Pick handles or no pick handles

[Raccoon]

They must be expensive if they don't even list a price. "If you have to ask, you can't afford it."

[Char]

i dont have any tools yet
but i think prefer handles

[Jason13]

Ya they are cool but i recommend you dont put handles on your pick before you learn how to feel over set pins , false setting pins , set pins and binded pins. But once you have mastered or basically learned them things then you can use handles are a bit sore on the hands.

[Jason13]

Handles as in the handle on pick hurts Whoops again

[Jay J. McCool]

My PXS-14 set doesn't have handles, and I can see why it would be a good idea to train without them. It is more difficult to hold the picks, easier to feel what's going on with them, and it hurts a little bit (so it keeps you from going at it longer than you should.)

Still, I'm betting that if I had enough experience to feel confident casting a vote, I'd cast it for handles. It might be a good idea to train without them, but I see little point in walking barefoot on glass when one could easily buy (or make) some shoes.

Dunno. We'll see, I suppose.

[eric343]

Would anyone know of, or recommend, a set with dental-pick handles? I hear mention of dental-pick picks from TOOOL but I simply haven't found any.

These picks were some kind of craze on this forum a while back, and it seems they are well worth the money, but they're really not cheap.

HPC make dental-picks: http://www.hpcworld.com/Picks/p_ndpx.htm

A lot of money, and if you get them I'd appreciate it greatly if you'd do a small write up on them.

I own the HPC NDPX-Dental set. I bought in the Netherlands at What the Hack for 120 euro, which makes it the most expensive set, per pick, in the world. The set can be found online for $90.

They are the most comfortable picks in my collection. I bought them specifically for 5-hour practice sessions while travelling on trains, and they live up to my expectations in that regard entirely.

They are not my favorite picks to use. The hook is enormous, far too large for even a slightly paracentric keyway and sometimes downright unwieldy. However, the half-diamond and rake are quite nice, smooth and polished to the point of being slippery. All of the picks are more than long enough, and as a result are a little too flexible for my tastes.

[jgencinc]

I prefer no handles. I actually make my picks around 4 inches long. I like the back end of the pick to rest on the inside of my palm, while supporting the front shaft of the pick with my middle finger and my thumb.