James Burton's Metal Fingerpick

[wjamflan]

Hello all.

After many years of using hybrid picking (flat pick and middle finger) to pick out rockabilly and country, I've decided I would like to really be able to hear those notes on the treble strings. I love the sound James Burton gets using the metal finger pick on his middle finger and have a few questions.

Does anyone know if they are Nationals for sure (as is stated in the Guitar Player article)? Seelink removed)

James plays with the point of the metal finger pick pointing up towards his nail (see Hot Licks video). Does he bend the finger picks himself or does he have them specially made? Does anyone have any specs for where the bend (in the pick) should occur? Close to the ring? And at what angle should the flattened part be rest?

How far down in the finger pick should my middle finger rest? Close to the flat part? Space?

Does anyone have any tips for using a metal finger pick comfortably? I've been messing with one for a couple of weeks and it seems that if I make it tight enough so that it doesn't move when I'm playing, it starts to cut into the cuticle after a while. Am I doing this wrong?

Sorry for all the nitpicky questions. I don't play pedal steel or anything else that requires finger picks, so I'm really ignorant about how they work.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks for listening.

Bill

 

[sequencepro]

finger pickin'

National finger picks are very common (you can get them at almost any music store). The best grade of Nationals are available at bluegrass stores like Janet Davis Music or Elderly instruments on line. Dunlop brand picks work fine too. My favorite kind has two slim "fingers" on each side of the pick to hold them on (instead of one wide band) and they are easier to fit tighter, and are less painful. (Propik angle 1 split wrap and Propik reso split wrap) Bluegrass Unlimited magazine has several ads for picks, and some dealers in the classifieds.

Think of the pick as armour for your finger. Your finger should be deep in the pick , touching the underside of the curve.

Picks that are .0225 and thinner are easy to bend to fit your finger correctly, but wearing any pick takes some getting use to. At first they almost always make your finger sore (if you've got them tight enough to stay on during hard , fast picking). The main thing is finding a brand and size that fits your finger well.

You'll soon learn that you have to adjust you picking technique when using multiple fingers, as the metal pick is much louder than your bare fingers.

If you need help fitting your pick(s), find the best banjo player in your area. He/she will be able to show you the subleties of "pick fitting" and some banjo rolls like James Burton, Don Rich, and Roy Nichols used.

Hope I helped a little.... Have Fun!

Doug Lanier
sequencepro@yahoo.com

 

[WickedGTR]

Most likely a National, they are the biggest producer of metal fingerpicks.

I use them on dobro (a bit...). I believe they come in three different thicknesses, they are easy to bend to conform to the shape of your finger. They are generally worn with the pick part over the 'fingerprint' side of your finger with the open part of the pick on the fingernail side.

Be aware that you can only pick in one direction with the fingerpick (up) as if you pick down it will catch on the string and tend to pull the pick off your finger.

I always thought that it was interesting that most people who play in the Burton style will use a thumpbick and fingernails on the other fingers, rather than a flat pick plus a fingerpick. The thumbick gives you the advantage of leaving your index finger free.

 

[JamesVRoy]

Hmm, Thought I had a closeup that might help.

I'll look tomorrow for the hi-res tos see if there's any more detail

Jim

 

[wjamflan]

Thanks for the responses guys. Thanks James for the photos.

I'll see if I can find the different sizes and try them out. The Guitar Center near me only had one type of the nationals. It is the two band kind that you can shape to fit your finger. I'm just not comfortable with it yet.

I don't know if I asked the question right, but it seems to me that James Burton must alter the pick part of the finger pick by bending it closer to the pad of his finger. It also appears that he flattens it out b/c the Nationals I have all have a curved tip. Does anyone know anything about this?

I was kinda wonderin if I bent it too close to the band to flatten it out and get the length past my finger tip. Also
I was wonderin if anyone knew about the angle away from the finger he used, and if there were any guidelines I should go by. It seems in some stills that the "pick" is almost flat against his index finger; then in others it looks like it's about a 45 degree angle. He definitely has some overhang.

I'm trying to get this right so I get that clear metallic tone he gets instead of that scrapin the string brush I've been getting.

Again, any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Bill

 

[mellecaster]

If you

Ask some Banjo players...and you'll soon find there is no Right or wrong way....take 10 different players...and they will wear em 10 different ways...and have favorite brands...lose the Guitar Center, and try to find a little Acoustic Shop in your area..or one of the Online Bluegrass shops mentioned in one of the above posts...and spend about 5 or 6 bucks on a few...and try a bunch...different strokes for .............

 

[WickedGTR]

Chances are JB evolved to using that combination, by finding what works for him. Might not work exactly the same way for anyone else. I have heard a lot of people who can cop his style, but none of them use the same picks.

You might try growing out the fingernails on your left hand (assuming you're right handed) and give that a try too. Most folks find they can get a lot more subtleties in tone with their fingernails than metal picks, on an electric.

 

[wjamflan]

Wicked, I'll try out the fingernail idea, but it's going to be a week or two, since I have none to speak of at the moment.

Caster, thanks for the encouragement. I kinda thought it was personal preference, but didn't think it would hurt to check with the folks who might know.

One last time: does anyone know if JB did bend the pick part of the finger pick, or do they make some like that?

Thanks all for the help.

Bill

 

[WickedGTR]

Generally yes, the pick part curves to conform to the contour of the end of your finger.

Here's a link to a banjo page with info

 

[Coyote]

I don't know how much advice I could give you about those that might be of any use to you; I don't like them personally. Every time I try to play my acoustic with them, they fall off my fingers and then fall in the guitar, it pisses me off :x

But having said that, I would certainly reccommend putting them on your fingers all the way, and even duct taping them if they still fall off that way

 

[wjamflan]

Wicked, thanks for the link! It was very helpful to see how the banjo players wear theirs.

Thanks all for the responses.

Bill

 

[cdobbs7977]

Personally, I've been using (link removed)
Guptill finger picks. A dobro player showed them to me a few years back. I used to play classical in college but I hated all the maintance of having long finger nails. Metal finger picks always felt wrong because I could make flesh contact with the strings. They have a nice tone, the only problem is they're hard to find locally (I order mine online). Good luck.

 

[Telecicle]

I'm not trying to hijack, I promise...

Those are some of killer pics. Amazing!

 

[JamesVRoy]

here are some crops closeups

Hope that helps. I didn't realize you used them upside down like that. I went out anbought one after I took the pix last year and for the life of me could play with it.

Jim

 

[JamesVRoy]

Re: I'm not trying to hijack, I promise...

Those are some of killer pics. Amazing!

Are you talking about mine? If so, thanks. Go take a look at the rest of them then.

http://www.pbase.com/jroy/tcb04

Jim

 

[Telecicle]

Re: I'm not trying to hijack, I promise...

Are you talking about mine?

Yes! I have an embarassing hero-worship for James Burton, mainly because he is everything I am not.

James = finesse, musicality, chops, legend
Cary = hamfisted, drunken hack

Fortuneately, it takes all kinds...

 

[Jug Bandit]

Metal Fingerpicks

I'm pretty new to both this forum and teles, but I have been playing banjo for a bit, so I feel I can actually lend some helpful advice here.

You definitely wear the picks against the pads of your fingertips with the bands around the nail-side of your fingers. The day I made most progress on banjo was the day I realized this, after wearing them backwards for about a week! Also, you can wear them slightly turned, so that the pick is somewhat on the pad and somewhat on the side of your finger. Try playing that hybrid style with no fingerpick (bare finger) and note the location on your fingertip where contact with the string is occurring. That is where you should position the pick. The way I wear them, they really don't extend far beyond the tip of my finger at all, but rather form a metal "cap" over my fingertips. This makes your fingers into hammer-like instruments that strike and slide off of the strings. I find that with less pick surface extending off my fingers, building up speed is easier.

All that said, I have also watched that Burton Hot Licks video, and I'd love to be able to pick like that. However, even with my banjo experience, I can't do much with the combination flatpick and single fingerpick. In emulating Burton's licks, I am much better with no picks at all, just fingers and nails. Trying out his style is cool, as long as you are willing to modify it to suit what feels best to you.

To buy picks, I almost always order from Janet Davis Music online.

http://www.bluegrasscenter.com/finpiks.html

My favorite for banjo are National NP2 reissues. I like both the plain steel and the cobalt-coated about equally. Considering the ~5X difference in price, I'd stick with the regular version for starters. They are easy to bend and rebend into the shapes that work for best for you. JDM also offers, brass fingerpicks. I have a set of these that I use when playing lap steel, and you might want to try one for electric guitar, because I feel the nonsteel picks are better for interference-free playing on instruments with magnetic pickups.

Hope these ideas help. Good luck!

 

[Wild Rice Chris]

here are some crops closeups

Hope that helps. I didn't realize you used them upside down like that. I went out anbought one after I took the pix last year and for the life of me could play with it.

Jim

I play string bass with a 12-string/banjo player who flips one of his around backwards for banjo. I think he does it so that he can strum.

All 3 guitarists in that group use fingerpicks. Just me and the viola without. 8)

 

[sequencepro]

James Burton's Picks

After seeing those closeups of JB, it looks like he has his picks bent much more severely than most banjo players...his appear to be bent much more like a lot of steel players bend theirs. (Which is probably where he learned it)

Doug Lanier
sequencepro@yahoo.com

 

[wjamflan]

Thanks to all for the input and links.

Thanks JamesV for the great pix. The last two really show what I was asking about - the bending of the pick, how and where. Also the final one shows how far down his finger goes in the pick.

From all the input of the banjo players my suspicion is that James Burton has molded his flatpicking angle to suit the fingerpick, so that it'll hit the strings straight on instead of cutting it. It appears from the pic and the video that he does flatpick off center or at an angle somewhat. It doesn't look 90 deg. flush. Also, it appears that he split his index and middle fingers apart while playing with both out of necessity-so they won't bang into one another. He's probably been doing it since he started playing. I don't think that'll work for me. I've been playing for 20 years and have definite comforts (and habits).

Through more messing around, I've actually found that bending the finger pick like JB and playing with it on my ring finger that it's much more comfortable and I don't have to alter my flatpicking habits. Both picks hit the strings straight on and the fingers don't bang into one another. It's not set in stone, but I'm having fun with it.

I'm still gonna try the banjo way on my middle finger and see how that goes, but I've gotta get some more fingerpicks that haven't been bent to hell

Thanks again to all.

Happy Holidays.

Bill