To Pick Or Not To Pick

[poki]

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)  

[unclrob]

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.  

[wyodeb]

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

[poki]

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)  

[Robb]

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

[hatman]

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. ;)  

[wyodeb]

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.

[slim]

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  <_<  

[stevelawsn]

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.  

[KenS]

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