Pick click on extension

[jhbaylor]

Was just reading the thread about Sumi's Monroe Loar copy and there was some discussion of pick click on the fingerboard extension. This leads me to my question, is there ever a time/place/style/song, etc. that the pick "click" or noise is desirable on the extension?

Check out this link to CMT studio 330 session, go to the link and then click Watch it now and then choose "Corinthians 1:18"

http://www.cmt.com/music....e.jhtml (http://www.cmt.com/music/unplugged/performance/skaggs_ricky/1553495/performance.jhtml)

where Skaggs plays "Corithians 1:18" and he clicks away at his mandolin, I thought it was weird that Skaggs would be clicking away into the mic, but maybe he was doing it on purpose. Any thoughts?

John

[dirty harry]

To cut off the extension or not, that is the question? Why do it on an expensive Mandolin when many builders use a shorter fretboard. What is the mass opinion (usually wrong)on this?
Harry

[jhbaylor]

I am not asking whether or not you should cut off or not, but is there a time when it is desirable to hear the click and intentionally get the pick click like on this video of Skaggs.

[JeffD]

I think it is on purpose. I am not sure I care for it though.

[MandoBen]

I have heard people say they like that clicking sound sometimes. I can't say I love it, but it doesn't really bother me either, makes it sound kinda human. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Andrew Lewis]

I've been playing that song a lot lately, but my mando has no extension, so I don't get the click. Maybe it's just because I'm used to the recording (where it's very audible), but I kind of miss it when I play it. I think Ricky does it on purpose on this one (and others, too), and I think it occasionally adds something. It can get old fast, though.

[gnelson651]

I have a luthier friend tell me that one of the reasons for the extension was to add the pick click. I have an extension on my Eastman 805, I get pick click and it doesn't really bother me.

[f5loar]

You can bet your bottom dollar Picky Ricky did the clicky on purpose. Just check out the SallyJo and he doesn't do it at all. I see he was using his Skaggs DMM in those videos.

[Bradley]

After hearing that song so many times, if you remove te click it removes alot of the Flavor too...

[Jerry Byers]

I found it interesting that most of the time his pick hit an area just past the extension, but you still heard the clicking noise. Of course, the recording may be different from the video.

The clicking is definately intentional but I don't think it is the pick hitting the fretboard. In slow motion it looks more as though he is hitting the top with his fingernail. The clicks happen even when he isn't picking over the extension.

[plunkett5]

Why would anyone think that anything Ricky did on the mandolin was an accident?

[jhbaylor]

"Why would anyone think that anything Ricky did on the mandolin was an accident?"


That is a GREAT point. So he obviously intentionally doing the Ricky Clicky with the Picky, as Tom accurately put it.

[Jeff Wheelock]

I heard that the only reason the extension exists is that Lloyd Loar had one composition that called for a very high note.

[Jim Rowland]

Yeah,Neptune. I watched real close and couldn't see him digging in that far with the pick. By the way,who is the dude who pops up for the last few bars with a mando,and in another cut with the archtop guitar?
Jim

[mandopete]

I kinda like it. I like it when I hear it on Grisman recrodings as well. I think that the pick clicking sound is a lot les obnoxious that the sound of fingers sliding up and down wound strings, YMMV.

[cooper4205]

Yeah,Neptune. I watched real close and couldn't see him digging in that far with the pick. By the way,who is the dude who pops up for the last few bars with a mando,and in another cut with the archtop guitar?
Jim
Darren Vincent. One question I have is -- why do they need three guitar players?

[Patrick Gunning]

They have three guitarists because the other two besides Cody Kilby are there for harmony vocals only, and in bluegrass it's considered inappropriate to just stand there waiting to sing.

[Joe Dodson]

I kinda like it. I like it when I hear it on Grisman recrodings as well. I think that the pick clicking sound is a lot les obnoxious that the sound of fingers sliding up and down wound strings, YMMV.

Great tune, and great picking.

Grisman's contribution to "Grandfather's Clock" on Tone Poems is a great example of this. The clicking makes sense there, because it mimicks the mechanical sounds of a clock. I've always assumed DG was doing it intentionally. Here, the clicking didn't much for me the first time around, though I must admit it grew on me by the time he was picking his second break on the tune.

[jasona]

"Why would anyone think that anything Ricky did on the mandolin was an accident?"


That is a GREAT point. So he obviously intentionally doing the Ricky Clicky with the Picky, as Tom accurately put it.
He intentionally wants extraneous noise in his recordings? Also, when I listen to his Boston Boy on the Mandolin Extravaganza, you will notice a couple of fairly abrupt errors, including a nice timing error that he covers well enough, but it really stands out to me when I hear it. If this is all intentional, I am left wondering why.

[jim simpson]

I wonder if one could remove the clicking with a program like Audio Cleaning Lab? It removes scratches, pops, etc. from recordings made from lp's.

[Salty Dog]

One point that seems to be rarely mentioned is that the amount of "click" is dependent on the picking technique and perhaps more importantly, the height of the action. #I like a low action and hate the "click", so that is why I had Ben build #61 (no extension). #I have read that many of the pros such as WSM and Duffey, for example, used very high actions so it raises the question - did they prefer high action to reduce the "click"?