Great to hear some real world feedback on the Primetone and Bluechip picks, thank you.
And thanks to everyone for the suggestions, there are a few things in here that I hadn't heard of. V picks and the cat tongue grip look promising.
Another pick thread
- Thread starter Seashore
- Start date
Great to hear some real world feedback on the Primetone and Bluechip picks, thank you.
And thanks to everyone for the suggestions, there are a few things in here that I hadn't heard of. V picks and the cat tongue grip look promising.
Phantasmagoria
watch where you point that sabre
I've been using mostly 3mm Big Stubby's for at least 20 years. The translucent purple ones & the opaque grey. The Purple ones are a tad brighter. I only used Jazz III's (all kinds) before them & have intermiitently switched from and to Jazz III's while using the Stubby's as well..
I'm good with either. The Stubby's are'nt as easy as the Jazz III's to get out of the way when I;m tapping...'cause of their larger size.
I'm good with either. The Stubby's are'nt as easy as the Jazz III's to get out of the way when I;m tapping...'cause of their larger size.
I couldn't use a pick that thick to save my life. Makes me feel like I'm playing with boots on my hands.
Supernautilus
New member
Phantasmagoria
watch where you point that sabre
Maybe on the face of it but have you ever tried them ? Like I said I went from Jazz III's to them expecting them to be a huge adjustment, but they were'nt really. Even stuff like Tremolo picking , triplets etc was a breeze with them. As far as soloing the only real drawback for me is they can get very chirpy (purple ones especially) & pinch harmonics are a bit too effortless...
I recently bought a set of 5 pretty fancy/boutique kinda (might be Chinese I don't know) picks on Amazon (came in a hinged polished wooden box..they're called "Wambooka") that are basically 3mm Stubby sized/shaped but made of bone, horn, tree resin, ebony etc & they're pretty sweet as well, though I've hardly used them just tried them out, but eh, so far so good...
Phantasmagoria
watch where you point that sabre
These baby's....
I haven't tried the Big Stubbies, no. I have tried other thick picks and they've always felt really foreign. I see the Stubbies come in 1mm, I might be able to use those. Even the .90 thickness was a bit to get used to. I've been using .60 on guitar for over 20 years. How do you find the wear resistance on those? I'm curious about polycarbonate since it's so much more shatter-resistant than acrylic.
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
There's a definitely a learning curve. I usually play Jazz IIIs, but have experimented with some 3mm Dunlop Flow picks for doing bluegrass-y stuff on acoustic. Takes me about a week or so to get used to the feel, but after that I don't think about it at all. You definately develop a different way of holding a thicker pick (especially when strumming), because they don't flex at all.
Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
Yeah, it's more of scratching the strings then picking them
Phantasmagoria
watch where you point that sabre
I actually find the tihcker stubby's feel way better than the 'thin' ones. Those don't glide smoothly across the strings like the 3mm one's do and I would "choke up" whenever I tried using them.
I'd say the wear as quickly as Jazz three's do...but that's another thing...I don't care for most new picks 'cause I find the tips too sharp. I like the thicker/warmer tone a slightly worn & rounded tip gives me....and n the case of Stubby's, the reduced chirp/pick attack.. I mean I don't use them till they look like a coin lol, but yeah..I like "some' wear..
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An update is in order. Shout out to Securb for sending me a handful of picks to try out. The surprise winner is a 2.2mm thick Chicken Pick. It's the one on the right.
Sonically it's the most balanced and consistent but also the loudest of these (and Tortex). Bright and snappy attack with less chirp than the Gravity acrylic, more high end than the Big Stubby. It's much more stiff and dense than Tortex, and harder than any of these others; and yet, it felt familiar almost right away. It required only minor adjustments to get to the point where I wasn't making flubs. Putting it side by side with a Tortex, I think I've figured out why.
You can see the sharp bevel here:
And this is the business end:
But here it is head-on and from the edge compared to a Tortex:
The size and shape are nearly identical to the Tortex, but the interesting thing to me is the tip and striking edge - because of the bevel, those are almost exactly the same as the thinner picks. The white material has no flex at all, but it has noticeably less friction against the strings, so in practice it moves across them easily with a similar amount of force.
Aside from all of that, the thing I'm most impressed by so far is that I can't see any wear on this after a few hours of playing. The edge is still sharp and the tip is the same shape. I would have already gone through a Tortex by now, and I would have put visible wear on a Gravity acrylic.
I liked the Big Stubby too, another surprise, pretty easy to use. Will put more miles on all of these and see how they hold up.
Sonically it's the most balanced and consistent but also the loudest of these (and Tortex). Bright and snappy attack with less chirp than the Gravity acrylic, more high end than the Big Stubby. It's much more stiff and dense than Tortex, and harder than any of these others; and yet, it felt familiar almost right away. It required only minor adjustments to get to the point where I wasn't making flubs. Putting it side by side with a Tortex, I think I've figured out why.
You can see the sharp bevel here:
And this is the business end:
But here it is head-on and from the edge compared to a Tortex:
The size and shape are nearly identical to the Tortex, but the interesting thing to me is the tip and striking edge - because of the bevel, those are almost exactly the same as the thinner picks. The white material has no flex at all, but it has noticeably less friction against the strings, so in practice it moves across them easily with a similar amount of force.
Aside from all of that, the thing I'm most impressed by so far is that I can't see any wear on this after a few hours of playing. The edge is still sharp and the tip is the same shape. I would have already gone through a Tortex by now, and I would have put visible wear on a Gravity acrylic.
I liked the Big Stubby too, another surprise, pretty easy to use. Will put more miles on all of these and see how they hold up.
Images not showing up? Huh. I've had that happen with uploads before, but I can see these.
Could be a random 'feature' of the forum software.
Securb
One of Jerry's Kids
Those picks are interesting. I put some hours on it before I gave it to you, and it is still in nice shape. The market for them is "chicken picking" bluegrass players, but they are great for all styles.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
The thing about the Max Grips for me is they're so grippy to the point it can be inconvenient at times. If for some reason, you end up holding your pick at a weird angle or just a bit off mid song, and you want to wiggle it to correct it, it just won't move. I kinda have to stop and reposisition it to get it right. They're really that grippy. I can use both practicing at home almost interchangeably as I have a bunch of the Max Grip ones that I bought a while ago, but If I was playing a live gig, I'd trust the non Max Grip ones slightly more, personally.
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weepingminotaur
Well-known member
Fair criticism. I do sometimes run into that issue with the Max Grips. But at this point, I am so used to their feel that going back to a smooth pick would feel very weird.
