Steel Guitar Builder

Hi all. Just wondering how many here file their standard Thumbpicks to a bit of an angle on the blade. I also noticed once. a guy had metal fingerpicks blades filed from the sides a lot so that the blade was a little under 1/8 of an inch in width. I wasnt able to get a chance to ask why he did it and what benefits there would have been for doing it. I sort of wondered whether the normal width of the blade on the fingerpicks felt uncomfortable as this guy also played fingerstyle lead guitar (without picks) and steel guitar was not his main instrument to play.

I file and shape all my picks.

I chop a bit off the loop on top of the thumpick, otherwise it picks up an adjacent string and rips off.
I also shorten the tang. I bend the metal fingerpicks with pliers, but have not chopped bits off them.

I have been playing with standard thumbpick and it doesnt feel 100% to me. Maybe its cause I am an old lead guitarist and holding my hand in wrong position. See some steel guitarists file thumb picks so they have a bit of an angle to the blade, This would probably feel better to me because of the angle I hold my hand at. Noticed Georgeboards DVD made mention of filing blade of thumbpick to a bit of an angle.

I'm a newbie on PS, just started using picks the start of this year. This was a big change for me, I've always used my nails for picking conventional guitar.

I found they frequently slipped and dug into my flesh. I found a few threads where guys used a heatshrink wrap to help with this so I tried it and it was an improvement, but they still moved too much for me. So I put another piece of heatshrink on the back to make a solid circle around my fingers.

This works well for me, I find playing hard enough without having to adjust picks as I'm playing, I've posted some photos below,











Don't know if this has been tried already, probably, maybe once I get better I'll take off the stabilisers

I used PLASTI DIP by PERFORMIX, used for dipping tool handles. It comes in several colours, but costs $20 FOR 14.5oz (429ml) at the hardware store. Just dip the clip part of the steel picks.

Thanks guys.