Do Picks Wear Out Like Strings?

I play Dunlop Ultex 0.73 and Planetwaves Nyflex (nylon) 0.73.

At home I think that I have been using the same Ultex pick since 2009 it seems to be indestructible.

The nylon ones,which I love,get a few dents along the edge after a year...so I change them more often .

I wish strings had the same longevity but they die after 10-12 hours of playing so I change them when they die.

 

I play too hard, so I use Dunlop's .60 nylon picks. I lose more than I ever find... I buy them by the five-dollar lot.

 

Picks (plectrum) break when your music style not compatible with thickness and polymer it made from. Acoustic strings are bronze and less flexible so use nylon to avoid breakage. I prefer to chop up the edges of picks for more friction and control. Lower tone pot or volume knob and a thick pick sounds lighter. A 1.2mm does wear down without breaking.

 

Wear out?

I have one of my mum's guitar picks that she got in the 60s. Heavy gauge. Still mighty . . . all mojo. It'll wear out the day before eternity, not sooner.

Even my crappy lightweight fast-guitar picks from the 90s are still as good as they ever were.

 

I use the tortex greens and I go through them pretty frequently.

I have a really heavy down strum (blame it on growing up through the 90s pop punk trend) so my picks always get pretty bent in one direction before they have a lot of wear. It’s fine if I’m continuing to butt rock chords, it actually kind of helps balance between the ups and downs of my strumming, but when it comes time to play leads or do anything more delicate it really starts to bug me. Like the tip of the pick is just slightly in the wrong spot in relation to my thumb and fingers. That being said I usually go through 2 to 3 picks in a set. I’m just picky I guess.

 

You have to be careful with a new pick.

 

Picks do wear out. The celluloid type picks wear more quickly than others. I am not a fan of the Dunlop Tortex picks, but they do last a long time. For my needs I find that certain nylon picks last longer than most other picks. I often use a Herco 75 that I have used since the early 80's(can't believe I still have that pick, but even then it was obvious that the older formulation of nylon had a different tonal response). If I am in a pinch, I keep some Dunlop Jazz III picks around at all times. Those last forever and sound great My favorite pick are made by Herdim. I was looking for something like the older Herco 75 and Herdim's nylon really captures the sound and feel of the older Herco picks. I like this one best:



I typically play at least an hour or two every day. I have been using this type of pick for the past 3 years and it still has very little wear. I bought a half dozen of them at the time and still have yet to use the other 5. Even though I play really loud and use heavy strings, my picking technique is fairly light. I scalpel pick because my first teacher was a jazz player who used this technique mixed with something he called consecutive picking. Basically the concept is to alternate pick unless switching strings which then the goal was to hit the strings in the same trajectory. It's kind of combination of alternate and sweep picking. A guitarist the other day was asking how I get so many sounds even though my hand doesn't look like it is moving. It was all about economy of motion with that teacher and his lessons still affect me 4 decades on.

 

I've had a few picks crack. They probably die of old age. Ha

 

Mine tend to wear down at the tip. Haven't noticed any loss of tensile strength, though. I use Dunlop 2.0 Jazz Stubbies for electric, and Dunlop Jazz IIIs for acoustic, generally.