Thumb pick blues

[lw216316]

Hey, if anybody decides to use that as a new song title......you owe me royalties 

I'm having thumb pick problems and would like your help.

I didn't play much for years but I'm back into it now. I play fingerstyle and use a thumb pick.

When I started back I had just one thumb pick that is about 20 years old...
don't know what brand....no name on it.
It is blue, size large and is ' slim '.
It works great. I'm using it.

I decided I  had better find a 'backup' or two so I bought a couple different kinds.
HERE IS MY PROBLEM -
   ...with the new thumb picks I sometimes HANG UP on a string !!!
The string will go up under the thumb pick and lodge between my skin and the pick...

Man does that mess up timing 

This NEVER happened in the past or now with my old blue pick.

These new picks are wider than my old one.  The ' ring ' is wider and the ' point ' is wider.

Has anyone ever had this problem ?   What's a thumb picker to do ?


- Larry with his thumb pick hangups

[G Man]

I nkow of some folks who shave em down for just this reason.

[Blue in VT]

Larry,

I'm a guy that switches back and forth on using a thumb pick.  For some tunes I prefer the bare finger feel and for other tunes that need a more percusive bass I use a thumb pick.  So anyway...I've been through about 2 dozen different ones...both brands, sizes, and maerials.  My current favs are Golden Gate small picks (I prefer the pearloid or ivroid ones)....after that I like the medium Nationals...the tortis ones are my favs.  If a pick isn't tight on my finger...almost too tight...then they sometimes hang up on the string....I find that they have to be QUITE tight to avoid this problem...this is why I shy away from Golden Gate and National's Large size picks...they just arn't tight enough and when they catch it really screws me up!   SSssssoooo.....My suggestion is simply to try as many different kinds as you can find....I still try new ones when I find some...they're cheap!  I also modify all the picks I buy...I shorten then considerably and round down the tips a bit.

So I don't know if that was helpful at all...but there you go...keep trying

Cheers,

Blue

[lw216316]

- I'll experiment with shaving a wide one down,..... on another post - someone said they use nail clippers on them

- yes, I must have a tight fit also - but mediums are just too small for me - I can't slide them up my thumb far enough to stay on -

Every time  I stop in a different guitar shop I look at picks. So far, every one of them is wide.

Most of the time I play 'for fun' at home and a ' thumb pick hang up '  is a minor deal
but I'm starting to play in public some and I would hate to interupt my solo at church by saying,
" excuse me while I unhook my thumb '   

Oh well, life does have it's hangups 

- Larry

[DFR]

My current new favorite is Fred Kelley Slick Picks.  The Delrin material is very slippery and I like the tone.  I also like the size of it.  The "heavy" is still pretty snug for my thumb (I might heat it up a bit and open it up).  I trim the blade quite a bit with toe-nail clippers so that my attack angle to the string is not much different then a bare thumb (so I can alternate between using the pick or not), then shape and smooth it with an emery board.

My second fav is still the Golden Gate, but I trim the heck out of those as well.

[omozom]

I have been using the Alaska picks for sometime. I like that you can trim them just like real nails and that you get finger and nail contact as you would with natural nails. Very nice design and nice tone. I have tried many brands and found better feel after trimming and shaping all of them. There is just too much extension on them right out of the box.
I recently tried two new styles the Fred Kelly Bumblebee and The Fred Kelly speed pick. I gave up on the speed pick pretty quickly. But I do like the Bumblebee. The more I use it the more I like it, but I'm still switching back and forth between the Bumblebee and the Alaska. As for finger picks I wouldn't use anything but Alaska.

[lw216316]

There is just too much extension on them right out of the box.

Oh yea, that's the other thing about the new picks (compared to my trusty OLD BLUE )
the point is longer  -

Now that I think about it - that may be what is causing me the HANG UP.

Dave, tks 4 the mention of heat and emory board -
I've added them to my IDEA LIST.




Oh, I had da thumb pick blues
Yea, it was a low down hang up thing

day say, "Man you gots ta heat, clip and smooth...
if'n ya wants ta keep string out'a da groove

Now I get by with a little help from my friends,
On time with them slides and pulls and bends,
cause I get by with a liitle help from my friends.   

[Blue in VT]

If you want a very narrow blade try the Fred Kelly SPEED pick...too narrow for me but some love it....I once read some where that Acoustic Blues Great Ernie Hawkins said " the fatter the pick the fatter the tone" and I have found that to be true...YMMV.

oh yeah...I trim mine with clippers as well but then bevel it down with an emory board....or if I have them at work I'll throw them on the belt sander with fine grit paper...no pre trimming necessary....you just have to be carefull not to melt the pick...

Cheers,

Blue

[obe-wan]

Zookies. 
Had the same problem with most thumb picks I tried, but the Zookies dont hang up, although they are a wider thumb pick. They are also cheap and readily available, so if you lose one, you wont have trouble getting a newy. They wear well too, been using the same 3 for about 12 years now !
Cheers, Scott.

[JBaer]

I play square-neck reso and sometimes when it's my turn to take a break, I really want to dig in and be LOUD and ........ nothing .... my pick hangs on the string next to the one that I wanted to start with. It's a technique problem. It must be a common occurrence because there are quite a few threads about this phenomenon on banjo and reso forums. The pick that helped me a lot is the Golden Gate, extra wide (against the thumb) pick. The extra wide plastic makes it harder for that part of the pick to get stuck on the string.
http://www.firstqualitymusic.com/itemdetail.asp?item=PK13T&catid={9C5B42A4-4DD1-431F-952B-B45CD06C32C4}
You can file most thumb pick's  blades narrower and/or shorter to your liking and heat them up in hot water enough to custom shape them to your thumb.
Good luck with not playing those thumb pick blues

[lw216316]

my pick hangs

aaaaaahhhh, then I'm not weird (thinking I might be the only picker in the world who hangs)
or....maybe I am weird and belong to a weird group 

Larry

[dermot]

i shape mine... rounder, narrower, and thiner/sharper edges.. i use emmory board, and then wash it odd afterwards to get rid of the plastic, takes under 30 seconds after you have done it a few time ;-)

Golden Gate Med's are my choice

Ta,

d.

[lw216316]

Golden Gate Med's are my choice

If I give you my address and pay postage will you mail me one you have modified ?



- Larry

[Calvin]

Dunlops make these thumb picks that sits at an angle, and acts more like a regular pick.  They are called "zookies" I believe.  Not a thumb-picker really.  But I think these are pretty slick.  Dont know if they still make them.

[golfer]

I've tried a lot of thumb picks and the one that has felt the most natural to use is the Red Bear.  The fit right and just tight enough.  They are not uncomfortable and the pick it self is hard and shows not wear after a year of picking.  They are tops on my list.

[bhika]

I've tried a lot of thumb picks and the one that has felt the most natural to use is the Red Bear.  The fit right and just tight enough.  They are not uncomfortable and the pick it self is hard and shows not wear after a year of picking.  They are tops on my list.

on the Red Bear
Trading Company Tortis Thumb Picks. I little on the pricey side but the fit, comfort and especially the tone make it well worth the price

[Blue in VT]

 

I was messing around with the digi camera today and snapped a few pics of my thumb picks that I have shapped and one that is "virgin" and thought this would be a good place to share them.  This is a small Golden Gate Pick...as you can see its the ivroid kind and I take quite a bit of the point off....My favorite one right now is actually even a little shorter than this one.  You can see that I prefer to wear the thumb pick pretty far out on my thumb so that the point is roughly in the same spot as the calus I have deleloped from playing w/o a pick.

The third picture is of my other picking fingers...this is all the nail I use...I include it just for interest.







Cheers,

Blue

[lw216316]

Thanks Blue.
I'm gonna try the reshaping idea on the ones that have been giving me the hangups.

If I tried to wear my thumbpick that low it would end up in the soundhole real fast.
My thumb is shaped like an upside down V.
I have to wear the pick up close to the knuckle to keep it on.

- Larry

[Blue in VT]

 

The more I look at hose pictures of my thumbs the more freaked out I get....those are my thumbs I swear....this is not some freaky new pleasure device!!!



Blue

[gkella]

I love  Dunlop Zookies thumb picks.
Try them.
They fit well and are angled to assist you in striking the strings more accurately.
They come in different degrees..10's, 20's & 30's.
Check them out.
Glen