The Steel Guitar Forum

Pick preferences:
Plastic vs. Steel Thin blade on thumb pick or thicker Dunlop style.
Recommended way to keep them on and on place. Also good angles or bend on the picks? I just can’t seem to find a happy medium. Hope you guys can give me some clarity on this. What works and what doesn’t for you.

I’ve tried lots of brands including ProPicks and the Jeff Newmans but the simplest least pricey solution is the Dunlop gauged pick. I like the .20s. I don’t have huge hands so use M Propicks or the smaller size of the Dunlops(I don’t know if those are still made. I bought a bunch several years ago and haven’t lost them all yet). I put quite a bend in my tips but many like them sticking out straighter. For electric steel I prefer a small amber COOL or Dunlop thumb pick but the large size for dobro. Picks take time to get used to. Wear them around the house like you would a new pair of shoes and have patience.

I think I bought four or five different brands until I settled on the ACRI ones. All of us seem to have our own unique solutions to these types of situations. I lick my fingertips (preferably after some Bar-B-Que sauce) javascript:emoticon(':lol:') to keep them on. Bend 'em, shape 'em until your arrive at what works, and then get a second set for your gig bag if you play out.

It takes serious work to bend and adjust a set of picks to fit your fingers perfect.

Be careful, The holes in metal picks will act like hinges and shape the wrappers into an odd 7 sided shaped hole.

I mold my picks very carefully around a 3/8" drill shank, Held in a padded jaw vice, Using a small hammer. Forming a smooth oval that fits each finger perfect.

I have to fit my picks very careful, My middle finger has 2 damaged joints and the tip wants to rub my index finger.

Metal finger picks are very personal.
If someone wants to play your steel, Or show you a new lick, Put your picks in your pocket. Keep a "GO FISH" bag of old picks, For them to bend to fit their fingers.

Hi Tom, For a thumb pick, I prefer plastic. I like the sound and feel of the blue hercos but they loosen up too quickly on my little thumb. lol I use the fred kellys as they're snug, sound good and last a long time. For finger picks, I use the old nationals. Nice thickness and good tone. I've been using the same pair for over 20 years now. I shaped the blade so it's angled like the curve of my finger. Similar to the shape of Jeff Newman's old picks. If the picks are curved too much, it slides off and doesn't grab the string enough. If the picks are too straight, it doesn't roll off and grabs the string too much. For keeping them on, I use the old method of licking my fingers.

Regarding thumb picks,

For my first 2 years I used Nationals, as that was what I was used to for fingerpicking guitar.

One day somebody accomplished suggested the blue hercos. It matched sound with the fingerpicks much better and that was it. They are thin and I thought of ways to reinforce it but you just have to relax your thumb playing and I got used to it.

For my thumb picks, Just picks I can find local to check for fit, Blue Herco, Dunlop plastic. Only Dunlops at present.

The best thing I have found for thumb picks, 3/4" 3-M Stair Safety Strip, abrasive on front, Peel tape adhesive on back. Available at Ace, Or other chain stores.

Rub the abrasive side with a piece of metal or sharpening stone to remove long sharp points, Cut to fit front flat of pick, Peal tape and install, Pick does not have to be uncomfortable tight but will not move. The pick seems to become and extension of your thumb.

Comfortable picks Happy Steelin.

I tried a lot of different finger picks and tried bending them in all sorts of ways and just couldn’t get a pair to feel right or not hurt my fingers. When I finally tried a pair of ACRIs, that was it for me. They feel very natural and comfortable. I messed around a bit with the angle and bend to get ‘em just right. That took some time, but well worth it.

The thumb pick wasn’t quite as tricky, but I do think I like the Fred Kelly speed pick the best of any I’ve tried.

Everybody's different, but for me it's a Landis Death Grip Accu Pick thumb pick and Hoffmeyer Custom fingerpicks. By far the best combination I've found for the way my hand works.

Dave

I've been pretty happy with Blue Hercos and Jeffran picks (that I bought a long time ago!)

Brass dunlops and the metal/delrin propik for the thumb https://pro-pik.com/collections/thumbpicks
The thumb pick is best of both worlds. Metal for comfort and security and delrin for tone

I use the Brass Pro=Pick for fingers, and Zookie L10 plastic thumb picks. I like the Pro Picks because of the double band. I neveer have any slippage problems.

Tom,
Suggest you contact Ron Landis down in Eureka Springs…he would probably let you try his “Death Grip” picks out. Yes, they’re a little pricey but they are Sterling Silver. Been practicing Pedal Steel since ‘74 (That’s 19) , and so far the best I’ve had….Ron is an Artisan and also a picker of steel and banjo…Carl

Carl Williams wrote:Tom,
Suggest you contact Ron Landis down in Eureka Springs…he would probably let you try his “Death Grip” picks out. Yes, they’re a little pricey but they are Sterling Silver. Been practicing Pedal Steel since ‘74 (That’s 19) , and so far the best I’ve had….Ron is an Artisan and also a picker of steel and banjo…Carl

Ron's picks are works of art, as well as being great picks. He's a great engraver and his picks are well worth the money. One of the guys I learned engraving from, Sam Alfano, is also a banjo player. Great engraver too. Must be some kind of connection between engraving and music...Wish I had the engraving chops that those guys have!

Dave

Dave

Yes I’m not sure if Jeffran still exists. But when it seems like they might have been phasing out I bought a whole bunch of those finger picks. So I have a couple backup sets in a couple sets that I use. One at home and one in my case. I assume they should last a lifetime. They are far away my favorites.

Annoyingly I am now looking for a new thumbtack. I had to use nationals in the past. But the store that I work at ordered mediums which is what I usually use and they were straight up different. So they change the size of them at some point and now they don’t really fit for me. So I’m on here looking for advice on some pics and got on this thread.

Yes I’m not sure if Jeffran still exists. But when it seems like they might have been phasing out I bought a whole bunch of those finger picks. So I have a couple backup sets in a couple sets that I use. One at home and one in my case. I assume they should last a lifetime. They are far away my favorites.

Annoyingly I am now looking for a new thumbtack. I had to use nationals in the past. But the store that I work at ordered mediums which is what I usually use and they were straight up different. So they change the size of them at some point and now they don’t really fit for me. So I’m on here looking for advice on some pics and got on this thread.

National large thumbpicks and Landis sterling silver fingerpicks suit me to a T!

Hey Dave,
I started out with Ron’s finger picks and “weaned” on to a full size sterling silver thumbpick….

I use a regular Fred Kelly thumbpick. It's comfortable and doesn't expand with heat because it's made out of delrin.

For finger picks I use Showcase 41's.

Nothing was comfortable until I got used to it.