I was in the "flip and shake" crowd until I devised the Dunbar Pick System for Helping Timing, also known as DPSHT. I found dropping my pick in the hole was affecting my timing--sometimes it would take several measures for me to flip and shake the guitar, spoiling the continuity of the moment. Devising and adopting DPSHT has changed my professional life, while protecting the environment.

One evening after an engagement in one of the local pubs I was changing the strings, preparing to boil them while making a pot of tea (another labor saving system of great environmental impact I have devised), when it hit me--a way I could put old strings to better use than they get on my guitar AND save my picks from falling into the BLACK HOLE.

Tools you will need to prepare this:

Old strings, I've used all guages, including bass strings.

New picks. The larger the better to accomodate the hole.

A bench vise

A pair of needle nose pliers

A butane soldering torch

Solder (the kind that doesn't need flux, if you can find it, or you can salvage extra blobs of solder from the circuit board of one of your old amplifiers).

A bench mounted, lighted, magnifying lens.

An old pair of leather gloves.

A bucket of water (safety precaution for the butane torch)

safety goggles

a dremel with a wire polishing wheel.

and, a drill press.

Wearing the goggles, carefully drill a medium (3/8" to 1/2" [don't know it in metric, sorry Graham]) hole in the center of the pick. Clamp the string at approximately the middle point to the table vise. Insert the string into the pick, leaving a 3 1/2 inch tag end. Wearing the gloves, wind the string on itself in a counter clockwise (sorry again Graham, do you folks in Australia run your clocks backwards the way the water runs down your drains?) direction safeguarding the unwinding of the string while playing bluegrass, anywhere from 9 to 17 winds are sufficient. Heat the winding area of the string in preparation for the solder (being careful you don't melt the pick). Apply the solder liberally, generally the more the better, then carefully remove the string from the vise and dip that end in the water to cool it down.

The next step is easier. Remove the goggles. Re-introduce the string to the vise. Make a large loop in the other end of the string and carefully wind the free end onto the shaft of the string below the loop, forming a sort of "noose". Replace the goggles. Solder the winding of the string, being careful not to solder the "noose" loops to the shaft. Here, a little less solder is in order. Remove the string from the vise and dip this end in the water. Remove the gloves and, using the magnifying lens, polish the solder with the dremel--here you can also grind down any sharp edges of either the core or wrap of the string.

Now you're ready to try the DPSHT. Holding the pick in your right hand (or left hand if you are left handed [sorry Graham, are you folks in Australia left handed?]), unbutton the sleeve of your picking arm and slip the DPSHT "noose" around your arm above the elbow. Make sure it is tight enough that it won't slip if you are doing Pete Townsend "windmills". Now, enjoy your guitar with no worry of the pick slipping in the hole.

I've used this system for sometime now, it only took a few months to develop the calluses on my arms. In the early stages, I'd recommend wearing dark shirts or blouses, in case there is bleeding.

Enjoy your DPSHT.

Happy Pickin',
Mike



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Mike Dunbar Music

You've got to know your limitations. I don't know what your limitations are. I found out what mine were when I was twelve. I found out that there weren't too many limitations, if I did it my way. -Johnny Cash

It's only music.
-niteshift

Mike Dunbar Music