Yes sir indeed! I am very grateful that we both are around. I tried the triangle plectrums in the 70s. They were under the Fender brand. I decided decades ago that I do not care for picks.I have played fingerstyle ever since. So not much bluegrass. I have been making my doctor's car payment since September, but this should be finished in a few weeks. Thanks for not complaining that I speak American, as I have been told. You are a favourite of mine.
That's funny, you don't write American! I tried the Fender triangles, which are celluloid I believe. They wear and get squeaky. Hope that whatever ails you will soon be gone!
Happy new year! This year is gonna be difficult as Y/T is persecuting me. They stopped me using my adblocker, so I disabled it. Now they refuse to allow me access unless I remove an adblocker that I don't have!
@@SillyMoustache oh dear. UA-cam is an utter and abject disaster. There is absolutely no care for its user base or genuine creators. They only favor cheap, easy, exploitative content that babies watch in millions of numbers because it earns ad revenue. The core service itself just keeps getting worse and worse. It is becoming basically impossible to build and maintain na audience in an organic way. Well. That's business. I hope all other things in your life are going well and you are enjoying your music. Be well! Cheers, matey.
Thanks. 50 years ago I played with a nylon pick around 1 mm. I started playing finger style in the memory care units because a pick seemed to hurt certain hearing aids. I tried picks again with a bluechip 1.22, then Toneslab 1.3, a Dunlop Prime tone, and a Black Diamond thumb pick. I still play largely finger style, but use some different picks for mandolin and banjo. I wear a strap when I play/sing at Memory Care both sitting and standing as I've had residents come up from behind and fret while playing. I like a guitar body 000/OM or Slope shoulder dreadnought. I have tried a Jumbo and Super D, and they have their uses. Cold here (-36F before windchill) this morning. -40 is the same for C and F. Not the coldest I've been in. Guitars have humidifiers at those temperatures. Still more comfortable playing finger style acoustically while singing. It's sometimes hard to sing over a guitar and a pick. Thanks Andy
Just a thought on picks,( done here in NZ , just ole Don here again) I pretty much used 'em all,th/ picks to, but Iv'e found the harder the pick the better sound I'm getting, the softer the pick, let's say Nylon, the softer the sound, that can be good for rhythm- backing up another guitarist, for instance ( it should never be a competition when you play together with someone, let them take the lead an' you support the sound of you both) And a good compromise can be a harder nylon pick,+ your ready if it calls for you to do something, regards Don 😊😊
@SillyMoustache both Toneslab and Bluechhip are beveled. Toneslab has its own polishing block. I keep recording myself to check what I sound like. And , of course, different guitars respond differently. Have a great day!
@@texhaines9957 True different guitar's do sound different But, in my opinion only slightly, a S/T acoustic always better than than a L/T but if Everything is set up right not a big difference, + similar Iv'e found with picks. What I do is shape them ( hard not nylon ) Slightly on my grindstone, smooth the edges just a little. Kind regards Don from NZ
Happy new year, Andrew. I hope all is well and you are staying warm. I am near Kansas City and it is 5° Fahrenheit, or -15 Celsius. I have a dinner event this bitterly cold evening to celebrate my sister's 70th birthday. Oh boy!
It isn't as extreme as it might be here in southern England but we have had some flooding. I picked up a virus a few days ago, so haven't been out of the house for a while. I dislike this time of year, but grateful to still be around.
I really like Jim Dunlap Prime Tones. Recommended by Baron Collins-Hill of MandoLessons as an affordable alternative to Blue Chip. I've tried Large Triangle and the traditional Teardrop shape. Recently a friend accidentally ordered small triangle 1.3 and didn't like them. I tried them and like them a lot. Mandolin and flat pickers seem to prefer really heavy 1.5 mm picks. I like the tone of 1.0 better. I think it really comes down to your physical hand and fingers too what feels comfortable. All of the advice for how you should hold a pick is really just a starting off point. I think through practice you find what works best for your body. I agree with everything you say here make sure the guitar is anchored and you're not trying to hold the neck in place. Someone else commented about standing up. I find it difficult to get my guitar in a great position standing. Like everything else it just takes practice.
Good video Andy. I bought a Blue Chip TAD 50 about two years ago. It is the only pick I've used since. Still like new. I might try a TAD 40 for OM and below sometime but the TAD 50 works fine.
Yup, I also have a TAD 60 and changing between them is like adjusting the EQ. TAD 40s for guitars with lights and Tad 50s with mediums, and TAD 60 just to hear a little more bass.
Blue Chip CT50 (I believe) are the best. Never used anything different since I bought the first one. Last year I gave that one away to a friend and couldn’t wait to order a new one.
As always great sensible advice. Funny enough I bought a selection of Gibson "wedge" picks a little while back to give them a try but a bout of pneumonia rather curtailed my plans to try them. I found smaller picks not so easy to hold, Now I'm feeling better I'll be using them and get a few of the Dunlop Tortex ones you suggest. Thank you
I think that Gibson picks are a basic thin plastic and will wear and crack. Large triangle picks need less "grip" and can be simply "held." I'm recovering from a chest infection too. This time of year is dangerous for old guys like me!
As always, I love the way you present your videos. Coming from classical guitar and thus pure fingerpicking, playing with a pick is still the most challenging style of playing for me. However, your instruction on how to hold a pick, which seems to be the most popular amongst guitar teachers, really doesn't work for me. If I hold it with the side of the index finger and ner the knuckle, that's when I need a grip of death to hold on to it when playing. As a result, that's also when my right hand gets tired and cramps really quickly. I need to use at least a bit of the fleshy part of the distal phalanx (?) of my index finger. Not really the finger tip, but turned about 45 degrees towrds the thumb. So I also prefer rather big triangluar picks or the ones with a pronounced indentation in the middle.
Yes sir indeed! I am very grateful that we both are around.
I tried the triangle plectrums in the 70s. They were under the Fender brand. I decided decades ago that I do not care for picks.I have played fingerstyle ever since. So not much bluegrass.
I have been making my doctor's car payment since September, but this should be finished in a few weeks.
Thanks for not complaining that I speak American, as I have been told. You are a favourite of mine.
That's funny, you don't write American! I tried the Fender triangles, which are celluloid I believe. They wear and get squeaky. Hope that whatever ails you will soon be gone!
Howdy! Hope your year is off to a great start. Thanks for sharing your advice and experience with us all. Have a wonderful 2024. Cheers, matey!
Happy new year! This year is gonna be difficult as Y/T is persecuting me. They stopped me using my adblocker, so I disabled it. Now they refuse to allow me access unless I remove an adblocker that I don't have!
@@SillyMoustache oh dear. UA-cam is an utter and abject disaster. There is absolutely no care for its user base or genuine creators. They only favor cheap, easy, exploitative content that babies watch in millions of numbers because it earns ad revenue. The core service itself just keeps getting worse and worse. It is becoming basically impossible to build and maintain na audience in an organic way. Well. That's business. I hope all other things in your life are going well and you are enjoying your music. Be well! Cheers, matey.
Thanks Andy. Happy New Year. Be safe and well.
Happy new year!
Thankuuyy grandpaaa 😘
Ok son.
Thanks. 50 years ago I played with a nylon pick around 1 mm. I started playing finger style in the memory care units because a pick seemed to hurt certain hearing aids. I tried picks again with a bluechip 1.22, then Toneslab 1.3, a Dunlop Prime tone, and a Black Diamond thumb pick. I still play largely finger style, but use some different picks for mandolin and banjo. I wear a strap when I play/sing at Memory Care both sitting and standing as I've had residents come up from behind and fret while playing. I like a guitar body 000/OM or Slope shoulder dreadnought. I have tried a Jumbo and Super D, and they have their uses. Cold here (-36F before windchill) this morning. -40 is the same for C and F. Not the coldest I've been in. Guitars have humidifiers at those temperatures. Still more comfortable playing finger style acoustically while singing. It's sometimes hard to sing over a guitar and a pick. Thanks Andy
Just a thought on picks,( done here in NZ , just ole Don here again) I pretty much used 'em all,th/ picks to, but Iv'e found the harder the pick the better sound I'm getting, the softer the pick, let's say Nylon, the softer the sound, that can be good for rhythm- backing up another guitarist, for instance ( it should never be a competition when you play together with someone, let them take the lead an' you support the sound of you both) And a good compromise can be a harder nylon pick,+ your ready if it calls for you to do something, regards Don 😊😊
Yup, makes sense to me, but most picks sound better when bevelled and polished. See : ua-cam.com/video/OM4rnxziq_c/v-deo.html
@SillyMoustache both Toneslab and Bluechhip are beveled. Toneslab has its own polishing block. I keep recording myself to check what I sound like. And , of course, different guitars respond differently. Have a great day!
@@texhaines9957 True different guitar's do sound different But, in my opinion only slightly, a S/T acoustic always better than than a L/T but if Everything is set up right not a big difference, + similar Iv'e found with picks. What I do is shape them ( hard not nylon ) Slightly on my grindstone, smooth the edges just a little. Kind regards Don from NZ
Happy new year, Andrew. I hope all is well and you are staying warm.
I am near Kansas City and it is 5° Fahrenheit, or -15 Celsius. I have a dinner event this bitterly cold evening to celebrate my sister's 70th birthday. Oh boy!
It isn't as extreme as it might be here in southern England but we have had some flooding. I picked up a virus a few days ago, so haven't been out of the house for a while. I dislike this time of year, but grateful to still be around.
Great advice. I like the smaller Eastman guitar
They do them remarkably well.
I really like Jim Dunlap Prime Tones. Recommended by Baron Collins-Hill of MandoLessons as an affordable alternative to Blue Chip. I've tried Large Triangle and the traditional Teardrop shape.
Recently a friend accidentally ordered small triangle 1.3 and didn't like them. I tried them and like them a lot.
Mandolin and flat pickers seem to prefer really heavy 1.5 mm picks.
I like the tone of 1.0 better.
I think it really comes down to your physical hand and fingers too what feels comfortable.
All of the advice for how you should hold a pick is really just a starting off point. I think through practice you find what works best for your body.
I agree with everything you say here make sure the guitar is anchored and you're not trying to hold the neck in place.
Someone else commented about standing up. I find it difficult to get my guitar in a great position standing. Like everything else it just takes practice.
Well they ARE an alternative (as is everything else, but they don't have the qualities that you get with the vespal material.
Good video Andy. I bought a Blue Chip TAD 50 about two years ago. It is the only pick I've used since. Still like new. I might try a TAD 40 for OM and below sometime but the TAD 50 works fine.
Yup, I also have a TAD 60 and changing between them is like adjusting the EQ. TAD 40s for guitars with lights and Tad 50s with mediums, and TAD 60 just to hear a little more bass.
Blue Chip CT50 (I believe) are the best. Never used anything different since I bought the first one. Last year I gave that one away to a friend and couldn’t wait to order a new one.
@@acousticsong-guitarco964 Whichever works for you, good to have the choice.
As always great sensible advice. Funny enough I bought a selection of Gibson "wedge" picks a little while back to give them a try but a bout of pneumonia rather curtailed my plans to try them. I found smaller picks not so easy to hold, Now I'm feeling better I'll be using them and get a few of the Dunlop Tortex ones you suggest. Thank you
Hi Tex, Slope shoulder dread ? You mean a 12 fret original dread like mine?
I think that Gibson picks are a basic thin plastic and will wear and crack. Large triangle picks need less "grip" and can be simply "held." I'm recovering from a chest infection too. This time of year is dangerous for old guys like me!
@@SillyMoustache I think that reply ended up in the wrong place
@@barrymead8414 Yes, I try very hard to respond to all, but it is rather difficult to do so when YT is restricting my access.
As always, I love the way you present your videos. Coming from classical guitar and thus pure fingerpicking, playing with a pick is still the most challenging style of playing for me. However, your instruction on how to hold a pick, which seems to be the most popular amongst guitar teachers, really doesn't work for me. If I hold it with the side of the index finger and ner the knuckle, that's when I need a grip of death to hold on to it when playing. As a result, that's also when my right hand gets tired and cramps really quickly. I need to use at least a bit of the fleshy part of the distal phalanx (?) of my index finger. Not really the finger tip, but turned about 45 degrees towrds the thumb. So I also prefer rather big triangluar picks or the ones with a pronounced indentation in the middle.
Ironically the "grip of death" is the worst thing you can do - as I might have mentioned - you "hold" it rather than grip it. Have another go!
would that I had a 'trim toned up' tummy 😎
I thought that would draw a comment or two!
You sound like Steve Judd!
Who is Steve Judd?
@@SillyMoustache- he's an astrologer from the UK on UA-cam. 😃
Can you (still) play standing-up?
I do believe so, but I haven't performed since last September, apart from at my club where we all sit now.
I wonder if you have any experience with casein picks
Yes. I don't care for them as them bend under hand warmth and wear quite easily.