I am looking for a strap for my A style. I don't want one that goes around headstock, and don't have heel button. looking for one that goes around heel. i also am looking for pick advise. Do beveled picks make that much of a difference for newbies what are advantages. I also believe i like a more rounded pick as the pointier seems to get hung up for me. Any suggestions?
A beveled pick changes the tone of the attack. My best advice is take $10 and purchase a bunch of thick picks and try them all. And then take a nail file and put a bevel on them and see how it changes the tone. Depending upon your set up, different picks will work better than others with your style of picking. I put a heel button on my A style, as it holds the instrument in a balanced position so i don't have to support the neck. To go around the heel and under the strings you just need a long leather bootlace.
Aside from trying out a whole bunch of picks, cheapest to most expensive, all shapes, sizes, materials and profiles, for free by signing up for the pick sampler I mentioned before - What you can do about picks is round them yourself to whatever you prefer. I use a fingernail file to do this. Here are just a couple examples of some of my picks. On the left are pointy JTPix I use alot when I want a brighter tone, they sound great. Next is a white 1.2 Wegen, and I think this is the amount of round they ship with if my memory serves. (OK I can see and remember now, those are two factory corners, and the top right corner on that Wegen I made a slightly more radius). Then the next dark pick in the center is a Primetone that has holes drilled and been rounded to suit. Next is a proplec, and this is the amount of round they ship with. Next is a 40-year-old TS pick that has been rounded off. Finally, a 1.0 Cool pick that I rounded off, it was about as sharp as the JTPix originally. It's not hard to shape the corners to taste, and also to put a speed bevel using a fingernail file. My Washburn doesn't have a heel button, so I tie a guitar strap around the heel. I have found guitar straps to work well and to be very comfortable. But no matter what strap you buy, if you need a way to tie it around the heel you can use leather thong. I just bought 75' of leather thong from Walmart on a roll, for just a few bucks. My Collings does have a heel button, but I'm showing it here so you can see the tail button. If you elect to get a soft tab leather mandolin strap, like that one, I'd suggest using leather thong to tie it to the heel. Then, on the tail button, what I've done is used a black wire tie to secure the soft leather strap to the button. Also, I used a piece of leather thong to make a "safety strap". Hope some of this info is helpful.
JHM posted basically similar info with less fuss while I was writing this . . . the man is on the job
As a newbie, I have an issue with my pick slipping and have tried many different picks but can't solve this issue. I can't make it through even one song without losing my pic due to it rolling. I was wondering if others have this issue and if so have you a solution? Thanks in advance for any assistance that you may provide.
Hi Zeb! I certainly have had that issue and have heard many others with the same issue, both with mandolin and guitar. One thing that helps some people (not all) is to use a non-slip pick. In my photo of picks above, the Cool pick (far right) has a non-slip surface. Some people even drill holes in their picks to give them more grip, like the Primetone in my picture above. And some people use gooey stuff on their fingers, I've never done that so I don't remember what they use. In spite of all that, here's the best advise I can give: Play more and practice more. What tends to happen with pretty much everybody is that after playing the instrument long enough, over the weeks, months, years, your marvelous human body somehow adjusts. It's not so much a conscious thing as a subconscious set of micro-adjustments that your brain makes, I think, so that in time this becomes pretty much a non-issue. You somehow just master the pick.
Thanks for the wise counsel Mark, it's just frustrating to be playing and the pick slip and I get lost. But I will keep on playing.
I agree with Mark. Pick slip used to be a big problem for me. Now I wonder why. Dunno what I am doing different that makes the difference. One of those sweet mysteries of life.
Zeb, as Mark and Hank stated, after a bit of time, the brain and fingers adapt. However, I have to say that I have been adding a bit of cross hatch pattern to my picks with a razor knife. I use this pattern on the picks that are smooth. If they have some sort of texture of course, not needed. My Golden Gate and Proplec are hatched. So are the Dunlap picks. Primetone and Wegen not necessary.
I just took a razor knife and jewelers file to one of my already favorite primetones, I have a few 1.4s. Love the sound, lil too pointy and it spins on me sometimes...no more! Great advice guys thank you!
I'm not a fan of any straps with any kind of buckles (metal or plastic). You take off your instrument off and they can swing back and hit your instrument. I like a leather strap. They are comfy and the sueded side keeps the instrument from slipping, especially if your axe has a heavy headstock. Lakota straps are my favorites. Excellent, soft but strong leather. I also have a Bailey, which is a braided leather, very attractive and secure but a bit less comfortable than Lakota. As for picks, I have had trouble with slippage, so I've tried a lot of different picks with all kinds of textures, holes, star cutouts, etc. when playing guitar. Now on mando, I have moved to a larger triangle thicker pick and am liking my Blue Chip CT35. I like the larger size and even though it's a smooth pick, something about the material makes it stay put in your fingers. It kinda feels tacky after you hold it for a bit.
I also don’t like buckles so I’ve just commissioned a custom strap from a local artisan
The lack of a heel button should not be a problem. These can be ordered from Amazon and other musical instrument accessory suppliers. This is what I did for my Kentucky. Drill into the solid part of the heel and be careful not to locate the button screw where the truss rod is buried. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
