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Post subject: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:06 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Location: Richmond, VA
Good morning everyone, and I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! Let's all hope that 2016 will be a great year for us all!

You all saw that photo of all my guitars on the wall, including that new Gretsch hollow body that I got for Christmas. Even after playing it this past week, I found that it prefers a harder pick than my Strat.

POS Samick pawn shop bass = fingers mostly, but occasionally I'll use a National thumbpick.
Yamaha 12 string acoustic = Dunlop nylon .73mm pick (seems thin for .73mm!)
'95 Fender Strat = Fender medium picks, all assorted colors
Alvarez 6 string acoustic = Dunlop nylon 1.0mm pick (seems thin for 1.0mm!)
Gretsch G5122 hollow body = Fender heavy pick
Ibanez 511 mandolin = common Sam Ash heavy pick, but filed down to be more rounder

With all this being said, I wanted to post up probably the first question for the new year... What is your favorite type of pick? Or, do you change picks with different guitars like I do?


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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 8:03 am
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Happy new year!

Typically I'll use a thinner pick for acoustic work and a slightly thicker pick for electric.

Both of my pick preferences are thinner than yours. Sometime I use a pick on bass, not always, and when I do it's an even thinner one.

Electric = 60
Acoustic = 48
Bass = fingers or 38

This might sound a little "out there" to some folks. For me, the thickness of pick depends largely on string spacing. Soft picks sound better to me so it's pretty much the softer the better but I need them a bit thicker when the strings get tight. Makes for better accuracy when reaching in to pluck just one. The faster or the more complicated picking work I do, the thicker I'll want the pick but never thicker than a 60.

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 8:22 am
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I tend to vary my pick by the song, depending on how much fast, accurate picking needs to be done.
My standard pick is a Dunlop 2.0 Big Stubby. For songs that have quick pick work, I find a pick with rounder edges rolls off each string better and gives my right hand less resistance. For a song like, Allman Bros. One Way Out, I'll use a V-Pick with round edges. It's probably a 3.0. Thin picks just slap too much for me and they slow me down.
Happy New Year to everyone. I have a feeling this one is going to provide me with some good memories. Gotta stay positive!

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 8:46 am
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Acoustic pics I use mostly Dunlop Ultex .60 and Gators .58. Primetones when I want a hefty attack either .88 or .73. I use a Dunlop nylon .73 standard for most of my electrics, no slap and quiet, and when I want more lead work I use Dunlop Ultex XL III series Jazz sharp about 1.0 or thicker, not printed on the pick so it's a guess. All in all I am a novice at best in both worlds and am learning more as I go, it's a journey worth the steps!

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 10:20 am
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I've been using Fender's tortoise-shell 351 "extra heavy" exclusively for about 25 years now. Acoustic, electric, bass, twelve-string, everything.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 12:40 pm
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I am a Dunlap Tortex .88mm guy myself...for everything, except every once in a while I will grab an old Fender medium triangle pick for acoustic.

T2

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 3:05 pm
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I prefer different string gauges on different guitars--and while I do have some different picks in the cases--I mostly use Tortex 1.14, double picks I make with Tortex 1.14 & 1.00, & some stone picks.

I'm good with those on any guitar--but I often use a 1.14 Gator Grip on my Mustang

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 8:57 pm
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My nails have hardened with age, and I find that my thumbnail is now an excellent pick, and what I use most of the time even when not fingerpicking. Other than that, when I use picks, I tend to use soft picks, because I can't really emulate that with a hard nail. Sharkfin for preference, as I find it easier to control the angle. YMMV.

Then there are picks for giving away, but that's a different thing :)


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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 9:46 pm
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Happy New Year Butch ! I use V-pick ultra lite anything, star-pick 50 mm reds and 88mm greens for bass.I have others, sizes and shapes but stay with those listed pretty much.

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 10:10 pm
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SKcoppertele wrote:
they wear down too fast. I can kill two of them in a single gig.

What kind of strings do you use?


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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:53 pm
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Picks: tried and true tortoise shell Fender mediums
Strings: tried and true 9-42s (prefer D'Addario but definitely not married to them)

Yeah, I know, not too original. But it is what works and is comfortable to me. Anything else feels like it is from Mars.

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 12:01 am
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SKcoppertele wrote:
arth1 wrote:
What kind of strings do you use?
Elixir .011-.049

Weird. I would have thought that coated strings would be less hard on your picks. Must be differences in the playing style then (like angle and speed of attack), cause mine last a lot longer, even the soft version:

Image

Luckily, picks are relatively cheap and easy to switch!


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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:08 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:44 am
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Location: Richmond, VA
arth1 wrote:
Image

Luckily, picks are relatively cheap and easy to switch!

You know... I tried those sharkfin picks once. Then I tried them again just to see. I can't get used to them. They're a nice pick with different edges to use, but they just feel weird to me. :?


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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:40 am
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Happy New Year!

I'm not too "picky" when it comes to picks. I mostly use
Fender 351 Heavy but have a few of Vinny's v-picks (thanks Chet!)
that I like a lot too.

For strings - on my electrics I like Ernie Ball Regular Slinky
Nickel Wound Set, .010 - .046

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Post subject: Re: Question about picks, and a Happy New Year too!
Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 2:18 pm
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Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:21 pm
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I started playing about 50 years ago, but consider myself a beginner. There's about a 45 year gap in my learning curve. I've noticed that experienced players prefer thicker picks and I'm trying to understand why that is. I can see that they are better when picking single notes for accuracy and to avoid the flapping you get from thin picks. However, I have found that thick picks sound dull to me (I like clean electric and acoustic mainly). I also have a very hard time strumming with thick picks, but I'm sure that's probably a newbie thing. I don't want to be stuck in the beginner mode and would like to move on to better technique and using thicker picks if that's part of it. I have recently discovered the Dunlop Ultex .60 which seems to be a little thicker and snappier sounding than the Tortex counterpart. This helps. However, what am I not understanding about the preference for the thick picks, such as the 1mm, jazz type and even stone over the thinner picks?


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