Thumbpicks

scrumhalf

I've seen thumbpicks where the pick bit is like a regular pick, much broader than a "regular" thumbpick.

Anyone tried them? Are they any good?

octatonic

Depends on activity.

Great for travis picking and country styles.

I don't like them for much else, but some people can shred with them.

I can't.

bingefeller

I've tried the Herco flatpick thumbpick hybrid and the Fred Kelly Bumblebee and they are alright but I prefer regular picks because I play them just like regular picks so there's no point in them for me. 

Phil_aka_Pip

I once tried a thumbpick a long time ago when I was 17. Dreadful thing, couldn't get on with it at all.

When I look at people using them I get the impression they make you play with your picking hand in such a position as to get you a good slap from any self-respecting classical teacher. In order to get the thumb parallel to the strings so tha the thumbpick can work, the wrist needs to be flattened which in turn puts the digits into the wrong position for picking their strings properly. Whereas I play with an arched wrist, and the thumb approaching the strings from a 45 degree angle. IMO I play better that way, but as with all these things YMMV

english_bob

I play lap steel with a thumb pick but can't get on with them on regular guitar.

I haven't actually used the ones that look like a "real" pick (have owned two thumbpicks, ever- one plastic Dunlop one that decided to snap one day for no particular reason, and the metal Dunlop one I replaced it with), but the ones I've played have stuck out way too far for me to use comfortably as a regular pick (I tend to have as little as possible of the pick showing) and can't be adjusted, other than with sandpaper or something.

@Phil_aka_Pip is right- I think you'd have a hard time playing proper classical pima fingerstyle with a thumbpick. My totally made-up, self taught lap steel style involves mostly my thumb and middle finger with occasional ring finger strokes (I use my first finger for harmonics). On regular guitar I do something similar- mostly play with a pick between thumb and forefinger and occasionally use my middle and ring fingers to pick extra notes (which might also explain why I can't find a use for my first finger on the steel). It's something like Travis picking I guess, which lends itself more to a thumbpick than pima does.

EricTheWeary

I had some of the rig run downs on the other day and Chris Stein ( of Blondie) only uses a thumbpick. Not exactly a shredder but I wouldn't have associated his punk/ new wave style with a thumbpick.

I think for a generation of guitarists in the US the only guitar players shown up close on tv were country pickers and so you get these old time country influences creeping in to odd places.

Samgb

Ive got a tortoiseshell one shaped the same as a regular pick. Dont like it at all. 

Firstly, for fingerpicking i like the sound of the fleshy part of my thumb on the strings and obviously it just sounds like a pick. You also have the issue of volume discrepancy between your fingers and the pick. 

Secondly, i dont get the technique(or the point). You either have a really wobbly attached thumbpick or you hold it like a regular pick meaning you may as well use a regular pick.  

Thirdly, to have any kind of accuracy with it my hand feels like its miles away from the strings. ugh

 

Sassafras

I sometimes use a thumbpick on acoustic when I need a good bass thump. Can't see the point of using them on electric, I just let my thumb and pickup do the work.

CHRISB50

Thumb picks are bloody awful. I find that they feel strange and just don't work very well.

Grow a freakishly long thumb nail. It works much better.

PolarityMan

I don't get them at all, how on earth to you control he angle enough? 

Phil_aka_Pip

PolarityMan said:

I don't get them at all, how on earth to you control he angle enough? 

I don't think you can. That was part of my complaint

scrumhalf

So it's just like having a flatpick blu-tacked to your thumb, then? No rigidity?

Elwood

Check out Chris Broderick - he plays classical guitar as well as shred and metal with a thumb pick. Makes it look very easy!

Main benefit for him is it allows tapping while holding your pick. I think he also designed his own.