The Steel Guitar Forum

Hey everyone,

I have been playing psg since last August. Before that, I played bass for 28 years. Playing bass with my fingers, I never had to contend with any type of noise when striking the strings. I am a bit taken aback by the amount of pick noise I get on the psg, especially the C6th neck. Any advice? I heard of cobalt plated picks, but they're not available in Canada. Every US retailer I have found charges a scandalous amount of money for shipping. It's like they're using a flight case to ship the picks or something.
I am awaiting your suggestions.

Thanks,

Gil

It will go away with time and practice. I believe we all had that problem. You might want to adjust (bend) your picks to make them attack the strings straight on if they are hitting on an angle (although mine sometimes hit at a slight angle).

Thanks Richard,

I was thinking that maybe I do bend my picks a bit too much. I'll try the straighter approach and see what happens with that.

a lot of the beggining video instructors that i have on disc always mention the importance of holding you right elbow in close to your body,sometimes i have a hard time keeping this in mind but when I do pull my elbow in it changes the angle of my hand and my picks are hitting the strings more square.

Jim,

My elbow is pretty much touching my body at all times. Not sure why but it's been like that since I started playing psg. I do notice a difference in pick noise when I curl my hand a bit more. This seems to bring the picks in to a better angle of attack.
The most noise I get is when I pick block. I'm not sure if it's a question of timing or what.

I know what you are talking about,I play dobro a lot and use pick blocking for it.When I play steel I tend do do a lot more palm blocking.

The most noise I get is when I pick block. I'm not sure if it's a question of timing or what.

Pick blocking is very difficult to master. I've been doing it since day one (40 years now) and if I lose my focus while playing, I will hear pick noise while pick blocking. Again, it will come with time and practice. Don't expect too much too soon. That will discourage and run off a new player faster than anything. Patience is definitely a virtue when learning PSG.

Gilbert, you might consider picking a little stronger. I've seen players that use a very light pick attack, therefore the pick noise compared to the note volume is rather objectionable.

Another possibility is your pickup might be set a bit too far from the strings. I like mine 2 quarters distance between the strings and pickup.

Just a couple thoughts.....

Richard,

thanks for your words of encouragement.

Mike,

I'll make sure to check out your suggestions when I practice tonight.


Gil

This may seem disconnected but it's not - pick adjustment works a whole lot easier if you have two sets of picks, one to play with and another to adjust while you're watching TV, staring off into space etc. If you try to combine practice with pick-bending, you won't get much practicing done. You bend the tips a little bit more, twank, twank, twank... "maybe it was better the other way"... twank, twank, twank... etc.

Having two sets lets you compare different angles of attacks. And in a decade, it will have gone away anyway.

Hey David,

I was working on that last night. I've been fighting the flu and a strep throat infection combined. There isn't much energy in me right now to do anything but watch tv, bend picks, and then crawl to my guitar and try them on for a couple of minutes.':lol:'
Thanks.

Gil

You get a thicker sound if the picks hit at an angle and you don't get the pick chatter, according to the Jeff newman instruction, i took his advice and it really is worth the effort. See also how much your fingers are moving when picking, they should stay very close to the stings to prevent time loss.

Thanks Larry,

I'll check that out too.

Gil