My finger picking style is self-taught and uses a combination of picking and strumming with my three fingers both pulling up and pushing down across the strings. Conventional fingerpicks can produce decent volume, but because I can't seem to retrain my fingers to NEVER do down strokes, they invariably get caught and/or pop off my fingers. Fred Kelly's Freedom Picks appeared to offer a unique solution.

I just received my order last night: three large delrin and another three large poly. G R E A T ! I love these picks. They were immediately comfortable and I found myself back into all the stuff I used to play back when I was wearing false acrylic fingernails. Except unlike the acrylics, these are hassle free. I quit fingerpicking some years ago because I began playing serious bluegrass. I focused on developing a strong flatpick style because finger picking just couldn't produce the volume I needed on a guitar in an acoustic jam. But these Freedom Picks allow bi-directional finger strokes just as the acrylic nails did, and I can flail the strings in either direction with any of three fingers.

I put the delrins on first, with the solid surface covering my nail, and with a Fred Kelly Speed Pick on my thumb. I played for maybe three hours, and as I became used to the feel of the picks, I found myself recalling all the stuff I used to play. Compared to a flatpick, they're not as loud and they feel a bit less precise coming off the string. I can't get the same speed or quite the same dynamic precision, but that's more to do with my ability than any limitation of Fred's Freedom Picks. The polycarb version seems a bit crisper/brighter and maybe a bit louder, while the delrin is a softer/warmer sound. The Delrins may be a bit more comfortable too, but I find both types very comfortable, even after playing for three hours. I find myself adapting to them very quickly.

Recommended. Great job, Fred Kelly