Pick Click

I'd confidently say that you will find a solution, you don't lack determination, I'd try with everything from cardboard to metal and somewhere will be the holy grail..... good luck in your search

I hope to have some time this weekend to experiment but I am rehearsing Christmas songs for a dinner we are doing at a youth correctional facility in two weeks.

That'll be nice, what kind of guitar are you playing? What sound, and songs are you going for? It's sure to be awesome and appreciated, good stuff. :wink:

Blue Jay I'll be taking my Rogue Grand Concert. It sounds great but was inexpensive so it is my "on the road" guitar. I play an old Madeira dreadnought at church. It has a much sweeter tone than the Rogue but seems a little fragile.

We plan on doing the basic Christmas stuff, might stay away from any of the naughty and nice stuff though. Probably will begin with "We wish you a merry Christmas" and finish with "Silent Night". We will probably play at a Christmas party for a group of mentally handicapped adult also they love the kids songs so "Jingle Bells" and that sort of thing there.

I have tried the felt pick and it is quieter than the plastic ones are. I will file down some others and see how they sound.

Jack

Thanks for the reply, I think we all appreciate the detail, hey it's good to know what others are doing? Yeah, sounds good Jack. It is very kind of you to share your talent and efforts with others in the community, by taking your music to them. :D

It occurs to me that the problem may not be so much the material as the size of the pick. You have very little material to fix the pick to the strap.

Maybe a longer body to the pick would give better support and more control.

Get yourself a thumb pick. Put it into hot water for a few seconds - it will become soft and pliable. Flatten it out, let it cool and you'll have a long flat pick.

It will have much more area for the strap to hang on to.

I have tried Delrin and felt so far. The felt is definetly queit, but doesn't project much. It is great with the ukulele though so that is a win for felt. I will keep one pick holder to play uke with.
The Delrin is quieter than the celuloid that I was using so I now have one holder set up that way in my main gigbag.
I will keep trying the different possibilities and see where it gets me.

I have some thumb pics so I'll give Greybeards suggestion a try.

Thanks guys.

Jack

PS: We will be doing three uke songs at one of the Christmas parties coming up.

it's because you don't have as much control over your pick with that sports watch band. if i'm really strumming, i might be white knuckling the pick, while you have a thing that'll slide and rotate. a sturdier pick holder that you could have more control over would help.

it's because you don't have as much control over your pick with that sports watch band. if i'm really strumming, i might be white knuckling the pick, while you have a thing that'll slide and rotate. a sturdier pick holder that you could have more control over would help.

The strap doesn't slide or rotate. I strap if tight when I wear it. Not tight enough to make my fingers go numb though :lol:
The flesh of my arm does allow a small amount of movement though the only cure for that would be fastening the strap to the bone. Not going to happen BTW. The buckle however does allow the pick to flex back and forth another small amount, so with your comment in mind I hot glued the pick to one side of the buckle (I have several of these so room to experiment). That seemed to make a difference. How much I haven't determined yet.

I also wanted to keep trying the different materials suggested and my favorite music shop didn't have any wooden pics, so I fabricated one from the end of a paint stirring stick. I haven't put a micrometer to it but maybe 3.5 MM after sanding it a bit. This is as thick as I can force through the buckle. So far this appears to be the best compromise between pic noise and projecting volume. In other words there is still some pic sound but I can play soft without too much click but strum aggressively when the song needs it.

I really appreciate the time and thought that you guys have put into these responses. Perfection may never be obtainable but this is definitely an improvement.

Thanks

Jack

Maybe change the angle of pick attack a bit would work, using greybeards technique for straightening a thumb pick and give the tip a little twist while hot might work. I had that clicking noise a bit too and I changed the angle a little bit and it seemed to work.

I do believe that the angle that the pick stricks the strings is part of the noise so that is probably the next area to address.

To give you an update that is slightly off topic, we had our Holiday dinner at the youth correctional facility Saturday night. Everything went really well. Last year I didn't bring a guitar but did bring harps, our worship leader brought his guitar and we played together. This year the worship leader was with another group so I brought the guitar. Last year we were the last group through security and we spend 30 minutes or so getting our food through. This year we were one of the first and by the time I parked the car my group was through and I was playing catch up. We told the guard which unit we were assigned to and took off through the maze of hallways. We were left in the cell block and set up our food and pulled some chairs and tables from a classroom for the guys to eat at.
They acted very well. Ate a huge amount of food and kept asking when we were getting out the guitar. After I had eaten with them I broke out the guitar and pulled up a chair and started with Joy to the World. A few of the guys came up and started singing along. Then went into Jingle Bells and got quite a few more. I asked if anyone could speak Spanish and a couple of guys said they could. I told them we were doing Feliz Navidad next and they could either sing along loudly to mask my lack of Spanish or they couldn't laugh, their choice. We ended up with time left as I reached the end of the six songs I had picked and my wife was thumbing through our binder and someone saw Santa Claus is Coming to Town, one I was avoiding, one because it is sort of childish and two because it has that naughty and nice thing in it. I went ahead and started it up and everyone of them, 14 in all, joined in and they all shouted out the " going to find out who's naughty and nice" part. Then we packed up shook hand and said our goodbyes. Like I said, everything went really well.
Next up will be the 17th for the group home that my wife does art projects with. That will be a longer set and have more children songs in it because that is what they like.

Better get busy practicing.

Jack

It sounds like a good time was had by all and it was very nice of you to give your time Jack!

Jim

Thanks KC. Are you from KC?

I haven't done any modifying this week. Trying to rehearse. My wife and I will be trying three tunes on ukulele at the next party and she is just learning so we need to work all we can. As an aside Linda just started singing with the worship team a couple of years ago and is really coming along with her vocals. She has always had a good voice but never sang in public. Neither had I for that matter.

Jack

That sounds very nice, doing the entertainment and human relations in the jail. Very good that it went so well. I'm sure it was appreciated.

Thanks KC. Are you from KC?

I haven't done any modifying this week. Trying to rehearse. My wife and I will be trying three tunes on ukulele at the next party and she is just learning so we need to work all we can. As an aside Linda just started singing with the worship team a couple of years ago and is really coming along with her vocals. She has always had a good voice but never sang in public. Neither had I for that matter.

Jack

Yes, I am actually living in Independence. The sports complex (Chiefs and Royals) are about 3 miles west on I-70 from where I live.

Where in Kansas are you?

Jim