The Steel Guitar Forum

I recently bought a new set of picks. I use 3 fingers + thumb. Getting the right hand shape (a la Newman) IMO calls for angles on the picks. the Pro-piks are cleverly angled, but for banjo players who have the fingers trailing, not leading. So I bought one regular pick (1st finger) and two angled ones. I flattened out the angled picks, and kept going until they were inside out. The angle is great for playing now, and they stay on better than my NOS Nationals. Has anyone else tried this? T. Sage Harmos

Huh. I play b@njo, and I use the same picks for steel. I've messed with them a fair bit to get them just right, but it seems to me the finger action is the same on both instruments.

What do do mean "trailing" and "leading"?

An irrelevant aside: What I HAVE wasted a lot of time doing is trying to adapt a pick so I can pick both up and down, like you can with bare fingers. My best prototype is ugly beyond words and consists of two pcks soldered together at the tip. They play okay, but are extremely ugly and I couldn't face the abuse if I used them in public.

The "both ways" pick sounds good John. Let me know when you have them perfected and I will buy a set from you.
I can hear that "Rasueado" now. Great idea!
RT

I once tok some sitar lessons from a guy, and the Indian sitar pick is really cool - it's made from wire, and it goes over your fingertip, it's hard to describe. I think they're called "mizrab," and they let you play upstrokes and downstrokes. I still have one left (lost a couple over the years) and they work great for guitar or steel.

Matt Farrow



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Matt Farrow
Marlen 9-string 6+2
Kustom K150

http://surf.to/pharaohamps

Matt-- Interesting. A quick GOOGLE search for "mizrab" got many hits including these:

http://www.silverbushmusic.com/mizrabs.html

http://www.buckinghammusic.com/sitar/sittut/btut.html

http://www.aacm.org/shop/product136.html

The first URL provides a good picture, the second gives a better description of use, while the third URL has the cheapest price.

(from the buckinghammusic web site)
The long, pointed metal wire needs to run down over the nail of your index finger over the tip and underneath the pad of your finger. The wire 'V's at the sides need to be placed over your index finger's sides.

If you have the right size mezrab the side pieces will hook themselves behind the first joint of your index finger. This is important as if this lock behind the finger joint isn't achieved the mezrab may tend to fall off your finger and is sure to inconvenience you in your playing. We keep three sizes of mezrab, small, medium and large....

--Everett

You guys are great! What an idea. Now I'm going to have to try those out. Maybe they'll help with that flamenco-banjo sitar steel style I'm developing .

alaskaPik - a finger and thumbnail pick
Over the finger-under the nail
Plastic or brass
307 S. 18th St. St.Maries,ID 83861.USA
On my "to-do" list. Should work for steel!
RT

We seem to have hijacked this thread. Sorry.

I tried the mizrabs and didn't like the sound on guitar - gave them to a banjo player but never thought of trying them on steel. The Alaska piks are a great idea but I must pick too hard - they sometimes come off even with just regular picking up, and downpicking sent them across the room. The problem with the ugly soldered ones was that you can't fingermute, but you can't do that with most regular fingerpicks picks either (or mizrabs). I should dig them out and have another look. The perfect pick, Plato's fingerpick, for me would be like my soldered jobbies - sort of a pointed thimble - with cutouts for fingerpads. I've seen those cutouts somewhere. I know a metalworker - maybe I should get her to make some Plato's Picks® up and make us both rich...