Modified Ultex Jazz III

**j4zz** · 06-30-2022, 09:54 PM

I have been searching for a nice soft attacking pick, and tried all the usual red Jazz III, black Jazz III, and settled on the Ultex Jazz III XL. Today I was reading about the Jazztone 207 with a very rounded tip.

Instead of ordering some I thought I'd try modifying an Ultex XL first. The result is great, much less attack, especially when turning the pick a bit to the side. Rounding the tip of the XL brings it down nearer the size of the normal Jazz III.

Here's a comparison.

Modified Ultex Jazz III-img_20220701_114840-jpg

Modified Ultex Jazz III-img_20220701_114840-jpg

**st.bede** · 06-30-2022, 10:19 PM

That looks like a great idea. I like the jazz ultex a lot, but I do not use them.

I lose picks all the time. With the red jazz III, I have a good chance of finding them. I am surprised with how often I find them out in the world, in places I frequently go to.

**j4zz** · 06-30-2022, 10:35 PM

Originally Posted by st.bede

That looks like a great idea. I like the jazz ultex a lot, but I do not use them.

I lose picks all the time. With the red jazz III, I have a good chance of finding them. I am surprised with how often I find them out in the world, in places I frequently go to.

The ultex are hard to find when I drop them on my wooden floors

**Cunamara** · 07-01-2022, 12:12 AM

No better if you drop them on a rug... good picks, though.

**EastwoodMike** · 07-01-2022, 03:08 AM

Ultex are great. Those primetones blend into the rug too well though!
testing out the jazz tone 204 at the moment. Shown here with some of its ‘cousins’ for size comparison. About 2mm thick right to its rounded edge.

Modified Ultex Jazz III-1c41fe6c-ecbb-48e1-a73f-e13432c07f2a-jpg

Modified Ultex Jazz III-1c41fe6c-ecbb-48e1-a73f-e13432c07f2a-jpg

it is only a smidge smaller than the standard red size

Modified Ultex Jazz III-c1123298-b124-4d8c-965a-54d74e1a3af9-jpg

Black on top of red. The top edge of both are aligned in the pic above. Wings and tip only just poke out from behind.
emike

**j4zz** · 07-01-2022, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by EastwoodMike

Ultex are great. Those primetones blend into the rug too well though!
testing out the jazz tone 204 at the moment. Shown here with some of its ‘cousins’ for size comparison. About 2mm thick right to its rounded edge.

Yes I see it has the nice round shape, even more so than the 207. Like the shape I put on the Ultex. I played it a lot today. I think I am hooked. I have a six-pack of Ultex Jazz III XLs to grind down now

**citizenk74** · 07-01-2022, 09:45 AM

Big advocate of pick modification here. My favorite Jazz IIIs have a slightly blunter Jazz II - shaped tip.

At the moment, my favorite pick is a 204 (the giant watermelon seed shape) with the tip just blunted a teeny bit. My ideal is that the last mm of the tip should be gently elliptical. My favorite for feel is a Lil' Stubby with the blunter tip, and would be perfect in the 2xx series material, whatever it is. I like the purple plastic, but it tends to be clicky, which is less than optimum for clean tones.

**burchyk** · 07-01-2022, 10:59 AM

Big fan of shaping the tips, usually make them slightly more round / less pointy and then polish. Not as drastic as this though

**Litterick** · 07-01-2022, 05:57 PM

I like them as they are.

**j4zz** · 07-01-2022, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by burchyk

Big fan of shaping the tips, usually make them slightly more round / less pointy and then polish. Not as drastic as this though

Hey, it's a prototype.

I pushed it as far as I could to see what the effect would be. My next one will be somewhere between the two.

You mention polish, and I think that's important. After shaping I used finer grades of sand paper to smooth and polish. I think the final result was more polished than the original.

**j4zz** · 07-01-2022, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by citizenk74

Big advocate of pick modification here. My favorite Jazz IIIs have a slightly blunter Jazz II - shaped tip.

At the moment, my favorite pick is a 204 (the giant watermelon seed shape) with the tip just blunted a teeny bit. My ideal is that the last mm of the tip should be gently elliptical. My favorite for feel is a Lil' Stubby with the blunter tip, and would be perfect in the 2xx series material, whatever it is. I like the purple plastic, but it tends to be clicky, which is less than optimum for clean tones.

I need to get some 204's to try them. Local stores don't seem to carry anything them, so I need to order some. Interesting that you even blunt the 204 a bit.

**RayS** · 07-01-2022, 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by j4zz

Yes I see it has the nice round shape, even more so than the 207. Like the shape I put on the Ultex. I played it a lot today. I think I am hooked. I have a six-pack of Ultex Jazz III XLs to grind down now

All you had to do is play with the side of the pick...instant round edge...been doing this for years as I'm sure many have here too....

Ray

**j4zz** · 07-01-2022, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by RayS

All you had to do is play with the side of the pick...instant round edge...been doing this for years as I'm sure many have here too....

Ray

I do, but with a pointy pick there is still more 'attack' to the sound than I like, as the point slides over the string. This is even rounder, and the envelope of the sound is more even with no peak. It also give a longer stroke.

**j4zz** · 07-01-2022, 08:17 PM

More time on the workbench. I rounded a selection of what I had on hand, ultex XLs and a Flow and a Delrin I got from a shredder's pack. The top left Ultex is normal, the next to the right is rounded a bit, and the right hand top is the one I did last time. Below are a 2mm flow and a 2mm Delrin both rounded a bit.

Biggest learning, it's the rounding that's more important than the material. I still think the more rounded it is, the better I like it. Maybe I should use a coin

that's what the bottom edge is starting to resemble.

Modified Ultex Jazz III-img_20220702_101230-jpg

**RayS** · 07-01-2022, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by j4zz

I do, but with a pointy pick there is still more 'attack' to the sound than I like, as the point slides over the string. This is even rounder, and the envelope of the sound is more even with no peak. It also give a longer stroke.

I mean the side of the pic......not the pointy part the side where you usually hold it from nice round and fat....turn it 90 deg. Lots of manufacturers have more or less rounded sides.....

Ray

**j4zz** · 07-01-2022, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by RayS

I mean the side of the pic......not the pointy part the side where you usually hold it from nice round and fat....turn it 90 deg. Lots of manufacturers have more or less rounded sides.....

Ray

Ah I see now. You see I was turning it 90 degrees, just not in the way that you mean. That would work, with the downside that the grip (if the pick has one) will be wrong, and I have had the raised lettering rub on a string too when I grabbed a pick the wrong way by accident. Looking at the pictures, you can see it is still not as round as I have been trying either - but it's a good tip when stuck having to use one I haven't rounded off.

**RayS** · 07-01-2022, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by j4zz

Ah I see now. You see I was turning it 90 degrees, just not in the way that you mean. That would work, with the downside that the grip (if the pick has one) will be wrong, and I have had the raised lettering rub on a string too when I grabbed a pick the wrong way by accident. Looking at the pictures, you can see it is still not as round as I have been trying either - but it's a good tip when stuck having to use one I haven't rounded off.

My Ultex .73 have no "grip" ....but I've done this many times with many different pic styles, Fender mostly before the Dunlops....

Ray