Click, click, click and other thoughts.....

[TBman]

Thumb and fingerpicks seem to make a bit of noise when they hit the strings. Getting the right angle for the finger picks so that they hit squarely on the wound strings and not sideways to avoid that raspy sound is a challenge. Turn the guitar a bit, turn the fingerpick a bit. It's a work in progress.

The clarity from using picks as opposed to just flesh all these years is amazing though.

[FrankHudson]

Drives me crazy too. There's another recent thread here that shows great closeups of a flatpick champion caliber player, including slow motion. What's shocking to me is that his pick "gets air" after (nearly) every pluck. He doesn't just move to between the strings or over to the next string he's going to pluck, he literally lifts the pick above the plane of the strings!

That kind of picking action has to remove a lot of the worst artifacts of pick noise, those extra noises that aren't just note attack.

[Andyrondack]

That clacking sound really puzzled me because for a while I managed to find a technique where it didn't happen, but after playing plastic Alaskas
for a while I forgot my technique with the steel picks, shame really because people said I got a good sound out of them .

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

That clacking sound really puzzled me because for a while I managed to find a technique where it didn't happen, but after playing plastic Alaskas
for a while I forgot my technique with the steel picks, shame really because people said I got a good sound out of them .

Do you remember what you used to do to get rid of the noise?

[islandguitar]

Originally Posted by TBman

Thumb and fingerpicks seem to make a bit of noise when they hit the strings. Getting the right angle for the finger picks so that they hit squarely on the wound strings and not sideways to avoid that raspy sound is a challenge. Turn the guitar a bit, turn the fingerpick a bit. It's a work in progress.

The clarity from using picks as opposed to just flesh all these years is amazing though.

Glad you're seeing some results, Barry! Yes, I think all of these help in making a difference. For me, the index finger is key and sometimes I'm too casual in how much it's turned to strike at the right angle. Once I sense that, I turn it even more and that helps. Also the neck angle. For me, if it's too low, I'm going to have issues....needs to be helped along with a "neck up" or something similar. Of course, 12 fretters need an adjustment from 14 fretters too which means I'll play just behind the sound hole with adjustments for each type of guitar.
I use a piece of scotch tape on the index finger pick, so they're always going on the same finger...never mix, so it's all consistent.

[Andyrondack]

Originally Posted by TBman

Do you remember what you used to do to get rid of the noise?

No , when I used them all the time I used pro pik fingertones which I don't have anymore.
With the Alaska brass picks I don't get the clacking sound, but there can still be the rasping noise which I find can be eliminated on the third string and much reduced on the other strings by plucking the string forcefully and quickly not stroking it before plucking that's what causes the rasping sound , and trying to pluck with the tip not the side.With the Alaska brass picks I can also get under the string and pull up.
I get on a lot better with the plastic Alaskas so that's what I use now.

[Silly Moustache]

I tend NOT to fingerpick when I perform, so only fingerpick at home and when teaching online.

It never felt right to use thumb/fiatpicks on guitar and as I am blessed with strong thick "claws" only really ever used fingerpicks on lap style Dobro and Weissenborn.

However the same applies to them as to flat picks, and the right material suitably bevelled/polished will assist greatly.

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by TBman

The clarity from using picks as opposed to just flesh all these years is amazing though.

Interesting as I don't hear it. Which isn't to say it isn't there. I'll pay attention today. Part of this may be that you are super focused on the sound because of the recent change. It may or may not be a thing.

I recently got a bunch of new picks and I modify them to best fit my fingers. All of a sudden, my thumb picks are having an issue. All of them even the old sets that are my go tos. I think part of it is my focus on the way they feel more than I normally focus or think about it.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Andyrondack

No , when I used them all the time I used pro pik fingertones which I don't have anymore.
With the Alaska brass picks I don't get the clacking sound, but there can still be the rasping noise which I find can be eliminated on the third string and much reduced on the other strings by plucking the string forcefully and quickly not stroking it before plucking that's what causes the rasping sound , and trying to pluck with the tip not the side.With the Alaska brass picks I can also get under the string and pull up.
I get on a lot better with the plastic Alaskas so that's what I use now.

Ok, thanks anyway. I'll keep pluggin' along with them. I think once I seal the deal with these I'll be really happy with my tone.

[cyclistbrian]

I performed for years on bluegrass banjo with occasional fingerstyle guitar. I slightly rotate my finger picks to the left. I use a short thumb pick. Picks matter. Funny..I'm not overly fussy about flat picks. I like extra heavy celluloid just fine. When it comes to finger and thumb picks..whole different story. You want substantial picks..not something thin and flimsy. My minimum finger picks are pro picks. I use a golden gate thumb pick. They're not expensive but they are hefty. You want to contact the strings perpendicular and you want a lot of mass. I never got the hang of arching my wrist and on guitar I want to palm mute. On banjo I float my palm and plant two fingers. That's why I rotate the picks a bit...for good attack.

[Glennwillow]

I have heard good sound from the Alaska fingerpicks. I have tried metal fingerpicks and gave up on them immediately as sounding bad and making way too much noise. Only plastic fingerpicks ever worked for me.

I use my bare fingernails these days with a Fred Kelly Slick Pick for a thumbpick.

- Glenn

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I have heard good sound from the Alaska fingerpicks. I have tried metal fingerpicks and gave up on them immediately as sounding bad and making way too much noise. Only plastic fingerpicks ever worked for me.

I use my bare fingernails these days with a Fred Kelly Slick Pick for a thumbpick.

- Glenn

I bought a bunch of plastic finger picks from Amazon yesterday. I'll see if I can make a good fit with them. I need something to get a better tone because I'm just not happy with bare fingers for many tunes.

[Robin, Wales]

Barry, I use Dunlop large white plastic fingerpicks on dobro. They are the loudest but most clumsy ones I have tried. Much louder on dobro than metal picks. But really difficult to get a good fit, and quite a loss of touch compared to metal picks. But, on stage single mic'd playing in a bluegrass band I needed all the power I could get!

I find plastic fingerpicks too "fat" for acoustic guitar (dobro has much wider string spacing).

I was playing my D-18 tonight with a Fred Kelly Slick Pick delrin and two ProPik 2 nickel fingerpicks. I really like the sound, and the "click" was far enough in the background not to dominate. I find that subtle changes in attack angle certainly cleans up the tone.

[TBman]

I was looking for examples of using finger picks on facebook and one player had clear Dunlops that almost fully covered the tips of his fingers. He puts the plastic ones on at about 2:08



So I ordered some. The ones I have and the ones I ordered from Amazon are a little on the short side for my fat digits.

I tried using the metal again tonite, down on the lower side of the sound hole and got pretty decent tone without a lot of clicking.

It's going to take a few weeks. It almost feels like learning to play finger style all over again.

It's like running with sneakers on that are 3 sizes too big

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by TBman

It's going to take a few weeks. It almost feels like learning to play finger style all over again.

It's like running with sneakers on that are 3 sizes too big

I can still remember when I bought and wore my first set of finger picks. It felt like trying to play guitar wearing boxing gloves!

You are right Barry. It really won't take long to get comfortable and accurate with them. But you do have to have a certain level of perseverance and a personality that can cope with "delayed satisfaction". It sure does feel like a backward step first off!!!