notroHnhoJ
Tele-Holic
soooo anyway.....
What I’ve always read about EVH is that he preferred thin gauge picks.
What I’ve always read about EVH is that he preferred thin gauge picks.
What gauge and size pick did Edward VH use?
- Thread starter Thoughtfree
- Start date
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3-Chord-Genius
Poster Extraordinaire
He used a metal pick later on - this is what he erroneously attributed his cancer to (?!). Yeah. He said that the chain smoking didn't cause it, but holding a metal pick in his mouth while fingertapping caused all the EMF from the amps and other nearby electronics was focused into his mouth, causing the cancer.....
KirbyBarba
TDPRI Member
Friendly word of advice-we try to be nice to each other and get along here
Even the one's from CA
No need for you to apologize.
Some people are completely blinded by their own personalities and biases, which prevents them from providing a simple answer to a simple question such as yours.
This happens a lot when it comes to gear. For example, someone will ask, "I have a 1960 Strat and I want to refinish it. What's the best way?" I'd reply with some advice, and then punctuate it with a warning about possibly devaluing the guitar. Other folks will jump in with their opinions, and a few will drop the, "What are you? Stupid?" sort of response.
Some people take others' opinions personally, and that's not your problem to apologize for. It's theirs.
Cheers to all.
soulgeezer
Poster Extraordinaire
In this month's issue of Guitar Player, there's an interview from early on in which he says Fender Mediums. I can't say that was always the case, but at least through Diver Down, that seems to be what he was using.
ElJay370
Friend of Leo's
Friendly word of advice-we try to be nice to each other and get along here
Even the one's from CA
I concur....
Although I am curious as to what "Never mind, you’re from CA. It all makes sense now." is even supposed to mean.
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EsquireBoy
Friend of Leo's
I love experimenting with various picks that are often very different from each other. I cannot be sure if I play faster and more effortlessly with either a thin or a thick pick: sometimes thinner picks seem faster, and sometimes they seem to slow me down.
There's one thing I've found out though: after years of experimenting with numerous picks, I can now feel really at ease with a huge variety of them, unlike before when using a different pick would get much in the way of my playing.
Considering how he loved to experiment, I'm not surprised EVH could have gone from thinner to metal picks, and still managed to feel at ease.
Crow3000
Tele-Holic
Usually a .60mm pick. I have one of eddie’s picks from 2012.
I know at least later in his career he was using a metal pick.
The only reason I know this is that like a lot of players, he placed the pick in his mouth while doing some non-pick-required stuff, and he blamed a metal pick in his mouth for moments at a time for his oral cancer, rather than smoking like a chiminey
I actually met the doc who treated his tongue cancer, and he swore to me that the picks were the reason for his cancer.
The doc was an oddball, though. Very new-age-ish, if you get what I'm saying.
While EVH was being treated here on LI, he stayed at the doc's house, and had a practice rig shipped to the house. When the treatment was done, he gave the practice rig to the doc.
- D
when you have rockstar money, i mean real rockstars like what used to exist- your "doctor" is a very real danger to you.
Elvis
MichaelJackson
Prince
EVH
and lots of others, I'm sure
Jeremy_Green
Tele-Meister
He changed them several times. There is no one answer. It definitely was Fender mediums in the early days. Honestly, I never trust much that Eddie said. He was all show-biz sometimes and often didn't give a straight answer.
cenz
Tele-Meister
Per Guitar World, early in his career he used 60mm nylon Dunlop’s. EVH branded of course.
regularslinky
Friend of Leo's
EVH fibbed about his gear a lot, apparently for self-amusement. It's hard to argue with a photograph though, so at least early on he used Fender Mediums live. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that he used some different picks in the studio, if for no other reason than to get those amazing pick scrapes (EVH had the best pick scrapes). Maybe that's where the metal picks came in, or maybe he made that up too. EVH flipped picks into the audience constantly live - if they were metal, there must be a lot of fans with souvenir scars!
Brian Wilson!
Anyway - the doc said there was some kind of enzyme in Eddie's saliva that reacted with the copper picks. But the smoking was definitely the elephant in the room there.
- D
gregulator450
Friend of Leo's
For what it's worth, I like to try picks that my favorite players use, to figure out why it works for them and whether it will help me accomplish my guitar-related goals. My two favorite mandolin picks are the pick that V-Pick made for Billy Gibbons and the Dunlop Hetfield White Fang pick. They work best for my ragged mandolin playing, making it easier for me to play what I need to play on it. I never would've known had I not tried them out, and I wouldn't have tried them out if I wasn't looking to find what cool picks those guys use.
Les H
Tele-Afflicted
Fender mediums in the early years from what I remember and .60 nylon picks in the later years.
I used to play the heaviest picks I could get, usually Fender Extra Heavy. I read an interview with Bill Kirchen of all people 18 years ago or so who said he switched to mediums because when he used heavys he noticed his pick attack was so aggressive he was bending notes out of tune with the stiff pick. I understood what he meant.
One time at a gig our drummer picked an orange .60 Tortex up off the floor and handed it to me. I remember bending it thinking I could never use something that thin except maybe on an acoustic. A couple days later I tried it out at home and I loved how it sounded and how it performed. I would switch back and forth to my Fender mediums and the mediums sounded like my strings were dead, I immediately ordered 4 dozen of the orange tortex.
As far as helping with speed I'm not a fast player but a .60 tortex is what Paul Gilbert has been using for several years now.
I used to play the heaviest picks I could get, usually Fender Extra Heavy. I read an interview with Bill Kirchen of all people 18 years ago or so who said he switched to mediums because when he used heavys he noticed his pick attack was so aggressive he was bending notes out of tune with the stiff pick. I understood what he meant.
One time at a gig our drummer picked an orange .60 Tortex up off the floor and handed it to me. I remember bending it thinking I could never use something that thin except maybe on an acoustic. A couple days later I tried it out at home and I loved how it sounded and how it performed. I would switch back and forth to my Fender mediums and the mediums sounded like my strings were dead, I immediately ordered 4 dozen of the orange tortex.
As far as helping with speed I'm not a fast player but a .60 tortex is what Paul Gilbert has been using for several years now.
stormsedge
Poster Extraordinaire
It was reputed Brian May may have used a silver sixpence coin during some of his performances. I purchased a nice one from Highland Plectrum Co. (no affiliation) on the offhand chance of hitting one note with his sound...the jury remains unconvinced. But, a nice pick and conversation piece. It is the small one at the bottom of the photo.
I don't know what EVH used, but the medium Fenders show up in a lot of photos.
Torren61
Poster Extraordinaire
I have several including the one inlaid on my Red Special Tribute Tele I partially built with the lions share of the work going to SF Guitarworks in San Francisco.
Brian says he used a sixpence. It’s not a rumor.
Speedfish
Tele-Afflicted
I've played with metal picks but did not favor them. They create a completely different tone. To my ear a brighter more metallic tone. Imagine taking a metal hammer and striking a metal anvil and achieving that nice metallic ring. If you use the pick to hammer down on the string against the fretboard the notes ring more clear than with a nylon or other plastic style pick. Also, you can saw across the string with the edge of the pick, like a violinist using a bow, and achieve some interesting sounds. Use sandpaper to create a coarser edge that will enhance the bowing action.
Good luck on your tonal journey!
Rock on!
Good luck on your tonal journey!
Rock on!
