Take Your Pick

jdogric12 · Post by **jdogric12** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:17 pm

So, let's talk picks.

I like fairly heavy picks. I bought a pack of 100 0.96mm's about four years ago and have about ten to fifteen left. They have a smooth surface to them, as opposed to some I've seen with more "grip" style surfaces.

I find the thickness allows me to get much more volume than flimsy thin picks. And less pick noise, too.

What's YOUR preference, and why?

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:41 pm

For guitar, I use big heavy triangle picks. Any I can find really, no preference on brand.

I also use thmb picks quite a bit, as my playing is roughly half Travis picking. I do use a specific brand, the name escapes me, but they are very high quality and I can't play any other. The shop I buy 'em from (Mandolin Bros) calls them the "clown vomit" picks, for their rainbow, confetti-like color.

For bass, Dunlop Felt picks. Loved 'em since the first time I used 'em, though I am curious if there is a better felt pick out there. I've only used Dunlop.

I use what I use based on going through many different types and just finding the ones that felt right.

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:35 pm

A year or so ago I bought 1000 Ernie Ball medium picks from a liquidator for a music store that was going out of business. Mars Music was their name (for anyone who perhaps knew of them). They are very similar to the Fender picks that I used for years.

They are indestructible and they are a comfortable and familiar shape.

sharkboy · Post by **sharkboy** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:07 pm

I use Fender Heavy 351 Confetti picks (you know, the ones that look like clown vomit.) They just feel better than other picks and I'm really used to them.

A good friend wanted to test me by feel and he had me take blind tests with other Fender heavy 351 celluloid picks. I picked mine 100% of the time (some of the Fender heavy picks were of slightly different thicknesses.)

atomic_punk · Post by **atomic_punk** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:13 pm

I use Jim Dunlop grey nylon .88's. Work great for bass, although I wear them out pretty fast...

dr_wahnsinn · Post by **dr_wahnsinn** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 2:23 am

Those nylon Jim Dunlops are great picks. Started off with the black 1mm picks and moved down to the grey .60mm ones. These work well for me even when playing my Hamer B-12S.

I've been using those ever since the folks at Primo Music in Walnut Creek (long since gone) turned me on to them. I complained that the Fender "heavy" picks (3 for 25¢) cracked and broke too quickly and they showed me the nylon Dunlop picks. I loved them for that.

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 3:41 am

I have always used a medium pick. I find thins don't attack the strings positively enough, and thicks are non-responsive - like trying to play with a coin.

captsandwich · Post by **captsandwich** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:15 am

Dunlop Tortex (the orange ones, .50mm I think). They stay crisp & sharp and are easy to hold when you start sweating under the lights. You can also stick them to your forehead.

steve_hershberger · Post by **steve_hershberger** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:49 am

Normally I like something akin to Fender mediums. Got a lot of the clear green California's right now, but I also like to get a bunch at any stores I go to, especially out of town - the generic kind that are imprinted with that store's name/info on them. Normal 351 shape in all cases. Doesn't matter much to me.

But I do like to wear them in. They acquire a bent shape and wear around the edges and that's when they work best for me. If I drop one (very rarely) and have to grab a new one, there's a bit of a break-in period necessary for me to get completely comfortable with them.

And I use all the edges too - depends on what type of feel and sound I'm going for. The pick is in constant motion, in any case. Hard to say exactly, because I've never really analyzed it much - but after a pick is "worn in" I have to use it the same way every time - meaning, the name imprint has to be against my thumb, just because of how I've bent it via playing.

Sometimes I like using thinner picks too, depending on the guitar and sound I'm trying to get. And sometimes I'll use heavy's for the same reasons, but mostly I stick with mediums

Heck, back in highschool ('68-'72) I used to make my own picks out of Mom's used Clorox bottles! Talk about soft! That's where my bending technique came from - the bending makes the playing action stiffer. Anyone else ever done that?

telebob · Post by **telebob** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 5:06 am

.73 Delrin picks get it done for me.

They have a slight matte finish to them that makes 'em easy to grip. They do seem to wear a tad faster than other materials but they're cheap enough that I don't mind.

35012 · Post by **35012** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:23 am

Come on, no one from the Byrds crowd is a full time fingerpicker? I used Metal dunlop fingerpicks (3 fingers and a thumb) all the time for my Byrds like tunes at first, until my style changed and I found out how good they are for rocking rags (and ragas). Not so easy to type while wearing them, though.

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 10:55 am

.88 Dunlop Tortex (the green ones) for me. Thick enough to sound good, thin enough for chord work. They do bounce out of my hands occasionally & they don't last too long...a gig or two, but good picks. I buy them in packs of 72, so I always have a reasonable stock. Co-incidently, Eric, our Carnivorous bassist uses the same picks.

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:02 am

I've been using the grey dunlops for forever...but tried on a whim some of those gel picks...they're ok but once I run out I'll stick with the dunlops.

captsandwich · Post by **captsandwich** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:18 am

Tony,

but do they stick to your forehead? Or is that a special property of the orange ones?

tony_carey · Post by **tony_carey** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:25 am

I don't know if they do or not Greg....I'll try it at the next gig......