What's your favorite pick material?

[RASHARU]

Just wondering what different styles/materials of plectrums people are using these days. There's actually a "dinosaur bone" pick on the Bay for $100 right now! I've been a "fingerstyle" player all along but lately I've been experimenting with various pick styles.

[gijs]

all of mine are plastic, haven't cared to try something else yet. Maybe I will in the coming days since today I cut one of my fingerstyle fingers with glass :(

[Murph]

I have a $40.00 Blue Chip and I still prefer the Dunlop Tortex. Thanks to a few members here I'm now using the Orange 60mm on electric/acoustic guitars and mandolin.

 

Dunlop also made an "ULTEX" with a rhino on it. I don't see them in stores but have picked a few up at Bluegrass festivals like Jerusalem Ridge. They are perhaps a bit more plastic feeling but have a different tone.

 

I still prefer the Tortex.

[larryp58]

I still prefer the Tortex.

 

Me, too! Dunlop Tortex all the way. They just have a good feel to them. Like you Murph, I started with the orange, but lately I've stepped up to the yellow.(Better suited for bluegrass music). I still use the orange on everything else.

[Murph]

Me, too! Dunlop Tortex all the way. They just have a good feel to them. Like you Murph, I started with the orange, but lately I've stepped up to the yellow.(Better suited for bluegrass music). I still use the orange on everything else.

 

You and GillianGirl got me hooked on the orange. I pulled a red (50mm) out the other day with my LES PAUL and couldn't stand it. I played those for YEARS................

 

So......

 

Don't start talkin' bout no stinkin' yellow........

[Gilliangirl]

You and GillianGirl got me hooked on the orange. I pulled a red (50mm) out the other day with my LES PAUL and couldn't stand it. I played those for YEARS................

 

So......

 

Don't start talkin' bout no stinkin' yellow........

LOL I too love my orange Tortex! I tried a couple of different picks again last night, but always return to my orange Tortex. I like the texture on my fingers, I like the sound it makes, and the sound it doesn't make (that flippy-flappy hit-the-string sound), and it's just the right thickness. I agree Murph, the red is just a wee bit too flimsy. But I'm game for trying the yellow

[AnneS]

Purely .73mm for me...Martin, Fender, Dunlop--makes no diff. I only use medium strings, so anything thinner throws me off.

 

I tried a 1.5mm once--lasted less than a minute. I don't have that much attack in me. On the other end of the spectrum, I once played a friend's Epi, strung with silk and steel, and had to borrow his thin pick, too. Felt like I was using the edge of a paper plate to strum hair--underwater!

 

Current favorite pick, though, is one I got from Emmylou Harris's stage guy after a recent concert--it's a nice pink medium (gently used that very night), so it has functional as well as sentimental value...

 

Had a nice chat with the lady herself, about a song she wrote long ago but never recorded. It's nice having the pick.... to remind me that the conversation really happened.

 

Sigh...

[CAMELEYE]

Any heavy celluloid. Right now it's Vintage D'Andrea Classic 351 Gauged Shell Celluloid. Comes in a tin of 12.

[jt]

I'm a fingerpicker who uses thumbpicks. My favorites are the Fred Kelly heavy picks made of Delrin, either the Slick Pick:

 

 

Or Speed Pick:

 

[BigKahune]

#1 Dunlop .73mm Tortex triangles

 

#2 Cool Picks .75mm Nitro-cellulose triangles w/pearloid finish

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a $40.00 Blue Chip ....

 

Ouch!

 

No way I'd spend 40 bucks on a pick.

[RASHARU]

So far, for me, I've been using the COOL "Juratex" (.80mm). I really like them for some reason. I also kinda like the Gibby std size mediums. You've got to remember that I'm a recovering "fingerstylist" that's simply trying to transition into more modern play. Tough gig indeed!

 

I agree with you G-girl, I don't care for those thinner "slappy" sounding picks at all. I started with (.36mm) Dunlops due to my heavy-handed approach but quickly got calmed down into mediums.

[albertjohn]

Plain old Fender meds for me. Heavy for electric.

[The G]

]ust think. If Gilliangirl used Blue Chips she would have $65800 in her washing machine.

Sorry....Couldn't resist.

[Murph]

 

Ouch!

 

No way I'd spend 40 bucks on a pick.

 

If you hang around in the Mandolin Cafe, they'll trick you into it......

 

[EuroAussie]

Me, too! Dunlop Tortex all the way. They just have a good feel to them. Like you Murph, I started with the orange, but lately I've stepped up to the yellow.(Better suited for bluegrass music). I still use the orange on everything else.

 

Exactly, exactly my experience ! Ive played the orange Tortex for a couple of years but recently moved to Yellow as i find its easier for picking and my strumming is a bit more controlled now so I can work with the harder Yellow Tortex.

 

But this is strictly for acoustics, for my Les Paul I use a much thicker plastic pick, around 1.5mm. (not that the poor LP gets much play these days ..)

[Flinx]

I've tried dozens of brands, shapes, sizes, and materials over the years, but I still keep coming back to these:

 

 

All the rest, even the most expensive, highly-touted man-made creations, just don't sound or feel the same. Some come close, but no cigar, IMHO. Nice for an occasional lark, but still nothing like the organic sound of shell. I need a consistent, woody, powerful tone with minimal pick noise, and that's what I get with TS.

 

My only consolation is that I know for a fact that the picks came from hair combs fashioned over 80 years ago, as the thought of contributing to modern poaching is something I cannot condone. But what's done is done, and since I have them, I use them.

 

Perhaps one day, something will hit the market that will actually replace TS, as evidenced by the efforts of companies like Blue Chip and Red Bear. And when that happens, I'll be one of the first in line to give the new stuff a workout. But until then, to my ear, there is nothing else that sounds like TS, and nothing that feels quite like it, either. And so it goes.

 

I prefer a gauge of around 1.25mm. Not too thin, and not extra thick. Thin picks are too noisy, and really thick picks (although fast) tend to mute the trebles a little too much. Give me "balance".

 

Flinx

[L5Larry]

There's nothing like good ole thumbskin, I find myself playing more and more without a pick, and not just "fingerstyle", but general "comp" strumming, and other work.

 

In the R&R genre the guy known as "the Thumb" was Toy Caldwell of the Marshall Tucker Band, what he did without a plectrum was F'ing amazing.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy6n5ovPRjs

 

And, of course, the jazz guy without a pick was Wes Montgomery. The story goes that he developed his style while practicing late at night while his wife and baby were asleep.

 

When required, it's Tortex .88 (Green) for me.

[passthej45]

I use the green Dava "control" picks. All of my guitar buddies hate them , but they work best for me with my playing style and touch on the medium strings that I use.

[DanvillRob]

I have used pretty much the same picks for over 40 years.

 

When times were rough, I used to make them out of old credit cards.

 

This is what I use, only "Heavy":

[retrorod]

I've tried dozens of brands, shapes, sizes, and materials over the years, but I still keep coming back to these:

 

 

All the rest, even the most expensive, highly-touted man-made creations, just don't sound or feel the same. Some come close, but no cigar, IMHO. Nice for an occasional lark, but still nothing like the organic sound of shell. I need a consistent, woody, powerful tone with minimal pick noise, and that's what I get with TS.

 

My only consolation is that I know for a fact that the picks came from hair combs fashioned over 80 years ago, as the thought of contributing to modern poaching is something I cannot condone. But what's done is done, and since I have them, I use them.

 

Perhaps one day, something will hit the market that will actually replace TS, as evidenced by the efforts of companies like Blue Chip and Red Bear. And when that happens, I'll be one of the first in line to give the new stuff a workout. But until then, to my ear, there is nothing else that sounds like TS, and nothing that feels quite like it, either. And so it goes.

 

I prefer a gauge of around 1.25mm. Not too thin, and not extra thick. Thin picks are too noisy, and really thick picks (although fast) tend to mute the trebles a little too much. Give me "balance".

 

Flinx

 

My favorite everyday picks for acoustic and electric are the Fender Heavy or extra Heavy picks that are shaped like yours.

I have ordered some of these....http://surfpick.com/....made from Lignum Vitae wood and found them 'very rewarding' tonewise, on acoustic guitar. Mostly because I am used to and comfortable with a heavier pick already. I can hardly play enjoyably with a thin, limp pick anymore....Just me, Rod

[suburude63]

Red Bear Picks !!!! Simply the best IMHO !

 

http://www.redbeartrading.com/

[stevef]

Nothing fancy.

I used these for years (I lost the last one a couple of years ago).

Since then, still nothing fancy, Fender Thins

Although I have a couple of them that still say Sam Goody Music Thin.

[bscha]

I can not get away from the Dunlop gray nylon .73mm It is a cheap pick that just seems to work for me.

[KDRR]

You and GillianGirl got me hooked on the orange. I pulled a red (50mm) out the other day with my LES PAUL and couldn't stand it. I played those for YEARS................

 

So......

 

Don't start talkin' bout no stinkin' yellow........

 

 

It`s funny you mention the Yellow. I`ve been playing the Fender Mediums and Heavys, but I`ve been looking for a pick somewhere in between. I tried the Green Tortex 88mm and the Yellow Tortex 73mm. I like them both but the Yellow one gives me alittle better high end. So now thats my new pick. I`m more of a fingerstyle guitar player but I use a pick on some things and I wanted to use the same pick on all my guitars. A 72 Guild D35 , Gibson 339 , 2 Strats and a Tele.

[TommyK]

In a way I prefer the dinosaur picks. The plastic they are made of most likely began as petroleum.

 

Dunlop Jazz III XL and IV XL

 

Good texture for proper pick to finger engagement. Plenty of surface area to keep from getting lost in my ham fist. Stiff enough to avoid that annoying snap of the ubiquitous Fender flat pick.

 

Never tried the tortoise shell picks. I'm afraid I'd like them then go broke replacing them every week.

 

It never fails, I buy something for daily use which is expensive, I lose it. If I stick to the cheapo stuff it sticks to me like glue.

 

For years I carried an old Barlow knife. As soon as I buckled my belt in the morning it went in my pocket, every day. The grips had years ago fallen off and I'd just about sharpened it to to the point there was no more sharpening it. So I thought I'd purchase a proper 'good' knife to replace it. I spent a princely sum, at the time, of $35 for a good Case brand folder. Two shiny blades, solid bolsters and jet black grips. I lost it within a week. I then purchased another $4 Barlow and used it for years.