Why I Started Using Thumb Picks
A personal journey from rock technique to natural touch
When I was growing up, I was obsessed with rock guitar — speed, energy, precision.
I spent hours practicing alternate picking, sweep picking, and chicken picking, because that’s what I heard in the music I loved.
To do all that, I needed a pick — fingers alone couldn’t keep up.
But the classic flat pick came with its own battles.
It would slip, twist, or fly away mid-solo.
So I invented my own little trick: I drilled a tiny hole into the pick and tied it to a string fixed to a wristband on my right hand.
That way, even if the pick escaped, it stayed “on a leash.”
I still use that idea today — even on my Luha Thumbpicks.
The banjo detour
At some point, I tried using a banjo thumb pick.
I thought it might be the perfect solution.
It wasn’t.
I couldn’t play proper downstrokes and upstrokes, and the whole right-hand position felt unnatural.
That’s when I began experimenting: cutting banjo-style grips and gluing them to standard picks.
The result worked — but not quite.
The angle of the tip was wrong for a natural guitar hand position.
So I started trimming, sanding, and gluing again — sometimes just shifting the angle by a few degrees.
It turned into an endless process:
cut, test, play, repeat.
A few months became years, and before I realized it, I was designing something completely new.
From problem to purpose
Those years of experiments taught me a simple truth:
the tools we use shape the way we play — and the way we feel while playing.
I didn’t want to fight the pick anymore.
I wanted something that felt like an extension of my hand, not a foreign object between me and the strings.
That’s when I started developing my own thumb pick designs — which eventually evolved into what is now Luha Picks.
But this story isn’t about gear — it’s about freedom.
About that moment when the hand finally does what the ear imagines.
That’s the real reason I started using thumb picks — and why I’ve never looked back.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re a rock player, fingerstyle guitarist, or just curious about new ways to play, don’t be afraid to question what’s “normal.”
Every small change — even something as simple as the shape of a pick — can open a whole new world of sound and feel.
Play what you feel.
That’s where the real story begins.
Related
Read more about the full 32-year development of my custom thumb picks at Luha Picks – The Journey