Br1ck
Senior Member
We can talk endlessly about banjo killer acoustics, especially us flat pickers, but there is little discussion of tone at the quietest end of the tonal spectrum. I have been exploring this lately. Last night, late, I wanted to play some. I've been keeping my D 35 in the house for when I don't want to go out to the studio. I've been exploring how light my pick grip can be while still holding on to it by playing as softly as I can, while retaining precision. Easier said than done. So here I am, eight or nine years into owing my 70 D 35 and I've just realized how lovely the tone is at the edge of silence. I imagine you finger pickers are more inclined to visit this space. My lightening up on pick grip is in part to relieve stress from an arthritic thumb joint. I'm using fiddle tunes to try and maintain speed while retaining a very light touch. Very interesting as it would seem counter intuitive, but it's a good exercise in pick control and there are a lot of great tones on the quiet side of things.