingers like many of the others do. They also stay on better than most without having to be real tight. They cost a bit more than most, but worth the extra money. And, if you aren't happy within 45 days, Rusty Thornhill will give you a full refund without any hassles.

Check them out http://www.perfecttouchpicks.com/

-Chuck
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James Collett · From: San Dimas, CA

My cuticles used to hurt, but not at all anymore-maybe they toughen up like callouses?
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James Collett

Ray Minich · From: Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra

Once the little dents appear on each side of the fingernail you are home free. It takes about 10 years. Then you only have to take the picks off about every hour to relieve the pain... Very Happy

Alan Kendall · From: Maury County Tennessee

I'm with you Bari, Jeff Newman picks are terrific. They are very comfortable to wear, and are pre bent at just the right angle for me.

Billy Murdoch · From: Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.

I changed to Perfect touch picks a few years ago,I used to get a lot of pain from regular picks(any brand)Perfect touch are built for comfort(and speed)I just have'nt got the speed thing down yet.
Billy

Steve Norman · From: Seattle Washington, USA

[quote="Cal Sharp"]

Bryant Aycock · From: Pikeville, North Carolina

There's always something to buy. I've used Nationals for 38 years. If you "fit" them correctly, they'll feel like extensions of your fingers. Find some that are comfortable and play.
Bryant

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Like a couple guys have said, if they're formed properly, there shouldn't be a problem. A pair of needle-nose pliers works best, as you sometimes have to do multiple and compound-angle bends to make them fit properly.

Of course, it goes without saying you should never pull or bite off a hanging cuticle. ALWAYS use fingernail clippers to trim and remove the detatched/torn skin!

Brett Day · From: Pickens, SC

My picks don't hurt my fingers, so I just leave them the way they are, and sometimes, my cuticles on my hand get a little sore, but it don't bother me. I use the same pair of picks for practicin' and for shows-I never change picks. When I go onstage at shows, I always make sure that my picks are on the same fingers I put them on to practice with.

Brett

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

I completely flatten out the "comfort curve"...the dents...on the picks, then adjust them to fit. Whoever thought the "dent" shape was a good idea had to have taken some bad acid. Whoa!

With them flattened out - which is I believe how the old Nationals were made - they are very comfortable, stay on your fingers and you can adjust them to just about any finger position.
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Roger Francis · From: kokomo,Indiana, USA

I have'nt had any problems ever since i've been using the perfect touch picks. I used nationals for 32 yrs and the PTP were just what the Doc ordered. MPO

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i've used most types but usually end up with my old nationals. the routine for me has always been, put em on, bend for comfort and style and play. lots of discomfort sometimes so keep bending and tweaking. this process has it's most beneficial aspect when you have to keep playing set after set, no matter how they feel.....eventually they come around. then you can go for months without a thought....there will always be good and bad days as your fingers shrink and swell due to weather!

Bo Legg · Posted 24 Feb 2009 12:52 pm

Michael, watch out for infections and remember that something great has come out of your hurt fingers.
A brand new PSG joke, thanks to Cal Sharp... "Do your picks hurt your fingers when you go out at night?"
I spend about an hour or more per pick on a vice with a small hammer, needle nose pliers and wet or dry sandpaper and then in a shaker for a while. They always feel fine after that.

Jim Eller · From: Kodak, TN (Michigan transplant)

I tried the Perfect Picks and for a while they seemed like the real McCoy. Then all of a sudden my "fingers got confused".

I went back to my Jeff Newman picks but I dipped 'um in the plastic dip stuff for two coats and they are really comfortable and secure.

And, the red color adds a nice touch to my playing. I need all the help I can get.

Jim

Dustin Rigsby · From: Parts Unknown, Ohio

I use a set of new nationals. They don't hurt,which is why I used them. I also have a set of JF's and a couple of sets of Dunlop's which sit in my pak a seat for emergency's only !
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D.S. Rigsby

Nick Reed · From: Russellville, KY USA

Johnny Bondz down in Wildwood Florida turned me on to a product a few of years ago called "Gorilla Snot". It's an adhesive you dip your fingers into, designed for drummers to help hold their drumsticks. It comes in a little jar like Carmex lipbalm and is green. You simply put the Gorilla Snot on your fingertips then wear your picks comfortably and not tight where they cut off the circulation. You can get this stuff through most Sam Ash & Guitar Center Stores or at Bondz Music in Wildwood.

Cal Sharp · From: the farm in Kornfield Kounty, TN

Some of you older members might remember the Plaster Casters from the 60's. If you don't, Google it, it's interesting. Very Happy

Seems like you could make a metal cast of your fingers, put the picks on it and then use a small hammer, like a body shop uses to smooth out small dents in your car, to fit them exactly.

James Marlowe · From: Florida, USA

Quote:
A brand new PSG joke, thanks to Cal Sharp... "Do your picks hurt your fingers when you go out at night?"

Only when someone steps on them.
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