Thumb picks

lincolnblue · April 2023

I have never really used thumb picks. I got one years and years ago which I have somewhere but the pick bit is really long and it feels cumbersome. I want to try and learn travis picking and so want to get one.
Any recommendations for what to go for?

thomasross20 · April 2023

Dunlop medium

andysc · April 2023

I'd certainly try the D'Addario National Celluloids. After trying a few that's what I settled on. I tried some tortoiseshell style ones which were just too inflexible for me. I tried the Nationals in large and medium. To be honest the mediums were a slightly better fit, more importantly seemed to have a smaller pick area so more similar to the sort of picks I use on electric guitars, and less adaptation time from playing acoustic without a pick at all.

I'd say try and find some that are similar to normal picks that you like, if you use a pick at all.

lincolnblue · April 2023

andysc said:

I'd certainly try the D'Addario National Celluloids. After trying a few that's what I settled on. I tried some tortoiseshell style ones which were just too inflexible for me. I tried the Nationals in large and medium. To be honest the mediums were a slightly better fit, more importantly seemed to have a smaller pick area so more similar to the sort of picks I use on electric guitars, and less adaptation time from playing acoustic without a pick at all.

I'd say try and find some that are similar to normal picks that you like, if you use a pick at all.

That's helpful - thanks. The one I have is so rigid I think that's one reason I don't get on with it.

DrHungry · April 2023

I use Dunlop Ultex modded with a pair of nail scissors and some sandpaper to shorten and shape the pick to my liking.

Mellish · April 2023

@lincolnblue Fred Kelly Speedpicks.

Eagle Music has them and, from what you say, they'll suit you.

Jimbro66 · April 2023

When I perform solo I include a good helping of Travis/Atkins/Reed numbers. Whenever anyone expresses an interest in learning the style I recommend Fred Kelly Speedpicks if they have used thumbpicks before but if they've only ever used a flat pick I recommend trying Fred Kelly Bumblebees and Herco flat thumbpicks. Both are a hybrid type that feel more familiar to newbie thumbpickers.

All thumbpicks need trimming to size to suit the player's preferences. Also remember to moisten your thumb slightly before fitting which stops them turning as you play.

bertie · April 2023

Mellish said:

@lincolnblue Fred Kelly Speedpicks.

Eagle Music has them and, from what you say, they'll suit you.

don't believe him................ he's on commission

my personal fave's are/were Ernie Ball torts, with the blade filed to a round point (as opposed to the "D" shape) popped in boiling water to get the "custom" fit.

I keep meaning to try the Dunlop ultex

Mellish · April 2023

^ well *you* believed me and bought some.....

bertie · April 2023

Mellish said:

^ well *you* believed me and bought some.....

that may well be on my grave stone...................

gordiji · April 2023

Jimbro66 said:

All thumbpicks need trimming to size to suit the player's preferences. Also remember to moisten your thumb slightly before fitting which stops them turning as you play.

Good point, i got some d'addario L's a few months ago being in the same boat as the lincolnblue. They fit my thumb but the wraparound bit stuck out and caught the low E string especially. I filed it flush with my thumb and it works fine now.

I could already hybrid pick and it's fairly easy to adapt to now using my first finger for picking rather than holding the plectrum but because it's much shorter than my 2nd finger it's harder to adjust my hand for even picking. By comparison my 2nd & 3rd fingers are almost the same length so it makes more sense for me to continue hybid picking.

thermionic · April 2023

There’s a trick where you submerge them in just-boiled water for maybe 30 seconds then stick them on your thumb and it moulds itself to your thumb. I tried it on a Dunlop and it improved the fit (although I still don’t really get on with them).

Soupman · April 2023

+1 for Fred Kelly speedpicks.
I've tried all makes over the years but these are the best for me. Don't be fooled by the flimsy looking tongue, they're sound.

BahHumbug · April 2023

+1 for Fred Kelly speedpicks. Or John Pearse. Anything else feels like having a spade strapped to your thumb (ducks and runs for cover).

shufflebeat · April 2023

I’m not a thumb pick kinda guy but the Fred Kelly bumble bee is the nearest thing I’ve found to useable:

https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/images/fred-kelly-bumble-bee-jazz-lefthanded-extra-heavy-thumb-pick-p5229-5002_medium.jpg

lincolnblue · April 2023

@bertie Just ordered some from Eagle Music

bertie · April 2023

thermionic said:

There’s a trick where you submerge them in just-boiled water

wish I'd said that

Mellish · April 2023

@lincolnblue ; there's yellow

(the most flexible), Orange (kinda one-does-all), white (non-flex), and green which to me is more or less like white.

To me a thumbpick always seems bulky and gets in the way but these for some reason don't.

There may be other colours, that I don't know.

skippy76 · April 2023

DrHungry said:

I use Dunlop Ultex modded with a pair of nail scissors and some sandpaper to shorten and shape the pick to my liking.

This is good advice, I find most way too long, so need to mod them.

DavidR · April 2023

Only other thing wot hasn't been said yet is that, like plectrums, thumbpicks vary on hardness and thickness of plastic and this alters the tone - mainly softness/loudness - off the string.

I've tried lots over the years, mainly just by trial and error, and have settled on Jim Dunlop Red for soft and Golden Gate Pearloid for hard. But there are loads just on Amazon so there's big possibilities for individual preference. As has been said, they're all made of thermoplastics and so can be heat moulded. The harder ones definitely need this or they can be quite tight, even when you choose appropriate size to begin with.

Golden Gate GP-6-4PK Pearloid Thumb Picks 4-Piece Set, Large : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive
Jim Dunlop 9051R Thumbpicks : Amazon.co.uk: Musical Instruments & DJ

The two give appreciably different sound off the base strings of different acoustics and sometimes even individual pieces on the same instrument.

Soupman · April 2023

The type of plastic makes a difference to the sound as well. Even between Fred Kelly poly and delrin picks. The speed picks are delrin, sound better to me.

MSedg · April 2023

Fred Kelly bumblebees for me - have been through all the usual suspects recently. Speed picks are good but these are my favourite.

Mellish · April 2023

@lincolnblue ; let us know how you get on with the Fred Kelly Speedpicks.

Tannin · April 2023

5 Reasons I stopped using a thumbpick for fingerstyle guitar

Adam Rafferty isn't one of the You-tube teachers I watch regularly, but this popped up in my feed just now.

(PS: why don't I watch him regularly? Well, one reason is waffle. He does a 20-second intro, which is fair enough, then says "Let's get started" at 0:20. A full minute later he actually does get started. Grrrr.

Anyway, having (a) fast-forwarded through the intro waffle and (b) posted this link 'coz I thought it might be of interest, I'll sit back and watch it.

(I'm a bare-thumb player who has never got the hang of thumbpicks, so with any luck the video will provide me with some better excuses for that.)

Tannin · April 2023

^ Hmmmm .... pretty sensible reasons. Worth watching.

lincolnblue · April 2023

Tannin said:

5 Reasons I stopped using a thumbpick for fingerstyle guitar

Adam Rafferty isn't one of the You-tube teachers I watch regularly, but this popped up in my feed just now.

(PS: why don't I watch him regularly? Well, one reason is waffle. He does a 20-second intro, which is fair enough, then says "Let's get started" at 0:20. A full minute later he actually does get started. Grrrr.

Anyway, having (a) fast-forwarded through the intro waffle and (b) posted this link 'coz I thought it might be of interest, I'll sit back and watch it.

(I'm a bare-thumb player who has never got the hang of thumbpicks, so with any luck the video will provide me with some better excuses for that.)

Thanks. I’ll give that a watch

Soupman · April 2023

@Tannin - he's never used Fred Kelly speedpicks!

Yes, a couple of valid points, but agreed - a bit verbose.

Shadow · April 2023

I play with and without, but if I need to palm-mute I can't get any volume with my bare thumb.

Also, 'if you have to play songs for two hours not just just for a bunch of guitarists but their wives and girlfriends too'. Blimey...

Mellish · April 2023

I definitely get on much better with a thumbpick - if it's the right one. I've tried without but the pick gives me a solid connection that I just don't get bare thumb, and that solid connection means I can dig in if I need to. YMMV

bertie · April 2023

Mellish said:

I definitely get on much better with a thumbpick - if it's the right one. I've tried without but the pick gives me a solid connection that I just don't get bare thumb, and that solid connection means I can dig in if I need to. YMMV

totally agree

#1 Nail
#2 Thumbpick
#3 there is no #3

flesh just doesnt work for me and sound "dead"

Tannin · April 2023

bertie said:
flesh just doesnt work for me and sound "dead"

With the thumb, ditto. Well, so far as sound goes. I get a sound similar to the sound the chap in the video I posted gets starting at 2:51

I tend to pull and slap it more, and often heel-mute for a bass sound as much percussive as it is melodic. (I am inspired by that classic thum-thum upright bass sound you hear in jazz and swing.) I'n not sure that this is the style and sound I would have chosen if you had sat me down years ago blindfold in front of a record player and told me to pick a style I like the most to learn, but I like it and I do it better than I do most other styles, so I do more of it, so I get better at it, so I like it even more ... and so on. Success is its own straightjacket. If I ever get bored with it, I'll look again at thuimbpicks. But I won't.

Oh, and you can get substantial variations in bare-flesh thumb tone by (1) playing closer to the bridge (2) arching your wrist to get a different angle on the string and pluck with your thumb-tip rather than the side of it, and (3) using a finger instead of your thumb for certain notes. Oh, and by pulling up on the string like a bass player, but I sort-of mentioned that already.

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