Pick guard help & E string

[Mark Normand]

I just traded up from a Rigel wide neck to a standard width radiused Weber Fern, on a deal I just couldn't pass up. Maybe the Fern it serious overkill for me, but I get to play/own/enjoy a nice mando in the meantime.

The Fern doesn't have a pickguard, and I seem to have trouble getting the E string plucked. I mostly lightly plant my pinky (now on the body), and since the E strings are right at the edge of the fretboard, for some reason I can't get clean clear notes. (like I could on the Rigel).

Other than practice, anybody have any comments/experiences on this that might help? I'm not ready just yet to add a pickguard, but I will later if necessary.
Thx a bunch!
Mark http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

[twaaang]

Have you considered not planting your finger at all? My flatpicking experience on guitar started with an anchored pinkie which was a holdover from (how shall I phrase this?) banjo picking. When I moved to mandolin a couple years ago I experimented with the non-finger-plant approach and found that I was able to stay much more relaxed as a result, and didn't have as much trouble staying oriented to the strings as I anticipated. In hindsight I don't recall how much this change had to do with the Rigel A-Natural not having a pickguard to begin with, but in any case I've meanwhile added a second mando with both a pickguard and lower action, and been quite happy to let my hand "float" still. Since I'm not touching the top of the instrument, I no longer subconsciously bear down on it, which has relaxation benefits all the way back to the shoulder-blades. Plus I'm not damping the sound. Highly recommended, works for me! -- PDW

[ira]

hey twaang , i often experience the same issue as mnormand switching from pickguard to none on my most recent mando. not in the sense of the e-string, but in leaning on the bridge. i have less flexibility and when playing long, aggressively, and alot of tremolo, i have even tended to pop strings. it has adversely altered my picking.

my question- how do you hold your hand in order to keep your hand floating? closed hand, open hand? could you post a pic?

thanks,

ira

[twaaang]

Ira, I had to go home and take a look. Actually "float" was an unfortunate word choice, since I do have some contact behind the bridge with the fleshy part of my hand (opposite the thumb), but still I believe with less downward force than in the finger-anchored days, and with much less tendency to cramp up. The finger position is nothing revolutionary, just a loose curl so that if I turn my hand over I'm looking at five fingernails in a row. Pictures, if I had them, would be just like in Roland White's and Jack Tottle's books . . . Roland, by the way, specifically states not to anchor the fingers.

I'm relatively new here, so I don't know whether there has already been a thread on this specific topic. Bottom line has to be what works for the individual, though. For bluegrass banjo the preponderance of received wisdom dictates that you anchor both the pinkie and ring finger to the head, but I've never been able to operate my third finger independently of the ring finger and have never tried for more than five minutes at a time (felt like I might as well try to play with my earlobe). Probably why I'm not richandfamous on the banjo either! -- PDW

[GBG]

You might think about getting an arm rest (from 1st Quality Music) to elevate your forearm and hand somewhat. BTW there is nothing wrong with the right hand technique that you've described.

[jamesrenz]

Even lightly planting the pinky, especially without a pickguard, may #cause tension in the right hand and may make the wrist/hand twist a little when striking the high E. #Experiment with not planting, rather drawing the little finger in before you actually start playing, and see if that relaxes the hand. #(It may actually help both hands relax more.) #Then, let your wrist lightly brush the back of the bridge as a reference point and try picking some notes evenly, slowly at first, DUDU, on the high E and then the other strings. #What you may lose, briefly, is a feeling of accuracy, but that should return once you are comfortable with the new position.

Good luck.