Budget finger picker

bertie · January 2023

Ive never even measured (or had cause to) the spacing at the bridge............... well that's given me something to do after Ive done lunch

spev11 · January 2023

Choivert said:

Where abouts are you based Spec? Perhaps a fellow member has a suitable guitar you can try? If in the northwest I have a resonator with a wide string spacing and also a classical with a very (almost 50mm) nut.

Swansea, sadly a wasteland as far as music shops go (that stock a range anyway)
thank you for the kind offer though

bertie · January 2023

something's come to mind, @spev11 ;; do you have/use nails or flesh of yer fingers ? Im thinking even a few mm of nail will help get a more "direct hit" especially if you've bratwurst youre dealing with

spev11 · January 2023

Flesh only (that sounds wrong) I’d grow em a bit but working on bikes just rips em apart

Choivert · January 2023

If you wanted to emulate nails but don't have the patience. You could try finger picks, I love the tone and volume but absolutely cannot stand to play with them (just my opinion).

I know this is the really boring answer, but it is likely practise practise practise. (I should really listen to my own advice!).

spev11 · January 2023

I'm on the practice

did 30 minutes before work this morning, will do another 20/30 tonight (along with my other practice stuff). Tried fingerpicks but so far i've not been able to use them easily. (they are still here somewhere unless i've launched em out in frustration)

bertie · January 2023

spev11 said:

. Tried fingerpicks but so far i've not been able to use them easily.

nor me - tried off and on for donkeys ( over 30) years to use em - just dont feel right, they're not "organically connected" and fuck up my picking dynamics - the closest things were those incredibly uncomfortable "alaska" things, but you need a few mm of nail to be able to use em, and that's enough for me to actually use .

Soupman · January 2023

@spev11 try Alaska picks. I use them when a nail snaps. I've tried most types but these are the most natural I've found. Cost much less than a new set of strings.
For a thumb pick I use Fred Kelly speedpicks.

DavidR · January 2023

spev11 said:

I'm on the practice did 30 minutes before work this morning, will do another 20/30 tonight (along with my other practice stuff). Tried fingerpicks but so far i've not been able to use them easily. (they are still here somewhere unless i've launched em out in frustration)

Stick with the picks @spev11 ;! You can get some very different sounds. Not an easy technique to come to afresh, but worth it. Just takes a week or two. Make sure the picks are moulded correctly and positioned/angled on your fingers so that attack on the strings is good (parallel) and the picks are polished and smooth. Bend the picks about a lot to suit you. Everyone's hand, arm and sitting position is different. Play quieter. Move right hand a little towards head end to get softer tones.

Some goods threads on FB about fingerpicks. Big part is that plastic thumbpicks are thermoplastics and can be individually adjusted+++ with cautious use of hot water to heat, twist/mould, cool again and can be trimmed, shaped and smoothed to suit you. Lots of plastic thumbpicks on Amazon with varying hardness of plastics. Most used metal picks for fingers (usually but not always i and m) probably Dunlop nickel silver/steel .018. Remember too that blade of this type of finger pick fits below finger, so over the finger pulp. I've seen people, and even some adverts, suggesting they should be used like nails. This really does not work!

Jim Dunlop 33P.018 Nickel Silver Finger and Thumbpick Player Pack (Pack of 5) : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ
Golden Gate GP-6-4PK Pearloid Thumb Picks 4-Piece Set, Large : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive

Lots of weird and wonderful variations of type.

spev11 · January 2023

I’ve got the metal Dunlop ones here somewhere, I shall find them and have another go and see how I get one. My 15 to 30 mines every morning in work has yielded huge improvements already ( I’m still crap but it’s cleanly played crap now)

guitarjack66 · January 2023

Soupman said:

@spev11 try Alaska picks. I use them when a nail snaps. I've tried most types but these are the most natural I've found. Cost much less than a new set of strings.
For a thumb pick I use Fred Kelly speedpicks.

Those speedpick things look decent. I keep trying a Black Mountain? thumb pick but just cant quite get used to it myself.

Mellish · January 2023

@guitarjack66 ; FK Speedpicks come in yellow (most flexible), Orange, white, and green. Those are the ones I have though there may be others.

White is my favourite. It's quite rigid. But regardless of colour/degree of flex, they all feel much less bulky on the thumb than other thumbpicks, and I like em for that reason. Plus they don't break.

bertie · January 2023

@guitarjack66 ;;

dont listen to him...........................................................I reckon he's on commission

LOL

Image: /plugins/EmojiExtender/emoji/fb/smiley.png

Mellish · January 2023

^^^

guitarjack66 · January 2023

bertie said:

@guitarjack66 ;;

dont listen to him...........................................................I reckon he's Fred Kelly

Probably.

spev11 · January 2023

Quick update, after some investigation it would appear that nearly all the guitars in my price range with a wider nut all have the same bridge spacing so the difference at the picky end is almost no existent. So I bought a Cort AP550M parlour guitar (110 quid) to keep at the shop, practice makes it work anyway.
Ta for all the advice though, it pushed me to just getting on with it and doing rather than thinking

Mellish · January 2023

@spev11 : happy NGD mate.

spev11 · January 2023

cheers, its actually quite good for the price,and being cheap I wont worry about it too much, it'll be a good workhorse for practice

bertie · January 2023

I am very annoyed with you, was going to use it as an excuse to get up to Intersound..............

spev11 · January 2023

Ah sorry, i'll still go nest time i'm in Bristol

Pjon · January 2023

spev11 said:

Quick update, after some investigation it would appear that nearly all the guitars in my price range with a wider nut all have the same bridge spacing so the difference at the picky end is almost no existent. So I bought a Cort AP550M parlour guitar (110 quid) to keep at the shop, practice makes it work anyway.
Ta for all the advice though, it pushed me to just getting on with it and doing rather than thinking

I like my Cort a lot. And I like parlour guitars, so I'll have to pop in when I'm around and try your new guitar. The only problem is that I'm rarely in town during the week these days!

spev11 · January 2023

I’m there on Saturdays

spev11 · January 2023

Your always welcome

Tannin · January 2023

drofluf said:

spev11 said:

Hi Pjon, I’m good ( I think) I’ll go have a look at that now, wonder if I could just string it as a 6?

Doesn’t really work, you’ll either have all the strings offset to the bottom of the fretboard or the B & E gaps being weird. Probably easy to get used to but will make it harder when you pick up a “normally” spaced guitar.

It works just fine. I have done it many times, on at least three different instruments made in three different decades in three different continents. (Eston, Italy, 1970s, 50mm. Yamaha Japan, 1980s, 48mm. Cole Clark, Australia 2020s, 50mm.) Simply take the octave strings off and (ideally) replace the other six strings with something a little heavier. Swapping back to a six-string is a non issue except that you will find the neck feels very narrow.

Note that 48mm is *very* wide for a six string, though on the narrow side for a 12. (The 12-string standard is 50mm, though 48mm is common too.)

Most people will find 48mm a bit much for a six string. The go-to width for a fingerstyle player is 46mm. Happy medium: enough room to play intricate stuff, but still slim enough to be comfortable and to slip your thumb over now and then if desired. Most European makers offer 46mm nuts.

45mm is actually quite uncommon. Many people (including me!) are guilty of describing American imperial-measure 1.75" nuts as "45mm" for convenience but they are actually 44.5mm. And yes, that half millimetre really does make a difference. Swapping between my small-nut (44 and 44.1mm) guitars and my Guild (44.5mm) it is quite noticeable. And going to the baritone (48mm) is a delightfully roomy luxury.

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Budget finger picker

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