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He can play fast as he wants to. If you can soar above 250 with 'flying fingers' then they're not a problem... ;o)
Originally Posted by Patriots2006
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08-13-2015 09:47 AM
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Alright, Mark. I know you use Benson Picking but you have still convinced me to give my 8-year old Fender Medium picks a try during my lunch break. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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Ha! Don't try it on my account. If you're happy with what you're using, stick with it. I switched to Fender Mediums when I started with Benson picking which got me back used to a regular-sized pick. I switched to D'Andreas because they feel a little better to me (-they're not that different in terms of sound; I get a better grip with them). Originally Posted by AlsoRan
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Tried it. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
I am just happier at this point with the heavy pick. I can see how the Medium pick made strumming easier (which I already knew). But, it did not feel "right" at all for single notes. I will keep experimenting, however, when I have more time.
Thanks.
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I use a gemstone pick. It has been hell getting the pick noise out of my playing, but the end result is worth it from my point of view. I remember a certain teacher hating when I got out my stone pick... He, he. I can't go above my 13/12 hybrid set. Don't want to destroy a good thing and kill my neck...
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Problem solved? Saw this ad hanging in a Cracker Barrel restaurant.
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Well, purely as a subjective personal opinion,
I feel that when I want to play fast, I don't want any "give" in either the pick or the strings. To this end, I've been using a relatively thick pick, specifically a Dunlop Jazztone #206, with a set of Clifford Essex brand 14-58 flatwounds,
on a 25 & 1/2" scale length. Additionally, I've found that this gauge of string really seems to tend towards that "thunk" that has been discussed extensively on other threads. In addition, the pick grip discussed by Mark Rhodes and J Zucker in recent threads seems to help as well.
Forget the rest, use the best. Clifford Essex jazz guitar strings. - Strings - Guitar Strings - Jazz Guitar - THE JAZZ RANGE. HEAVY GAUGE. 14-58. CHROME TAPE FLATS. BALL-ENDS. - Clifford Essex Music Company Limited
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anyone familiar with the stylus pick??
if i remember correctly it was endorsed by joe diorio back in the 90's when it first appeared...
not for everything.. but with practice- up/down stroke speed supreme
cheers
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Forum member "Monk" turned me on to this pick and even though I used it sparingly due to time limitations and musical choices, it still was a big help at making my use less of the pick tip. It really was helping my string skipping, which is where I tend to most bury the pick and get the tip caught. Originally Posted by neatomic
anyone familiar with the stylus pick??
if i remember correctly it was endorsed by joe diorio back in the 90's when it first appeared...
not for everything.. but with practice- up/down stroke speed supreme
cheers
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For me thick and small pick works best. That also reduces the picking noise, making it sound smoother.
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If one plays with the edge of the pick---holding it slant---then thickness is less of an issue because the pick doesn't 'give' in that direction. (The exception here would be Robert Conti's favorite pick, the Jim Dunlop .38 nylon----I describe those picks as "all give.") Also, there's less 'clack' with a Medium pick. Heavies clack. Hate the clack. But that's me. Different things work for different people.
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I used one way back when. It will definitely keep you from digging in too far (because it you do, the pick catches and the picking stops). My grip is so different now, I wonder how a stylus pick would feel. Originally Posted by neatomic
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I used to use the thickest Dunlop pick available and love the tone but got too much pick noise on an electric. Single note stuff on a steel string acoustic was OK though. I'm now using the round part of a Fender medium and will probably stick with it.
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08-16-2015, 10:52 AM #39destinytot Guest
.88mm Dunlop pick (using a varying amount of edge) on .014s.
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I don't think it matters thin or thick. I started out playing on the thinnest picks available. Once I got into, what I consider, my intermediate phase of playing l switched to thick small picks. I recenly got some of the ultra thin picks from days gone by to see if I could play any faster with them. I realized, after giving them both a serious workout, that I could play just as fast with the thick pick.
Last edited by Bobalou; 08-17-2015 at 04:59 AM.
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I can't do anything with a .38 dunlop. Too thin and chokes the string as it bounces back. I've been doing what Eric Johnson talked about in his 1st instructional video for nearly 20 years now. Which is using a thicker dunlop (mine are labled Jazz III) but don't grasp it with such a strong grip. Let the pick do the work and let it flop back and forth a little.
Of course, I'm not a super fast picker either. I also have some picks that are so stiff and heavy that I can't use them at all. I'll agree that once you get used to a certain pick it becomes comfortable. Way back when I was a rocker, I used big (medium) triangle picks which you can get a good grip on and never drop. And they felt good in my hand.
Not much later, (mid '70s) I started using fender Jazz picks with the idea that less plastic to move back and forth would increase speed. I went between medium and heavy and played pretty fast when I was working 6 nights a week with a show band that did songs much faster than original recordings. But I also wore down the index fingernail as it hit the strings inadvertently try to hold on to the small pick all night, every night. So, I used those picks for about 20 years and switched to the dunlop jazz III in the mid '90s. I don't work on fast playing religiously, and even if I did, I wouldn't be as fast as many other guitarists. Speed adds excitement, but it's not a priorty at this point of my guitar playing.Last edited by bobby d; 08-22-2015 at 11:23 AM.
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Is this noise audible when you play through an amp or only acoustically? I've been considering trying an agate pick but won't bother if any click/chirping gets amplified. Thanks. Originally Posted by Irez87
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You tell me: Originally Posted by whiskey02
Order fast, he is closing shop at the end of the year. Johnny Wood is making me a custom Bevel agate now. What you hear is a Brazilian Agate 1.5mm. I could send you how it sounds acoustically, but the file doesn't work with this site. PM your email and I'll send it. Had this pick for like 4 years or so.
Picks and Stones Gemstone Guitar Picks
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I don't know why-manouche picks are very thick! They literally taper from 1/8 inch.
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Volume, volume, and more volume. They usually play acoustically, I dunno how powerful those sound hole pups are. But you get the volume from the pick. Originally Posted by otillio
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As with many things in playing guitar, the answer is ultimately "whatever works for you." Robert Conti can play very fast with a .38" nylon pick and Django Reinhardt played very fast with a .25" tortoiseshell pick. Joe Pass could play very fast with half of a teardrop pick. Paco de Lucia played very fast with no pick at all. There is no right or wrong pick for fast playing, only the pick that works for you.
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For me, thick picks. I use the Wegen Fatone 5mm and it 'glides' off the strings and doesn't get caught in between them. I find anything below 1.4mm or so very hard to use.
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Manouche strings can be pretty light. I use a .10 set with an .11 and .15 on the E and B (same set up as quite a few gypsy players I think) and a medium action to give them room to wiggle around. I play with a fat pick. Originally Posted by destinytot
It's common to for players to use an .11 set with a low action as well - that's more modern.
Django used .10 Argentines.
That said, I am constantly trying out different picks. After a while using the big fat Wegen and Dunlop gypsy jazz picks with a bevel, I realised that what these picks are actually doing is creating an angle between the pick leading edge and the string. Edge picking as Troy Grady puts it.
You can get the same effect by angling a thin pick, and this is what Sebastian Giniaux, and IIRC Birelli Lagrene do - in Sebastian's case the trailing edge is use, in Birelli's the leading edge (I think). using the round end of the pick can help too.
It's analogous to nails in classical playing, when the aim is angle the nails across the strings and file them so you get a smooth even release across the string. You don't want them to catch at any point.
On the face of it Benson's technique and possibly Metheny's seems to get a similar result.
The result seems to be improved tone and it seems to make certain things, such as sweeping, a bit easier.Last edited by christianm77; 08-25-2015 at 08:48 AM.
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Your statement implies that you think the most gifted and able players make the best teachers. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
I would question this. Get me someone obsessive who has struggled with something for years and finally got there!
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No, it was sarcasm based on the amount of obsessive technique based posts we've seen here in the last year, as opposed to people actually talking about learning jazz. Originally Posted by christianm77
Remember, I am a teacher. I certainly don't believe you have to have big selling records out or that only the best players make good teachers.Last edited by mr. beaumont; 08-25-2015 at 09:34 AM.
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