Just wondering what types of  finger/thumb picks (if any) folks here use to play their steel string guitars...i haven't used picks with my classical guitar but my OM-09 steel strings are a bit stiffer so i'm trying to get used to using picks without too much luck so far...do any here use no picks?
Thanks, poki  B)  

I don't use pick's at all.I got tired of throwing them away.I strum and play finger style.When I strum I pretend I have a pick,end up using the tuft of my finger and nail.  

I can't seem to get the hang of using a pick (not to mention dropping them all the time), and thumb picks feel wierd. I have one, but the only time I used it was when the tip of my thumb was injured. I just grow out the fingernails on my right hand.

Deb

Thanks folks...i think i'll also stick with plain fingers & thumb for any type of plucking method.  for strumming a finger pick seems to work out well. trying to use a thumb pick has been a total flop for me.   good thing they were cheap...
poki B)  

I use Large Fender triangular pick's that I round the edge on.. they are about 1.5 inch's per side,, I dont drop them as much, I buy them and then sand the sharp corners a little rounder....I am a very heavy strummer so I use light or medium thickness pick's...Robb

I use thin to extra-thin picks on my acoustics. I use the tear-drop shaped pick. I hold the pick with one of the rounder curves strumming the strings as I did not like the way it sounded using the sharp point of the pick. I am more of a strummer than a picker, but do flat-pick when needed. I also finger-pick on some tunes where appropriate. You might say I am a jack of all styles, master of none.YMMV.
Barry. ;)  

I read a good tip awhile ago, if you have trouble hanging on to picks (while playing, that is--I still haven't figured out how not to lose them). Take a hole punch and punch a hole in the pick where your thumb and finger meet when you hold it. Makes them much easier to hang onto.

Thanks Deb, great idea about the hole punch.  My hands get sweaty when playing and the pick always rotates and then slips out of my hands.  

Recently I have been picking with my thumb.  The sound isn't as sharp as with a pick, kind of sounds like an upright bass.  I like the feel of the strings and I usually make less mistakes  <_<  

I don't like picks, either. They make my fingers cramp up. Everly (I think Don Everly of the legendary Everly Brothers owns the company) makes picks with a star shaped hole in them for gripping. Musicians Friend sell them.  

I'm like Rob - straight fingers, no picks.  I have used flat picks in the past - with and without fingers.  I just decided to simplify and, since I play small body guitars with light gauge strings, I can get plenty of sound without them.

Ken