Playing lap steel without picks

[Rich Arnold]

There aren't any rules for music. I'd feel bare-ass naked without picks.
People scoffed at me when, as a beginner, I was using 3 finger picks instead of 2. But at the music store plastic finger picks were on sale 3 for a dollar. So I naturally bought 3. Then I reasoned...why not wear all 3?
Unlike the violin, lap steel technique is not yet standardized. It may never be. That makes things interesting.

[Miles Lang]

I’ve played with both, but I prefer he warmer sound of bare fingertips. My main steel for a several years was a Weissenborn type and that instrument benefitted from the more organic sound. It liked dead strings, too

My electric steel genre is Hawaiian/tiki, so the bare fingertip sound works well in that scenario, too. It tames the edge and attack of the echo a bit.

I usually keep a thumb pick tucked in the headstock just in case, especially if it one of this nights w a lot of aggressive picking, like a blue grass jam.

I have recently been gifted a marvelous Rayco dobro, and have been encouraged to attend some bluegrass/old-time type jams. That may require pick use, so I don’t rip my fingerprints off. It’s going to take some practice.