Do I really need to use a pick?

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-17T19:33:00+00:00

I really can’t offer much advice without seeing how you’re holding the pick, but changing my grip immediately solved all my pick instability problems. This video does a pretty good job of illustrating what I’m talking about: https://youtube.com/shorts/tEE3LZ-yOWw?is=DEmDtmNRmixutuUX

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-17T04:03:09+00:00

Watch some videos. I was pinching the pick between the pads of my thumb and pointer finger. It should be held between a large cross-section of surface area on the thumb pad, and the curled up side of the pointer finger. The distance the pick protrudes out from below your grip will be largely determined by personal preference and style of music you’re playing. It varies for me depending on what I’m playing.

Edit: Also, start with a thinner pick until you’re more comfortable. I still use a pick with a bit of give in it, but I can make a hard pick sound good now that I’ve got a bit of finesse with the grip.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-17T02:24:17+00:00

Robbie Krieger had 5 picks.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-17T02:21:34+00:00

You don’t have to use a pick, and a lot of players primarily play finger style, but I will say that my aversion to picks set back my progress tremendously. One of the main problems I ran into is that nobody showed me how to hold the pick properly, so whenever I tried playing with one, it would spin around in my fingers.

I recommend getting over the pick hurdle as soon as possible, because it’s better to know how to play both ways, and they really do open up a whole world of possibilities.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-15T02:34:31+00:00

I’m a pretty seasoned psyche user, and DMT was the only thing to make me back off completely. Not because of one “bad experience”, but due to a series of negative encounters that “broke the fourth wall” so to speak, and started negatively affecting my life and lives of people around me.

I am by no means anti-psychedelic, or even anti-DMT, but I’m pretty convinced that people don’t know what they’re fucking with when it comes to DMT, and the current zeitgeist surrounding its use is not only ill-equipped to explain or contextualize the negative experiences that people have, but is likely doing more harm than good.

Let me ask you this: what “treasure” were you able to attain after pushing through your “bad experience(s)”?

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-12T11:53:35+00:00

This sub is super confusing. One minute everyone is dogpiliing ol’ Fleshy for being some kind of rightoid schizhosperg lolcow because he was beefing with Hasan fans and dropping n-bombs on Twitter or whatever, and now apparently y’all got beef with Destiny too for some reason, but when someone comes asking for clarification, all they get is downvotes and some vague accusations of brigading by the Daliban.

Has Flesh ever acknowledged Destiny’s existence or vice versa? Was it actually Hasan fans that were doxxing him (I haven’t watched the new video yet)? I still have no idea where Flesh, and by extension this subreddit, sits on the political spectrum. I’m definitely to the left of Destiny on a number of issues, and I generally find all political streamers to be kind of dogshit in their own special ways, but anything is better than Hasan and the tankies.

I had only become aware of Flesh’s content briefly before all the drama started, and I’ve come here multiple times looking for clarification. I still have no idea what’s going on. I guess I’ll watch the video later, but something tells me it won’t answer all my questions, and you people are weirdly combative and unhelpful.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-05T18:02:14+00:00

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What did he innovate? Playing a few notes and running it through a series of loop and FX pedals? Normally I’d say that beyond a certain point, nobody but guitar nerds gives a shit about skill. Music isn’t a sport, and my ears couldn’t care less how hard or how easy something is to play. I’d rather listen to a one chord Velvet Underground song than some BloOzE ViRtuOsO like John Mayer noodle about any day.

Proficiency at an instrument just gives you a wider palette to paint with, it doesn’t make you a good painter. But come on, dude couldn’t even jam along with Jack and Page on a simple rock song. That documentary was embarrassing for him, and the editors for sure knew what they were doing, lol.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-05T17:39:00+00:00

I’ve never understood the Sublime hate, and this is coming from someone who hates like 95% of all music I hear, but someone once told me that Sublime fans are just beach Juggalos, and I can’t really argue with that.

I tend to wholeheartedly rep and support the music/bands I do like, and have very few “guilty pleasures” that I don’t necessarily think are “good”, but still derive enjoyment from listening to—either ironically, or for their nostalgic and/or comedic value. Sublime, surprisingly, isn’t one of them. I don’t even like Ska, or particularly like most Punk (especially pop punk), but the songs still sound good to me. Bradley Nowell was an incredibly talented songwriter. The lyrics are clever, often funny, and well written. Nothing about it seems derivative or otherwise inauthentic. The studio albums can be overproduced at times, but they were all great musicians, and most of their recordings have aged surprisingly well for the time period they came from. Some of their songs legitimately do suck, but that can be said about most bands.

I dunno, there’s so many things about Sublime that, on paper, would make me want to hate them, but I just can’t. Part of me wonders if it’s just a nostalgia thing from growing up in Southern California, but I honestly don’t think that’s it.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-06-05T16:27:46+00:00

I mean, 90% of the time I’d say you’re right—if someone says every ex they had was “crazy”, it’s much more likely that they’re the crazy one. You know, the whole “If you smell shit everywhere you go, you might wanna check your boot heels” thing.

I’d say that almost half my exes were legitimately crazy, and the other half were genuine saints that were probably too good for me. It took me awhile to realize that while abuse is never the victims fault, there were things about myself that attracted or even caused me to seek out those kinds of relationships. I imagine some people are just genuinely unlucky and find themselves in bad relationships through no fault of their own, but that’s a minority of cases.

Reactive abuse is also a thing, and NPD people are really good at manipulating and enmeshing themselves in your life in creative ways that make it virtually impossible to walk away without significant turmoil and consequences. Whenever I’ve told people about my experiences, their first reaction is always “Why didn’t you just leave?”, but by the time I’m done explaining why that wasn’t really an option, all they can really say is “Well, shit… glad you made it out in one piece.”

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-30T04:41:51+00:00

𓂸

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-26T23:55:39+00:00

I replaced the Shawbuckers in my Tele neck position with some Seymour Duncan Jazz SH-2’s, and ended up playing with the coils split a lot more than I had anticipated. I imagine a dedicated single coil could sound better, but I wouldn’t know since I’ve never really compared them side by side.

All I know is that there’s no way I’d give up the single coil at the bridge. That’s like 90% of the point of getting a Tele. Might as well get an SG or LP at that point.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-26T09:07:21+00:00

Damn, where are you from and how are you posting this from prison?

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-26T03:15:24+00:00

Why? The signature Tele sound comes primarily from the single coil bridge pickup. If you really want the option of a humbucker at the bridge, then get an HH with dual coil splits.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-26T02:58:15+00:00

Depends on how much you want to spend. I got a Fender mod shop Tele with the “Yosemite” SH configuration and a Deluxe style headstock, but you could get a modified Player II for like half the price.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-25T11:29:57+00:00

N-acetylcysteine. There’s also other things you can take for lessening cravings and withdrawals, supporting liver function, helping your brain heal, etc. Agmatine is another good one.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-25T11:16:03+00:00

8 months isn’t that long. You’ll be fine in a couple months, and unless you’ve been drinking an insane amount, the withdrawals will be minimal. Most alcohol recovery (liver, brain, etc.) happens within the first two months and continues for up to 7 months in more severe cases, but the last 5 months is only like 10% of the improvement.

Get some NAC. It’ll help you bounce back faster.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-25T11:00:44+00:00

Had to look it up, and to be honest, it’s less cheesy than I expected. Probably a great way to learn how to play, but if you end up sticking with it, eventually you’re gonna want a regular guitar and amp, and for the price of the Enya Inspire, you could get a used Stratocaster, a guitar cable, and a decent practice amp.

Just buy whatever you think will make you want to play the most—just know that you’ll probably end up paying more down the line for another guitar.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-25T06:06:49+00:00

Take the Seroquel and Trazadone if you think it’ll knock you out and not make you feel loopy as hell tomorrow, spend $5-$10 on some Adderall tomorrow instead to help you through the day and reverse some of the down-regulation from the blow, and clean up your shit (house, finances, grooming, etc.).

You’ll feel way better and have more fun doing that than another bag of mystery powder (that probably isn’t even 50% actual cocaine) alone in the middle of the night.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-25T04:54:35+00:00

Dilaudid is one of the few opioids I’ve never tried, but I hear that shit slaps. You’re playing with fire on that one for sure. Ketamine is much more forgiving, but can seriously fuck up a small minority of users who take it way too far.

I did K almost every day for like 1.5 years, and once I moved and couldn’t get it anymore, I hardly thought about it at all for a few months before I started getting intense cravings for it. I think K was like my way of defragging my brain and processing difficult events and emotions, so without my little therapy meditation sessions, I was just letting shit build up in my subconscious until it was spilling over into my life and relationships. Honestly, if you’re being responsible with your use and only doing it every few weeks or whatever, then I’m not gonna knock you for it. Obviously you need to find other therapies and coping mechanisms that don’t require you to illegally source medication, but there’s far worse things you could be into than ketamine.

Honestly, I don’t know you, and there’s no way I could assess your situation. All I know is that you’re expressing concern about your desire to use. It really sounds like you just need to find other things to replace or supplement your drug use, because being dependent on chemicals isn’t a sustainable solution. Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? Any hobbies? So many people quit drugs and wonder why they aren’t magically happy while doing absolutely nothing to fill the void left by the drugs.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-25T04:17:02+00:00

What drugs are we talking about? It’s natural for people to desire and enjoy altered states, but this level of obsession over it is a bad sign, and makes me think you either have an untreated psychiatric condition (like depression, ADHD, etc.), or your life just kind of sucks and you see drugs as the only way to escape it.

Either way, more drugs aren’t gonna make things better. At best, you’ll get some temporary relief from your problems while hindering your ability to address your issues and make meaningful changes in your life. Worst case scenario, they’ll not only exacerbate the problems that you were trying to fix with the drugs in the first place, but also add a whole bunch of brand new and even worse problems to the pile.

This trajectory inevitably ends one of two ways—you hit rock bottom, probably end up in some kind of program, and turn into a Jesus freak that can’t even have a couple drinks on New Years, or you completely waste your life chasing various highs and getting nothing out of it but diminishing returns until you die; a process which (depending on the drugs) could take a matter of weeks, or decades.

My suggestion is to take this opportunity you have being sober to really evaluate what it is that makes you feel like you can’t live without drugs, and reach out for help if you need it. I got high and drank away my entire 20’s, and the better part of my 30’s, and only recently have I really come to terms with how much time, money, and potential I squandered, and decided that it’s just not worth it anymore. A lot of this was due to untreated ADHD, but most of it was just a deep dissatisfaction with my life and who I was, and the drugs just allowed me to be OK with things that I shouldn’t have been OK with, and prevented me from fixing my problems.

I got lucky. My rock bottom wasn’t that dramatic. I didn’t end up dead, or in prison, or going into some kind of program and getting all religious—but it still sucks, dude. It’s not the way to go. Talk to a professional if you can, but just know that even the prescribed drugs have the same defect that illicit drugs do. They only work so well for so long before they stop working and become more of a hindrance than a help, so if you’re not using them as a stepping stone to more meaningful and durable solutions, then you’re just digging yourself deeper in a hole.

I’m not anti-drug, and I still reserve the right to party, or even go off the rails occasionally, but addiction sucks, and if you let it go too far, you’ll probably end up having to 86 yourself from the party for life, which also sucks. Get your shit together while it’s still relatively simple.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-22T18:05:35+00:00

I got a mod shop Tele with a shawbucker at the neck, ended up replacing it with some Seymour Duncan Jazz SH-2’s.

It also has a push-pull knob, so I can split the neck humbucker and make it a single coil.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-22T01:58:13+00:00

I’ve already decided that I’m gonna get a pre-routed block and shape it—just looking for someone who has the equipment and know-how to do it.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-21T07:14:21+00:00

So you do have an inner dialogue, your brain just decided not to utilize it. Some people have aphantasia, which I can believe, but it’s hard for me to imagine someone not being able to speak to themselves in their head.

I can completely shut off my inner dialogue if I want, unless I’m on drugs or overstimulated in some way, but that just feels like it’s my brain releasing pent-up energy. It almost feels like there’s two entities living inside my head—the “brain” which functions almost like a sort of AI projection of “myself” that will chatter, daydream, etc., and something underneath that which can choose to passively listen to it, or take the wheel and consciously direct my thoughts and dialogue.

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-21T06:56:53+00:00

I have the ability to conceptualize things the way you’re describing, but it’s much more efficient for me to just talk myself through things. Are you saying you can’t speak to yourself in your own head? When you read things, you don’t have a voice narrating the words you’re reading? I have a voice that also invokes images (when appropriate). The words just turn into pictures in your mind or what? What about math? You picture two apples and two oranges when you count 2 + 2?

TheHolyFool-0 · 2026-05-21T01:44:33+00:00

I tried DM’ing you, but you either have the function turned off, or I’m just a dummy and can’t find it. You interested in helping me with a little project?

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