These things are in the process of transforming my life!
With the new band I'm doing a lot of lead mixed with Travis picking and it's been a nightmare for me! I have never really felt very comfortable with hybrid picking, it just feels that I want to be using 'P-IMA' like I learned when I was a kid ... thumb and first with a bit of second and third fingers chucked in the mix. Problem is I also have never got on with Brian Setzer's 'tuck the pick back in your hand and then bring it into play for single note lines ... it all starts fine ... then I pick juggle, drop the bloody thing and bugger myself up for the rapidly approaching lead part!
I tried conventional letter q shaped thumb picks, but regularly caught a string under the gripping part ... and found them dick all good for lead.
Enter the Black Mountain pick ... a thumb flatpick in several gauges, where the gripping part is hinged and spring loaded to gently but firmly grip your thumb. Bloody fantastic ... as intuitive to use as any ordinary flat pick for lead lines ... but stays firmly where it's put when you want to Travis pick ... so simple .... so good!
Comments
Call me stupid if this is the case - But when I've dabbled at it, I've always had the pick on the nail side - Just assumed it was correct -Yet it always felt like some weird growth on my thumb that never worked - Hence never stuck with it - Yet noticed that S Smith has the pick part of the thumb pick on the flesh side of the thumb - As though it is a pick between the forefinger and thumb
So now I"m not sure which is correct/best, or indeed if both are par for the course - Yet how S Smith has it appears to me to now be more logical
Further more others have told me that you want the pick part to be as small as possible, which is how I use a normal pick, with only a tad sticking out - yet S Smith has 3/4/5 mm sticking out
Yet I'm also a B Setzer fan and note he just goes from normal pick to thumb, as/when required and when in teh thumb mode he kind of 'roles' the pick into his grasp for safe keeping - I know I'd drop it if I tried it
So the question is, should the pick part of the thumb pick be on the nail side , or the flesh side - Or doesn't it matter
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
For nearly 50 years now, when I’ve dabbled at it I tried it the other way round- never dawned on me to try it above yet my way never felt right
looking at S Smith he morphs between a hybrid style with fingers as well - But if thumb pick alone, he has his fore finger pushed tight up to the thumb pick so it functions like a normal pick
I suppose the down side is that they are a bit more expensive than ordinary flat picks ... but then they are harder to loose!
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
I normally use a 1mm plectrum thickness - would that equate to a 'medium' gauge?
My thumbnail and fingernails crack like a bastard ... the doc put it down to huge doses of steroid as a kid for asthma and eczema ... I really need to visit one of the many nail bars locally and get a false index nail fitted ... have done this before and it worked a treat.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Picks are such a small thing compared to our guitars worth hundreds and even thousands of pounds ... but if they aren't working right for you its such a handicap.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Justin Johnson is awesome player - check out some of his work on YouTube - his version of uptown funk is excellent
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
And mine are just the ordinary ones springs wise ...
I only bought one initially to try ... now I have several. I was very sceptical ... but for me they are now 'must haves'.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
My learning this morning is tha5 more than person these things on a different way round with the pick on the nail side - I must have a try and see how that feels
I think these are at their most useful for electric Travis pickers who mix fairly aggressive solo lines with picking ... for example stuff like Jim Heath or Brian Setzer.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message