A way to make fingerpicks more comfortable

Bryan Daste · Post by **Bryan Daste** » 20 Apr 2010 12:47 pm

Larry: Yes, the tubing is very flexible and will bend with the metal after it has been heated and shrunk.

Michael: Gonna try the nose pad idea! Have you ever had problems with them falling off or moving out of place? I tried some Dr. Scholls Moleskin a while back, but it kept moving around on me.

Michael Holland · Post by **Michael Holland** » 21 Apr 2010 7:10 pm

Bryan,

They stay on really well. The pads do kind of disintegrate after a while with stress and sweat, but it's easy to peel the old ones off and put new ones on. I use 'em all the time.

Don Poland · Post by **Don Poland** » 18 Oct 2015 6:27 am

Michael Holland wrote:Bryan,

They stay on really well. The pads do kind of disintegrate after a while with stress and sweat, but it's easy to peel the old ones off and put new ones on. I use 'em all the time.

I know this is an old thread but it has come up in another post and had an idea. You could always put the pads on and then heat shrink them. You would get a little extra padding if you needed it.

Ron Sodos · Post by **Ron Sodos** » 23 Oct 2015 12:06 pm

I have been playing steel since 1979 and never found the picks to be uncomfortable after they get broken in. The only thing i need to do with new Nationals is smooth out the inside with a grinder end on my drill. The manufacturing procedure leaves some sharp edges. So I clean those by using a drill and a ball end grinder. After the inside of the picks are smoothed out. I never need anything else.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 23 Oct 2015 3:17 pm

Nice Bryan, but why did you let the tubing KOOL down, didn't you want to play HOT LICKS ?

drum roll please....

Henry Matthews · Post by **Henry Matthews** » 27 Oct 2015 12:28 pm

That's great idea Michael, will have to try that. My picks don't hurt my fingers at all but think that would be great for keeping them on securely. Can't do the heat shrink at all. I guess I pick with my picks close together and with heat shrink, they stick and grab each other.

Greg Johnson · Post by **Greg Johnson** » 27 Oct 2015 12:59 pm

I can coat enough picks for 5 lifetimes at a cost of 7.00 Got it at home Depot. works great no slipping and plenty comfortable. It is a rubber coating and comes in different colors..

Robert Rhea · Post by **Robert Rhea** » 31 Oct 2015 9:09 am

I tried the shrink tubing trick and found they weren't tacky enough, and they took up too much room in between my fingers. I also tried something similar to what Greg used.

They are very tacky and I've found I can were them a little farther out on the tips of my fingers and they won't slip. I did this on a pair of ProPiks by just using blue painter's tape to mask off the area I didn't want sprayed.

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 2 Nov 2015 8:58 am

A couple of weeks ago I decided to try some Newman type picks and I had trouble with the first finger coming loose. The others were ok (I wear three) and I'd had no trouble with the Dunlops I was using before. The JFs have a narrow band and I tried heatshrink and glue (not both at once

) and in the end I decided to keep it simple and see if I could just achieve a really good fit. Sure enough by spending sufficient time with my round-nosed pliers the problem is solved. Whether this is a good general principle or whether I just got lucky I don't know

Bryan Staddon · Post by **Bryan Staddon** » 14 Nov 2015 9:55 am

Thanks Bryan! This worked great,I Even work in a hardware store that sells that exact product,picked some up at $2.99 and my fingers are way comfy. Also bonus points for spelling your name with a y, Thanks again.

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 14 Nov 2015 3:21 pm

Real men just put up with the pain of naked fingerpicks!

Smart real men throw Dunlop picks away and switch to ProPik's or National NP-2's.

Ron Sodos · Post by **Ron Sodos** » 14 Nov 2015 4:23 pm

You got it John. All this talk about making fingerpicks more comfortable makes me laugh.

Willis Vanderberg · Post by **Willis Vanderberg** » 5 Nov 2016 12:36 pm

Glad you can laugh about it Ron. To some pickers it isn't funny at all. We are not all blessed with the perfect finger.

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 5 Nov 2016 2:23 pm

At the risk of mentioning something that has been mentioned in some other thread somewhere else at some other time...........

I was at a music store the other day (Sam Ash) and just happened to see some plastic finger picks. I picked up a package of 5 (don't remember the price, but not real expensive).

They are the "large" size. I don't have real big fingers, but they seem kind of tight. Also, I don't know how you'd adjust the curvature of the ends to get closer to the end of your fingers.

But if you want to give them a try:
D'Addario Planet Waves
Classic celluloid picks
4CSH6-5

Derrick Unger · Post by **Derrick Unger** » 5 Nov 2016 6:36 pm

You Can heat up plastic finger picks in a microwave and bend them however you want then quickly drop them in a glass of cold water to lock them in place

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 6 Nov 2016 6:18 am

Way back in 2010 David Mason wrote:I think I've tried all these variants, but because of the bulk consideration I find I'm best off with the traditional "lick yer fingers and use naked picks" routine. If you get super finicky about shaping the bands, using two pairs of pliers, preferably one of them roundnose jeweler's pliers, the metal bands can fit & stick great. I think it's most useful to have one set of picks to play with, and (at least) one other set you're working on (watching TV, in bed, etc.) When the other set becomes most comfortable, work on the first set.... spending practice time dicking with picks can lead to an acute shortage of practice time.

I wasn't even playing steel then, but for me it's still true.

One thing occurs to me though - if you have the kind of hand shape that Jeff Newman taught, with the fingers doubling back on themselves, then the act of picking is pushing the pick on to the finger. Maybe if you play with the fingers more upright then picking will tend to dislodge the pick sideways, and maybe then you need some friction material in there. It's a while since I needed to lick my fingers - it sounds gross, but maybe by now the picks are dirty enough inside to stick on their own!

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 6 Nov 2016 8:01 am

Derrick: I'm probably missing something, but if you heat them up to where they're pliable, then slide them over your fingers to form them, won't you burn your fingers?

Derrick Unger · Post by **Derrick Unger** » 7 Nov 2016 8:33 pm

I'd be lying if I said its NOT possible to burn yourself..try like 10 seconds..if not pliable another 10.. AND BE CAREFUL..putting them into cold water does lock them but the procedure can be done again and again

J R Rose · Post by **J R Rose** » 8 Nov 2016 6:53 pm

Just now ran across this post. What a great ideal. Back in the day I never had a lot of problem keeping them on but finger tips would get to hurting and I just thought you just got tough and endured it. Like someone said it was gross to lick but that is what I did except I put the whole end of thumb and fingers in my mouth. But picks stayed on most of the time. I later found a spray on called Sticky Picks and it worked but you lost as much as you got on your fingers plus it was a little messy. Thanks Bryan for your post. A very good tip to share here on the forum. J.R. Rose

Tim Brady · Post by **Tim Brady** » 10 Nov 2016 7:58 pm

How about dipping them in that liquid plastic stuff?

Pete Woronowski · Post by **Pete Woronowski** » 10 Nov 2016 9:28 pm

Well these tips are sure worth trying, Thanks for sharing!

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 11 Nov 2016 10:21 am

It takes me quite a while to fit a set of picks. When I first started to messing with steel I was given 2 or 3 sets of picks by other steelers. I have a set of JB picks that look like hexagons where they were just bent and the diamond holes acted as hinges. They want to catch each other on your fingers. I Use this way 1. Smooth the edges of the picks with needle flies and emery cloth. 2. Take a steel rod smaller than my fingers and clamp in a vice. 3. With a small hammer very smoothly keep rolling and shaping the pick till it fits a finger in a smooth oval roll. 4. Do a final tweek fitting them exactly comfortable to your finger. Now to using one of these coating processes may make it better.

I also us a small piece of Anti Slip
Stair Tape in my thumb pick. Be sure to lightly rub it with a piece of metal to remove the little dagger sharp points. Have not had a problem with a thumb pick since doing this.

The Steel Guitar Forum

A way to make fingerpicks more comfortable

picks

I use this now..

Picks

plastic finger picks

ouch

A Way to make finger picks more comfortable