The Steel Guitar Forum

I have been doing some random practicing on dobro and PSG with bare thumb and fingers lately, and in some ways it feels more comfortable. And of course the sound is different. So it has me wondering...

Do any of you players switch between picks and bare thumb & fingers depending on the situation/type of sound desired/song etc.?

John Groover -

Unless I'm mistaken, I believe that Dr. Hugh Jeffreys does NOT use picks. An objective and/or subjective opinion can be had by listening to his post on Charles Tilley's site. He, personally, would most likely assist you in this regard. Bobbe Seymour is another to lean on.

Respectfully,

Richard

Sometimes I give in to temptation and play without fingerpicks.For me it's easier,but my fingertips wouldn't last all night,and fingerpicks just sound better.

I agree that picks will be a better sound for most band situations, but for playing truly solo I think there might be a place for the more mellow sound of flesh on strings.

I like the NO finger pick route...altho don't think cold weather & no picks is gonna be very much fun .Feels like bare flesh on razor blades !

I need to try Alaska Pics(?)....something in between maybe

Hey John...I find myself doing it more and more when practicing at home, which has been leading me to do it more and more when I do recording sessions too. I'm talking about just a thumbpick here. For my country gigs I'm still doing it with picks, but that may change too. After playing with those dang alien, ill fitting metal picks for so many years, I'm feeling like I've finally earned the right to play however I want to play by now.

Disclaimer: all you newbies should learn to play comfortably with fingerpicks ON before you decide chuck em. Especially if you want to sound like your favorite recorded steel heroes.

I play pedal steel without thumbpick or fingerpicks, just fingernails, and have for 35 years. (That's how I usually play guitar, as well.) It's true that bare fingers can hurt in the cold, and that picks provide protection for your fingertips, but I don't do those outdoor gigs in November anymore anyway.

I use three fingers and thumb, sometimes all five fingers. Why not? And all types of blocking are easier without picks -- you can mute with your fingertips or the side of your palm...

As for tone, fingernails sound sweet enough for me. I have tried metal fingerpicks and plastic fingerpicks, and all sorts of thumbpicks, but fingernails sound good enough to make me happy. Voluntary simplicity, no?

I play without finger picks frequently at home and have come to consider it a bad habit, at least for me. Without picks I tend to block with my fingers, like I do on bass. I now feel like I should always use picks and solidify the blocking technique I'll have to rely on if I ever get to working regularly on steel. Just my opinion.

I work regularly on steel. Maybe 80 paying jobs a year. Why do you need picks? Maybe if you played 300 gigs a year -- is that what you are talking about?

Fingernails do wear down, but I can play through 30 one-hour lessons a week and then play a couple of 4 hour gigs on the weekend, and my fingernails usually hold up... (Good food and nutritional supplements really can make your nails thicker and stronger, by the way...)

Wearing picks is not a necessary prerequisite for getting hired as a pedal steel player, that's for sure. Sometimes the skin on my fingertips splits, and that can incapacitate a finger for a day or so, usually in the winter. And sometimes my number one nail (middle finger) wears down so low that it gets sensitive. But neither of those problems ever really keeps me from playing...

I'm not prosthelytizing. Nothing wrong with fingerpicks and thumbpicks, and a lot of you guys can play eight times as fast as me. I'm not saying what I do is "better." But it's also true that picks are not necessary to playing pedal steel -- that's all I would argue.

My left hand fingertips are well calloused from playing guitar, but my right isn't as much (except for thumb from playing bass McCartney style). I play guitar with a flatpick mostly, occasionally using bare middle and ring for clean tele spankin. My pointer finger never needs much trimming because I dig in a lot, using the nail with the pick often for pinch harmonics and tone. I do play guitar without picks for classical style occasionally, and steel does have a much more organic feel when bare handed, but I guess its really the sound of the picks on steel I prefer.

Clete

Rick Schmidt wrote: Disclaimer: all you newbies should learn to play comfortably with fingerpicks ON before you decide chuck em. Especially if you want to sound like your favorite recorded steel heroes.

Being a newbie myself, I'll say there are picks, and then there are good picks. They made a real difference for me. Comfort matters because you can wear em longer. Not that a pickless sound is bad, of course, but if you can do both, your toolbox is bigger. I don't clip the nails on my right (bow) hand as severely as on my left (fiddle string) hand, so I might join in trying pickless sometime - but I'm in the discipline mode right now...

I'm a newbie, & HATED using finger picks at first.
But, everyday gets better. When I first got my PSG I used just a thumbpick, till I heard so many accomplished players admonish about using finger picks, especially while learning. So, I'm forcing myself to do so... I don't LOATH them now, as much as I used to. lol

I've played guitar for almost 40 years, & prefer playing without picks 75% of the time, too.

Hey, Rick...
Don't let Jim P know yer playin' with naked fingers.


rd

Another thing for newbies to keep in mind - it can take a long time to get a set of finger picks tweaked so that they fit you just right (or hurt the least). There may be some newer, better contoured versions on the market now, but I think most PSG players will concur. Once you get them fitting as well as possible carefully guard them against getting stepped on - especially when you are wearing them!

I learned to play guitar player first using my nails for "fingerpicking", and later became interested in pedal steel. I learned to use the finger picks on pedal steel, but my nails interfered with the picks, so I had to drop the picks and use my nails on both instruments. The acoustic guitar is very hard on natural nails, as is the pedal steel.

After years of experimenting, I settled on acrylic nails. they look natural, they hardly ever break, and they are better for blocking and harmonics.

If you are wondering about the tone,

here is a link to something I recorded using acrylic nails and a thumb pick.

http://www.box.net/shared/rrlq7fmnit

Back in the early '90's (?) I attended a Buddy Emmons seminar and at the time he had quit using finger picks, just a thumb pick, so of course I immediately started doing the same (monkey see, monkey do). It was fine for playing around the house or maybe for an hour or so, but by the end of a four set night my fingers were just about bleeding. I have very soft nails, and despite taking gelatin and putting hardeners on them, they constantly tore, so I gotin the habbit of playing with the pad of my fingertips. I stuck with it for about a month but it never got any easier or less painfull. I still will jump behind the guitar at home with no pickes once in a while, but for playing out, it's picks all the way.

Check in on Bobbe Seymours posts about using, or not using, finger picks, very interesting. Jay Y.

I gave it a try with no picks last night, and gave up quick.
An old fart like me has enough trouble trying using picks.
I'ts a better tone without picks, but it don't work for me.
Carl

playin both ways with or without picks would be my suggestion
different applications ( or tunes) & different sounds
playing w: picks contribute to precision, better blocking & a cleaner sound
playing without them gives a warmer sound & is neat for chords imo
thumbpick remains mandatory
moral : better to know how to play w: picks than knowing how to play without them
rather than knowing how to play without picks & not know how to play with them

Hi, John!
Sorry I missed you too, while I was in the Valley.
I use no metal fingerpicks, but I do have acrylic nails painted on every two weeks or so down at the salon. I got turned on to that by a studio player in L.A, and I also know that Brent Mason swears by those acrylics for his tele picking. Since when I gig, I usually double on Tele, it's an easy switch. I have been using these for almost 15 years, and havent lost one or broken one in at least 10. It does require, though, for you manly men, to go in and have your nails done. I only do 3..and the Asian technicians always tease me when I come in: " Why only 3?? Why no color??? Hee!

Thanks for the tip on acrylic nails.

I like the sound of just a thumbpick and fingers on lap steel and pedal steel.

When I switch to my Strat, I like a flat pick, and I use my mid and ring finger. My finger nails get chewed up really fast.

I need to talk to my sister!

R2