Pick your Pick

[Cagey]

That's a pretty bold statement. Mark Knopfler might say that anybody that plays with any pick isn't as experienced or skillfull as guitar players that use their fingers <grin>

Point is, you do what works for you. Fingers, fingerpicks, flatpicks of various shapes and thicknesses, sustainer widgets, etc. all produce different sounds/effects and have different comfort levels.

 

[BassmanAK]

Blue or Purple Star grip seem to work for Bass... At least fro me...
http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Everly-Star-Grip-Guitar-Pick-Dozen?sku=110780

 

[Mor Paul]

I've been a fan of Dunlop Tortex Yellow .73 mm for most of my guitar playing time, but yesterday I was touring a college, and swung by a guitar shop and grabbed a Jazz III Red because of this thread (and others), and I love it!

 

[JamesL]

I've been a fan of Dunlop Tortex Yellow .73 mm for most of my guitar playing time, but yesterday I was touring a college, and swung by a guitar shop and grabbed a Jazz III Red because of this thread (and others), and I love it!

Welcome to the dark side.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[Jusatele]

Firebird, I would have to not agree about the pick stiffness, If we used that line of thought then the more experienced we were the harder pick we would want.
When I use a pick it is a thin pick, because when I strum I want to emulate the sound I get from my fingernails. But the style of playing I do I find a pick is always in my way. When I do grab one I am about to do some fast lead line of a power rhythm that I do not want to beat up my fingers on.
Still I can see his thought basis about the thickness because give a beginner a thick pick and he will trip over everything, give him one in 6 months and it is  different story.

 

[Jusatele]

Cagey, I think you are trying to say, personal style is what makes you chose one pick or another?
I have to agree with that. as well as equipment. I started off learning classical guitar and find that I embellish a lot adding notes during the up beats and such so that I can be struming with the thumb and picking with the fingers at the same time, Makes chord voiceings real fun also as I can add tones when ever I want. And that is a part of my style I feel makes me sound like ME and not a lot like the homogeneous drone of players out there. One of the biggest things I encourage an intermediate player to do is develop a style. Play what they hear in their heads, not what the current guitar hero is doing. I used to love those Jams they would have on Hee Haw when everyone would do a pass or two during a song. No one sounded the same even though they all were playing C&W or Bluegrass. Everyone had a style that was different.

 

[Cagey]

Cagey, I think you are trying to say, personal style is what makes you chose one pick or another?

Mostly, but there are some things that just demand a different tool. You can't stick with any one thing 100%. Myself, I can use the Ultrex .73 for 95% of what I do, but sometimes just my fingers are better, and sometimes something lighter or heavier is called for. For instance, a very thin pick makes for a different strumming sound if you're playing full chords than a thick one does, but you wouldn't use a thin pick if you expected to be pulling off pinch harmonics at will.

 

[swarfrat]

I had a guitar teacher decades ago that tried to school me on heavy picks. He succeeded in getting me up to mediums. But I still like light picks for 12 string, brings out more shimmer.

 

[Rickgrxbass]

I had a guitar teacher decades ago that tried to school me on heavy picks. He succeeded in getting me up to mediums. But I still like light picks for 12 string, brings out more shimmer.

Weird, I had a guitar teacher who wouldn't let me use anything except teardrops, imagine his disdain when I walked in with my "ninja star" stubby triangle I'd been using on bass!

 

[hachikid]

this:

or if I'm actually looking to use a pick, this:

 

[DangerousR6]

Billy Gibbons says the Mexican peso sounds better than a quarter.....

I've got a few picks I've made from Titanium, and they have a really distinctive sound....... :icon_biggrin:

 

[Dan025]

Billy Gibbons says the Mexican peso sounds better than a quarter.....

I've got a few picks I've made from Titanium, and they have a really distinctive sound....... :icon_biggrin:

i like the titanium, try aluminum, not the best pick material because it is too soft to slide nice but the chime is distictive.

 

[DangerousR6]

Billy Gibbons says the Mexican peso sounds better than a quarter.....

I've got a few picks I've made from Titanium, and they have a really distinctive sound....... :icon_biggrin:

i like the titanium, try aluminum, not the best pick material because it is too soft to slide nice but the chime is distictive.

I tried aluminum, first 6061 which is the most common grade aluminum, but it's way to soft. Then I tried 7075, which is a bit tougher and used in most aircraft applications, and it to was too soft. And because it's so soft it leaves aluminum dust all over the guitar, that's why I went with Titanium...

I've also made some out of different hard woods, some from ziricote and Honduran rosewood, I was quite impressed with the wood picks too... :icon_thumright:

 

[drewfx]

Well, on bass, when I use a pick, Fender extra-heavy's. I really prefer the white ones, but it seems they only make the extra-heavy's in tortise anymore...  ???

On guitar, I use Snarling Dogs Brain Picks:

http://www.snarlingdogs.com/products/brain.html

They're nicely textured so I don't drop them as easily.

I have all of the (color coded) sizes and depending on what I'm doing I use the Orange (1.14mm), Grey (1.00mm), Red (.73mm), and sometimes Green (.53mm). Black (.88) and Purple (.60) get used rarely for some reason. Generally the (lighter) Red's and Green's would be for acoustic or 12-string, with the Orange for HB equipped guitars, and the Grey for SC PU's. Or something like that - I sort of choose which weight is best with each guitar and grab that pick when I use that guitar.

 

[Firebird211]

That's funny, I have used a full size quarter in a pinch, but it doesn't work all that well for me.  I have to agree with both Cagey and Jusatele on the whole thin / thick pick idea.  I was using a medium then still, but the guy telling me more experienced players prefer firm picks was using an extra hard Fender pick.  Maybe he was slightly full of bs, but there was some method to his madness.  He said that it was good that I prefered mediums to thin, but may run into certain limitations. :dontknow:  I like mediums better because they have a combination of control and a little give for strumming, and I use them at least 90% of the time. On similar subject I would like to invent an acoustic guitar that would spit my damn pick out on command instead of shaking it out violently. :laughing7:

 

[kboman]

In my experience, too stiff/thick picks move the strings around too much, causing slight detuning on the attack (which can be a cool effect) and sometimes string buzz (which is rarely cool). A little give really helps things along for rhythmic playing.
My issue with the teardrop shaped picks is that they are too small, now that I've gotten used to the triangular ones (which was easy) that have lots of gripping surface anything smaller feels really weird.

 

[hannaugh]

In my opinion, thin picks are definitely better for rhythm/strumming, and hard picks give more control during solos and lead.

 

[elfro89]

Me i like a healthy mix between the 2, thin picks give an amazing attack to rhythm parts but are flimsy and crappy for soloing, thick pics are great for soloing and yada yada,

I like the tortex .88 picks its got the attack for rhythm and the hardness for soloing, amazing picks.

 

[RIPeturs]

I use DAVA Jazz Grips (derlin) with my bass.  If you are a picking bass player, check out the DAVA grip series. IMO you wont have to switch from fingers to pick, just change your squeeze on the pick. It takes a while to perfect, but squeeze hard and plenty or response, squeeze softly and its hard to hear you're using a pick at all.

 

[JamesL]

I'm super duper weird about my picking style... I don't currently know of anyone who picks quite like it, and rather than trying to explain it I just took pictures  :icon_tongue:

Depending on what exactly I'm doing I hold my pick differently. I have huge hands and I use the jazz III picks which are small to begin with and then I stick an extra finger on there. The first three are my "general playing/chording" grip, and the last one is more along the lines of my "solo" grip.  :dontknow: Weird :tard: I know.