Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Compare & Contrast ProPiks

I’m a sucker for shiny trinkets & am totally satisfied with the picks I have, but I got an email today offering ProPiks.
Has anyone used them, especially the split finger picks, and how would you compare them to National NP2’s or Dunlops?
First, the comfort, then how they sound,

Full disclosure: I generally use Shelors on my fingers & Blue Chip on my thumb, but frequently play with the Nationals. I used to use Dunlops, but they fell out of favor with me.

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Hi @BanJoe Yes I use Stainless Steel, Single Band, (ie Not Split Band) Angled Propiks . I tried lots of other makes and finally settled on the SS 2-ANG Propiks.

I use a Jim Dunlop Clear Plastic Thumb Pick. I really like these They are very durable and what 's more they are very inexpensive. They last ages and I have only ever had one snap on me.

I own a set of Sammy Shelors and a Blue Chip thumb pick which I like but my go to picks are the ProPiks and the Jim Dunlops.

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See? Here’s another example of why you are admired! :grin:

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I just give back what others gave me. Knowledge, Wisdom and Respect

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You must know a better class of people than me.
Most of my life the only Knowledge they ever shared was "The one sentence never spoken in the English language is “The banjo player drives a Porsche.”
The only Wisdom they shared was “The banjo is a divine instrument. Man plays it, but only God knows why.”
The only R-E-S-PE-C-T I ever got was when they asked me if I could fix a broken cassette tape by Aretha Franklin.
And the only help I ever got is when they offered me their wire cutters.

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I have spilt band brass ProPiks that I really like but I’ve never used nationals so I can’t compare them. They are a lot more comfortable to me than the Dunlop’s that I had.

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Alas not everyone I met in life was good but the ones that were would stand out in a crowd. I didn’t seek them they found me. A little wisdom: If you go through life thinking negative thoughts even in jest the positive thoughts never surface.

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Your bit of wisdom is spot on. As my mother would say, “No what what happens, something good will come from it.”

I kinda like the theory behind the split band. Glad to hear they are comfortable.

I heard Jens Kruger talking about finger picks and why he doesn’t like stainless steel (like the Sammy Shelor’s.) He said driving long distances to gigs, then the changes in temps from A/C to hot outdoors would cause his fingers to swell. His Nationals were easier to adjust than the stainless steel. Makes sense. There are days my wedding ring is tight and other days it’s quite loose.
So my Shelors are my primary picks, but I keep Nationals for fat finger days.

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