The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Anyone change from rounded/tumbled pick edges to a beveled surface? Did it really make a noticeable difference in speed and or tone, good or bad?

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  3. #2

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    I started to say it didn't matter.. but you know.. every time I use that beveled Wegen triangle, I really notice the bevel and it seems to give a clickier sound. Not sure if it's the bevel or something else. Don't notice it with a beveled blue chip large triangle which has a very nice feel to it. Use a tumbled acrylic (VPick) most of the time.

  4. #3

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    I used beveled Wegen picks for nearly 20 years -- I ordered and received the first lefty Wegen pick (the 6th pick he ever made!). At that point, Michel Wegen and I became good friends and he sent me many picks of varying shapes and sizes through the years. I basically use the beveled Wegens for Gypsy Jazz and eventually stayed in the 2 to 3 mm thickness range. For me, the Wegens offered the attack and stiffness I wanted in a pick for Gypsy Jazz and the bevel edge smoothed out the picking strokes. With Gypsy Jazz, you generally play with a "floating" picking hand and a downstroke style (vs strict alternate picking). These techniques seem to benefit from the heavier beveled picks. When I moved over to playing jump swing and then reggae styles (on electric guitars), I also changed picks to "medium/heavy" and "medium" gauge Fender style picks. Again, for me these picks worked better in these styles. When I moved to solo acoustic guitar, I totally ditched the picks and changed to fingerpicking.

    I still play occasional Gypsy Jazz gigs, and when I do my trusty Wegen is back in my hand.

    I've heard a few people mention the click noise that Spook410 notices. I've never noticed it enough to bother me. It could be because I was playing GJ guitars with a typical GJ setup: Argentine strings, Peche la Mouche or Big Tone pickups, and AER amps. I'm not sure if the clicking noise is more an issue with other setups. Perhaps others can say...

    Here's my box of mostly Wegen picks -- about 30 here and 20 more laying around the house. And most of these are lefties!
    Attached Images Attached Images Beveled Picks - Thoughts and Experiences?-img_5025-jpg 

  5. #4

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    Totally in love with my Blue chip jazz LG60 and the bevel it came with. No clickiness or chirp (which I hate about other picks), though I don't have an unbeveled blue Chip to compare it to, compared to a bunch of other unbeveled picks I have it's much faster, much slicker but I couldn't say for sure whether it's blue chips proprietary material or the bevel itself, no doubt a bit of both.

  6. #5

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    I don't like bevels. Never got on with one.

  7. #6

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    I have to admit to not really liking that kind of pick. I've tried many picks with beveled edges and they just don't sound right - very little to no attack. For some players that may be their preference, but I play fairly lightly and on light strings - .009 or .010. The pick I prefer and have used for many years is Jim Dunlop's Bakersfield picks - thin Delrin picks with a squared edge. They give just a bit of light "pop" to each note I pick. i'm not sure where I got the preference - in earlier years I built harpsichords. And the quills I used in the jacks (which pluck the strings instead of striking them like a piano) were made of Delrin, a pretty close approximation of bird-feather quills used in historical harpsichords. So I suspect that the "picking" of the notes in those harpsichords was what influenced the preferred sound of my guitar playing.

  8. #7

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    I like the new Dunlop Primetone Sculpted pick. Very little, if any, pick noise, and they cost a fraction of what a lot of the speciality picks cost. I paid $4.95/3 for the large triangular ones, including postage.

  9. #8

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    Bevels don't seem to work for me. For whatever reason, in general, I have to pick with a pretty much "flat on" (perpendicular to string, not angled) approach to the string...and for this type of picking I think no bevel is best.

    I'm a bit slower with my approach especially with thicker picks (I can pick a bit more cleanly using my Blue Chip 50 vs. my 60), but I find the trade-off acceptable. I can still pick 16th note exercises pretty cleanly up to 120 bpm, 126 bpm on good days.

  10. #9

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    I've seen advertisements for speed beveled picks, but never tried one. How does a right-hand bevel differ from a left-hand bevel? What if you hold the pick upside down? How do you know which side goes up? More complications than I'm willing to pay for.

  11. #10
    To me, beveled is what they look like after I use them for a while.

    Especially Dunlop Derlin 500’s and Gator Grips.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by mje
    I like the new Dunlop Primetone Sculpted pick. Very little, if any, pick noise, and they cost a fraction of what a lot of the speciality picks cost. I paid $4.95/3 for the large triangular ones, including postage.
    +1

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    How does a right-hand bevel differ from a left-hand bevel? What if you hold the pick upside down? How do you know which side goes up? More complications than I'm willing to pay for.
    The bevel on a "Fender-shaped" asymmetrically-designed Wegen pick usually as two beveled sides. A triangular pick has three beveled sides. The bevels are on the sides that strikes the string in a downstroke. This means that if you flip the pick over, the bevel will still be on downstroke side. Since a lefty holds his pick with his other hand, a lefty pick has the bevel on the opposing edge from a righty pick. For a righty using a a lefty beveled pick, it might feel strange in that the bevel will be on the wrong side of the pick feeling as if you're going against your picking stroke. However, this is not always the case. It all depends on the pick angle with which you strike your strings. For example when I checked out Robin Nolan's picks, they were worn like lefty beveled picks given his unusual picking angle.

    Not all beveled picks have this asymmetric design. Many are simply beveled evenly on both sides.

    I believe these asymmetrically designed beveled picks (Wegen, Dugain, etc.) tend to go back to Gypsy Jazz and European styles where speed and volume were critical with acoustic guitars. Also, originally they were made of tortoise shell which gave a more natural tone. I still think they work well with Gypsy Jazz (and maybe other styles like Bluegrass), but they aren't for everyone. Gypsy Jazz requires an aggressive playing style. Electric guitarist and players with a lighter touch may find the beveled edges dull sounding and lacking tactile tonal finesse. When I play styles other than Gypsy Jazz, I tend to use thinner, non-beveled picks.

  14. #13

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    I have some ebony picks that I sometimes use for chunking rhythm, and see wear patterns on those, which tend to show more wear on the bevel toward the neck, meaning that in that context I tend to mostly play with that side hitting the strings on the downstroke. I suppose that's creating a right-hand bevel, since I'm right-handed. I still prefer the round bevel. Maybe it's poor technique, but I change the pick orientation arbitrarily, sometimes having the edge toward the bridge striking the string first on a downstroke, sometimes the end toward the neck. I find either orientation equally easy to use for single-note playing.

  15. #14

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    Archtopeddy,

    Gypsy Jazz requires an aggressive playing style. Electric guitarist and players with a lighter touch may find the beveled edges dull sounding and lacking tactile tonal finesse. When I play styles other than Gypsy Jazz, I tend to use thinner, non-beveled picks”.
    Thanks, great information. I do play with quite a light touch; good to know this. I bought some Primetone picks a while back, not realizing that they were beveled for a right handed player, as I play lefty. I’ll stick with rounded/tumbled edges. The only picks I really can’t stand using were Claytons that are stamped out and the edges left square like a credit card. I just want ordered some new Taylor Darktone Thermex, will post comments after I’ve spent some time with them.