Jazz Guitar Pick

[balthazar]

Could anyone compare the D'Andrea Pro-Plec and the D'Andrea Medium for pick noise, please? I can only get them mail order from the US.

Hi destinytot,


D'Andrea Classic Medium are as bright as Fender Medium Celluloid.



D'Andrea Pro Plec are darker. Here is my comparison: Plectrum Field Guide

[DRS]

John Pearse Fast Turtle 3.2mm
Papa's

Both casein. $9 and $12

[woland]

Jim Dunlop 38mm,nylon picks, as recommended by Robert Conti. (....)

I could have written exactly the same response. After years of playing with thick picks I bought Robert's "Precision Technique" - based on the recommendation I saw on this forum. It did a lot of good for my technique and I am still playing the exercises from the book. It lightened my touch by 60-70% - a lot of passages became much much easier.
I use Dunlops 0.46 picks - slightly thicker than the one that Conti recommends but essentially same league. Every now and then I switch to Jazz III carbon fiber, Golden Gate mandolin pick or V-pick medium round "chick" (pink) pick - pick color makes them impossible to displace. But about 80% of the time I play with very think pick.

[docbop]

I like thing simple so most the time use Fender heavy large teardrop, occasionally a medium for a little snap to the note. Once in great while I will use a regular size pick and same again heavy sometimes medium. I got into using medium and full size picks now and then, because my teacher is one of those fast Benson pickers their pick of choice.

I also rotate my pick a lot something I got into subconsciously back in the 80's playing lots of funk and 16th note rhythms and doing Blues and Wolf tone AKA whistle notes. When doing my version of Benson picking I need more pick sticking out and have to be careful not to rotate pick and sometime will switch to a full size pick for that.

I tend to experiment more with pick angle than with different picks.

On acoustic I will sometimes use thin pick if I need to do a lot full six string strumming so pick glides over strings easier, but if I have to do a single line I use the old trick of switch to hold pick with three fingers and then squeeze hard to bend it. Then the thin pick becomes stiff and single notes come out stronger.

Then in a pinch and need a pick and none around reach into my pocket and grab a coin usually a penny or dime works good.

[nikotro]

I use Dunlop .88 mm from the grey series. I startes using those long time ago, after trying different Gibson and Sharkfin picks.

[mrblues]

Hi!

I tried a lot of picks (Dunlop Jazz picks, Fender, Gibson, Wegen, etc...), but for me the Planet Waves Black Ice 1.5mm is the winner.

My teacher at conservatory suggested me trying a lot of them and make a decision after that.

Well I made my decision.

When I got home with a handful of picks and tried all of those, I recognized that this Black Ice 1.5mm made a hyper-space jump in tonality compared to the others.

I never thought that a pick is so important in tonal quality, but after this experiment I saw that it does. Dont know why, but no other pick fits me than that. That is my "highlander" pick (You all know that, only one can stay alive ), which gives me the ultimate jazz tone.

YOu should give it a try!

[mrcee]

I use the round part of a Fender medium. The tone is fatter than the tip. I used to use a thick Dunlop but got too much clacking.

[MarkRhodes]

I use the round part of a Fender medium. The tone is fatter than the tip. I used to use a thick Dunlop but got too much clacking.

I've done that too, played with the round part (or shoulder) of a Fender Medium, or a D'Andrea Medium. I find it easier to hold them by their tips. However, just the other day I got a Snark celluloid (Medium) with no-slip girp and I hold it the conventional way (-well, the Benson-picker way) and it works fine. Anyway, the tone is different playing with the shoulder and sometimes that's just what I want.

[DanielleOM]

After using the Dunlop standard shaped .96 delrin picks I have switched to the Dunlop Ultex standard shape 1.0 picks. I like the tone and they do not seem to wear at all compared to the delrin. Not entirely happy with them as I find at times they seem to be a little slippery and hard to hold on to. I find a get nice mellow tone with the 1.0 ultex.

[medblues]

My winners are (for warm minimally clicky sound): D'Andrea ProPlec and Planet Waves Black Ice followed by Dava JazzGrips Delrin. (But I mostly play with my fingers and cut my nails shorter if I want to play darker.)

[mr. beaumont]

All about the pro-plecs right now. Great pics, not expensive.

[gitrman]

Dunlop jazztone 206

[coolvinny]

The same Blue Chip KS60 unbeveled for about 3 years. And I mean...literally the same pick. I also have a KS50 unbeveled that sounds a bit brighter.

These particular picks need to be worn in to sound good. At first they sound too glassy and a bit brittle. But once worn in, well, my KS60 has probably 4,000 hours on it...

[GingerMojo]

Dunlop 88's here too, cheap, reliable and did I say cheap. I tend to go heavier as well, if I can find them cheap. I lose every pick I buy, or my kids steal them so I tend to avoid picks like Gravity Picks which can run upwards of $20 a pick. I can buy a pack for $3 here.

[wolflen]

tried just about everything out there..landed on "bone" picks for a number of years..nice feel and tone..great control..and then about 10 years ago I played a "stone" pick..and use it to this day..yes..takes a bit of getting used to..but has a wide tone spectrum-depending on which side you use..and the control is absolute..

I anchor my pinky on the body of the guitar and just move my arm up/down on the strings..very little movement away from the strings on single lines

chords/comping great results..strings ring clearly and true..

tip on sweaty hands..baby powder..or some sort of rosen bag that ball players use..

[Thecytochromec]

1.5 mm Tortex jazz III.

[55bar]

[Gilpy]

I've tried many but a plain old Fender Medium works fine for me.

[henryrobinett]

Cooper tear drop. I use the round end.

[MarkRhodes]

Cooper tear drop. I use the round end.

Is that "Copper"? I googled "Cooper guitar pick" and nothing came up. (Lots of copper picks did though.)

[MarkRhodes]

I've tried many but a plain old Fender Medium works fine for me.

I have my share of those. They get a little slick in my hand after playing a bit. I find D'Andrea Mediums a easier to hold (in place), but the new Snark pick beats 'em both (-for me) by a mile.

[neatomic]

have a pick collection that goes back 40 years..been thru many..howard roberts, herco orange, bakersfield thins, modulus graphites, conical speed pick, every stubby, custom mades, brian may pence, i even did try the snark 2032 battery!! haha...my faves right now are clayton exotics..thick picks-jazz style- made of bone or horn & weird woods..coconut shell etc...very interesting..


having said that..always have a bunch of picks handy..constantly switching..as important, if not more so than string type..changes the entire attack...

and then of course there's fingers..and thumb..& even those are different..endless

keep searching tho

cheers

[Moonray]

Another pick freak here neatomic .....I've tried nearly everything ....currently
using Dunlop Jazz Tone 205 .....the little pointed one.

I like the way that I can use it like a stylus pick ....you know the one with a sharp point and a cone to
keep your picking depth from getting too deep and hanging up.
After the stylus ...a short but useful experiment...I realized that a small more pointed pick was the way
for me to go.
So on to the ubiquitous red Jazz 111.

Used those for years but don't like the balance between the treble and bass [too mushy on the bass]
....but they feel great, as long as you get picks that have got deep logo embossed for grip....gotta try them in the
shop...ha ha...the guys with tattoos and piercings might be hoping for a big sale....and I'm trying out each pick.
Funny shit.....

But more recently I got the 205 to try...I remember playing with one years ago and finding it a bit too
"clicky" sounding.....hate that.
But whaddaya know my technique must have got more accurate ....no noticeable click and much improved
balance in comparison to the nylon Jazz 111.

So it's the 205 for more chopsy stuff but for my everyday playing up to a certain tempo
I've switched over to a Fender medium celluloid too.
Played off the rounded end, together with using 13-52's Chromes I can get a great range of tones.

Has anyone else found the Fenders to have really rough edges when new?
I use some 1200 wet and dry paper to smooth them down.

Mark, if you see this/got this far......are the Snark celluloid jobs as smooth around the edges as they claim?


....And 'tomic ......any chance of having a look at some of your collection?

[neatomic]

hey moonray..yeah used the stylus pick for years..gigging, not just for practice.. as they were later marketed for .i loved em at the time..thats what i meant by conical speed pick..but stylus was actual trade name ..yeah..still have some..unused!...hah

dunlop 205..yep

take a look at the clayton exotics..they come in a little 3 pack

here's some of mine..no filing system..just in tins by era!! when the tins got full i started another...haha..



picks and strings is a science..thats why many picks on hand always...the idea of the thick pick and heavy flatwound, doesn't always work...at least not for everything (what does?)

cheers

ps- i liked the fender medium purple celluloids..they might be gone now..felt slightly different..haha..cuckoo

pss- trying out every pick at the store..im with ya..haha

[Moonray]

Man that looks my pick drawer......ha ha ....

Guitar playing friends take the piss mercilessly....but hey....my GAS is cheaper than theirs.
I have a guitar and amp I like....the rest is up to me....oh and a pick and a bunch of strings.

...And this just in....I emailed Bruce Forman to compliment him on his great sound on the classes
he did for My Music Masterclasses .....he's getting a clear warm sound, great balance and he's switched
over to roundwound D'A's EJ21's but replacing the top two with a 14 and 28 and Wegen Bluegrass pick.
They're 1.14 I think ....what a great player and all round fun guy.

There is the small matter of an early 70's L5 .....well...perhaps I do GAS just a little bit here and there.


Yeah..re colors of celluloid picks...I've bought a couple of packs of different color but same gauge.
Different sound.
What's that about? .....is there a plastics expert in the house?

I wouldn't be surprised if there was.


PS.....No Wegens in your collection? .....Did you know they are made of the same material as prosthetic hips etc.

PPS....Jim Hall used to carry a few picks in his pocket for different styles .....so man your pockets
must be well stuffed before you go out ....ha ha
....And I agree with the heavy flats/ heavy pick thing; doesn't work well for me either...in fact the reverse.
Heavier pick on the Tele with 10's and Fender medium on the Gibson with med/heavy flats.