Picking At It

[billroper]

Ok, this seems counterintuitive. I'm playing around with picks of various gauges. It seems like it's easier to play softly (that is, with less volume) with a heavier gauge pick than it is with a lighter gauge pick.

Hmm.

Comments

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I haven't found that, but my skin is so dry that even textured picks slied away, so I only use one if I need volume I can't get from my fingers & nails. So I can't exactly claim to have lots of experience!

[hsifyppah.livejournal.com]

My father-in-law has that problem too! He glues sandpaper to his picks, which works pretty well. (Just be careful it's only on the part you hold, or you'll sand right through your strings!)

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

I get textured picks, and Alaska picks. I think sandpaper would be painful pretty quickly, but I'll remember the idea anyway.

[hsifyppah.livejournal.com]

He uses a pretty fine sandpaper, so it's not as ouch as it sounds! But then he's an industrial electrician and he has calluses a foot wide, so perhaps it would disturb your fingers more than it does his...

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely! My eczema makes my skin thin and fragile, especially in places with dry air, like winter and hotels.

[robin-june.livejournal.com]

I have a Dava flatpick with a section in its middle that is both thinner and ridged. The idea was that if if you grip it down by the tip it's a thick heavy pick, but if you grip it back behind the thin part, it's flexible like a thin pick. I was thinking that if you need a flatpick, this one might be less slippery than the ones you mentioned trying.
http://elderly.com/accessories/items/PK80P.htm
http://elderly.com/images/accessories/PK/PK80P_close.jpg

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Thanks!