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Post subject: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 6:27 am
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I've been using Fender Heavy 351 picks for over 30 years now so I know exactly the way they feel, the way they interact with different gauge strings and the way they wear depending on which guitar I'm using. I have never had a problem with any inconsistencies in all those years but within the past six months I've noticed that they definitely do not feel the same as they used to.

I first noticed something was different when I bought a gross on eBay a few months ago but I passed it off as a bad batch because at the time the small packs I was buying at Guitar Center were still the same. I buy picks fairly often and soon it was obvious that they were all this "new and improved" pick.

I've mostly been playing acoustic guitar lately and I would normally go through about 3 or 4 Fender Heavy picks in the course of a night and I have always been very conscious and particular about the way they interact with the strings and the way they sound as they wear down. Now with this new style I go through about 15-20 picks per night and I can feel the pick wearing down during the course of just one song! As it wears it starts to sound very “screechy” and when I use the white picks I can see that the part of the pick that strikes the string turns black.

I looked through my old gear and I found a bunch of old colored Fender Heavy picks (from the '80s and '90s) so on my gig last night I figured I would compare one of these old Fender picks with the new Fender picks so I would know I was not just imagining this. I ended up playing an hour-long set with ONE of these old Fender Heavy picks and I never experienced any of these new problems. My guitar felt and sounded great for the whole set. In the past I would have probably changed picks after about a half hour but now I can’t afford to waste them.

I've tried using other brand picks but none of them seem to cut it for me. I am completely bummed out about this and unless I come across a couple grosses of NOS Fender Heavy picks I don't know what I'm going to do.

What the hell happened? I can’t be the only guitarist that has noticed this problem!


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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:21 pm
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Wow - I find it extremely hard to believe, if not impossible, that no other guitar player on this forum has noticed this change!

I suppose there's a slight possibility that nobody here uses Fender 351 Heavy picks and this problem is restricted to only the 351 Heavy picks but that would also be hard to believe.

So I guess I will bump this thread and see if I can get any responses this time. If I don't end up finding anything useful regarding this issue online I'm just going to call Fender Customer Service and see if they can help me.

Guitar picks are an extremely important part of the whole guitar player experience and I can tell you that this problem has severely affected my enjoyment.


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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:03 pm
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I play guitar and have been using Fender's 351 Medium shell picks for years, and years now. I have noticed lately a little of what you're talking about, but I'm not sure what's going on.


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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:05 pm
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351 heavy is my fender pick of choice, in fact I just received some in the mail 2 days ago. I have not noticed anything unusual. I have been playing with one of them since they came in and it looks and feels fine, but I have not played nearly as long as you have and I am playing a Stratocaster.

I also use Dunlop Tortex 1.0 mm and like them very much.

Just a though, have you changed to a different type of strings?

8)

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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:43 pm
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omar59 wrote:
Just a though, have you changed to a different type of strings?


+1

Strings of a different composition or heavier gauge might be responsible for the premature pick wear you're observing.

I play Fender's tortoise-shell 351 "extra heavy" picks and have done so for decades now. It's been a while since I've needed to buy any but when I do I'll report any noticeable change to their formulation.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 9:46 am
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I just tried a newer one that I had from a local shop
and it feels the same as the other Fender Heavy 351 picks
that I've had for some time now.

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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:07 pm
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I've been using the same Martin Marquis acoustic guitar strings for almost as long as I've been using Fender Heavy picks. Thankfully, the strings are still the same, but I can't say the same for the picks. :(

Obviously, it makes perfect sense that a rigid pick, with very little give, used on heavy acoustic guitar strings would wear down more quickly than the same pick used on thinner electric guitar strings. I have no idea why there aren't more people complaining about this issue. Are Fender picks not popular anymore? I can’t be the only one online who has used Fender Heavy picks exclusively over the years. It could be that the extra wear is due to the fact that I hold my pick at a weird angle which makes for easier muting and it also allows me to quickly slip the pick into my hand when I switch over to finger-picking in the middle of a song.

I probably do go through picks more quickly than most guitarists out there but that still wouldn’t account for the noticeable differences between old Fender 351 Heavy picks and new Fender 351 Heavy picks. If Fender picks haven’t changed then I should be going through them just like I used to. 2 or 3 of the old picks used to get me through a typical 3 hour gig, but with the new picks it’s now more like 12-15! :shock:

I had 3 gigs last weekend so I did a comparison using 4 old picks that I found (from the '80s and '90s) and 4 new picks (from different recent batches from different parts of the country) and the results were exactly the same, so this problem can't be due solely to manufacturing inconsistencies. When I switched to one of my old Fender Heavy picks after using the new ones for a few weeks I could not believe the difference! The old picks wore down very gradually and smoothly and I could easily play 20-25 songs before I would even begin to hear any degradation of the sound.

If the only issue here was that the picks wear out a little faster I could probable deal with that, but it's how my sound is affected by the way the picks wear, and I imagine this has to do with either a different manufacturing method or cheaper plastic or both. Right from the first pick or strum of the first song I can tell that my guitar sound is noticeably different and then about halfway through the same song I start to hear a scraping sound which by the end of the song has become a totally unacceptable screechy sound. It's gotten to the point that it's starting to affect the way I play the guitar.

I was at Guitar Center in Boston this morning and I bought a pack of Rock Steady Heavy picks. I've never tried them before (I've never heard of them before) so maybe I'll get lucky. I know that I can't be the only Fender customer who has been affected by this change and I’m sure that someone at the company is aware of this change but maybe they don’t even consider it a problem. Maybe they don’t care. If they wanted to save money they should have started a Squier brand pick series and left the classics alone. 8)


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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 5:00 pm
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I find that I go through a pick pretty quickly to keep the sound , and feel that I want. After about three to four hours of band practice, I'm ready for a new one.


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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 9:50 am
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I just started noticing this with the medium picks. I bought a gross from sweet water, and started noticing that my tone was harsh & tinny and I could hear the attack more acoustically. I compared them to a few older picks and could really notice the difference. I had hoped it was just a bad batch, but I recently bought some from a local store and they sound bad as well.

I'm really bummed. The pick has a major impact on tone, and fender 351 mediums are the only ones I really like. I'm not sure I even want to play guitar with anything else.


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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:11 am
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Have not bought Fender Heavy Picks in many years. The last ones I got from Fender were their metal picks they were handing out at NAMM -- found them to be way to bright with too much attack and no where near my favorites.

I've recently switched up my picks and moved away from the smooth style to textured picks for enhanced and non-slip grip.

I'm switching between the Snarling Dog Brain, Dunlop MaxGrips, some old Herco's, and have even punched some of my own using the Pick Punch to punch expired credit cards positioned such that the two rows of embossed (raised) numbers and lettering provide a comfortable home spot for my thumb. These are very heavy, fun to play, and replenishable!

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Post subject: Re: HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT FENDER PICKS HAVE CHANGED?
Posted: Thu Feb 18, 2016 12:38 pm
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I've always used 351 Heavy too but havent bought any in a while. But I've bought a bunch of 346 Heavy a few weeks ago and have not noticed a change in composition.


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