Thumb Pick

I recently attended a small jazz show by a group of old guys, all experienced and excellent musicians. One of the musicians played an arch top guitar using just a thumb pick for upstrokes, downstrokes, chords, backup, solos, the whole works. If I had not closely observed his technique, I would have assumed that he was using a flat pick — that is to say that his playing was not apparently different from what you would expect from normal flat picking.

During the break I asked him about his technique. He said that he had grown tired of dropping and losing his flat picks during performances. So he copied the technique of Chet Atkins, who he said used a thumb pick with three fingers. He said that it took him a while to gain proficiency in using the thumb pick, but after a while he was able to use the thumb pick to execute all of the strokes that we normally do with flat picks. And when necessary he could also use fingers.

I didn’t think to ask him about tremolo, which may not be a big deal on amplified guitar. But I did find it most impressive to observe well-executed thumbpicking. And I don’t know if this has an application to mandolin, but it might be worth $0.75 to find out.

Wayne Henderson plays a mando with a thumb pick. Wish I good play half that well.

I have tried it, it does work, although I feel a pick is more versatile I will use a thumb pick if I am trying to get two lines out of the mandolin. I know one decent player who only uses a thumb pick and he gets good results.

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Originally Posted by HCooke

Wayne Henderson plays a mando with a thumb pick. Wish I good play half that well.

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Amen to that! I’ve never tried it on mando but have on guitar. The experiment was brief, because I had trouble keeping the darn thing on consistently with upstrokes. I use one for 3 finger banjo, but use one of my finger picks for any up strumming or picking. I suppose if I worked at it I could make it work, but don’t really feel compelled. Of course, YMMV, and I’m just a hobby picker, so there’s that...

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Originally Posted by HCooke

Wayne Henderson plays a mando with a thumb pick. Wish I good play half that well.

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I believe that Wayne uses the thumbpick and ALSO a fingerpick at least on the index finger. So there's a fingerpick getting the upstrokes.

I once thought about doing that-using thumbpicks. My skin chemistry is such that picks of all sorts get super slippery. Some say BlueChip picks get grippy when warm. Not for me. Still slippery.

However, I used to ride bulls and had a bag of rosin lying around. Just the teeniest amount of rosin rubbed between my thumb and index finger gets them super tacky. Now I can completely relax my hand and fingers and my picks, BlueChip or Primetone, don't slide around. I can even open my fingers and flip them like I'm trying to toss something and the pick sticks to the finger. It gets that tacky. Also, it's such a minimal amount and only on the fingers where the pick is, so it doesn't goop up the guitar or mandolin as some may think.

Another product that works similarly is called Gorilla Snot and there's also one called Pick Honey. I've tried the Gorilla Snot and it definitely works. But I prefer the rosin because it doesn't accumulate on the BlueChip pick like the Gorilla Snot seems to. Give it a try. No need to go the thumbpick route.

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Originally Posted by archerscreek

I once thought about doing that-using thumbpicks. My skin chemistry is such that picks of all sorts get super slippery. Some say BlueChip picks get grippy when warm. Not for me. Still slippery.

However, I used to ride bulls and had a bag of rosin lying around. Just the teeniest amount of rosin rubbed between my thumb and index finger gets them super tacky. Now I can completely relax my hand and fingers and my picks, BlueChip or Primetone, don't slide around. I can even open my fingers and flip them like I'm trying to toss something and the pick sticks to the finger. It gets that tacky. Also, it's such a minimal amount and only on the fingers where the pick is, so it doesn't goop up the guitar or mandolin as some may think.

Another product that works similarly is called Gorilla Snot and there's also one called Pick Honey. I've tried the Gorilla Snot and it definitely works. But I prefer the rosin because it doesn't accumulate on the BlueChip pick like the Gorilla Snot seems to. Give it a try. No need to go the thumbpick route.

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I designed these because my right thumb has become arthritically deformed (fortunately it's painless) but it's affected the way I can grip a flat-pick. This gizmo allows me to feel the pick normally between my thumb & index finger & also use it for fingerpicking guitar as well.Attachment 180041Attachment 180042Attachment 180043

I too use a thumb pick, due to arthritis. I like the Herco picks which have to be softened in hot water and moulded to the shape of my thumb.


Attachment 180061

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However, my new favourite thumb pick is the Black Mountain from British Columbia, with a spring which helps it fit different sized thumbs, and provides a firm grip.

Attachment 180059

Attachment 180060

(I'm not a leftie, it's a mirror image.)

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Originally Posted by Ranald

I too use a thumb pick, due to arthritis. I like the Herco picks which have to be softened in hot water and moulded to the shape of my thumb.


Attachment 180061

Attachment 180058

However, my new favourite thumb pick is the Black Mountain from British Columbia, with a spring which helps it fit different sized thumbs, and provides a firm grip.

Attachment 180059

Attachment 180060

(I'm not a leftie, it's a mirror image.)

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I have found the loop on the hercos to be too light weight to grip firmly enough as at times I can be pretty heavy handed. It would be a tricky injection mold that could make the pick part thin (I use .06mm Tortex picks) and make the loop part as thick as say a Dunlop thumb thumb pick. I've tried gluing the Herco loop closed but that leaves no adjustment. I've also used boiling water to twist the tip a few degrees clockwise to create a perfect string attack angle on the pick tip. There is a commercial company that sells them that way, Zookies, but the cost differential is way above boiling a cup of water!!

The double-sided velcro I use allows one to make it pretty darn snug. I will look into the Black Mountain to determine if the spring is stout enough for my hammer hand. That's especially important when fingerpicking since you no longer have the support of your index finger behind the pick. What's the price & availability?

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Originally Posted by OldMandoMan

The double-sided velcro I use allows one to make it pretty darn snug. I will look into the Black Mountain to determine if the spring is stout enough for my hammer hand. That's especially important when fingerpicking since you no longer have the support of your index finger behind the pick. What's the price & availability?

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They're about $6.95 CDN each, cheaper in quantity. The information you need is here: https://blackmountainpicks.com/ (If link doesn't work, google "Black Mountain Picks.") The lad in the demo video seems to me to be a heavy picker, and I'm a fairly heavy picker too, but working on being a lighter picker. Like you, I've found some slippage with Hercos, but not with Black Mountains. (I don't have any financial interest in these picks. I first encountered them when trying out a mandolin at Rufus Guitars in Vancouver.)