I think I'm going to have to actually get in touch with someone at fender and not a dealer. I have some questions about their picks which nobody at a store can seem to answer. And I might have to order direct from fender if that is at all possible.

Do they have any way to get contact with them? On the website they list their address, but do they have an e-mail address and do people actually read the e-mails and respond to them?

Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Try here Bob
consumerrelations@fender.com

Bob....Are you trippin over this pick deal brutha!

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1986 Fender Sidekick Reverb 35
1990 Fender Red Knob - "The Twin"
1992 Fender Newporter - Acoustic
2000 Fender American Series Strat - Natural ash
2010 Fender Mustang 1
2011 Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster -Sunburst
2012 Fender Champion

Well I guess you could call it trippin'. It sure means a lot to me. I'm a jazz player and I turn the pick so as to use one of the blunt upper corners rather than the point of the pick. And with the older type picks that I bought about two years ago there is no roughness or gritty edge. On the new ones the edges all the way around are gritty which takes away from tone and greatly affect the way the pick slides across the string. Not as smooth.

Yeah there might also be a psychological aspect to it but I assure you that it is something very tangible. You can feel it. Just the way you can feel string difference and neck difference or anything else.

So.......yes, I'm trippin'. I don't want to have to find new picks. So I appreciate your concern, although you might be poking just a little fun, which is okay with me. We all need fun, but truly, I would like to find these picks again. Everybody has their little idiosyncratic ways.

Thanks

The Musician's Gear brand of picks you can buy from Musician's Friend are very similar to the Fender picks I used to use back in the day, maybe try them if you're unable to get ahold of the picks you're looking for.

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I was pokin a little fun bro..I can appreciate a musician and his specific gear which would include picks in your case.I hope you can find your picks your looking for.Maybe an introduction to everyone might help out.I was just givin ya a little hard time cause your first couple posts were about picks you need and not really introducing yourself to all of us...but it's all good dude.Most everyone here is helpful and has a good attitude with the exception of a few that need not be named

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1986 Fender Sidekick Reverb 35
1990 Fender Red Knob - "The Twin"
1992 Fender Newporter - Acoustic
2000 Fender American Series Strat - Natural ash
2010 Fender Mustang 1
2011 Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster -Sunburst
2012 Fender Champion

Nah. I sensed your having fun at my expense. I apologize for my abruptness. I truly don't use these forums very much so I do not know the protocol.

Believe me I have a great sense of humor especially when it comes to people taking things a little too seriously. And look at me. I wish you could see what I'm looking at right now. I have a table literally full of picks.

So I'll introduce myself, although there is probably not much chance of my being around here in the future and that is only because I work on a cruise ship. I am only in town until aug. then go out for another 4 months. I try to stock up on everything here (in miami) because I can't get anything in the places we go. Not gonna find DR strings in Istanbul. Or fender picks for that matter. Completely different kind of stringed instrument there.

But anyway, hello and thanks to everyone for their input. And it does seem like everyone here is really cool. I was actually given a link to Just Strings (or something like that) and they have (hopefully) the picks I want. So I've ordered them and we'll see what happens. It is worth the 21 skins I spent to see if they are the ones I want.

So thanks again, and sorry if I came off impersonal. It's nice to know that these forums are out there with knowledgeable people who like to help.

V-Picks

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Chet Feathers

Authorized TonePros Dealer
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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

Hi boblogan, try dressing the edges of your picks with some fine sandpaper. I use 600grit or finer, you can smooth and shape them however you want.

I can relate,picks can be serious business!
I'm obsessive with everything from picks to pickups,amps,tubes,strings you name it,...it bothers me if it ain't just right.

Hi Bob

Chet's suggestion of V-Picks is a very good one for your situation.
http://v-picks.com/
Please ignore the thickness of them, it really is not a issue after a couple of minutes of handling one. I tend to remain skeptical of new fangled inventions. How many times can you re-invent the wheel?. However I tried em and found them to be a clear improvement in both sound and comfort over my regular dunlop nylon .88mm's that I've used since about 1988.
With how specific you are about your plectrums you no doubt understand that comfort has a greater effect on the quality of your output/performance than anything else. So please, give em a shot. You may just love em.

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No no and no

Hey guys, thanks again for all the cool comments and suggestions. I went through a period of the sandpaper thing. Worked for a while but around that time I found the fenders (in the plastic box) that were actually pretty good. Not perfect but workable. At least at the time much better than anything that was on the market in my opinion. Don't want to get back into that scene again since my time on the ship is pretty well taken up with practice and rehearsals, and of course touring around the different countries, so sacrifices have to be made.

I was looking again last night at the difference between the two types of 351 I now have and even the lettering is different. The word heavy on the ones that I prefer is smaller. Here I go on my jag again. Why would fender make two completely different types of the same number. I'm pretty sure the number 351 is only specific to that size/style of pick but it's crazy that you would have two different types. When one is in my opinion much better. Are they thinking that someone out there will like the $@!&#* ones?

I will try the V-picks if I can find them. I don't have a car here on vacation so it's a little difficult to get around.

Those penguins are soooo cool. I literally laugh when I look at that. I had some experience with the penguins in Antarctica and they are very cool creatures. That little clip is amazing. Even without the video editing or whatever it is it would still be funny with that little guy just falling into the thin ice.

Thanks again for keeping me company and giving me some stuff to read while I'm here. I don't know if you can tell but I'm getting a little bored which is why I ramble on and on in these replies. Sorry for taking up any of your time.

Gonna go back to my chocolate chip cookie and coffee at starbucks.

Thanks, see ya

boblogan, I understand your pain! I'm also "picky" about picks. I used the pick that I bought with my first electric guitar (while stationed in Germany) for over 20 years before I had to retire it. I never liked the feel of any other pick. About 8 or 9 years ago I found another pick that I liked; it had holes in it, and POS-A-GRIP printed on it. I bought a few of them, and now I'm on my last one. (The thin ones would break easily, so I preferred the thicker ones. Unfortunately, at the time I only bought 3 or 4 thick ones.)

I don't lose picks... ever. A pick will last me for years. So, a few years later I wanted to get more of the same picks but the local shop no longer carried them. I tried picks that looked just like them, but they just weren't the same. I searched on-line and found similar POS-A-GRIP ones by the same manufacturer, but they looked different. After finding a retailer, I offered to pay for one or two sample picks, and if they were the same then I'd buy a package for $40, but they refused to sell samples. I won't just buy a pack because I've already tried an almost identical pick and didn't like it. It seems that the company is using a different material to make the picks now, and I prefer the older ones.

I've even bought dozens of different picks and drilled holes in them, but none had the same feel. I'm on my last pick, and not looking forward to trying to find another favorite!

Have you ever tried out the new Jazz III from Dunlop? It's a great pick! Stable, fast and has a great feel over all!

It's also a thick pick and one of my favourites.

Just my 2 cents and I'm glad if it helped

Bob, I know full well what it's like. From a tarmac perspective. The minutes turn into hours, the hours into days. The relentless wait in between the couple of hours excitement. The up side of my experience is the different people from place to place. Dunno how that relates to ship. The monotony of the wait must be the same though.

I strongly doubt you'll find V-picks in a real world shop. They only have one supplier in the UK. Dunno about the rest of Europe.
Dava make a decent plectrum. Though I doubt it will give the big plane you seek.
You control stiffness in the way you grip the thing. Makes for a very adaptable tool.
http://www.thomann.de/gb/dava_control_pick_set.htm

Could you perhaps get the shop to ship to your next port or a couple of ports along the cruise?

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No no and no