Picks

[JB_From_Hell]

I start a thread about picks and strings every so often, but this time I dropped the strings part (still pretty much putting 10-52 on everything.

During my years of mondo distortion with a small amp, I used different picks for feel, but since acquiring a real amp and cleaning up my tone, I'm really hearing the tonal differences of the different materials. Most of my playing time is split between a Strat and a Tele, and I really like the snap of celluloid Fenders. I'm switching between a couple Heavy 351s and heavy and medium 346s. I think I'd really like a slightly pointier 346. I have a few really old ones that are lighter in color. They feel a little better than the newer ones. I'm assuming the material has changed since the 60's or 70's.

 

[mrpinter]

Re: Picks

I love the subject of guitar picks, because as you mention, they can affect your sound and playing so much - about as much as string choice I think - and you can experiment with them for a very low cost compared to anything else that has a similar impact on your playing. I used to use pretty thin nylon type picks, and tried just about everything out there, until I discovered the world of hand made boutique picks. I started with the acrylic V-Picks and then switched to Gravity picks after trying them (quieter playing and more consistency order after order). I found myself liking much thicker picks than I was used to, probably because the long bevels allowed more material for a better grip and less fatigue, while still having a functionally thinner pick at the edge. I tried some other high end products, like Blue Chip - and liked it a lot, but the $35 (and up) price per pick slowed me down a bit with that. Still, I had gotten a taste of what a really nice pick was like. When Gravity started making their own premium picks - their Gold Series - I began using those and now it's all I use on my guitars - 1.5 and 2.5mm ones on electrics and 1mm on my acoustic, where I still like a bit of flex. Mostly I use the Stealth shape - I like the generous size of grip surface compared to regular Fender shapes. Compared to the acrylic picks they are warmer in tone, but with a lot of "snap" and articulation and very low pick noise. They also seem to glide off the strings easier than most other picks. They're still pricey, but are just a bit more than half the price of the Blue Chips - so it's all pretty relative. I've discovered ways of keeping them so I don't lose them. Here is my "survival kit":

 

[thebowl]

Re: Picks

I've been playing for decades. I quit using picks for a while, while I was learing to travis pick. Glad I did that. Anyway, I used whatever was lying around for a long time, mostly Fender heavy or comparable. I tried V-Picks recently, and liked them. I too ract well to a thicker pick these days. I bought some Dunlop 1.5 Prime Tone Sculpted (with a circle of embossing on them), and I think I may have found a permanent home. Easy to grip, great song on the strings, and they seem to last forever.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Picks

I recently went on kind of a pick-a-thon, trying out all sorts of different picks. I used Dunlop Tortex .50s for years (the red ones), but after reading about how so many people liked heavier picks, I decided to venture out. While I still don't like picks any heavier than 1.0mm, I found some picks that I really liked from Pickboy. But in every style I liked, a new pick was dull after two hours of band practice! I tried the Dunlop Tortex .73s and the Ultex in the same thickness recently (got 'em for Christmas from my grandson). The Ultex were okay, but just didn't feel right. The Tortex, on the other hand, feel good AND they wear like iron. I think I've found the pick I'll stick with for now.

 

[B2D]

Re: Picks

I use .010-.046 in standard, and .010-.052 in Eb.

.011-.048 on Acoustic.

Dunlop .090 Ultex Sharps for electric pics. .073-ga for strumming acoustics.

Das it mang.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Picks

I have tried so many picks and always enjoy trying new ones!

My current favorite are Tusq picks! Really like both the .68mm and the 1mm for electric and acoustic. Tied for second are Copper IcePix and some homemade ones from an old Vinyl Record from a dude in France.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Picks

For the last years I play exclusively :

Besides feeling and playing great, they also serve as feeler gauge for measuring string action When I can't find them in Greece I hit ebay and pray they are still in production.
Sharp Ultex'es would be my next alternative.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Picks

For the last years I play exclusively :

Besides feeling and playing great, they also serve as feeler gauge for measuring string action When I can't find them in Greece I hit ebay and pray they are still in production.
Sharp Ultex'es would be my next alternative.

That was one of the picks I liked from Pickboy, but I couldn't mentally deal with the pot leaf motif. Between church, my girls, an estranged stepson because of his addiction, and my own personal opinions, I felt like it just wasn't appropriate for me to get them. Was too bad, because I REALLY liked how they felt, played, and sounded. I even went as far as to talk to Pickboy about offering up some other design for those of us who disagree with the whole marijuana thing, but there's nothing available.

By the way, I'm not knocking you or your opinions (I don't actually even know what they are). Just telling you the reason I don't use a pick that was otherwise nearly perfect for me! [emoji41]


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[treyhaislip]

Re: Picks

That was one of the picks I liked from Pickboy, but I couldn't mentally deal with the pot leaf motif. Between church, my girls, an estranged stepson because of his addiction, and my own personal opinions, I felt like it just wasn't appropriate for me to get them. Was too bad, because I REALLY liked how they felt, played, and sounded. I even went as far as to talk to Pickboy about offering up some other design for those of us who disagree with the whole marijuana thing, but there's nothing available.

By the way, I'm not knocking you or your opinions (I don't actually even know what they are). Just telling you the reason I don't use a pick that was otherwise nearly perfect for me! [emoji41]


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Ha! I can understand the motif being something you may not want. lol Too bad they don't offer anything else...like just a plain one! lol

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Picks

Has anybody seen a celluloid Jazz III? Regular size or XL would be cool.

 

[greekdude]

Re: Picks

That was one of the picks I liked from Pickboy, but I couldn't mentally deal with the pot leaf motif. Between church, my girls, an estranged stepson because of his addiction, and my own personal opinions, I felt like it just wasn't appropriate for me to get them. Was too bad, because I REALLY liked how they felt, played, and sounded. I even went as far as to talk to Pickboy about offering up some other design for those of us who disagree with the whole marijuana thing, but there's nothing available.

By the way, I'm not knocking you or your opinions (I don't actually even know what they are). Just telling you the reason I don't use a pick that was otherwise nearly perfect for me!

I agree, I don't like it either, but the chances (1/100) that my kids really pay any attention to my picks *and* ask what does it represent (another 1/1000 chance) sets the whole thing on the safe side.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Picks

Has anybody seen a celluloid Jazz III? Regular size or XL would be cool.

View attachment 70371

If you are referring to these, then yes I have–great for getting pinch harmonics IMO.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Picks

Those are nylon. I want the faux-tortoise shell stuff. It sounds and feels different.

 

[DeadandBuried]

Re: Picks

Been using Dunlops for pretty much all my guitar life, always been the tortex ones. Been varying up and down thicknesses, eventually settling on the 0.88mm for electric, and the 0.60mm for acoustic. I use the "wedge" ones as they feature a broader shoulder to help gripping. Before I've used the standard tortex, the gator grip and delrin 0.96mm, and the jazz III ones as well.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Picks

Those are nylon. I want the faux-tortoise shell stuff. It sounds and feels different.

Ah, don't think I've tried the celluloid ones then.

 

[J E C]

Re: Picks

I resonantly tried the Dunlop JP Ultex picks and the Ultex Sharps in 1.14. Wile I like the size of the Sharps they just feel thin and wispy.
My favorite is still the Dunlop Ultex Jazz III 2.0.
Strings: D'Addario XL ProSteels. Standard 9s in E. Replace the .042 with a .049 for drop D. Standard 10s for E flat.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Picks

What the picks sound like without the guitar ???

https://youtu.be/3CZNsXE4zmk

https://youtu.be/fX-zB4j-CXs

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Picks

Has anybody seen a celluloid Jazz III? Regular size or XL would be cool.

Dunlop, the company most identified with the Jazz III, does not currently make one (surprisingly, but, then again, I don't think celluloid is a big seller for them). The closest thing to one would have to be a celluloid teardrop pick, which are similar in size and usually have a pronounced "Jazz III" point. Fender and D'Andrea both make them in various thicknesses.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Picks

I think the ridges of the pot leaf design is what makes a tight grip to the pick.

Agreed. Like I said, I really liked everything about that pick... I just couldn't deal with the symbolism of the design itself. I even tried to set my distaste for the design aside and took it "into the finals" because I liked it so much...

My final test for a pick is to take it to band practice with me. For some reason, I seem to play harder there than I would in 2-3 hours of playing by myself at home. Some of the picks I tried from Pickboy literally left a coat of pick-dust on my guitar, but these did not. While it definitely held up better than its brethren from the same manufacturer, it still wore down to a rounded off point by the end of the night. The Dunlop Tortex don't show any wear whatsoever except for where my fingers start rubbing off the design, the "feel" is similar (although the Pickboy High Modulous is a smidge more rigid and sharp), the design is inoffensive to me, and it's about a third of the price. Ultimately, those were my deciding factors. [emoji6]


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[Godin15]

Re: Picks

Dunlop is all I use the jazziii red ones and the black carbon fibre. I like the size of the pics the red ones I have good control. What I find with the carbon fibre they have better grip due to the grip dots, and they give more bite .