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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Nice website, Dave, (Prestocat). Visit more often. |
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Joined:
March 2007
Posts: 843
Location: CA | Great to strive for improvement, but as a pinkie-resting fingerpicker, you're in good company. As noted in a post a year or so ago, along with Doc W, these guys also do it:
Chat Atkins
Gordon Lightfoot
Red Shea (Lightfoot's lead guitarist)
John Fahey
John Prine
Roy Clark (on both banjo and guitar)
Lindsay Buckingham
Mark Knopfler (actually rests his third finger)
David Gilmour (he doesn't really finger pick, but rests his pinkie during some acoustic solos)
Paul Simon (playing an Ovation in this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUkL5YQJfEo)
Willie Nelson (he rests it right above the hole worn through his guitar top)
Guys who don't rest pinkies:
Jerry Reed
Leo Kottke
James Burton
I'm sure there are others, but I start getting cross-eyed after watching too much YouTube. I vote for the rubber thimble, too. |
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Joined:
February 2008
Posts: 747
| Once I stopped resting my finger on the top my picking improved a lot - took about 5 minutes to get used to the difference. |
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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | As a longtime 'finger dragger' (prone to bracing my picking hand with the pinky and ring finger), I too worried about marring the top or the epaulets of my Adamas.
One day while playing my guitar on the deck, my postman came by and he happened to have one of those 'rubber thimble' thingies Cliff mentioned. He said they use them for sorting mail and offered to get me a pinky size one. He brought it by the next day (it was even red :D ) and it worked a treat!!
After playing with it on for several days, I realized having one for the ring finger would probably be a good idea as well. After researching where to get them, I found that the three main users of these are a) bindery workers (for sorting...), jewelers (for stone polishing and not wearing their finger tips off...) and quilters who use them for... whatever it is that quilters actually do. :D
If anybody else here wants to give these a try, I found the quilters pack selection the best value. You get 2 of each size for what you'd pay for a dozen of one size if you take the jewelers or sorters selection.
These come in a wide range of colours as well...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270616765176&ssP...
This is the 'quilter's pack' that I ordered (in red)
Hope this info was useful... |
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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | On closer inspection (I managed to find a different site with a better picture of the package), I noticed the quilter's set comes with thumbs... but NOT pinkies.
If you'd prefer a similar item (but for the pinky), search on 'rubber fingers' or the jeweler's ones are sometimes referred to as 'rubber finger cots'
Be careful though, 'cots' are also the technical name for the single finger condoms proctologists use... :eek: |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1565
Location: Indiana | Though the pinky rubbers would definitely be a conversation starter... might I respectfully suggest you just play the damn guitar.
I feel better.
Oh, and don't take up golf. |
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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | I'm so glad you feel better... Golf?
;) |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I kinda gotta agree with Jonmark... I don't see a problem!
If you are staining your guitar top you need to watch your hands. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I kinda gotta agree with Jonmark... I don't see a problem!
If you are staining your guitar top you need to wash your hands.
:eek: [Spell Check] |
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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | First off, on the subject of 'guitar hygiene'... I am FANATICAL about washing my hands before I pick up any guitar. This, has nothing to do with dirt or sweat from your hand transfering to the top.
It is strictly about wear. Human skin is abrasive and over the course of time can mar the finish. Using a rubber finger on the point where you anchor your hand on the guitar is about preserving the look and value of your expensive instrument.
I have seen numerous Adamas' that had visible wear on the snot blob or on the epaulets. Some people view this as 'mojo'... On an Adamas, to me it is just unsightly... Strictly opinion though, and to each his own...
;) |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Strum one of your guitars and see how long it rings. Then strum it again and put your finger in the middle of the top. I would think that resting your finger would also mute the guitar. |
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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | Good point, Mark.
I will try that and see if it affects the performance of the top.
Usually, if my hand is touching, it is fairly lightly, but is definitely something to take into account. |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1565
Location: Indiana | Originally posted by Avatar4550:
I'm so glad you feel better... Golf?
;) In golf, you buy a brand new $hiny driver and immediately go out and smash little white rocks with it. Clubs will not remain pristine if you want to play the game.
Guitars are built to be played.
Playing guitars will leave signs of wear.
If you're playing a guitar you're obsessing over you should put it in a glass case and choose a guitar you can feel free to play with abandon.
You'll grow, play better, and enjoy it a whole lot more. |
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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | Obsessing over a guitar... nobody here would ever do that, would they? ;)
In all seriousness, I agree with what you are saying, in principal. All the guitars I have now were bought to be played and were never intended to be 'closet queens'. This doesn't mean that being careful and treating them with the respect they deserve is OTT either.
I was on the road as a working musician for years and my gear always came back looking pretty much the same as when it went out. When things were damaged it was usually down to other people having a slack attitude about gear in general.
A former well-known bassist I played with after having scratched the living sh*t out of the back of my previously pristine BC Rich Koa Eagle (with an over sized-metal screaming eagle belt buckle, no less), this after I was kind enough to let him use my bass (he had one as well, but preferred mine...) gave me the 'Well, now it has mojo..." speech (with me being restrained to keep from knocking his teeth down his throat...).
Now, anyone that tries to add 'mojo' to my guitars in this manner gets dropped where they stand... no exceptions. :D |
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Joined:
August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | I'd venture to guess that pinkie rubbers would be just as abrasive to a top as fingertip skin. In that case, you're just trading wear for different wear. |
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Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | I'm fanatical about a pristine guitar ... unTIL it gets the first blemish, scratch, ding, nick. Then it's just a guitar and it was put on this earth to be played and to being people joy with it's sound. |
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Joined:
March 2010
Posts: 370
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba CANADA | This idea of using a pinkie rubber is something new and I will have to give it a bit more time before I conclude one way or another.
I tried the test Mark recommended and found that if left ringing there was a slight decrease in sustain with the finger down (but not much). I also realized that the only time I am bracing my hand in this manner is to do fast up/down or hammer-stroke picking... in which case there is very little ring between notes anyway.
One advantage of the pinkie rubber, is that when planted your hand is more stable (this may be a result of being overly cautious about how I am putting it down on the top, though...).
For those of us with only a 'few' really nice guitars the desire (need...) to keep them pristine may be more pressing than with others here.
Dave, if one of your guitars gets a nick in it, all you have to do is look to the next stand down the line for that 'Viagra moment'... then to the next one and then the next... in a long line stretching to the horizon (ala Citizen Kane). I wish...
;) :D |
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Adamas top
