The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary

View Poll Results: Picking with the pointy or rounded end.

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  • Pointy end

    68 57.63%
  • Rounded end

    50 42.37%
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  1. #26

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    I use both the round and pointy end. They do different things. Why choose when you can have both.

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  3. #27
    Is anyone else surprised at the higher than expected turnout from us round edgers? I thought we'd be less than 20%... Bit disappointing actually, I thought we were special!

  4. #28
    I use Golden Gate 3 rounded side picks. You can get a little bag of about 20 for 12$.they are fake turtle shell and fairly thick. If your local store has some check out the tone. Its bigger than some. Sort of a poor mans Blue Chip.

  5. #29

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    I switched to the rounded side of my pro-Plecs about 3 years ago. I was getting back into Django style jazz,, and had heard that using the rounded side of the pick got you a better tone and felt better when playing rhythm... it felt good,, so i tried it on electric too...The tone was noticeably fatter, and I had basically zero issues with accuracy versus the way I could play with the pointed end, so I stuck with it.

  6. #30

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    This thread is my epiphany. I have always been a pointy-endian. I never thought to play the round end. Now I can play either or both. I can be bi-plectural.

  7. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by Litterick
    This thread is my epiphany. I have always been a pointy-endian. I never thought to play the round end. Now I can play either or both. I can be bi-plectural.
    These days, given that a rounded edge has infinitely many points, the term would be pan-plectural.

  8. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    I don’t understand how anyone can play with the round end, but if it’s good enough for Birelli.....
    I think you've got your answer in quite a few of the above posts: fat tone!

  9. #33

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    I just realized that I can get good jazz sounds out of the bridge pickup if I use the round side of the pick. I just need to turn the bass of the amp up a bit. I'm digging the bridge pickup sound with the round pick.

  10. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
    I move between the pointy end and the round end, depending on the tone I want to produce at any given time. Why stick to one when you can have two tones for contrast? This works better - more noticeably - on acoustic archtops than amplified, in my experience.
    One of the many nice things about Dunlop's small picks* (such as the Jazz IIs) is that they have four tip options - point, heel, and the two corners. Each corner has two edges, one clearly rounded, and one less so. Which means that your stroke can lead with the rounder edge, or lead with the somewhat straighter edge, for subtle differences in attack. Leading with the less curved edge will give a slightly slower release, and leading with the curvier edge will give a faster release. Strictly for those into nuance. In my experience roundwounds are more tonally responsive to these niceties, as they are grippier than flats; ground wounds are even grippier. Flats are fine as well, but respond less to the technique discussed.

    Some folks prefer one tone over all others, and that's cool, too. It's all good.

    * Except the prime tones, which have their own special charms.

  11. #35

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    Golden Gate MP12

    Sorry! Something went wrong!

    I continue to try others, most recently a standard medium shape with holes in it (can't recall the model), but, it turns out I can pick more accurately with the Golden Gate pick. And, it has a mellow sound to my ear.

    Since I'm the furthest thing from a speed demon, this may not be good advice.

  12. #36

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    I go a tiny bit more with point but I use the round edge a lot and have lots of picks that don't have a point at all.

  13. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by princeplanet
    Is anyone else surprised at the higher than expected turnout from us round edgers? I thought we'd be less than 20%... Bit disappointing actually, I thought we were special!
    yeah, I’m also surprised and impressed with high number of “round-enders”.

  14. #38

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    I gravitate towards the pointy end of a thick pick. 80% of the time, I’m playing 13’s on an archtop and I find that it depends on the tone I’m going after: ProPlec 1.5 pointy for warm tones with articulation, (Wes or Bernstein type tones) Dunlop Ultex large jazz lll’s pointy for more articulation, ala Jesse Van Ruller, or Benson tones, pointy end of a Fender medium (.70) on 13’s for classic Benson snap and articulation and medium to standard Fender or Ultex for medium gauge strings playing rock/blues/fusion.

    The rounded side of a heavier pick creates too much string drag for me, and while I like the rounded tone, the loss of articulation is bothersome. I can get using the round end of a medium gauge, though, which is what Ford and Landau (who he credits) do.

    Ironically, Dunlop 405’s sound brighter with a more rounded point than a standard ProPlec. But, I haven’t investigated gypsy jazz, that’s way down the list for me.

    I have tons of picks, fun way to explore tone and articulation. Not really compelled to try the Blue Chips (?) at this point, though, I’d be pissed if I lost it, or became dependent on something that cost that much. I have a few Wegens and those weren’t cheap.... too unyielding for me, like playing with stone.

    Anyway, exploring the world of tone variations available with picks is something I never dreamed would be so powerful when I was just starting to play - highly recommended use of your time!

  15. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by yebdox
    .... exploring the world of tone variations available with picks is something I never dreamed would be so powerful when I was just starting to play - highly recommended use of your time!
    Yeah, when I went "round", I found myself trying other round objects like coins and buttons. Now with buttons, you can find even more tone variations than with picks! (try it!) ... anyway, my absolute fave pick ever ended up being an old bakelite button - just the right size, shape and edge, but also this really cool friction against the string that I can only describe as like applying rosin to a violin bow- the slightest contact with the very edge of the button would still produce a very defined, textured attack. It was "grippy", but only because it was shedding at an alarming rate, leaving bakelite powder all over my pickguard. When I found out how toxic that stuff is, I stopped using bakelite buttons, but haven't found anything remotely close to the feel and sound of that particular button.

    What are the stone picks worth trying?

  16. #40

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    RE: stone picks - when I was newly big into Pat Martino, I saved up and bought some Min'd picks, which he was endorsing at the time. One in particular (they were all different) was my main pick for many years before tragically dropping it onto a tile floor, breaking the pick and my heart simultaneously.

    The heft of the pick was great - it had a coolness that was nice - and the end taper was just right for me. I've gravitated to thicker picks ever since.

  17. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    RE: stone picks - when I was newly big into Pat Martino, I saved up and bought some Min'd picks, which he was endorsing at the time. One in particular (they were all different) was my main pick for many years before tragically dropping it onto a tile floor, breaking the pick and my heart simultaneously.

    The heft of the pick was great - it had a coolness that was nice - and the end taper was just right for me. I've gravitated to thicker picks ever since.
    Yeah .. I feel in love with stone picks early on too .. but one day I noticed that you get a harmonic on top of the normal sound with a stone pick .. Could not unhear it again and quit stone picks shortly after.

    But been playing with the 2.0 mm Dunlops since either the purple tortex ones or since recently the green gator ones. Just always found that the pick having a bit of weight is helpful

  18. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lobomov
    Yeah .. I feel in love with stone picks early on too .. but one day I noticed that you get a harmonic on top of the normal sound with a stone pick .. Could not unhear it again and quit stone picks shortly after.

    But been playing with the 2.0 mm Dunlops since either the purple tortex ones or since recently the green gator ones. Just always found that the pick having a bit of weight is helpful
    Yeah, those big purple Dops became my go to for quite a while. Nothing else felt quite right. And the thickness left the last 1/16" of the tip the functional near-equivalent to my favorite Min'd.

  19. #43

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    So this is the thread that broached the subject of using the side of the pick.

    Thanks, PP!

    Here is what I went to a couple of weeks ago. See how that shoulder has a small, rounded but discernable tip on this Jazz III Stiffo?

    That is what I focus on using to make contact and it has really set me free. I point the tip back towards the bridge and I can spread my fat thumb all over the great surface area between those two "shoulders." This has made the pick more secure and during longer periods of playing, I don't find myself having to readjust the pick. It is so much more secure.


    Picks - Pointy end or not?-images-jpg

  20. #44

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    Quote Originally Posted by AlsoRan
    So this is the thread that broached the subject of using the side of the pick.

    Thanks, PP!

    Here is what I went to a couple of weeks ago. See how that shoulder has a small, rounded but discernable tip on this Jazz III Stiffo?

    That is what I focus on using to make contact and it has really set me free. I point the tip back towards the bridge and I can spread my fat thumb all over the great surface area between those two "shoulders." This has made the pick more secure and during longer periods of playing, I don't find myself having to readjust the pick. It is so much more secure.


    Picks - Pointy end or not?-images-jpg
    I started doing the same same thing after this thread except I use pro plec's Jazz III shaped pick. It glides so smooth this way and sounds round and full.

  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tal_175
    I started doing the same same thing after this thread except I use pro plec's Jazz III shaped pick. It glides so smooth this way and sounds round and full.
    Picks - Pointy end or not?-we48azhjtjtad459ungr-jpgPicks - Pointy end or not?-images-1-jpgPicks - Pointy end or not?-images-jpg

    If you compare the picks (I am not sure that I got the right ProPlec pick) you can see how the black pick seems to have more of a shoulder, and that shoulder is low enough to be able to use it as a pick, in my opinion. So nice to play without getting that darn pointed tip caught, and getting slowed down.

    I will be in Princeplanet's debt forever.

  22. #46

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    It’s so strange - I don’t understand how anyone can play with the rounded end:-)

  23. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by AlsoRan
    Picks - Pointy end or not?-we48azhjtjtad459ungr-jpgPicks - Pointy end or not?-images-1-jpgPicks - Pointy end or not?-images-jpg

    If you compare the picks (I am not sure that I got the right ProPlec pick) you can see how the black pick seems to have more of a shoulder, and that shoulder is low enough to be able to use it as a pick, in my opinion. So nice to play without getting that darn pointed tip caught, and getting slowed down.

    I will be in Princeplanet's debt forever.
    Yes I use the shoulder of the Pro Plec too (the one in the picture). Pro Plec's shoulder is less pointy and thicker than Dunlops (which I also have very many of). I prefer the Pro Plecs these days.

  24. #48

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    RE: stone picks - when I was newly big into Pat Martino, I saved up and bought some Min'd picks, which he was endorsing at the time. One in particular (they were all different) was my main pick for many years before tragically dropping it onto a tile floor, breaking the pick and my heart simultaneously.

    The heft of the pick was great - it had a coolness that was nice - and the end taper was just right for me. I've gravitated to thicker picks ever since.
    I knew the inventor, John Dougherty, of the Min’d pick. Sadly he has passed away but he was a fantastic jazz guitar player and nice guy.

  25. #49

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    I use Dunlop Jazz Tone 204s...they don't have a pointy end.

  26. #50

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    I just tried turning my Fender 358 around the wrong way. Have to say I don't see the attraction. I wonder if the round-enders strike the strings with the same pick angle I do. Seemed to me it made more difference in tone if picking more or less parallel to the strings.

    I'm a pointy end guy but my pick is something like a 30° to 45° angle to the strings. Sort of a reverse Metheny thing. In 3D I think that makes the pointy end rounder... or something.

    Have to say I was somewhat surprised to find that playing with the round end wasn't as weird as I thought it'd be. Might even do it again some day.