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Joined:
February 2009
Posts: 262
Location: VENISE-EN-QUEBEC CANADA | Hello again
most of you no that I ask a lot of question,Ive been playing guitar for a little over a year(started March 10 2008)now,I started with dunlop 38mm pick's very soft,but I wonder is it a good practice or should i start playing with stiffer pick's, I have some thicker pick's that seem's to make my guitar sound louder but im not use to them and sometime stroke more than 1 string when picking.so is it a good habit of playing with thicker pick's
you the expert give me youre opinion
again thank you
Daniel ;) |
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Joined:
September 2008
Posts: 1281
Location: Ohio | Buy a handfull of different picks and just try them all till you fild the one oyu line.
I;ve been using Dunlop TORTEX(Delrin) picks for a long time and love them. Seem like if your hands and fingers perspire, they stick better. I use the green one's. Not sure of the thickness.
Steve |
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Joined:
September 2007
Posts: 153
Location: New Jersey, USA | I have a huge collection of picks and tend to obsess over the topic. I keep about a dozen picks on the table where I sit and play.
That said, thin picks are good for strumming, but lousy for single note playing or arpeggiating. If you like Dunlop, try the Tortex yellow picks which are .73mm; these are a good all around choice. I also use the orange .60mm. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7231
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I think a really overlooked topic. I use different picks depending on the style and tone/sound I'm looking for. For Hard Rock where I need definition of the notes, I tend to go with an Adamas Graphite pick, and I hold it verticle. It allows for a very light touch, very fast, up'n down, cause it glides over the string, you're not really "picking" it... but also gets great definition even during heavy distortion.
For big powerchords... I use a thin pick. For things in between... a medium weight pick.
I don't necessarily change picks if I'm playing... they all work just fine for everything... but if I'm going to be playing a bunch of one style... I'd grab the right pick if it was handy. Otherwise... it's just a matter of some things will be easier and sound better than others. |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I was amazed a few years ago when I got away from the medium Cool Pics I had used for years and starting trying and buying different types. It seems that different materials, thickness, and even shape make a fairly distinct difference in the sound the guitar makes.
I am like rpguitar cause in my studio I now have about 10-12 pics of different thickness and materials that are easily within reach. What sounded good to me yesterday may not speak to me the same way today so I just reach for another till I find the sound I am looking for.
I have gravitated towards using heavier pics...in the 1.0mm to 1.5mm range. |
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Joined:
March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Nikon, the green tortex are .88.
I am a fingerpicker, but on occasion I do use a pick. I like the Dunlop nylon picks in .73. Some guitars sound better with nylon, and some sound better with plastic of the same thickness. Yet another variable to consider. |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | There are several YT vids covering this topic. Here's just ONE .
At AI, Matt also demonstrated the variance in tone based upon how much pick is exposed. |
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Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Tortex yellow |
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Joined:
September 2007
Posts: 153
Location: New Jersey, USA | Tortex yellow are very interesting because while they are only medium thickness (.73mm), they have a softer attack than many others of their ilk. And the green .88mm do not improve on that - it's unique to the yellows.
For Ovations I tend to use a slightly thinner pick than on other guitars because of the tendency for some O's to sound muddy or bassy. |
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Joined:
November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | I am just starting to use picks again. I like the meduim coolpics but then again I am just starting out with them. I have started use a thumb pick much to my distaste since my thumb nail just will not seem to take the punishment of playing everyday without splitting. I have noticed a huge difference in the different kinds and thicknesses in the tone that the strings produce. I have pretty much settled on the "slickpick" thumb pick but use the heavy as the medium and light tend to give my bass strings too much ooomph and it can over power the strings I pick with my other fingernails. |
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Joined:
July 2005
Posts: 3410
Location: GA USA | I have grown very attached to
Beggin hooked me on them. |
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Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I agree with Miles. This is a subject that doesn't come up very often, and not usually to any degree of depth. I use thin for infrequent strumming, about 5% of the time, and Fender 351 mediums (and Martin and anything else in that shape and thickness) for everything else. Have been using this general shape for many years. Somewhere along the line, I picked up hundreds of these medium Fenders in the fux tortoise color. Guitar manufacturer coffee mugs serve as excellent storage containers for picks. A trip to the NAMM show produced no less than another 100 or so more freebie picks of all shapes and sizes as part of the vendor swag. Much of your volume is shaped by your picking technique. A tight grip produces more volume, a lighter grip produces less. I end up dropping a lot of picks because I sometimes hold the pick very lightly. On the other hand, I rarely break a pick, and almost never the mediums. They'll wear out before breaking. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15674
Location: SoCal | Fender mediums / OFC cream color picks. Same basic pick. Use them for all guitars all styles.
The reason? A few years ago, I tried different picks and never got comfortable with anything. Then went back to the medium picks and wasn't comfortable with them. Took most of a year to get back to where I started.
They seem to be the best compromise for strumming, picking, etc.
Miles, can you still get the OFC picks made? They are, of course, my first choice. Something about the dye of the overall pick and then what was used to print the OFC logo just cause those picks to sonically sound better and balance right.... |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Gibson H as a standard , with CORK rings glued on either side , makes for a good ,yet relaxed grip.
Having a standard makes for easy comparison.
Vic |
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Joined:
May 2009
Posts: 325
Location: Utica, NY | For all of my electric playing I use the heaviest I can get, currently Dunlop Ultex 1.14. Buy them by the bag. But I am watching this closely since I am new to the acoustic side as well.
My initial thought was a thin for strumming as I like the sweeping-over-the-strings sound it adds. But as it's been pointed out lead, arpeggiating, etc they're not so good. maybe no single answer. Maybe I'll be banging on the O with a quarter.... We'll see. |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Much like the afore mentioned brain picks...
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Joined:
September 2007
Posts: 153
Location: New Jersey, USA | With a thinner pick, one can rotate it clockwise to a slight angle (15 degrees maybe) to compensate for its flimsiness when playing single note lines. This was Pat Metheny's trick. He couldn't find heavy picks in his hometown when he started playing. So he turned and bent a Fender thin slightly to increase its rigidity. |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by FlicKreno aka Solid Top:
[QB]with CORK rings glued on either side /QB] Vic,
When I first started learning guitar (early '60s), I used a large rounded tips triangular, very slightly cupped med Gibby pick that had a cork ring on the concave side. Haven't seen any in decades.
I may have to invest in cork... |
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Joined:
April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | +1 on the Adamas pick for single note stuff. Like Miles said, it just sort of slides over the strings. For more strummy stuff I use a Dunlop white 0.46mm. Years ago I used the 0.38s but graduated up a step for general strumming. For a combination of strumming/accentuating single notes I use something a bit harder. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Red Bear tri tip. Thick. |
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Joined:
February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Beal, is that the hockey puck with corners you were showing us at AI? :D |
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Joined:
November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | Originally posted by Captain_Lovehandles:
I have grown very attached to
Beggin hooked me on them. |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
Originally posted by FlicKreno aka Solid Top:
[QB]with CORK rings glued on either side /QB] Vic,
When I first started learning guitar (early '60s), I used a large rounded tips triangular, very slightly cupped med Gibby pick that had a cork ring on the concave side. Haven't seen any in decades.
I may have to invest in cork...
Ye` know , back in the days , when I did n`t know where to get cork , but had cork-tipped cigs., I would peel-off the cork from the filter , and glue it on , experimented with different glues , so 1 day , I tried something new , .. " Lock-tite " .. which was a ten-second adhesive and was true to it`s name , being a little careless , I managed to glue my thumb and index finger to it....
Vic |
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Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by FlicKreno aka Solid Top:
glue my thumb and index finger to it That's my next step!  |
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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Rarely use picks but when I do I use Peavey 1.14mm. One side is textured for a good grip. |
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which pick I should be playing with!!!
