I LOVE the Saddle pick for its COMFORT. The material is flexible and conforms to your thumb very nicely. The felt pad on the top makes it even better. My complaint, however, is that the material it is made from (the string contact area) does NOT make good contact with the strings - it is too “soft” (like a semi-rigid plastic). I MUCH prefer a harder plastic such as that in a National or the Blue Chip.
So, what did I do? Well, I cut the tip off of a National Large and epoxy glued it onto the string contact area of the Saddle pick, after some cutting and shaping with a Dremel moto-tool. Once the epoxy had set, I did some more shaping and sanding with the moto-tool, until I had the size/length that I was comfortable with.
Now, I bought the Saddle pick from a vendor at Bean Blossom (bluegrass festival in southern Indiana) a few years ago, but have not seen that vendor since. (I’m guessing maybe I can find them online?) If I run into the vendor again, I will see if they have thought about making the string contact area from a much harder material.
Anyway, I am getting so tired of bending and shaping metal, or heating plastic in hot water and then shaping it, just to get a pick that fits my thumb comfortably. And don’t get me started on those times where my thumb swells because of water, or heat/humidity, or whatever.
Anyway, love the Saddle pick, most comfortable one I have found - just need a better string contact area.
Oh, and as for setup - it’s not hard at all. You just pull the strap until the pick fits your thumb, just like a zip tie. After getting it to the proper size, you simply cut off the excess strap length. It’s not “infinitely” adjustable, obviously - I think what the advertiser/vendor meant is that it will adjust to pretty much any thumb size, because there is plenty of strap available in the purchased product. Because of the felt pad under the top of the strap, it will situate itself nicely as your thumb expands/contracts with temperature and water-weight variations.
intrigued by this DIY pick.
