Picks-evolution of in your playing

[musicispeace]

Having recently gone from being star struck with TUSQ picks I have now felt I have discovered the merits of the good, old Warmoth picks I had laying around from orders where Warmoth threw a few in the shipping box. I'm presently happy all over again. What are you using these days that you feel merits a recommendation or what dramatic pick changes have you made in your playing history?

 

[luthierbill]

Well, I started off with those multi-colored celluloid picks that came with Montgomery Wards $30 no name Japanese electric guitar.  I soon switched over to Fender thin that seemed to go well with my slinky strings by eb.  When I got an acoustic I used real tortoise shell for that only until they banned them.    Then because I switched back to heavier strings and I kept breaking picks with the thins I switched to medium Fender. 

Now I can't live without tortex USA large .73 mm (yellow) triangle.
I'm pretty hard on them so I get 'em by the half gross.

 

[DangerousR6]

I started out years ago with the Dunlop nylon ultra thin picks, .38mm. But over the years I've moved on to much heavier picks. I do still like the nylon picks, I have some heavy gauge Brain picks. But I do like the Warmoth picks I have also. I've dabbled in some exotic materials like ziricote wood, aluminum, I think though my all time favorite are the Titanium picks I've made. The feel and sound amazing...

 

[fdesalvo]

Orange Dunlop Tortex. Never used anything else.

 

[mrpinter]

Picks have always been something I've paid a lot of attention to. I started out a long time ago collecting and trying out just about every type I could find. I eventually settled on different picks for different guitars, but my favorites over the years have been: Pickboy Pos-a-grips, Dava Grip Tips, various V-Picks, several different models of which I used for a while before finally discovering Gravity picks, which I use exclusively now. First I used Gravity's hand made acrylic picks, but switched to their Gold Series models after they were introduced recently.

I've noticed a couple of patterns in my pick selections over the years: my preferred picks have gotten gradually thicker, and a lot more expensive. The Gravity Gold Series picks I use now with all my guitars are $20 each (that's not a typo), and yes, I can definitely feel a big difference between them and other picks, and, yes, I think they're worth the price - at least to me. They make that much of a difference in feel and sound. They have a lovely warmth in their tone without sounding dull like most other thicker picks, and they have a sort of natural lubricity and precisely cut bevels that allow very accurate and articulate playing. Here are the ones I use now - on most of my electrics, the triangular Stealth shape in Big Mini size, 2.5mm (between a jazz and a regular Fender 351 in size):

On my Tele with flatwounds, I use one called a Tripp; Big Mini 1.5mm:

And for my acoustic I use the Gold Series standard size Stealth in 1mm, because I like just a bit of flex in my acoustic playing for strumming:

 

[Re-Pete]

I've long been using Dunlop Nylon 1mm standard shaped picks.

I strum hard & those don't wear out as much.

But after doing some research into the Heavy Metal scene, I've noticed the shredders were using Dunlop Jazz 3  & Ultex picks & I also got recommended Dunlop Stubby 2 mm picks.

These newer picks seem to give me greater individual string picking ability & they sit in my fingers better than the older style.

I managed to get a couple of Jazz 3 & took a gamble on the Stubby 2mm. The Ultex were sold out.

I'm certainly no shredder, consider myself more a hacker rhythm player. But these newer picks feel much better and seem to provide more accurate playing without the pick slipping too much in your fingers.

For now I consider myself in transition from the older Nylon picks to these newer smaller picks.

 

[Jesse]

Dunlop Gator Grip .96mm

I like the texture but more importantly, these are slightly smaller and pointier than Tortex picks.  I can't deal with stubbies.  Maybe I'm not good enough but with those I feel like I just hit the strings with my fingers.

When I'm trying to channel The Edge, I use a Herco Flex 75 nylon pick, held sideways so all the little bumps contact the strings.

 

[rgand]

For years, I've used Fender picks. My favorite is the 346 heavy. I just got a couple Tusq picks, triangular ones in 1mm. I keep going back and forth between those and the Fenders. I like the feel of both but for different reasons. Tusq picks are smooth playing but Fenders sound a little clearer. I'm still not fully sold on either one enough to say, "This is my favorite." Maybe there's something out there I'll like better.

 

[musicispeace]

Wow, very informative and helpful feedback. I definitely want to check some of these out. And DangerousR6, I am not surprised you made picks out of titanium. If you spot this post what was the tone like? 

 

[DocNrock]

I started out, over 30 years ago, with light medium picks.  Over the past five years, or so, I have gone to much heavier picks.  Less fatiguing and definitely a sharper attack.

 

[bagman67]

I started picking with my stubby little digits as a teenager on a 3/4-scale nylon-string guitar that was lying around the house from a sibling's aborted attempt to learn to play.  Somewhere along the way I figured out that a lot of stuff gets played with a pick.  I don't recall having a preference except that the really light, flexible picks never really felt right.  Over time I've been through a lot of shapes and thicknesses and materials, and I'm pretty sure now that I can make a credible noise with just about any damn thing I pick up.  That said - I'm now most comfortable with a 2-to-3 mm-ish teardrop pick.  For single-note stuff, the V-picks are nice, as are the Dunlop Jazz III's and Big Stubbies.  For strummy stuff, I like the Tortex picks.  And no matter what else is going on, my stubby little digts are still my go-to tools for the job.

 

[MikeW]

I've used just about everything from Fender Medium to Dunlop Tortex and Ultex picks. Lately I find that I lay out two or three each of Fender Medium, the band's custom SD+BF picks (a little snappier than a Fender Medium but wear a lot faster), Orange Tortex, Yellow Tortex, Fender Heavy, and Purple Gator Grip on top of my amp.

During warm up I'll play two or three different picks and go with what seems to be working that night. It's not so much about size or shape or material for me, but what feels good in the hand and isn't slipping (I sweat quite a bit while I'm playing). I'm usually looking for a good 'snappy' tone as the string comes out from under the pick too. That said, I've been using the Purple Gator Grip and the Custom SD+BF picks a lot lately.

 

[zebra]

I started with Fender Mediums, and they'll always be my go-to. 

Jazz picks are great for alternate picking / single-note lines, but using them changes your style so much, that when you're used to them, anything else feels weird...and using heavy picks for strumming adds a weird "clunk" to the the sound that I generally don't like.  However, some cheapo acoustics I've had didn't sound right until I tried them with heavier picks.   

More and more, though, I've been playing without picks - not a patterned finger-style, but a free-form finger-style that lets me alternate between plucking entire jazz chords, arppegiating them, or doing banjo-style rolls while shifting chords shapes up and down the neck that blend fretted and open-strings.  Playing without picks seems to force me to slow down and be more creative with phrasing, because I can't just generate flurries of eight notes that make no sense with regards to anything else at all, as I tend to do while using a pick. 

 

[rgand]

Let's put an IV in this thread for a minute. I have used the Tusq picks for a few weeks, now. More and more I find that when I grap a pick to practice with, it's a Tusq. Since I only have 4 of them and several hundred of the Fenders, it would seem they're growing on me. I just ordered a few more in 'deep' and 'bright' to see how they differ from the 'warm'. Also, the Bi Angle ones are a little better shape than the 346's.

 

[Cagey]

I bought a variety of the Tusq picks a while back, and still use them on and off. Mostly by chance. I like them, but I don't think I'd ever commit to them like I do the Dunlop Ultrex parts. They seem too easy to break, and I'm not a particularly aggressive player as a rule. I think maybe they're tad too brittle.

 

[Wizard of Wailing]

      I used orange Tortex picks for the first 15 years of my playing.  Ten years ago I switched to tiny teardrop .63mm Clayton picks, and now any normal size pick feels huge and clunky.  I feel like the smaller pick enables me to play a lot faster.

 

[ChristopherG]

My favorite flat picks are the Ultex 2 mil and the gator grip blues.

But most often I find myself playing with a heavy Golden Gate thumb pick that I filed back about halfway and a Fred Kelly Freedom Pick. Google that. If you do any finger picking at all and have trouble keeping nails like I do, then these things are the s@*t.

Save you the trouble.

http://fredkellypicks.com/product/delrin-freedom-finger/

These derlin ones sound almost exactly like real nail.

Note, these are not like Alaskas, which are really only nail reinforcers. These are fully functional, non breaking slip on fake nails.

 

[musicispeace]

My favorite flat picks are the Ultex 2 mil and the gator grip blues.

But most often I find myself playing with a heavy Golden Gate thumb pick that I filed back about halfway and a Fred Kelly Freedom Pick. Google that. If you do any finger picking at all and have trouble keeping nails like I do, then these things are the s@*t.

Save you the trouble.

http://fredkellypicks.com/product/delrin-freedom-finger/

These derlin ones sound almost exactly like real nail.

Note, these are not like Alaskas, which are really only nail reinforcers. These are fully functional, non breaking slip on fake nails.

Appreciate the link. Thank you.

 

[SabrePanzer]

I started off with the Dunlop Tortex picks, specifically the yellow and green ones, before experimenting with other picks. Through different Fender tortoise-like picks, with a few oddballs (including a couple triangular bass picks), to experimenting with Dunlop Jazz picks, to the current Dunlop USA Nylon picks (at first the black ones that are 1mm, to my current setup of .88mm). I've also used some "monster" picks too, like the skull-shape ones, but I don't really like using them now. Snags too much.

 

[Great Ape]

Small Dunlop Jazz llls. Very stiff,as in no flex at all, and I use the rounded edge, not the pointed end.
Impossible to wear out or break--I have some layin' around that I've used for 25-30 yrs. For slide it's
just fingers...