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Joined:
December 2005
Posts: 37
Location: No Town, California | I'm conffused about the different pick thickness. I know that the thicker the pick I get a muddier sound. And the thinner the pick the more clearer sound i get. But I can't figure out which pick is right for me. I currently use a medium pick and sounds ok. I sometimes use a thick pick, but sounds more muddy. I use the dunlop picks and the fender picks. Just wondering if any of you have any suggestions?
Thanks alot. |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Use lot's of picks till you find the one you're happy with. I'm happy with Dunlop "lucky 13"'s, I believe they are like the tolex picks. When primarily picking out single notes I use a thicker pick. When primarily strumming I'll use a thinner pick.
My favorite picks are the ones I get for free. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | The thicker the pick, the less hard I need to strum. For me this means I break fewer strings from trying to be both a rhythm and percussion section. Sometimes I'll use a ridiculously thin pick for a fast, open strumming, because I want the pick noise as a percussive effect.
Mostly the free ones I get are about the thickness of a dime, have advertising on them and break really fast. And worth every penny I paid for them. Except for some that AFG sent me, which were both free and very nice indeed. |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | There are two ways to look at it-- it all depends on your playing style. Most people think a .50 medium is the industry standard. A lot of pros have used the Herco Flex50 Gold pick. The heavier the pick, the easier it is to pick out individual notes-- but the downside is, your strumming sounds heavy and HORRIBLE! If you use a lighter pick, your strumming sounds nice and clean and airy, but you have a harder time picking out individual notes. I do a lot of fingerpicking, and when I strum I try to do "fingerstrumming" as much as possible-- hitting bass notes with the thumb and strumming with the index finger, or all the fingers depending on the style of the song. Some of the best guitarists in the business don't even OWN a pick; e.g., Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. Stephen Stills, one of my favorites, puts the bottom of his thumb over the side of his index finger as if he were holding a pick--only he doesn't have a pick-- and strums that way.
When I DO use picks, I use a special light gauge thumbpick from Fred Kelly (check them out at http://www.guitarsessions.com/oct04/accessories.html); they're yellow (and if you look at them from underneath, it looks like somebody flippin' the bird!). These are a good compromise. They're fairly light for strumming (and they're FAST) but you can still pick notes. If I want something even faster, I'll sacrifice one of these picks by clipping off the pick tab, putting a piece of velcro on the thumbpick and a mating piece of velcro on a light-gauge regular pick (like a Dunlop .38 or .46) and mount the thin regular pick on the thumbpick. This works great for straight rhythm songs (like a lot of Eagles tunes and Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."
In the end, like most things, ya gotta experiment and find what works best for you. I like the thumbpicks because I have trouble holding on to regular picks-- problem solved! |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | OFC whiteys!
You need a pocket full at all times. |
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Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6202
Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by MWoody:
OFC whiteys! Maybe "OFC Picks Lacking Color" would be a more politically correct way to say it ... |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I usually keep about six pics (two each of three different thicknesses) on my mic stand and change-up depending on the tune we're doing and which guitar I'm using . . . |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15677
Location: SoCal | Fender mediums (or OFC cream colored -- same pics) for everything, steel string, 12 string, nylon string.
I'm in a rut.
Francis, where in Calif are you? |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | I don't use picks that often.
When I do I use Dunlop nylon .67mm.
They're blue and when not in use they look cool stuck in the strings at the second fret. :cool: :D |
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Joined:
February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | It's not so much about thickness, it's about stiffness. Now before this degenerates into innuendo (Innuendo incidentally is an Italian enema) Thin, stiff picks sound great, they have excellent articulation, dynamics and clarity. The problem is that the best picks of this type are made from real tortoisehell which is illegal, and it's difficult to make a thin rigid pick from synthetic materials, though the Dunlop Ultex is pretty damn good. The material plays a part but generally thin flexible picks are easier to use but have very poor volume and dynamic range compared to stiff picks. Thick picks have a much greater dynamic range but lose some sparkle and inexperienced players tend to struggle with them. I rarely use picks except for rhythm parts when I'm recording but I managed to get a shit load of totally illegal tortoiseshell pics when I was at the Music China trade fair in Shanghai a while ago. These picks are absolutely rigid, incredibly thin and for me nothing else comes even close. Those Chinese just don't care. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 349
Location: Snellville, GA | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Fender mediums (or OFC cream colored -- same pics) for everything, steel string, 12 string, nylon string. Moody, I agree...except for the nylon part... |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15677
Location: SoCal | I know. Most people here get on me for using a pick with a nylon string guitar. Old habits die hard..... |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | I pulled a Waskel and did an enhanced search when I got home. Fred Kelly has his own website:
http://www.fredkellypicks.com. My computer at work, for all its state-of-the-art programs and high speed connections, didn't pull that up. I use the light-gauge speedpicks (the yellow ones). This is an alternative to using regular pikcs-- I'm just too clumsy with them, even though I've been playing almost 40 years. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | If Buckingham and Knopfler don't use picks, maybe I'll forget about trying to use them. I haven't bought one in 30 years. All that I have came with a guitar I bought and I rarely use them. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | does anyone remember the guy that made the wood picks? I think he was in florida. I thought they were rather cool and still use one unfortunately he did not take well to my critique of his product. |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | I had the stone min'd pick once upon a time. Only thing it was perfect for was the intro chord smashing on Joan Armatradings 'I'm Lucky.'
Though it was a slippery little bugger and tended to fly like... well, a rock... at regular intervals. |
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February 2005
Posts: 349
Location: Snellville, GA | Doesn't Brian May use a coin to get that Queen steel sound? |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | No, he uses a homemade guitar and a preamp made from a car radio... |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | ". . It's not so much about thickness, it's about stiffness . ."
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . ehhhh, . . . . never mind . . . . |
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Joined:
December 2005
Posts: 37
Location: No Town, California | Thanks guy. I can always count on you for advise and learn a few thing here and there. Oh, and moody, pi, Im' here in Fresno........ :) |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 1498
Location: San Bernardino, California | TWA - Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top uses a Peso.
I usually use a Clayton Ultem pick or a brass one that I made myself (has a real sharp point). |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 349
Location: Snellville, GA | I read somewhere years ago that Brian uses a nickel or similar coin to get some of his effects. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 349
Location: Snellville, GA | I found this on Wikipedia...In addition to using his homemade guitar, he (Brian May) prefers to use coins (especially sixpenny pieces) instead of a more traditional plastic plectrum, on the basis that their rigidity gives him more control in playing. He is known to constantly carry coins in his pockets specifically for this purpose... |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 2150
Location: Orlando, FL | When I was younger I used thin and medium picks. These days I prefer a nice heavy pick. I like the control and the sound better. I find it easier to do hybrid picking with a heavier pick as well.
Some of those Fred Kelly picks look interesting, especially the bumlebee and the speed pick. I might have to try them. Thanks Rick! |
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Joined:
July 2002
Posts: 1900
| Tortex orange for everything acoustic- strummming, lead, fingericking, rolls. And a Fender jazz pick for everything electric. |
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Difference in pick thickness
