Thoughts on pick thickness

[monfoodoo]

Can a thin pick help or hinder building up speed?Or is it just a preference for what feels best for you?

[mellecaster]

I'd say Pick thickness....shape...which side ya use...material...etc....is a totally personal thing, and there is NO right or wrong IMO....or w/ some...even the need for a pick YMMV

[eyema_believer]

Originally Posted by monfoodoo

Can a thin pick help or hinder building up speed?Or is it just a preference for what feels best for you?

I've found that a thin pick hinders my playing fast. It seems the thin ones don't snap back as fast as needed to cleanly articulate the next note....
YMMV

Peace!

~Shawn

[BroadMaster]

Originally Posted by eyema_believer

I've found that a thin pick hinders my playing fast. It seems the thin ones don't snap back as fast as needed to cleanly articulate the next note....
YMMV

Peace!

~Shawn

+1, the 1.0mm, for me, is stiff enough to demand an articulated attack. Thinner, and I feel like the pick is dictating my nuances of playing.
EEMMV,
michael

[blue metalflake]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

I'd say Pick thickness....shape...which side ya use...material...etc....is a totally personal thing, and there is NO right or wrong IMO....or w/ some...even the need for a pick YMMV

+1 on that. In its various guises, pick thickness, material, shape, etc has been worried to death a few times, usually with no conclusion!

Its about how it feels best to you. Thickness and material make such a subtle difference to your sound, and your speed.

I spent years trying every conceivable material, shape, size, - bit like looking for the Holy Grail of tone. I certainly found eventually what suited me best, but above all, found there was more input from my hands/fingers than anything else.

I ended up with small, thin, picks as stock in trade, but funny as years go on, I find myself playing more using fingers.

[dobrodoc]

Back during the bluegrass years, I was using tortoiseshell. No more, of course!! But I learned to play with a stiff pick, and those little thin picks feel like the ones we used to cut out of Clorox bottles

[BillyC]

Use what works for you...I use very thin delrin picks because I got used to the ones I cut out of clorox bottles.

[Stefan]

It´s all in the hands. I prefer Dunlop Gator Grip .96 mm (with a hole punched through them for secure grip).

[Twang Tone]

I agree that a stiff, thick pick allows the player to play single lines faster, as the pick is less flexible. But this can take a bit of getting used to if you're used to using a thin pick.

A thin pick is perhaps not so good for playing single line runs fast, but is perhaps better suited to rhythm playing styles, where stumming chords is more of a priority.

I tend to use a stiff pick (the green Dunlop ones) to do both - I vamp the rhythm playing by light strokes for chords or using hybrid picking to play 3 or 4 strings at the same time using pick and fingers.

Thanks,

[TG]

I've tried different picks and even if something feels wonderful in a shop or noodling at home I always find myself going back to my black Nylon Dunlop 1mm at gigs....with a sigh of relief.
Best pick for me, without a doubt. But everyone is different.
Brian May uses a coin, fer gawds sake.

[gtech]

Pick thickness depends on the material also.

I use a thinner one now that I use Delrin picks because they are stiffer for the same thickness.

I was normally using something like .88mm but now I use .73mm with Delrin picks.

And the pick you use does affect the sound, the two extremes being a coin and your fingers.

I use my fingers more than before, but it all depends on what and how I play.

[stxrus]

for years i used Dunlop 1mm nylons and then i got turned on to the Jazz IIs & IIIs, then i found the Stubby 3.0s. i thought i had all bases covered with the Jazz & Stubby. then this new pick showed up. WTF is a v-pick? i laughed at it and thought anybody paying $4.00 for a pick should have his/her head examined. well, i ordered 4 and i have never been happier.

good articulation. easy to use, about the same size as a Stubby, and a whole different feel from anything i'd ever used before. chords "ring" and single notes jump without being too over the top. there is a definate learning curve to these picks but for me worth the time.

to answer your question, yes a thicker/stiffer pick can make a difference in picking speed. i find i can pick faster with a thicker/stiffer pick than a thinner one.

steve

[gtech]

Did I mentioned that I ordered some of these new picks with a delrin tip.



I already have a couple of their picks, the first one being the original, but my different types of playing require this type of pick sometimes. I can go from very groovy rhythm to smoother lead work in the same songs.

http://www.davapick.com/

[tiktok]

I find that a rigid pick is best for speed. The thickness isn't important, only as far as it determines the rigidity. I use one of those Dunlop Jazz III's in the larger size on electric, and a Wegen on acoustic.

[cminor7b5]

I do think thin picks rob you of speed and tone. Many gypsy jazzers like picks by Michael Wegen. These picks come in thicknesses up to 7mm and cost around $20 US.

You can see them here:

http://wegenpicks.com/

cheers

TeleWayne

[LarryR]

check out these V-picks. He makes some (Big Fattie,Colossal) that are huge. I have been using his large and freakishly large pointed & rounded with great results, better accuracy, increased speed. Depending on the edge(pointed, rounded) they have different tones in them. I find also that my hand is more relaxed due to the larger mass.Very cool new pick product.

http://www.v-picks.com/

[dhrcaster]

Dunlop "stubby"... I think Roy Buchannon used them. And Danny Gatton too! Seems like I remember Danny Gatton saying that was one of the things he got from Roy. Er, could be wrong on that...

[Pesty]

For my electrics, I tend to use 2mm Gator Grips, but on my acoustic I use 1.17mm's.

Last Sunday we had an issue of my accoustic just cranking out high end like never before, and I realized part way that I was strumming in a weird way where the pick was comming down at an angle to the strings, and was raking across them instead of hitting them on the flat.

Just goes to show how much you can affect tone that way.

[ChicknPickn]

The longer you've played, it seems, the less likely you are to just pick up whatever happens to be available at the gear shop. For faster playing and, of course, my favorite - - chickn pickn - - the more rigid pick seems to have its pluses. But a flimsy pick is just the thing for other types of playing, a soft strum being one example. And a medium gauge is what I tend to carry in my wallet, just in case. The other thing is that picks can lose rigidity before the edge wear becomes real obvious. I think it's a good practice from time to time to just round up your old picks and throw them out, especially heavily worn ones. The last time I did that, I think there were picks I'd been carrying since I was a teenager. I've enjoyed buying and playing newer stock since then, especially testing the new "grippy" designs.

[0le FUZZY]

...In my leff pocket yew will alwayz fine a Fenner Medium and in my rite pocket yew will fine a nutter Fenner medium (er tew er three) and I don't noe how many silly millys they are thick. (yes I amma tew rench rascal)

...Next tew my cornfuser here yew will fine a special pick which I think iss the same silly millys thick as the Fenner medium.

..






0le FUZZY

[Wally]

Buy a bunch of picks. Buy all of the thicknesses in one material. Buy all thicknesses in other materials. Lay the picks in order of thickness out in groups according to type of material. For the particular guitar you are using, try out each pick. Find the material and thickness you like for that guitar and your style.
Thin picks lack lows and are very flexible. The flexability does not translate action to the to string in a timely manner. This is why most of the above note that thick picks yield faster picking. Thick picks lose high frequencies.
I find myself using medium guage picks that don't flex much and have full freq tone. I use Dunlop Tortex 73's or 88's. They sound much like my fingernails to my ear. I figured that my fingernails are similar to tortoiseshell. A gift of a tortoiseshell pick from a bluegrass buddy confirmed this. Allparts is now selling a thick cowhoof pick that is very close to the tortoiseshell pick I have. Both the tortoiseshell and the cowhoof seem to create more highs than a comparable thickness synthetic material.
Especially with acoustic guitar, the pick choice can have a great influence on the tonality. You can warm up a bright guitar with a thicker pick. You can increase articulation and high end with a thinner pick.
I never use an ultra thin pick...no tone and I can't 'read' where the tip of the pick is...it is slow to hit the string.
IME and to my ear, nothing beats the tortoiseshell. IT is thick, it has good lows, and yet it creates warm but discernable highs. The cowhoof comes close. The Tortex is also very close.
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your friend''s pick.....very subjective.

[rand z]

ive spent a lot of time over the last 6 years buying different types of picks: shapes, materials, and thicknesses from various manufacturers. i even took to filing and shaping my own from these manufacturers. i eventually settled in to the very same picks i used at the onset... for the electrics, tortex in the large teardrop style, orange or yellow.

i do still use some of the picks i filed and shaped on my acoustic guitars, as the actual sound of the pick on the string is more audible to my ears.

the wegens are nice for a fatter tone on the acoustic, but they are a little cumbersome, too. i have some weird "organic composite" pick that i bought for 22.00! (i thought i was getting 4 of em) it appears to be tortoiselike in its appearance, and is prone to bending in shape so they tell you to soak it in water and put it between two hard flat surfaces to make it straight again... kinda weird!

i think its best for me to practice speed and pick control with a thinner pick, and then i will use a slightly heavier pick for a thicker tone when actually playing out. works for me.

different picks for differents strokes!

imho.

rand z tropicalsoul.net

[RichardWitt]

I use .71 for electrics and .46 for acoustics. I've never been able to use anything heavier than .71 for either, just doesn't feel right? But then again, I don't hold a plectrum right anyway? (I hold it side on)

It took me 15 years to find a pick that I like!

Retrowound Plectrums

[woodman]

i generally use something in the neighborhood of 1 mm, but i've found for recording that a lighter pick gives a little "chiff" to the notes that works well on some tunes.