Guitar picks

[markp]

Love the threads containing pick techn.
I am mostly Lead player all day long and use a very hevy pick.

My question is How thick of pick do rythm players use?
Classic Rockers?
Funkers?

I am trying to get the rythm thing going and the thinner picks seem easyer but .

[Joe]

For acoustic .046, for jazz .088, for rock 1.0 or 1.14.

I really like stainless steel picks for rock, thin but as firm as a plastic pick that is 3.0 mm.

[EricT]

I use those small Dunlop 1.14mm picks for everything, except acoustic strumming, I use a bit thinner picks fot that.

[jackaroo]

Fender heavy tortiseshell for everything. Sometimes medium Fender for acoustic, sometimes Dunlop Jazz III for funk.

[therealting]

I use Dava Control picks. They are thinner in the middle, and can feel like a heavy or medium pick depending on how you hold them.

[spaceboy]

a funny thing about pics - I can no longer use them straight off...

a while ago someone, rather annoyingly, set fire to the end of one of my plectrums. the end was kinda melted, but not much, so i filed it down, smoothed it over, and kept using it. it turned into my fave pic!

now i take all mynew pics, clip of the sharp picking corner, file it round, and yay! lovely round pic!... but now I can't play with pointy picks. ie. relatively pointy picks, ie. normal picks. which might mean i shouldn't play with the rounded picks... but i like them!

i'm still on .73 (is that the gauge? .7 something anyway...)

still just can't play with anything any thicker. but I'v been getting heavier in my pick gauge throughout my guitar years, so I'll probably get to the 1mm+ picks.

[screamingdaisy]

For rhythm I use Dunlop Ultra 1.14mm

Except some really fast tremolo picking stuff where I use Dunlop 3mm Stubbys.

[jzucker]

My favorite is the D'Andrea xCell .96 mm in the 346 (rounded triangle) size. The size is huge so it's easy to grip and get lots of different sounds. If you hold it loose and by the edge, you get a bouncy sort of Pat Metheny tone but you can grip it in the center and get more of a Bensony tone. It's also great for rock and fusion sounds though I like a thinner pick for funky rhythm parts. The other cool thing is that because it's the triangle shape, you get 3 picks in one.

[alderbody]

Originally posted by jackaroo
Fender heavy tortiseshell for everything.

:AOK

[spaceboy]

argh! tried my brand new guitar teacher's pick today after he saw that mine was a .7... his was a Dunlop Tortex 1.14 i think, and it actually played really well. just rolled off the string as if it were a much thinner pick. i think this had a lot to do with how used it was, but still, I went out and bought a selection of thicker plectrums.

so the point is, apart from them being a little difficult to use cos they're still very pointy, they have no grip whasoever! the thinner tortex seem to have some kind of powdery stuff on them when they're new, and other picks have grips and stuff, but these are just smooth, and i can't hold on to them at all if my fingers are the slightest bit sweaty.

this is actually a problem i've had a lot, I find it really hard to keep the pick in the right position when playing certain things. i'll get it in the right position, play through, but by the 12th bar, say, my pick will have worked it's way right out of position and be completely wrong for the next hard bit coming up, and so i mess it up, even if I could play that bit fine if i started there...

make sense? my fingers do sweat more than they probably should, but i don't think it's just that. I tried some picks with a special bit of black grit glued to one side for grip, but i'm not sure if they really worked much. they definately sounded HORRIBLE, so i don't use em.

any tips for keeping hold of my pick? just find one that grips well? argh!

[alderbody]

Originally posted by spaceboy

any tips for keeping hold of my pick? just find one that grips well? argh!

how about roughing the pick to the point your fingers touch it with sandpaper?

to avoid roughing the tip that comes in contact with the strings, mask it (let's say 1/3 of it's surface) with adhesive tape.

do it on both sides and test to see what happens.

are you a relatively new player? (no offence intended, ok?)

cause if so, by the time and practice you'll see that the pick won't slip at all...

or you can use a thick and heavy pick for soloing and a thinner for chord work.

good luck! :)

[Dave B]

Originally posted by spaceboy


..... any tips for keeping hold of my pick? just find one that grips well? argh!

I take a utility knife and carve a grid pattern (like graph paper) on both sides of it where my fingers make contact. Doing this etches about 2/3 of the pick, leaving the rest smooth. It's a 1.52 nylon, so it's thick enough I can push pretty hard and gouge it pretty deep. I have to re-line it every now and then when the grip area starts to smooth out. This roughens it up enough for another month or so of activity. I like the finger friction with this approach better than most of the commercially made picks with their different methods. Though, I'm not sure how hard you can push on the razor with thinner picks and not gash it up pretty good.

[Hipster Dofus]

Originally posted by Dave B
I take a utility knife and carve a grid pattern (like graph paper) on both sides of it where my fingers make contact. Doing this etches about 2/3 of the pick, leaving the rest smooth. It's a 1.52 nylon, so it's thick enough I can push pretty hard and gouge it pretty deep. I have to re-line it every now and then when the grip area starts to smooth out. This roughens it up enough for another month or so of activity. I like the finger friction with this approach better than most of the commercially made picks with their different methods. Though, I'm not sure how hard you can push on the razor with thinner picks and not gash it up pretty good.

+1

I Like to take mine to a grinder and put a bit of a point on mine. I use the purple or green heavys most of the time. I use yellows for strumming.

[bbarnard]

Originally posted by spaceboy
any tips for keeping hold of my pick? just find one that grips well? argh!

I really like Picboy Pos-a-grip picks. They have holes in them like swiss cheese on the gripping part. Makes them very easy to hold. They come in all three "densities" (thin, medium, heavy).

They also have a carbon pick that has ridges in the gripping area to make them easier to hold.

Highly recommended.

[spaceboy]

well, i ended up just taking a knife to my picks and scratched and gouged away in a random fashion, and that seems to help for the ones that were too slidey before... but they still come out of position when I'm playing that blasted Metal Mania! It's a cheesy metal peice from my Grade 8 guitar book (so i guess i'm not an altogether new player, but I can see that it's a fairly newbie-esque problem) and the first section is just a load of arpeggios played as semi-quavers (... 16ths?.. 4 notes per beat anyhoo) at about 105(my standard) to 120 (grade 8 book standard) bpm... just to give you an idea of my problem. so there's 8 bars of this, and the last one has a tricky descending tonal-sequence kinda thing, and my pick is always out of position by that bit and i only manage it about half the time.

So... I start with my finger and thumb pinching about the same point on the pick, and my thumb touching at about half way between the tip and the pad... but i think (it's kinda hard to imagine it exactly without a guitar handy to try it out...) the pick moves in towards my hand so that i'm holding it more with the pads of my fingers, and my index finger is quite far down it, and it's sooo hard to play!

maybe i just need to grip harder. but I always thought that gripping too hard would be a bad thing.

i'm just bloody clueless as to how i'm supposed to stop this hapening!

[Brion]

You could drill a hole through the pick or even several small holes. There is/was a product called gorilla snot that you could apply to a pick to give it a bit of grip. I also recently saw a product advertised that was a peice of fabric that wrapped around your thumb with a slit cut out that the pick goes through. I guess most of the pick goes between your thumb and the fabric so the pick is secured.

[wooldl]

Fender Mediums for everything. However, I've found the blue ones have the most transperent tone.:D

I do like the idea of the drilled holes.....think I'll try that one.

D

[HHB]

I've been using a pick I carved from waterbuffalo horn, uber responsive and toneful, the next best thing to real tortoise shell is this buffalo horn, and it's legal, other than this one, I use jazz III's or tortex , all in the 1.14 mm thickness

ps you got to get around bluegrassers or manuche players to understand the tortoise shell thing, it's like a whole nother world

[mule train]

I love Pyramid picks(the string maker).They are super hard to find other tha when you subscribe to Tonequest magazine.
Real choice celluliod with a PERFECT bevel on the edges.I haven't found another pick even close with a similar attack in 23years of playing.

[TNJ]

Update...
Pickboy Classic Vintage Picks 1.0mm
The Best...for me, anyway.
:cool:

S.
j

[sirN]

I use the Dunlop hard purple ones. I don't know what the size is, but they're hard. If I use anything else I begin to sound like Mick Mars. :rolleyes:

[Stringrazor]

Originally posted by spaceboy
a funny thing about pics - I can no longer use them straight off...

a while ago someone, rather annoyingly, set fire to the end of one of my plectrums. the end was kinda melted, but not much, so i filed it down, smoothed it over, and kept using it. it turned into my fave pic!



You might like the rounded end of the Dunlop Fin Picks (http://www.jimdunlop.com/products/picks/products/tortex/index.html) . I have a bunch of these and while mainly being a Fender Medium guy, I sometimes like foolin' around with the 3 different edges: pointed, rounded, and multi.

[Tommy Tones]

If you like heavy picks, try the Dunlop Gator Grips. My favorite.

[jordanL]

Originally posted by spaceboy

any tips for keeping hold of my pick? just find one that grips well? argh!

I don't have that probablem, but everyones different. Try roughing it up with a file, sandpaper ets. drill holes, punch holes with a heted needle. Try that Gorilla snot stuff. At NAMM 200 I bought a few bottles of soemthing that can be painted on and leaves a rubbery spot. A friend had something called brain picks that had a really nice texture to hold.

[Pete2]

Originally posted by Tommy Tones
If you like heavy picks, try the Dunlop Gator Grips. My favorite.

+1

I just started using these. I was checking out an amp at my local booteek shop, and the guy handed me a green dunlop gator to try. I think it's 1.5mm. He ended up handing me a bag of them to take. Great picks, and much heavier than what I was used to.

Pete

[aquadog]

dunlop jazz II or III, can't remember which it is. 2.0 mm with a nice shape and nice pointed corners, although i wish it was just a tad smaller (maybe I'll have to put it under the knife). Nice tone and clarity, and since its really solid feeling I find that I can really dig in to playing, lead or rhythem. Works good for acoustic too. Never really found light picks to be to my liking except for when i first started.

[Two-Octave]

I use the .73 Dunlop plectrums.Both of them,nylon and tortex.(Forgot to mention the 2mm stubby when I'm on my pedal steel.)

[ari]

I go back and forth between 4 -- on electric, small Fender shell medium (same shape as the regular ones, one size smaller) and Dunlop green tortex M3. On acoustic, any garden varieties of heavy and medium picks -- ordered like 10 dozens of Gibson picks from MF a while ago and I still have those around.

ari

[BFC]

I have very recently fallen in love with the new Dunlop Ultex 1.0mm picks. Smooth feeling attack, great response to nuance, nice snap to the tone available without being too hard or harsh. These are really nice picks.

[tedm]

I think the lite purples are .71mm the dark purples .88mm

for acoustic, I like gold herco 50s.

Originally posted by sirN
I use the Dunlop hard purple ones. I don't know what the size is, but they're hard. If I use anything else I begin to sound like Mick Mars. :rolleyes:

[Bill D]

To add some grip surface to a smooth pick, I like to put a tiny square of some generic 'no slip' safety tape (the kind used to add some traction surfaces to showers, ladders, etc.) on both faces of the pick. The tape is available at most hardware stores and is quite inexpensive. It comes in several different grades of grippiness and has a peel-off adhesive back.

Provides excellent grip. I tend to rotate my picks while playing, sometimes using the point, other times using the more rounded corners, so a very tiny square/circle/triangle near the center of each face of the pick works well for me.

This works for stone, steel, etc picks too.

[Old Tele man]

...I prefer the "old" thin (0.018"), black, Gibson "Star" picks for jazz & melody lead; and, medium Fender 347's for rhythm playing.

Does anybody know of a "stash" of the Gibson thin-"Star" picks? Apparently, they've been discontinued and I'm about to run out...

[esw]

I went to see Les Paul at his regular gig in New York about 10 years ago, and when I talked to him after the show I asked him about his picks. He handed one to me - he makes them himself. He cuts them out of heavy plexiglass, and then glues sandpaper to the sides so he doesn't drop it (arthritis, he says). Then he said, "Kid, you gotta give that back to me - they're a pain in the ass to make"

To answer the rhythm question, Pete Townshend uses Ernie Ball medium celluloid picks. I snagged one off of his guitar stand after a show in 2002.

McLaughlin used to make his own picks by cutting them out of plastic pie boxes. I think he uses Jazz III picks now.

Personally, I use Fender 351 Tortoiseshell Extra Heavies - but since no store seems to carry them, I have to buy them in bulk (a gross costs about $28). I like celluloid - I don't like the sound or feel of Delrin. Fortunately, they last so long that I only have to order a gross about every 5 years.

[scottyboy]

i love john pearse picks. super feel, good size for my bigger mitts and a shape that works well between the thumb and first finger. this is one guitar thing i don't shop for anymore, thankfully.

scott

[Tomo]

Originally posted by TNJ
Update...
Pickboy Classic Vintage Picks 1.0mm
The Best...for me, anyway.
:cool:

S.
j


Me too.
Same.
White one, so I can easily to find.

PS, Did you know pickboy is
Japanese company?


Tomo

[TNJ]

No Tomo,
I didnt know that. They have a great website!
Thanks for sending me some of yours!
S.
j

[Tomo]

Originally posted by TNJ
No Tomo,
I didnt know that. They have a great website!
Thanks for sending me some of yours!
S.
j


Hi Steven,

Could you tell me the website here in US.
I always deal with Pickboy in Japan directly.

Did I send you my Pickboy Signatutre picks?
White, classic type, 1mm. I will send you some.


Tomo

[TNJ]

Tomo,
I usually go to http://www.brooklyngear.com
to check out the Pickboy picks.
I used to go to their website, but it's no longer there!
S.
j

[tedm]

Try this link:

http://www.brooklyngear.com/catalog/search.php?cPath=8

Tomo -- Thank you so much for the pick. Although it is about the size I use (.71 and .96mm Dunlop tortex), I am saving it along with our Suzuki Ichiro collectibles!! I do love listening to your CD though!!

Ted

[esw]

I have to amend my previous post for Who-o-philes - Pete Townshend uses heavy, not medium Ernie Ball picks. I just found the pick I got off his mic stand. It just -feels- medium to me because I use Fender Extra Heavies.

[Tomo]

Originally posted by tedm
Try this link:

http://www.brooklyngear.com/catalog/search.php?cPath=8

Tomo -- Thank you so much for the pick. Although it is about the size I use (.71 and .96mm Dunlop tortex), I am saving it along with our Suzuki Ichiro collectibles!! I do love listening to your CD though!!

Ted


Hi Ted san,

you're welcome. My son collect all exsiting pickboy picks.
He has so many. Thank you for listening my cd.

Tomo

[ddavidd]

Originally posted by spaceboy

any tips for keeping hold of my pick? just find one that grips well? argh!

I find that picks with a very smooth plastic surface can be easy to hold. After a while they get a little wet by your handswet(mayby kinda disgusting) and the grip gets really good.
after a tip from my guitar teacher i changed to a thicker pick then i used before. he said that the tone would become better with a thicker pick. now i use for example a 1,5 mm Pickboy Jazz. it works good when i play solos and also rythm.
By the way... a pick is called "Plektrum" on swedish. can be good to know:rolleyes:

[Dirge]

Originally posted by mule train
I love Pyramid picks(the string maker).They are super hard to find other tha when you subscribe to Tonequest magazine.
Real choice celluliod with a PERFECT bevel on the edges.I haven't found another pick even close with a similar attack in 23years of playing.

I got some at the Chicago Music Exchange, the Heavy white is my favorite pick at the moment. I'm glad I'm not the only one that digs em.

[trisonic]

I use the old "Swedish Sharkfin" in pale blue. They are very thin but very stiff. The guy who made them used to tumble them in some kind of media to make them perfect.

They are similar to the Dunlop sharkfin but Dunlop seems incapable of making a thin but stiff pick. Kind of like the stiffness of a "heavy" but the thickness of a "thin".

Anyone ever see any of these picks in the 'States do let me know.

Best, Pete.

[Jimmydeez]

+1 on the Ultex. I use 1.14 and love them. They also seem to stick to my fingers. Not sure why but they never get slippery.

[Igneous]

+1 for the dunlop small pointed ones. they come in three gauges and are fairly cheap(mf-3 bux a dozen or something)

Over time the new ones do slide and I have used a knife regularly but have eventually decided on the dunlop jazzlll pick. These have better grip for me when gouged with a knife and last much much longer. Once the tips are down they are alomost useless to me. I play metal.

[Scribe]

Of all the posts, this one really needs a poll. Something like--

1. use heavy all the time
2. medium all the time
3. light all the time
4. heavy for lead; less for strumming
5. what the #$%&, I play classical guitar. What are picks for?
6. Other (I play with my teeth etc.)

[ddavidd]

Originally posted by Scribe
Of all the posts, this one really needs a poll. Something like--

1. use heavy all the time
2. medium all the time
3. light all the time
4. heavy for lead; less for strumming
5. what the #$%&, I play classical guitar. What are picks for?
6. Other (I play with my teeth etc.)

:) Sounds great!

[fyler]

i use herdim triangles http://folkcraft.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/5071t.jpg

[TechpriesT]

THE ULTIMATE PICKS! lol now that i got your attention... my fav picks are Ice Pix Copper Flex those things have killer attack and tone, they sound really good especially for super metal, or crisp clean articulation...

[Jack Walker]

Clayton small teardrops-.80 for everything.

[Garygtr]

Herco Flex 75's-cuz that's what Jimmy Page uses :D

[rotren]

I haven't find the perfect pick for me yet. I seem to wear them down quickly, and they I get a sharp tone that I don't like. The picks I prefer right now are Dunlop Gator Grip, 1.14 or thicker if I can find them. I use thick picks regardless of style; funk, jazz, rock or whatever. I sometimes use the round side for a rounder tone. I'd like to find a pick that doesn't get wore down so fast.

[amstaf]

I use the Dunlop big triange blue. I keep dropping the "tear drop" picks.

[Tuberoast]

ICE PICKS sound great! I use the .008 (or number 8) and the 7. These thin copper picks are punchy with a nice crisp attack (but not shrill). try them!

[rodr55]

I currently use Dunlop 1.14 for Electric and .71 for Acoustic

[PunkyBub]

After a/b/c/x-ing through a wad of picks a few years ago, I found D'Andrea ProPlex 1.5mm (standard triangle shape, though they come in other shapes) to have noticeably better tone. They give more fundamental and less harmonic from the string. Compared to Fender picks they give a meaty, kinda buttery sound. Great on acoustic guitar.

For tele sometimes I'll use a Pickboy 1.0 hard (the white ones with the raised pattern for holding - I think they're called ceramic?). That one give a nice, full-on Tele twang and seems to bring out the woody tone of your guitar. Pretty bright though.

[mojo69]

i use a fender extra heavy - it does the job - but hey i'll bet there is a better one out there,, -

[planetal]

I use the Dunlop Big Stubbies (no 475).. I prefer the 1mm size. I just like their shape and they don't wear all that quickly.. I used to use Fender Heavies, but I seem to wear them out in minutes.. I dislike when the pick develeps ridges, as it interfers with my picking technique and feel.. I play in a power trio thingy, so I play rhythm/lead or whatever the tune calls for.

[Lucidology]

My favorite is the D'Andrea xCell .96 mm in the 346 (rounded triangle) size. The size is huge so it's easy to grip and get lots of different sounds. If you hold it loose and by the edge, you get a bouncy sort of Pat Metheny tone but you can grip it in the center and get more of a Bensony tone. It's also great for rock and fusion sounds though I like a thinner pick for funky rhythm parts. The other cool thing is that because it's the triangle shape, you get 3 picks in one.

Interesting.... wonder what the serrated edge sounds like?

[PEImatrix]

I use a 2mm little stubby buy dunlop for all my electric stuff. Gotta be acurate with these puppies!:D

[donnyjaguar]

I use those boring grey Jim Dunlop picks in various thicknesses.
Anything else just wears out too quickly, breaks or warps in my hands.

[Ben C.]

I've been using Dunlop Jazz III's for years... the black ones. Last a long time and I felt my picking was much more accurate.

However, I noticed that with a thinner, celluloid type-pick I got better attack... compared to the JIII's, it's like the JIII's made the guitar sound a bit 'duller'.

It's been kind of a pain to transition, but now I'm playing with Ibanez Paul Gilbert picks ($3 for 6 of 'em at a local store, not too bad) and while they don't last as long, I've gotten a lot more brightness and attack out of my humbucker equipped guitars. The only thing is I have to work more on the accuracy bit with these more rounded points and slipperiness on the strings.

Friggin' picks.

-Ben

[Rhodes]

My search for the ultimate pick ended here: http://www.v-picks.com/
The large V-pick is my standard and the freakishly large V-pick for even more incredible tone. For speed, tone and precision this is the only pick I play. And Vinni is a great guy too!

[ap1]

For acoustic .046, for jazz .088, for rock 1.0 or 1.14.


What if you're playing an acoustic jazz-rock number?

[Cybercat]

My search for the ultimate pick ended here: http://www.v-picks.com/
The large V-pick is my standard and the freakishly large V-pick for even more incredible tone. For speed, tone and precision this is the only pick I play. And Vinni is a great guy too!

+1 :dude

I used Herco "heavy" Flex 75 for 35 years as I read in the "Any Questions" column of "Melody Maker" in UK over several weeks/months back in '71 / '72 that loads & loads of the stars of the time, like Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore etc., all used them...

Got very used to them (of course) but always used one of the thick rounded corners, not the thinner pointy one. Tried a few other types when the Hercos were hard to get during the late 80's, and a few of the newer "super picks" since.

For me, nothing beat them till I tried Vinni Smith's "V-Picks" - the first real improvement I've found, seemed a bit weird at first (they are THICK!), but soon got to really love them - there's SO much more control and tone (& speed too! - they just glide, almost fly, over the strings!) with these. Just ordered a 2nd batch, including the "Big Fatty" which is supposed to be the ultimate.....

[pdouds]

how about roughing the pick to the point your fingers touch it with sandpaper?

to avoid roughing the tip that comes in contact with the strings, mask it (let's say 1/3 of it's surface) with adhesive tape.

do it on both sides and test to see what happens.

are you a relatively new player? (no offence intended, ok?)

cause if so, by the time and practice you'll see that the pick won't slip at all...

or you can use a thick and heavy pick for soloing and a thinner for chord work.

good luck! :)
I have been experimenting with 600 grit sand paper. I actually got a dunlop jazzIIIXl to mellow out by removing the sharp edges. I just gently swept the pick side-to-side until it was smooth, cool. I used to hate the piercing tone those things got, now i'm re-thinking using them.

[Austinrocks]

Got a couple of the the Anoidized Aluminum Teckpicks, love them, they are stiff so I can use a comfortable thickness without the pick getting soft which the other picks do and it keeps it point and the holes so I can hold the pick with my sweaty hands.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/austinrocks/dun-467blk.jpg

they are from Jim Dunlop, buy a couple and you have a lifetime supply of picks, Have not noticed that my strings wear out any sooner using them.

http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=32&pmh=products/picks

I have a lot of picks the Tolex are good, they just soften up, and lose their point and large guages are hard to hold, love the teckpicks, stay stiff and keep their point.

[otaypanky]

I agree with Rhodes. The V-Pick is quite interesting. I used all kinds of picks over the last 44+ years of playing. I always thought the Tortex and Dunlop type picks wore the best and had a good feel. I'd switch around using different shapes and gauges. Then I read about the V-Pick here at TGP. I called Vinnie and ordered some. They're not your average pick. At first glance, I said I could NEVER play with a pick that thick! ( and it is THICK ) Well, after playing with it for a while and switching back to a regular pick, I was surprised at how uncomfortable the regular pick was. The thicker design of the V-Pick releases most of the tension in the forearm and hand that are used in gripping the pick. I know that may sound a bit silly, I mean it's just a guitar pick we're talking about here. But any good golfer out there knows how releasing that tension will free up your movement, the same way a relaxed grip in a good golf swing does. The V-Pick is effortless in that respect. After using the V-Pick, gripping a regular pick felt awkward. Plus, after a few weeks of use, the V-Pick shows absolutely no wear, after what would have made a Fender pick look like a cross-cut saw. Try some ~
Go to v-picks.com

[pdouds]

I really like the wooden surfpicks www.surfpick.com. Ra is a really nice dude, and those picks sound better than any i have ever tried. I could have a pick store with all the picks i have owned over the years, and i have them all put away except for my 2mm surfpicks!