Guitar Picks

[YocoYur]

Anyone try this? They are gorgeus!

Picks and Stones Gemstone Guitar Picks

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Combo Picks

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I once had a pick carved from agate and it looked like a stone rainbow. But like every other pick I ever owned, I lost it. So now I only buy cheap picks.

[YocoYur]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

I once had a pick carved from agate and it looked like a stone rainbow. But like every other pick I ever owned, I lost it. So now I only buy cheap picks.

Yeah, they are very expensive.

How did it (your lost) sounded? Is it really so different VS plastic pics?

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

The bad news is that, like a lot of stiff picks, it made a clicking sound against the strings unless I gripped it tight. In the end, I learned to live with the "click". It didn't work well with comping, but I tend to use my fingers for that, but for single notes it make them "pop" and sound a bit fatter. If given another one, I would use it until I lost it, too.

[YocoYur]

I see, however, I use to played with coin an it was clicking to, so I returned on my trusty Ernie Ball Medium 0,72 mm pick for my Washburn Idol WI 64 and Jim Dunlop 1 mm pick for my Deluxe Player Strat.

But Billy Gibbons use coins all the time, and we all know how he sound, so the master is master

[gpower]

I just bought some of the the best picks I've ever used, from these folks. The Medium Rounded are 2.75mm thick but play as smooth as butter. There are a couple of really good vids describing the most common picks.

V-Picks Guitar Picks: The World's #1 Guitar Pick!

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by YocoYur

Anyone try this? They are gorgeus!

Picks and Stones Gemstone Guitar Picks

Product Catagories

Combo Picks

I just got a Pickboy pick made of agate a few weeks ago. I find that it is too slippery and the clicking sound is distracting. I also bump into the middle pickup w/ it if I am play 3 p/u guitars. They are cool looking though!

=-) PJ

[petermelton]

oh wow. those are really nice. i thought my red bear pick was expensive haha but i love it. check these out. the have a really nice deep warm tone to them

Red Bear Trading Co. The Best Guitar Picks Made - Your Tone Starts Right Here

[randyc]

Originally Posted by YocoYur

I see, however, I use to played with coin an it was clicking to, so I returned on my trusty Ernie Ball Medium 0,72 mm pick for my Washburn Idol WI 64 and Jim Dunlop 1 mm pick for my Deluxe Player Strat.

But Billy Gibbons use coins all the time, and we all know how he sound, so the master is master

OK, here's a simple technique, previously hidden from you youngsters. DON'T use coins (or other metallic objects except thum/fingerpicks) as plectrums, your strings may suffer. I suggest the following instead, if you need the occasional bluesy sound:

Get a couple of nylon picks of your preferred flexibility, turn them around so that the rounded corner that intersects the "flat" side and the "sloped" side is "down" when you're holding the pick in normal position.

Now, scrub the radiused corner back and forth on the 5th string about five or six times, then move the pick slightly, scrub the pick against the string again (and so forth) until you obtain a series of "notches", evenly spaced around the rounded corner of the nylon pick.

The usage - when a little "emphasis" is required - rotate the pick in your grasp, so that the notched and rounded end attacks the strings instead of the flexible "pointier" end. This excites harmonics of the note being struck and simulates an overdriven condition, even with an amplifier that Mister Clean would love. Used with an older, smaller Fender amp ... mmm-hmm

If you have some of the older nylon picks with cross-hatched surfaces (for a firm thumb grip) on the "shank", then there's no need to modify anything. Just flip the pick around so that the textured end is the business end. Instant Billy Gibbons, rich with harmonics.

Used this technique (with amplifiers, back in the day, that had no master level control) for years when needing to switch from smooth jazz to raunchy blues.

Cheers,
randyc

[Scolohofo]

One of these days i buy me one of those

[rio]

D'andrea pro pleks always give me the best straight ahead tone but depending on the style (and just liking to try other picks) I have tried a lot of other ones. The stone, gem, bone, ebony etc. picks are decent tone wise but are too clicky and terrible for comping. Which is a shame cause I love the feel of the sarod picks which are mainly those materials.

Red bear picks are awesome if you want a nice rigid pick and they never wear down. My first one lasted 5 years until I rolled over it with a chair and it snapped. The speed beveled type gives a slightly brighter tone than the standard bevel. They are pricey but worth it. But again, for straight ahead playing I haven't found anything better than the pro pleks.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I wonder what a real tortoiseshell pick goes for? I mean a legal, pre-73 one. Bluegrass players dig them.

[NSJ]

Ok, I just bought a $20 pick (I know, I know...), but hey, what the hell, if I actually DON'T lose it, it'll be the most cost effective pick I've ever bought.

I really like the feel of it, more than anything else. The sound was a bit mellower than the usual Dunlop 3 jazz picks.
The pick? It's a specially grown protein-base that simulates the tortoise shell of yesteryear.

Here it is:

Red Bear Trading Co. The Best Guitar Picks Made - Your Tone Starts Right Here


I got the smallest one, the "Lil Jazzer".

[JohnW400]

I bought 6 to date. I settled for the Lil' Jazzer in EH. They actually do have a different sound than the JAZZ 205's (that I still have 500 left of.)

At $20 a pop I don't think I'll be taking them out of the house. The A style isn't bad but still a bit big for my taste.

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by JohnW400

I bought 6 to date. I settled for the Lil' Jazzer in EH. They actually do have a different sound than the JAZZ 205's (that I still have 500 left of.)

At $20 a pop I don't think I'll be taking them out of the house. The A style isn't bad but still a bit big for my taste.

I got it my key ring, so if I lose it, it won't be my biggest worry...

[lpdeluxe]

I've been using Dunlop Tortex (faux tortoise) picks in the 1.14mm thickness for so many years now, I barely remember using anything else. Sometime in the '80s I bought a half-gross, and I still have two or three dozen.

Great feel, good snap. Back when I played bass with a pick I used them for that, too.

Occasionally I find an oddball or two -- Fender extra heavy, which were good, some in that gauge that were mandolin-size (even easier to lose!) and some copper picks the local folkie music store sold me -- but the Tortex are the keepers.

[cosmic gumbo]

The problem I have with plastic and nylon picks is that they melt too easy when I get playing real fast. At least they melt before they can burst into flamage.

[lpdeluxe]

Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo

The problem I have with plastic and nylon picks is that they melt too easy when I get playing real fast. At least they melt before they can burst into flamage.

Don't boast.

[randyc]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

I wonder what a real tortoiseshell pick goes for? I mean a legal, pre-73 one. Bluegrass players dig them.

Maybe one could get around that "real tortoise-shell" prohibition by simply using a "real tortoise" ? (Might also demonstrate - if desirable - conservative political proclivities by exhibiting public but TACTFUL support for "tort reform" ... hmm ?

Just a thought.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo

The problem I have with plastic and nylon picks is that they melt too easy when I get playing real fast. At least they melt before they can burst into flamage.

Actually picks can burst into flames. The classic Fender celluloid picksare extremely inflammable. Smokers beware

[randyc]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

Actually picks can burst into flames. The classic Fender celluloid picksare extremely inflammable. Smokers beware

This got my attention because of the reference to smokers ... but first:

Like almost all plastics, Fender picks will burn in a direct flame but won't stay ignited when removed from it:

[

[

Sorry to rain on your parade, Big Guy (you're still leading the guitar appreciation exercise, if that's of consolation) !

Smokers, don't worry about your picks, worry about your health and how you affect the health of others !

PS: Oh dang it, before someone takes my comments seriously, BDLH wasn't serious. (Were you ?)

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Only half serious! Randy, you're going to have to start an experiment thread! Next: pouring water on hot tubes, as Roy Buchanan was said to have done, to make them glow purple

[randyc]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles

Only half serious! Randy, you're going to have to start an experiment thread! Next: pouring water on hot tubes, as Roy Buchanan was said to have done, to make them glow purple

LOL, yes indeed.

I like SOME of his work but those "ice-pick" Telecaster highs were - to me - downright unfriendly to the ears of audiences.

I haven't heard of the "experiment" you described. Sounds like something one might read about in one of those forums of "pointy guitars" ! (And clearly, anyone who did something like that would be right at the top of the Annual Darwin Awards, right ?)

The purple glow is a result of .... well, here I go again. You're trying to lure me into this discussion because you and I are the only ones that are STILL AWAKE

Cheers,
Randy

[lpdeluxe]

Roy Buchanan made me aware of how obnoxious Telecasters sound. I played for some years with a good friend who had owned but a single guitar -- a butterscotch Tele, and I suppose he had destroyed all upper frequency acuity in his hearing, because when he played, dogs howled.

So, Randy, you are advocating the selective breeding of tortoises? If what I read is true, you're going to have to be patient.

[JohnRosett]

I recently started using a V-pick, and I really like it. It's easier to hold onto than any other pick that I've tried. It even works for the mandolin!

[randyc]

Originally Posted by lpdeluxe

So, Randy, you are advocating the selective breeding of tortoises? If what I read is true, you're going to have to be patient.

No, no, catch 'em in the wild and catch 'em young, before they learn to defend themselves. Put salt on their little tails, it will calm them down.

[mangotango]

After going through the entire spectrum of pick from coins to wood, I have finally found what I wanted. Had been alternating between Dunlop Jazz III's and Tortex. Then they brought out the Ultex picks, and they were great. Finally - Ultex Jazz III's.

That's the one!! Thank you, Mr. Dunlop!!

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by mangotango

After going through the entire spectrum of pick from coins to wood, I have finally found what I wanted. Had been alternating between Dunlop Jazz III's and Tortex. Then they brought out the Ultex picks, and they were great. Finally - Ultex Jazz III's.

That's the one!! Thank you, Mr. Dunlop!!

Do you know if they make Ultex in a jazz teardrop shape?

=-) PJ

[mangotango]

Dunlop

This would appear to be the range. Something in there for almost everybody, methinks.

A year down the line, I'll probably change me mind , but for now.....

[YocoYur]

Originally Posted by JohnRosett

I recently started using a V-pick, and I really like it. It's easier to hold onto than any other pick that I've tried. It even works for the mandolin!

I think that I saw Carlos Santana use it V-picks.