Black Mountain plectrum, thumb pick thingies?

JCA2550

Anyone have experience of these?

https://blackmountainpicks.com/pages/thumb-picks

steveb

I have some. I started to learn some thumbstyle playing in 2021, i like them for that but couldnt get used to using then instead of a traditional plectrum, just because of the way i hold a plectrum. I bought the tighter ones. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

I got one just to try out, but not for thumb-picking. It's to use like a 'normal' plectrum during a couple of songs in our set where we have to clap at various points in the song, and I had a tendency to throw picks all over the stage when using a normal pick!

It works OK as a normal pick, but I always swap back to my usual Dunlop Tortex for the rest of the set. 

BillDL

I like to swivel my pick around while playing so that I can use the blunt corners for some playing and switch back to the sharp tip for other parts.  For that reason I found that that particular design combination of thumbpick/flatpick didn't work for me.  If I need to use a thumbpick I use a standard one that I have filed back from a long thin pick to a stubby one that just catches the strings and no more.

guitarjack66

I have one but find the 1mm too thick. I do believe they are planning a medium thickness model soon though.

JCA2550

guitarjack66 said:

I have one but find the 1mm too thick. I do believe they are planning a medium thickness model soon though.

Have you managed to get to grips with the technique?

guitarjack66

JCA2550 said:

guitarjack66 said:

I have one but find the 1mm too thick. I do believe they are planning a medium thickness model soon though.

Have you managed to get to grips with the technique?

No,I dont like 'sharp' picks in general. I prefer the more rounded style and there dont seem to be any thumb picks like this. When I first started getting lessons I showed up at a lesson with a thumb pick and my guitar teacher advised me to just use it like a traditional pick. I understood this but it still didn't help much at all.

Stuckfast

I use the Fred Kelly Bumblebee thumbpicks which are a similar idea and available in several thicknesses. They're basically like a conventional plectrum attached to plastic loop that goes round the thumb. Best thumbpicks I've ever tried but I still find them a bit awkward to use as a plectrum for lead playing. I wonder if this works any better.

Jimbro66

guitarjack66 said:

No,I dont like 'sharp' picks in general. I prefer the more rounded style and there dont seem to be any thumb picks like this…………

The Fred Kelly Slick Picks have a more rounded end and are nice to use. Bear in mind that many thumb picks are supplied over-length and need to be trimmed back which can include rounding them off if preferred.

When I needed a thumb/flat pick hybrid for hot country playing I used Herco flat thumbpicks. I still often use them now.

The Bumblebee thumb picks mentioned by @Stuckfast have the advantage of being able to swivel the pick a little to strike the strings at a better angle and get cleaner tone. There are also Zookies which are sold with three different tip angles for a similar reason.

@JCA2550 you don’t mention what sort of music you want to play with a thumb pick and whether it is on electric or acoustic guitar, or both. It does have a bearing on the choice.

JCA2550

Nothing specific in mind, I tried using thumb picks yonks ago and basically gave up on them. Was curious about these. Oli Brown uses some kind of pick attached to a thumb pick which I think are Fred Kelly ones.

guitarjack66

Jimbro66 said:

guitarjack66 said:

No,I dont like 'sharp' picks in general. I prefer the more rounded style and there dont seem to be any thumb picks like this…………

The Fred Kelly Slick Picks have a more rounded end and are nice to use. Bear in mind that many thumb picks are supplied over-length and need to be trimmed back which can include rounding them off if preferred.

When I needed a thumb/flat pick hybrid for hot country playing I used Herco flat thumbpicks. I still often use them now.

The Bumblebee thumb picks mentioned by @Stuckfast have the advantage of being able to swivel the pick a little to strike the strings at a better angle and get cleaner tone. There are also Zookies which are sold with three different tip angles for a similar reason.

@JCA2550 you don’t mention what sort of music you want to play with a thumb pick and whether it is on electric or acoustic guitar, or both. It does have a bearing on the choice.

Herco are ok. I have both a medium and a heavy.

bertie

looks like a jack of no trade  to me

guitartango

Is the Fred Kelly Derin thumb picks any good?  Also looking for finger/thumb picks.

guitarjack66

I would also say that thumb picks,in my limited experience,seem to work better with heavier gauge strings?

Gandalph

I’ve got a couple of these, I also use the Fred Kelly Derwin speed picks and the Dunlop brown one’s. The black mountains are pretty good, the spring has held tight but I don’t think they give quite the same ‘thud’ to the strings for blues as the dunlop or speed picks.