View Full Version : Holes in Picks
futrconslr
Jan-12-2005, 11:12am
I played a old Horner mandolin this morning and in the case were several picks. They all had a hole the size of the end of a pencil drilled in them. I am assuming they are there to keep the pick from slipping out of the fingers. Iused one of them and it seemed to work pretty good. Does anyone else do this or have you seen this before? I know you can buy Wegens with the holes pre-drilled but this is the first time I had seen a homemade job!
sunburst
Jan-12-2005, 11:24am
On picks I've seen one or many holes, deep scratches, adhesive tape, velcro, gorilla snot, fiddle rosin,...
futrconslr
Jan-12-2005, 11:28am
LOL...sounds like a baseball bat. I have seen alot of mods to a pick but these looked like a doughnut.
b.pat
Jan-12-2005, 12:12pm
I've done it for years. It also has a secondary advantage of making it possible to slip one onto your key ring for all those unexpected times that pop up when you wish you had your pick.
B.Pat http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
jim simpson
Jan-12-2005, 7:48pm
I also keep a couple of fave picks on my keychain for spairs. I made the mistake once of drilling a T-shell pick to put on my keychain. It cracked and split thus ruining it. I guess it was an endangered pick!
mandroid
Jan-13-2005, 12:28am
there is one with a star shaped hole too, anti spin; 'everly' ,shape: standard guitar.
I mutilate my own, myself. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif
Mando Medic
Jan-13-2005, 9:56am
I have for years played with a pick that was made and still is, in Los Angeles. It is called a Moshay. It is made of clear Nylon and has a hole in the center. It improves my grip on the pick and I have one on my key chain. I was going to include one for the great American pick tour, if it ever gets to me. I have seen celluloid picks from the twenties and forward with this hole design, so it's not a new thing. There is a great little book that might still be in print called "Picks" that is worth having, and in it are photos of most of the picks ever made, though not all of them. Kenc
futrconslr
Jan-13-2005, 10:37am
The ones I saw had a hole the size of a pencil in the middle. Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing pictures in old mandolin ads that had picks with holes cut in the middle. Maybe I need to break out the old drill. When I began playing I held the pick like I did when I play guitar. Now, I am discovering that alot of tone is pulled by the way you hold the pick..i.e. further back on the index finger...loose grip...It is hard for me to control the pick this way maybe a hole will help.
Michael Gowell
Jan-13-2005, 11:28am
I found a couple of similar picks which look like tortoise in an old case. #They are the Pettine(?) shape - elongated teardrops. #One has three small holes, and the other has one lower hole and in place of the two upper holes are two tiny raised cork buttons.
I use the Wegens picks that come with holes drilled in them and love it!