I recently just started doing this with my Strats, I previously had a habit of ALWAYS playing my acoustics with my fingers and when it came to grab the electric I'd always use a flat-pick, every time, that's just the way I did it and never thought much about it.

I really like the more intimate connection with the Strat when just using fingers and also the tone is really good especially once the amps settings are tweaked a bit to suit, I had always just avoided it because I found it difficult to play stuff I knew I could play really well with a pick and rather than work on it, I just avoided it.

I'm also liking that it's easier to play really dynamically and especially on the 5e3 you can really make good use of the clean to dirty/overdrive transition just with the fingers and not even touching the Vol knob on the guitar nor stepping on a pedal. So my amp of choice seems to have really bought this to the surface as well over the last year of playing the 5e3 Tweed amps. The ability to get under the strings with your fingers and introduce some snapping dynamics and added texture is great too.

I find I'm having to spend some time re-working how to play some songs using just fingers but the result seems to be worth it so far once I figure how to approach each song or solo, sometimes things get tangled up when soloing but it's improving. Certain things I normally play are a bit harder and going to require some work but there are other things that are easier and instantly sound better. In general it has slowed me down a bit and gets me thinking a bit more about note choice.

Anyway, I think I will dedicate a lot more time to really getting this style more ingrained second nature as I think there is a lot to be milked out of it.

So anyone else using just fingers?


Snowy

I sort of alternate between using my fingers and using a pick. When I use a pick, it's never thicker than a .60 and is always a Dunlop or a jazz pick. I can play more accurately without one, but a pick gives more crunch to the sound, so they both have pros and cons. Basically, whatever I find lying around. Some times my fingers, some times a pick.

_________________
1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

i play acoustic with my fingers and my electric with the softest pick i have. i never vary that because it's how i learned to play each type of guitar, i guess.

I've been thinking of trying a thumb pick so I can finger pick as well.

_________________
My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.

Bass - 99.9% fingers
Guitar - I use both

i play with my fingers unlike some bassists decide to make the sound completely different sound its only excuse is metal

_________________
RUSH

Fingers is best, just listen to Jeff Beck I do both. I use a Herco pick that is a combination flat and thumbpick, those are great and very versatile.

_________________
Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

I use fingers on acoustic and a stone pick with my strat.

99.6% of the time, I don't use a pick...just flesh and fingernails, baby!

On the other .4% of the time, I use a really thick Dunlop Jazz III or an even thicker Clayton 1.52mm teardrop.

_________________
Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

I sometimes palm the pick and do the crab! But I'm a lousy fingerpicker, truth be told.

You ever see Steven Seagal play guitar?

He just uses his thumb... and even Hendrix would have to say, "Stevie, you got some big $@! hands, man!"

Take a look -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqKFSqb0Sn4

I played bass for 17 years, fingers only, before ever starting guitar. And then I started on acoustic and just stayed with fingers. Alot of the acoustic stuff I play is John Prine style Travis picking so that's generally how I play my acoustic.

On my strat I play with a really thin pick, a .46 dunlop. Our guitarist teases me that I should just use a corner of a plastic bag since the pick is so thin.

Sort of depends on the music I'm playing.

I think you can put more feel into your playing with fingers.

Me.

In my case I think it's because I'm a left-hander playing the guitar right-handed. To me holding a pick in my right hand is like trying use a pen with the wrong hand. I can just about manage it, but the results ain't pretty.

I have a horrible thumb-and-two-fingers style which I did not copy from Mark Knopfler (another left-hander) but turned out to be very like his technique. Good for some things and very "feel" orientated. But chef wong is right, there are some things you just can't do without a pick: I will never be a shredder.

Also, though some people say they can do great squeelies just with fingers I have never been much good at it. Those harmonics are very hit and miss for me.

Still, swings and roundabouts...

Cheers - C

EDIT: just noticed, not only can't I do squealies; I can't even spell them... ^^^ D'oh!

_________________

If I'm trying to play some hard rock that has me playing the same note 50 times in a row or a song that just has me strumming straight barre chords, I'll use a pick. Sure, I can do it without one, but what could possibly be gained from playing Master of Puppets fingerstyle aside from broken fingernails and blisters?

For everything else that doesn't have me playing the same thing a million times of minute (roughly 95% of my playing), I use my fingers for all the reasons formentioned ^^

_________________
I traded my car in for a microphone.

It truly depends on the song. Some songs, I use fingers but the majority, I pick with a .73 mm Dunlop.