thumb picks

[marty bradbury]

Good morning. Not sure if this has been posted. Anyone here use Black Mountain Thumb Picks? If so, thoughts?

[srick]

Marty - they are wonderful, for the right song. I love their firmness and the ability to strum, but some songs don’t need the bass heavy chords. It’s a nice tool to have in the bag. My other go to thumb picks are Fred Kelley Speed Picks and Slick Picks.

I rarely use a flat pick. Every once in awhile I try taking out “Flatpicking Essentials” and I try to work through the exercises, but it never seems as natural as fingerpicking. Go figure.

Rick

[rstaight]

Absolutely, I use Black Mountain thumb picks. I went with them because a standard thumb pick did not fit correctly. Yes you can heat them and resize standard thumb picks but the way thumb changes that isn't feasible.

I am a bowler and especially in the winter my thumb changes size so bad during the course of three games it's crazy. I may start the evening out with 3 pieces of tape in the thumb hole and by the end of the third game all of the tape is removed and I am putting my towel over the thumb hole and jamming my thumb in before I roll to keep from sticking in the ball.

This is where The Black Mountains are so great. Because they have a spring in the thumb bar the fit perfectly no matter how much my thumb swells or contracts.

When I first started using then they only had one thickness and shape. Now they have your normal teardrop shape and a jazz pick. They offer a .7mm thickness that tapers to 1.5mm along with the original 1.5mm thickness.

They have also just released a slide ring that looks promising.

They are now my primary pick.

[musicman1951]

Not comfortable for me. The best I've found are BC. I have a couple, one shorter than the other.

[marty bradbury]

I ordered the variety pack and am anxious to try the different sizes. Thank you for the responses,

[DaveG]

I just got some. I find that, for me, they make a really good thumb pick, but don't work very well as a flat pick. Since they are attached to the thumb I can't get the dynamics I want by changing my grip. The main reason I wanted them was to be able to switch between a thumb pick and a flat pick in the same song. Maybe it's just my technique, but they don't work for me.

[rgregg48]

For me they have not found the correct thickness
Yet..the heavy is too thick and the medium is too thin....it's like the ol three bears story!

[TiffanyGuitar]

I don't like the tone of nylon picks, so I passed on Black Mountain Thumb picks.
I bought some but then re-sold them on Reverb. I like the idea though. I still like Fred Kelly slick picks in yellow or orange the best.

[birkenweg42]

I just googled them out of curiosity. For me, they would be a solution to a non-existing problem. I never had an issue with traditional thumb pick designs.
Now, fingerpicks...that's a different issue.

[RomanS]

I discovered Black Mountain thumpicks a few months ago, and love them...

I have been using thumbpicks (Fred Kelly Slick Pick - heavy) for ages with lap steel and dobro, but never got comfortable with them for "underarm" playing - because with most of them, the tip is too huge for my taste (for flat picks, I like the Dunlop Jazz XL size), and because most of them don't work well for strumming and alternate picking.

Since I play a lot of Travis picking stuff, I have been trying many different types of "alternative" thumbpick designs over the years, but always came back to my hybrid picking style (small flat pick & middle/ring fingers).

The Black Mountain is the first one that works for me. I got the heavy jazz type one - I wished it was still a bit thicker, and the pick part was a bit shorter (I modified mine with files & sandpaper), but it is close to perfection.

It works perfectly for Travis picking - the band is tight enough to keep it in place, and loose enough to feel comfortable.
I don't have to swap between flat pick and thumbpick when switching from "underarm" acoustic to lap-style dobro in a set any longer.
It works well for strummy rhythm parts, four-to-the-floor swing rhythm, for the occasional bluegrass run (for hardcore bluegrass flat- and cross-picking it still might not be the best choice), and for alternate picking of arpeggios and melodic stuff.

Where I don't like it is playing electric guitar: For playing very fast single note lines it feels more clumsy than a flat pick, and I can't manipulate the tone well enough by changing pick angle, and gripping strength; it's also not great for fast tremolo picking.

So, for the moment I still use my red Dunlop Jazz XLs when I strap on my Telecaster, but for acoustic playing (as well as Dobro & lap steel) I use the Black Mountain.

I wished they brought out a model with an even smaller and thicker/stiffer tip than their jazz model!

Oh yeah, one more thing: it is completely useless for mandolin!

[Joboxer]

Black Mountain picks were far too thick for me in their first run, the thinner run is ok, but still doesn't sit right with me.
I tried everything out there, but I always keep returning to Herco Heavy.

[kevinplarson]

I think they are pretty well for switching from thumb picking to strumming. I just don’t like the nylon. I’ve heard they may offer different materials in the future.

Here’s something I’ve loved.

www.etsy.com/listing/1015181861

It may look goofy but it works so well. You can pop in your favorite flatpick. Holds it very solidly. Love it. Truly holds well for thumbpicking. Plus feels great strumming.

If you wanna use your own pick, get what’s above. But here is their website.

http://www.strum-n-comfort.com/

[steelvibe]

This whole thing has gone full circle for me.

When I first started playing with my fingers I started....well, with my fingers. No thumb picks and no finger picks. Then later when I wanted to learn that Chet Atkins boom chick rhythm I went through a thumb pick phase trying almost everything out there. The Black Mountain is the best by far for comfort and control (I was using a Jazz tip/ heavy).

As much as I like the punch of a thumb pick it just felt so odd, like my hand and arm were being held hostage by the darn thing. One day a video from Adam Rafferty hit my youtube inbox and he described pretty much the same thing. He used a thumb pick professionally for a very long time before deciding that he couldn't get a good live tone from one and that he discovered that he can "groove" better with just his fingers. I tried it and find that I can still pretty much play that boom chick without a thumb pick and now I'm not using one.

I'm personally loving the results- here is the video. (Please note that Adam nor me are suggesting those who use thumb picks should stop, only a different perspective on the pros/cons and why Adam and myself have stopped).

[eyesore]

I bought four of them and don't like them. I 'll stick with my Fred Kelly slicks.

[mcmars]

It will be a personal choice really, you have to try a few to see which work for you. I never tried the BC, but tried many others and the medium sized fred kelly slick pick in either orange or dark green works great for me and they never come off. Problem I have with most is the pick part is just way to long or pointy, FK has a better shape for my style.