John Doe is the founder of the seminal Los Angeles punk group X, a solo artist and actor. John answers questions from our community members in the WWJDD? blog. Photo by Autumn de Wilde.

A Question from Matthew in Liverpool

Hi John,

I'm a big X fan and I love your solo work particularly, 'Meet John Doe'...a  great album, I hope maybe Rhino Records may remaster it.

My question is something I've already emailed Peter Case about, I play guitar but find that when I try and flat pick I can't get the right sound. I use 12's on an old EN acoustic, I'm fed up of playing finger style and want a tougher sound. Are there any tips you can give me about flat picking? Should I be using a thumb pick or a particular plectrum?

Yours with Respect.

Matthew 

WWJDD?
 
Hey Matthew,

  Peter Case is a much better guitar player that I am, so take his advice first.  Most good gtr player that I know use very heavy picks & a very light touch. Billy Zoom uses something like Fender heavy & Dave Alvin uses a heavy thumb pick & both use their fingernails for more intricate picking parts. To avoid my own confusion in switching picks from bass to gtr, I use Herco nylon flex 75 (silver) which are fairly stiff. They do the job w/ both bass & gtr & don't turn floppy during a show.  Certainly trial & error is the best method to find out what works best for you.

best of luck, hope this helps & as always thanks for writing,

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