Pick up the classical for a while. Get with a good classical guitar teacher and pickup up the basics or just buy a book and try to sort it out yourself. This is how I learned to fingerpick. Although youll have to play the nylon strings for a while, but it will just give you another voice for your music. I personally prefer the classical for my acoustic playing over a steel string. Plus much of the classical guitar composers wrote some really stunning work. Check out Segovia, Julian Bream, John Williams, Christopher Parkening, Narciso Yepes, Angel Romero, and even a guy by the name of Paul Galbraith who plays an 8 string that is held like a cello.had the pleasure of seeing him a few months back and was blown away and deeply moved by this mans artistry and that guitar he plays sounds like a Steinway grand. The definitive recording of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas for guitar.

I once had the dilemma of should I play with a pick or not and I decided for the pick although I know what you saying about getting stuck in a single note rut. With hybrid picking you can pick the fast single note runs and of course you can use your fingers to play stuff that Joe Pass played. I would say my style mirrors Pass, although only in technique not in my musical choices.

Personally I've always wondered how some of the greats managed to play all that music with just a pick. Fingerstyle is hard, but you really have to be a mad scientist to figure out how some of those guys did it and kept it from sounding mechanical.

As for pat he use to use a extra heavy triangle fender pick like my jazz picks, and he's been known to use stones for picks. It's those 16 gauge strings and strong hands that give him that fat sound. I've seen him about 8 times in the past couple of years and it doesn't matter what amp he uses his sound is instantly recognizable.