Do guitar picks wear out?

**tytlfamily** · 05-29-2011, 11:05 PM

So I was wondering, I have various types.....sizes, shapes, thickness, (never can decide on a favorite). Normally I play a pick until I loose it. Needless to say I have some picks that have been with me for quite awhile. So.....do picks wear out? and if so, what is the definition or condition that you personally won't/unable to use your pick any more? tytlfamily

**fumblefingers** · 05-29-2011, 11:16 PM

well, yes.

strings win, picks lose.

they will start to sound a little bit buzzy when their edges get gouged.

**Billnc** · 05-29-2011, 11:18 PM

I've never had one long enough to wear out. I keep trying! I like a pick that is 'worn in'. I use most picks on 'the wrong' side with the point facing my palm. For the past year I'm using Carol Kay picks and like them after a few weeks. I kept one six months, it flipped under my deck when I reached for keys. I've also touched up picks with a nail file.

**Flyin' Brian** · 05-30-2011, 06:10 AM

I used D'Andrea Pro Pleks 1.5mm 351 shape. They're not easy to find locally, so I'm careful not to lose them and they do change shape after a while from wear.

**hot ford coupe** · 05-30-2011, 08:26 AM

I don't routinely use picks. I practice with them from time to timre to keep the technique up in case I need it but I generally play with the fingers. For single line stuff, I pluck the strings like a bass player.

**paynow** · 05-30-2011, 11:02 AM

Originally Posted by Flyin' Brian

I used D'Andrea Pro Pleks 1.5mm 351 shape. They're not easy to find locally, so I'm careful not to lose them and they do change shape after a while from wear.

I use these too; the small teardrop shape. Musician's Friend has them for about 7 bucks a dozen. There are a wide variety of shapes to choose from.

**jazzbow** · 06-01-2011, 04:12 PM

Well call me nuts but I end up buying old ornaments made from cow horn and I cut and shape to the same dimentions of Dunlop stubbies. These polish up really well and have a nice feel off the string. The last batch I made I ended up giving away to friends as it spares them the embarassment of being discovered stealing them! I have a 3mm one that has the right feel for my selmer copy, as for the hollow electric that relies on modified stubbies! Yes they wear out and I find the thinner the pick the quicker it wears out.

**MortenFaerestrand** · 06-01-2011, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by jazzbow

Well call me nuts but I end up buying old ornaments made from cow horn and I cut and shape to the same dimentions of Dunlop stubbies. These polish up really well and have a nice feel off the string. The last batch I made I ended up giving away to friends as it spares them the embarassment of being discovered stealing them! I have a 3mm one that has the right feel for my selmer copy, as for the hollow electric that relies on modified stubbies! Yes they wear out and I find the thinner the pick the quicker it wears out.

Feel free to send me one if you have too many...!! ;-)

**Billnc** · 06-01-2011, 05:05 PM

ditto

**Spirit59** · 06-01-2011, 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by paynow

I use these too; the small teardrop shape. Musician's Friend has them for about 7 bucks a dozen. There are a wide variety of shapes to choose from.

Are you suing the pointed teardrops? That's what I'm using and I love them! I'm angling them back Benson-style and they sound so warm.

I'm going through them really fast though. I can get maybe 2 days per side (I switch them around) and they sort of begin to get a brighter tone - I think playing with them actually begins to sharpen them or something.

I do play a lot.

**Reg** · 06-01-2011, 07:17 PM

I usually go through one pick per gig...That is if I don't lose them... There is probably a direct relationship to how hard and how many notes one plays...
I like that "the strings win"

**paynow** · 06-02-2011, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by Spirit59

Are you suing the pointed teardrops? That's what I'm using and I love them! I'm angling them back Benson-style and they sound so warm.

I'm going through them really fast though. I can get maybe 2 days per side (I switch them around) and they sort of begin to get a brighter tone - I think playing with them actually begins to sharpen them or something.

I do play a lot.

That's what I'm using, but not Benson style. I don't go through picks at all. They last me forever. Maybe I'm not playing enough.

I use different picks for different styles.

**jazzbow** · 06-03-2011, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by MortenFaerestrand

Feel free to send me one if you have too many...!! ;-)

C'mon guys! D.I.Y or die... :-D

**jazzbow** · 06-03-2011, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by Billnc

ditto

Hey Billnc, you're not doing a Swayze on me? ;-D

**cosmic gumbo** · 06-04-2011, 02:45 AM

When I shell out that big 35 cents, I make sure I get my money's worth out of it.

**whiskey02** · 06-04-2011, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by Spirit59

Are you suing the pointed teardrops? That's what I'm using and I love them! I'm angling them back Benson-style and they sound so warm.

I'm going through them really fast though. I can get maybe 2 days per side (I switch them around) and they sort of begin to get a brighter tone - I think playing with them actually begins to sharpen them or something.

I do play a lot.

That's a bit odd. Softer picks lick the D'Andrea Pro Plec usually wear much more slowly than harder plastics. Of course for me that's playing on flatwounds; maybe rounds chew them up fast. I've got a friend who uses a pick for about 20 minutes before the tip is worn and he chucks it!

**Spirit59** · 06-04-2011, 07:49 PM

Originally Posted by whiskey02

That's a bit odd. Softer picks lick the D'Andrea Pro Plec usually wear much more slowly than harder plastics. Of course for me that's playing on flatwounds; maybe rounds chew them up fast. I've got a friend who uses a pick for about 20 minutes before the tip is worn and he chucks it!

AFAIK, Pro Plecs are 1.5mm of celluloid fake-tortoise shell, which is pretty hard, but certainly not as hard as that Ultex stuff.

Most people probably couldn't tell the difference between the picks I throw out and brand new ones, but I can easily "pick them out of a line up".

The sound of the attack changes even though they look like new. (I haven't looked at them under magnification yet but I think now I will.)

**Billnc** · 06-05-2011, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by jazzbow

Hey Billnc, you're not doing a Swayze on me? ;-D

ouch!

**Gramps** · 06-05-2011, 05:21 PM

Yes, picks can and do wear out. On the other hand I play with a light touch an have used the same pick for the last 10 years at least. It has developed a nice bevel and slides off the strings unlike a new one. I keep it between the strings and a fret so I always know where it is and it doesn't get lost. I can really stretch 35 cents.

**sc06yl** · 06-10-2011, 02:27 AM

Originally Posted by Gramps

I can really stretch 35 cents.

Haha I probably haven't paid for a pick in 2 years. I just 'borrow' them when I am at the music store, they usually don't say anything, and for all the money I have spent there, I think I should get 35 cent stuff comped...

**strumcat** · 06-24-2011, 01:44 PM

I've been using Fender Thins forever. I use them until they crack, or disappear into that other dimension with all the left socks and car keys.

**Jake Hanlon** · 06-24-2011, 01:47 PM

I used to have a huge issue with losing guitar picks when I was a younger man. When I first went to University I decided that was not going to happen anymore. For the last 3 years of Undergrad I used the same pick every day and kept it always in the same place. It was worn down from a regular dunlop size pick to something that was completely unusable.

I had to throw it out, I wish I kept it and framed it hahaa

**Spirit59** · 06-24-2011, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Jake Hanlon

I used to have a huge issue with losing guitar picks when I was a younger man. When I first went to University I decided that was not going to happen anymore. For the last 3 years of Undergrad I used the same pick every day and kept it always in the same place. It was worn down from a regular dunlop size pick to something that was completely unusable.

I had to throw it out, I wish I kept it and framed it hahaa

Back in the 80's, I gigged 5 and 6 (sometimes 7!) nights a week with the same stainless steel pick for probably 3 or 4 years. The level of speed that that thing afforded me was mind-boggling, but for jazz, the tone wouldn't be happening at all - not to mention that I changed my strings almost every day back then. That pick had a tendency to rip the windings from my wound strings.