Pick your pick

[jwargowski]

I made a rather interesting discovery this evening when practicing on my new (to me)370/12.
That being, pick thickness makes a huge difference in the amount of chime you can achieve with a 12 string.
I've always had a rather delicate touch in my picking, so I've always used heavier picks to help get some volume. I discovered tonight that a lighter pick (dunlop nylon .50 - .60 mm or a D'Adarrio .024) with really make the guitar chime so much more than say a Fender medium or heavy gauge pick.
This may be old hat to some of you - I've never seen it mentioned here - but it's something others may want to try in achieving that chime everyone seems to be looking for in their 12.

[ozover50]

I often use Dunlop .50s or even .38s on my 660/12, Jim, and they give me exactly what I'm looking for.

[melibreits]

Hmmmmmmm.....Interesting. I generally prefer heavier picks too, but will have to experiment a bit with a ligher one on my 12's....

[steve_hershberger]

I've got a picking style that's all over the place - often within the same song. Light at times and other times really hard and digging in. I'll also go between straight picking and a pick/fingerpick technique too.

I use Fender mediums on every guitar, but sometimes I'll use something thinner on the Guild DV-52 if I want a lusher/mushier strumming tone. I'm not up on all the actual thickness measurements either - anything beyond a "thin" / "medium" / "heavy" description is past my attention level.

The one thing I'm working on when playing the 12 string is that downstrokes are the only way to play the low E, A, and D pairs to get them to sound evenly. Upstrokes are worthless on those strings.

[longhouse]

Gibson mediums, black

-or-

Jim Dunlop nylon mediums .88mm

That said, I've been using a Johnson medium (green moto) forever. The darn thing is indestructible -unlike the gorgeous blue Pyramid picks my children got me. I played an outdoor show last Summer and had a pocketful of Pyramids. First song = pick breaks (a quick rotation and I finished by using the corner) Second song - pick breaks Third song = Gibson pick!

[longhouse]

'Pocketful of pyramids'

[steve_hershberger]

Heh heh... Is that a pocketful of Pyramids, or are you just glad to be playing a Ric?

Another thing I like to do is collect a few picks from all the stores I've been to across the country. You know, those unknown brand picks that stores have imprinted with their name, phone number, etc. Sometimes those things are pretty good. I'll just choose them by feel and flexibility. I haven't broken a pick since '72 (when all I liked was real thin picks), but I have worn out quite a few.

[scoobster28]

I use fender thin picks, and not the traditional shaped ones. They are like triangles, with more rounded corners. I buy them a dozen at a time because they are so thin and wear out. It is much easier for me to strum harder with them then to strum lighter with a heavy pick.

My two cents.

[desertgoldenboy]

"pick thickness makes a huge difference in the amount of chime you can achieve with a 12 string."

Jim, I agree with your statement. I have been playing acoustic 6 & 12 for many years and the "chimiest" picks I have ever used were made by Martin. But the ones I'm talking about are not the present Martin picks, which are standard #351 style. The picks I speak of were discontinued years ago and very hard to find now.

It's an injection molded pick that has an 1/8" thick textured concave grip that is contoured to your thumb, and a thinner picking "protrusion" (for lack of a better word) that extends from the gripping area. The protrusion is the gauged part, available in light, medium and heavy.

The pick has a very unique sound when you strum with it (not really suited to single-note playing), as you can hear a slight percussive sound on the strings. Listen to Cat Stevens' "Peace Train"...you can hear the sound of the pick on the strings very clearly, though I don't know if he used this pick. But it sure sounds like it. I happen to really like to hear that 'pick click', as I call it.

I think the reason Martin discontinued the pick was: 1) it was a little too radical for the masses and 2) the protrusion was fairly easy to break. You could go through a half-dozen picks in one evening's hard playing.

If you ever see these picks in your travels, I would definitely recommend that you check them out. In fact, buy a bunch for me, as my supply is dwindling!

[valenti]

Kenn
I remember seeing those picks a long time ago... Currently using some VERY old black Gibson mediums. They used to be the size of California. Now they're kind of like Rhode Island but I still love 'em. Had them for about 20 years or more.

Knew a guy who used a cut up credit card for that Cat Stevens sound. Never found it if was VISA, MC or AmEX...

[rick12dr]

My picks have been "Claytons" .046 for years.