I use a really heavy plastic finger pick. I think they are actually made out of celluloid.Joseph Lazo wrote:I came to the lap steel from guitar, which I play with fingers only about 99% of the time. I've tried using finger picks with the steel, but I feel like a complete klutz and if the picks aren't digging into my cuticles they're slipping around on my finger tips. I also find myself hitting the fretboard with the tips of the picks. Judging from photos of used steels, I gather this is pretty common. Regardless, I don't want to mar the fretboard of my steels with pick gouges.
I'm just curious how many here use fingerpicks vs just fingers. I'm guessing a lot of you are pedal steel players, too, so you probably are used to finger picks. If that's the case, please say so.
Lastly, any recommendations for finger picks? I have metal ones that can be bent to fit a finger and a couple plastic ones for my thumb. The thumb picks are almost manageable for me, but those also twist around while playing and become an annoyance in pretty short order.
I do like the brighter sound and greater volume that fingerpicks impart, but prefer the sound of fingers-only tone.
I prefer bare fingers to steel finger picks.