Alaska Piks

[lacatedral]

Greetings, I'm intending to buy some Alaska Piks. Originally I ordered some mic from USA (I'm from buenos aires), so I decided to also order some of those Alaska Piks. I've been Sungha Jung and Quevedo use them and sound quite good.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. I mostly play clasical guitar, always using a nail polish strenghtener (Sally Hansen) and been now doing more fingerstyle on acoustic, but as I stated using the natural nail.

I've read in the Alaska Pik that it is as pick that goes beneath the nail, it seemed quite clever. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with it.

The thing is that ordering them to Argentina will be quite expensive.. almost 30 dollars which is really expensive here (1 USD = 18 argentine pesos)

So I really need to know if they are worth it.

[SprintBob]

The only fingerpick that has ever worked for me. AGF member Eric Skye is an Alaska Pik user also. You have to do a little filing and sanding but worth the effort.

[Pitar]

I gave them a serious try but after much fiddling, filing and relieving them to properly fit my fingers I found they easily dislodge with up-tempo pieces. Also, they are of a very soft material and wear quickly. The resqueado is totally out of the question. No slip-on can yield that strum.

[Gasworker]

They have been all I use for the past few years. They do wear so I keep couple of sets on hand. I have had one come off once or twice and now when mistakes are less desirable I put a drop of clear nail polish on. I really like em.

[Looburst]

I bought a set last year and didn't care for them, but that doesn't mean they're not a good product.

[Jabberwocky]

I got mine from Elderly dot com. Fiddly at first, and took time to get used to them but I like them very much. Shaping the tips takes a few tries.

I use a tab each of half-inch 3M Micropore surgical tape to hold them to my fingers. (I have been thinking about forming the playing tips with acrylic nail powder to get a better tone out of them.)

They are very convenient.

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by Jabberwocky

I got mine from Elderly dot com. Fiddly at first, and took time to get used to them but I like them very much. Shaping the tips takes a few tries.

I use a tab each of half-inch 3M Micropore surgical tape to hold them to my fingers. (I have been thinking about forming the playing tips with acrylic nail powder to get a better tone out of them.)

They are very convenient.

I've used adhesive glue dots applied to my nail to also lock them on but if you have some nail, they seem to stay on quite well.

[Mr. Paul]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

I've used adhesive glue dots applied to my nail to also lock them on but if you have some nail, they seem to stay on quite well.

Yes, this. I formerly used a bit of tape to the same purpose ... sometimes they would dislodge during a firm downward strum with the back of the "nail."

I use them almost 100% of the time.

[Jabberwocky]

Thank you for the tip on adhesive glue dots. I'll try them out.

[brancher]

I used them for years - even the first generation of thick mylar Alaskapiks. I generally use them now only if a nail breaks and I need to let it grow back out.

Or, sometimes I do a song that I want a little less 'fingernaily' attack - maybe a touch more subdued or not as crisp.

They work. When you get 'em, get some extras so you can experiment with length and angle. They are easily clipped with a common nail clipper and easily files with a regular fingernail emory board. You can get a really smooth, almost glossy finish if you work it.Or you can get a nice, sharp edge as well.

Good luck!

[G-Money]

I'm picking what seems like the most recent post on Alaska Piks (AP) to post my experience, in hopes it might help someone. Alaska Piks - or really, a single alaska pik on my thumb - have been a revelation for me! I want to share my findings knowing that everyone is different, and address some of the cons and complaints about APs that I think can be overcome.

My particulars are that I've always played with my fingers and strummed with my thumb, originally because I played just for myself in a room with wood floors and high ceilings. Plenty of volume produced in that environment. Later I grew just enough fingernails to get a skin+nail effect on the strings for a more focused louder tone than skin alone, and better tactile feel than using full fingernail without skin pad support.

But the length of thumbnail needed to get the nail involved in the attack is really long if you're going to keep your thumb properly parallel to the strings. I found that either I was crooking my thumb to get the middle of the thumbnail on the string, or cocking my wrist, or rolling my shoulder, all of which seem like a recipe for carpal-tunnel or tendonitus. Plus doing that ends up with thumb-index collisions and a sort of lute-player hand position. Or I grew the thumbnail so long that it interfered in other activity and broke off quite often. Enter the Alaska Pik, size large to fit my thumb.

-With the Alaska Pik, the hard material of the pick is right there where your natural nail is, you don't have to learn a whole new relationship and spacing between the string and the pick. With regular circular thumbpicks, the striking surface puts a centimeter of space between your thumb and the string, which for me was the insurmountable problem in learning accuracy and comfort with traditional thumbpicks. I think this advantage with alaska piks is what will help a lot of others.

- And as has been covered, the skin pad with alaska piks is open -- your skin touches the string unlike traditional thumbpicks, further enhancing tactile connection and making it so much like playing without a pick at all. You don't really re-learn what you know already if you are at all a finger player.

- Part of making the A-pik play and feel just like your fingernail is the way the top "bar" of the Pik slides under your existing fingernail. This bothers some people and yes it requires you to have a mil or two in thumbnail length. This is a feature not a bug in my mind but I get that people differ.

- The A-pik has several picking positions available, just like your natural thumb. This might not be that much of a plus used on fingers, but if you think about the many ways the thumb can be used on the strings -- up, down, using the side, using the nail pointed straight into the strings to dig in for volume, etc. All these are availabe with the AP -- IF and ONLY IF you shape and especially file all the surfaces you wish to use to a nice round "beveled" shape. I use a glass nail file for the fine work and a dremmel for the major form shaping.

- For me, the main use for the AP on the thumb is to support the standard downstroke in traditional thumb out/parallel position. The "nail" section of the AP is not even used in this technique! It's actually the side of the pik, down towards where the band that holds the AP on is. Now, it's absolutely mandatory to file the AP for a smooth flow over the string -- which I know is a hassle.

- Once you sand or file down the various surfaces of the AP, you can use it like a regular flat pick, using any part of the "nail" section, up-stroking to your heart's content. But, out of the package, there are several surfaces that are square and rough and will hang up. Sand and bevel these to create a smooth, diagonal aspect of pick surface to string.

- The biggest impediment to upstrokes and related techniques are the "crossbars" -- you need a file or something that can slide in between them and get the beveled smooth surface.

- by the way, just playing with the APs have the effect of sanding and buffing them as well.

- On fingers, the APs are more straightforward and need less attention except to shorten to your preference, but I would have to learn to play with my fingers a bit further apart. The added diameter of my fingers with the APs makes them clack together. I'll just stick to using my own nails, as I get the tone and volume I want with just a few mils of fingernail on my fingers (unlike with my thumb).

Ok, submitted for the record in case that helps anyone.
g$