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Thumb, Thumb pick, or nails??
Submitted by lee_UK on Mon, 05/14/2007 - 17:41.
Just wondered if anyone uses a thumbpick? i don't have any nails or finger picks and just use the fleshy parts of my fingers to play, i did once grow my nails but couldn't get on with the feel of the strings.
I suppose most serious acoustic players use nails?
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The guy I used to play bass for had a set of acrylics (false nails) fitted to his right hand most weeks for finger picking (always tended to rip one off mid set, we got to recognise the grimace :x ). For strumming he used a .73 nylon.
For me, this one should be a decision arrived at via the best combinaion of 'what sounds right' vs 'what FEELS right'.
Saying that, I've never got the hang of playing 'bare-fingered' i.e. no nails, no picks, just finger-ends, but I really like the sound for some things.
I tend to use nails-only on a classical/nylon guitar and a thumb-pick and nails on a steel strung. It just 'feels' un-natural to play a nylon acoustic with a pick, although you can get some decent tones that way.
When considering thumb-picks, I've tried 'em all, but the only one I keep going back to is the 'Ernie Ball'. It has the right combination of flexibility for the odd strum and firmness for a natural-sounding pick. They tend not to last very long these days though, I think they make them out of different plastic to what they were in the 1980's when I first started using them.
Hope this helps
Depending on what type of music you play, you have to use what is right for you. The classical nylon guitar should be played with nails if you play classical, but if you don't you can use whatever you want. Most people use finger picks because they have to play for long hours on the metal strings. Their nails would never hold out! When it comes right down to it. You have to use what is right for you.
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