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So I just switched over from 100% finger style to pick and fingers. I decided to select a Fender extra heavy teardrop plectrum . You can buy five for a dollar .
I tried it… And it sounded dull , lifeless . It's not nearly as bright and crisp as fingers with nails. .
So I decided to treat it like it's a nail. And I filed it down with a nail file and use extra fine grade sandpaper. The same nail file and sandpaper or use for the nails .
And suddenly the attack was transformed and came to life: much brighter and crisper and clearer .
Who knew that such a small thing to a $.20 piece of equipment could transform the sound of a wonderful, expensive arch top ?
Since I don't play with the plectrum normally, I have to ask: do people file and sandpaper their picks???
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04-05-2017 07:42 PM
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I buy D'Andrea pro plecs because they're exactly the opposite - rounded, fat, and soft.
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When I used picks, I re-shaped them endlessly with files, sandpaper, bits of rock and shell, pieces of wood, paper bags, and scraps of cardboard to get the varying degrees of abrasion and polish I felt I needed at the time. Pick tuning is a rabbit hole as deep as you want to make it. I crawled out a couple of years ago. I still have a couple hundred picks on hand in case I want to get back into it. You can mess with pickups and all that to your heart's content, but the first link in the signal chain is setting the string in motion. Plectrum choice and deployment affect the resultant tone in an audible fashion. IMHO.
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Yes, I file my picks all the time and it is a huge tone difference. Propleks and Cool teardrop picks don't need sanding but pick makers sell suck sloppy picks that a majority of thicker picks need sanding or shaping for the best sound.
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Whatta you supposed to do after changing bridges, pots, caps, pups, nuts, and amps in the search for tone??? PICKS!
Seriously, I'm not a modder, but new picks do sound like turd because I think they're all stamped and the edges are rough. Polishing them on my grinder/ buffer puts them right. Some can break them in during one gig or session, I can't.
Recently I bought a batch of slightly concave (or convex depending on which side is against your thumb) buffalo horn picks that were BIG like the Fender 351. I use "jazz" types, and after some grinding off the excess, setting the tip the way I want it and polishing them they're perfect.
So in a short answer, you betcha pick diddling is well practiced here.
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Pick didling as Gnappi calls it, is a High Art Form ... thang ... in jazz guitar, I think.
Originally Posted by NSJ
Here's a couple heavily modified Dunlop 2.0mm Big Stubbies.
Left is the first one I did, narrowing th point and carefully rounding edges and bottom. Hey, if a little is better, more is *more* better, right? And that's the end of my right index finger for scale.
The smaller one gets a little deeper, less bright attack. Which I like ...
Stumbling fingers still need love ...
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So, that's how you want to play it, eh? You have been reported to the Bureau of Pickup Makers, Enforcement Division. I suggest you not start reading any novels - stick to short stories. Originally Posted by NSJ
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My buddy Raji uses lasers at the hospital and treats the edges of my picks for me as a favor. High tech.
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Ditto - superb feel Originally Posted by drbhrb
For me that is.
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NSJ, have you tried the Andrea Pro Plec 358 Small Round Teardrop (Shell 1.5mm) that Pasquale uses?
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I use Tortex, and they already have a moderately rough finish.
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Heavy picks do seem to adversely affect the sound, so I always use medium picks. And out of long habit, never hold it point down. Always use the round corner. At least to my ears, it works. So on to the next technique trouble spot. (There are so many.)
MD
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Wegen 1.0 for guitar, 1.4 for mandolin. I've experimented with quite a few pics and these work for me.
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I use Medium picks mostly (-with some Jazz IIIs around for when the mood strikes, and a couple thumb picks for days when I'm bored with what I've been playing). Fender, D'Andrea, even a few Bensons that someone sent me as a gift. I don't do anything to them. Tend to like them old and worn----but new ones don't bother me.
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Is that one of the stumbling fingers? Originally Posted by R Neil
Stumbling fingers still need love ...
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Yes, I shape the edge and polish on the 3mm big studies. Gives a glassy tone.
I've also made picks from t******* shell antique combs. I made a mega 5mm tshell pick for gypsy jazz stuff.
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I am so happy with this thread!! I thought I was the only crazy nut filing his pics looking for that sound....
I am not crazy after all!!
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Well if you ARE using nut files on your picks you just might be! Originally Posted by Little Jay
Last edited by Woody Sound; 04-06-2017 at 01:21 PM.
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Or you both are crazy Originally Posted by Little Jay
Sorry, I couldn't resist. I have been on the same bad trip too. I stopped because I found it too difficult to recreate the holy grail I had just worn out and that drew me crazy.
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Naw man, yew ain't crazy, yew kur-ray-zeeee! Originally Posted by Little Jay
Juzz lake meeeeee
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Yup ... Originally Posted by jazzbow
Stumbling fingers still need love ...
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Lol Originally Posted by R Neil
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I've been going through a lot of picks lately, because I practice a few hours every day, and then gig at night.
Rather than constantly buy new picks, I've been using sandpaper to make worn out picks pointy again.
The only problem is a lot of the picks I sand down have a bothersome friction to them when they strike the string. I've tried using an emery board (nail file) to smooth out the sides of the pick, and the point of the pick, but that doesn't always work.
Does anyone have a foolproof method of rehabilitating these poor, old picks?
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Depending on the material, I’ve had great luck with automotive grade sandpaper of 1000-2000 grit to smooth bevels and some shaping. It’s the same stuff I use on my nails for finger style. I find it at Walmart or Target.
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Thanks for the reply! Which dept. is that sandpaper in, the automotive or the nail dept? Originally Posted by fitflatpicker
The sandpaper I've been using was from Home Depot, and might be too coarse to sand down my Dunlop Jazz IIIs.
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