Budget finger picker

malcolmkindness

I have been fingerpicking for nearly 60 years and my favourite nut width is 48mm, but ideally you need to increase the spacing at the saddle as well, I like 60mm at the saddle. If you can find something with wider spacing that is within your budget, I think you will be happy with it.

bertie

malcolmkindness said:

I have been fingerpicking for nearly 60 years and my favourite nut width is 48mm,

wow,  I couldnt cope with that  -   44 is plenty wide enough for me, 43 is ideal - tho Im only a beginner  with 45 years 

spev11

Im going to persevere with the Taylor for now until I can get myself to Intersound in Bristol (mines very sociable but i'll contact em first) and try some out if they are in budget( dont want to waste their time) unless a screaming bargain comes my way  of anything 44/45/48 ish, a good enough bargain is always worth a go. Thank you all for your advice, its why I come here, everyone is always heplful

bertie

spev11 said:

Im going to persevere with the Taylor for now until I can get myself to Intersound in Bristol (mines very sociable but i'll contact em first) and try some out if they are in budget( dont want to waste their time) unless a screaming bargain comes my way  of anything 44/45/48 ish, a good enough bargain is always worth a go. Thank you all for your advice, its why I come here, everyone is always heplful

well If Ive shifted the lurgy by then,  I may pop up and visit,   I wont be bringing Wilf tho !!   he'd take 1/2 the stock out

malcolmkindness

bertie said:

malcolmkindness said:

I have been fingerpicking for nearly 60 years and my favourite nut width is 48mm,

wow,  I couldnt cope with that  -   44 is plenty wide enough for me, 43 is ideal - tho Im only a beginner  with 45 years 

Well, we are all different, perhaps you have very slim fingers? However, it is interesting that none of my guitar playing friends ever remark that one of my guitars is hard to play. I also prefer a chunky, thick neck as it is much less likely to cause hand cramps when using barre chords.

bertie

malcolmkindness said:

Well, we are all different,  

of course,  I have medium hands I guess and slim probably shortish fingers.  (hand is longer than my longest finger)  I dont like "shredder" slim necks  -   a nice Fender C and a 43 nut is ideal,  acoustic or electric.   My Brook is a slim 44 and a tad and that feels wide to me  - and my TW parlor a micron under 43, and does feel narrower than my 43s -   odd how just 1mm can feel so different

 Im beginning to really struggle with the soft V of the Furch, its quite chunky too, which is a shame as I love its tone

Choivert

spev11 said:

the big baby is 43mm and im struggle to get my fat fingers in there to pick cleanly so I just figured a wider gap was the way forward. (I struggled with a strat i had with a 42mm nut and found 43mm better-,might have been all my head though).
Its a keep at work guitar to facilitate practice only hence the as low as possible price requirement. I may have to give PMT in Cardiff a shout and see if they have any 45 and 48mm width I can try first.
Failing that I'll plunge for the Harley Benton unless something comes up cheap and used so I doesn't cripple my finances

Are you looking for more space at the bridge or at the nut end of your guitar? If you'd like more space for your picking hand you may want to take a look at the string spacing measurement. Not all guitars with the same nut width have the same string spacing at the bridge. 

bertie

Choivert said:

spev11 said:

the big baby is 43mm and im struggle to get my fat fingers in there to pick cleanly s 

Are you looking for more space at the bridge or at the nut end of your guitar?  

that's a good point @Choivert ;  -  @spev11 ; mentioned only nut measurements but did say (which I think we've all pretty much overlooked)  "pick cleanly"  not "fret cleanly"  

spev11

yeah more space for the ppicking hand really, i'd sort of assumed that wider nut would mean wider spacing all over but yeah I should check bridge spacing also. Oddly since posting this and concentrating on playing the Taylor my picking has improved, still think a smidge more room would help but I'm not gonna rush.

Choivert

Where abouts are you based Spec? Perhaps a fellow member has a suitable guitar you can try? If in the northwest I have a resonator with a wide string spacing and also a classical with a very (almost 50mm) nut.

bertie

Ive never even measured (or had cause to) the spacing at the bridge...............  well that's given me something to do after Ive done lunch

spev11

Choivert said:

Where abouts are you based Spec? Perhaps a fellow member has a suitable guitar you can try? If in the northwest I have a resonator with a wide string spacing and also a classical with a very (almost 50mm) nut.

Swansea, sadly a wasteland as far as music shops go (that stock a range anyway)
thank you for the kind offer though

bertie

something's come to mind,  @spev11 ;;  do you have/use nails or flesh of yer fingers ?   Im thinking even a few mm of nail will help get a more "direct hit"  especially if you've bratwurst youre dealing with

spev11

Flesh only (that sounds wrong) I’d grow em a bit but working on bikes just rips em apart

Choivert

If you wanted to emulate nails but don't have the patience. You could try finger picks, I love the tone and volume but absolutely cannot stand to play with them (just my opinion). 

I know this is the really boring answer, but it is likely practise practise practise. (I should really listen to my own advice!). 

spev11

I'm on the practice did 30 minutes before work this morning, will do another 20/30 tonight (along with my other practice stuff). Tried fingerpicks but so far i've not been able to use them easily. (they are still here somewhere unless i've launched em out in frustration)

bertie

spev11 said:

 . Tried fingerpicks but so far i've not been able to use them easily. 

nor me  -  tried off and on for donkeys ( over 30) years to use em  - just dont feel right, they're not "organically connected"  and fuck up my picking dynamics  -   the closest things were those incredibly uncomfortable "alaska" things,  but you need a few mm of nail to be able to use em,  and that's enough for me to actually use .

Soupman

@spev11 try Alaska picks. I use them when a nail snaps. I've tried most types but these are the most natural I've found. Cost much less than a new set of strings.
For a thumb pick I use Fred Kelly speedpicks.
  

DavidR

spev11 said:

I'm on the practice did 30 minutes before work this morning, will do another 20/30 tonight (along with my other practice stuff). Tried fingerpicks but so far i've not been able to use them easily. (they are still here somewhere unless i've launched em out in frustration)

Stick with the picks @spev11 ;! You can get some very different sounds. Not an easy technique to come to afresh, but worth it. Just takes a week or two. Make sure the picks are moulded correctly and positioned/angled on your fingers so that attack on the strings is good (parallel) and the picks are polished and smooth. Bend the picks about a lot to suit you. Everyone's hand, arm and sitting position is different. Play quieter. Move right hand a little towards head end to get softer tones. 

Some goods threads on FB about fingerpicks. Big part is that plastic thumbpicks are thermoplastics and can be individually adjusted+++ with cautious use of hot water to heat, twist/mould, cool again and can be trimmed, shaped and smoothed to suit you. Lots of plastic thumbpicks on Amazon with varying hardness of plastics. Most used metal picks for fingers (usually but not always i and m) probably Dunlop nickel silver/steel .018. Remember too that blade of this type of finger pick fits below finger, so over the finger pulp. I've seen people, and even some adverts, suggesting they should be used like nails. This really does not work!

Jim Dunlop 33P.018 Nickel Silver Finger and Thumbpick Player Pack (Pack of 5) : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ
Golden Gate GP-6-4PK Pearloid Thumb Picks 4-Piece Set, Large : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

Lots of weird and wonderful variations of type.

spev11

I’ve got the metal Dunlop ones here somewhere, I shall find them and have another go and see how I get one. My 15 to 30 mines every morning in work has yielded huge improvements already ( I’m still crap but it’s cleanly played crap now)