Silenced Fred Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 So on the last acoustic track I posted, I used a weird foreign coin as a pick and I loved the sound from it. So I'm taking a bunch of the random coins I have to a belt sander and putting them in the shape of a pick. Anyone else use coins as picks? I love the sound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FennRx Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 works for Brian May. but he's an astrophysicist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrNylon Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 If it sounds good, why not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I couldn't find a pick when I was jamming with my friend a little while ago so I used a quarter and loved it. I was totally rockin out with it. Only thing is it will totally thrash your guitar. I was careful and only hit the wood a couple times. Well I wasn't that careful.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I used a Quarter a few time after I found out Billy Gibbons used a Peso. It sounded cool and felt great, but I feared for my guitars finish too much, so back to the Fender mediums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChanMan Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Hot Licks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoRedFoot Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Yeah, i've heard it kills the life of your strings and of course really damage the finish if you're not carefull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 I couldn't find a pick when I was jamming with my friend a little while ago so I used a quarter and loved it. I was totally rockin out with it. Only thing is it will totally thrash your guitar. I was careful and only hit the wood a couple times. Well I wasn't that careful.. Once they get shaped up, it'll be sweet. Found some with a great feel, nice weight and stuff like that. Not too worried for the finish, just mojo I have a titanium pick, mainly use it as a necklace, don't use it too much though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Yep been doing it for 20+ years - the real secret is to use older quarters (1964 or older) that way they are silver and they shape better, they are softer so they don't trash strings so bad and you also get instant mojo by using a coin thats been around Mexican silver peso's work well also since there a little larger than a quarter, or you can use a 50 cent piece but then there bass sized. Here's a photo and if you look you can see two picks made from quarters, one is a 1959 and the other one is from the 20's but it's so worn down it's hard to tell. The other two are camel bone which also makes a great pick, but damn does it smell when your shaping them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanPC Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I tried it years ago and did not like it. Didn't like the way the strings "felt", and wasn't fond of the sound. But that's me... I have recently tried V-Picks, which I'm still on the fence about. They're a hard plastic (I'd almost liken them to glass) which boast a "no slip grip", though they do slip a bit in my fingers. The one I've been using is thicker than a quarter, which I do not like, but I can really get some juice out of my strings when picking single notes. Don't really like it for strumming though. I may have to still get used to it, as I've been playing on small, hard jazz picks forever. At any rate, I think because of the hardness of these v-picks, you may be able to get some tonal characteristics a coin would give you, without the potential damage to your top or the strings themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I tried it years ago when I heard that Willy G and Sir Brian did it. Didn't work for me, however. Too... gritty... maybe? I didn't like the resistance/scratchiness against the coin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanPC Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I tried it years ago when I heard that Willy G and Sir Brian did it. Didn't work for me, however. Too... gritty... maybe? I didn't like the resistance/scratchiness against the coin. I believe seeing someone "famous" prompted me to try it as well. I was a big Nirvana fan, and if you watch their MTV Unplugged, the guest guitarist from the Meat Puppets uses a dime (I think) to play with. So I gave it a shot...didn't like it. Even tried smoothing the edges and everything. Just wasn't for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayer_shabetay Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I´ve used coins when there´s no pics arround, however I´m not crazy about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Yep I hated using a regular coin also thats why I shaped them like a pick and use silver coins and a lot of the grabbiness or scratchy feeling is gone. Probably took me two years of messing with them to get the edge right. Now I love them. Supposedly somebody on the internet sells them also they were called mojo something or others although can't really see why anyone would buy one since there pretty easy to shape? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Yep I hated using a regular coin also thats why I shaped them like a pick and use silver coins and a lot of the grabbiness or scratchy feeling is gone. Probably took me two years of messing with them to get the edge right. Now I love them. Supposedly somebody on the internet sells them also they were called mojo something or others although can't really see why anyone would buy one since there pretty easy to shape? I'll have to look for some old quarters, I have some cool european coins from like 1960 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shnate McDuanus Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Nathan, Heat up some pennies (not enough to melt them completely, but enough to make them malleable) and reshape those into picks. Pennies are worthless--seriously, they're minted on a loss. They're worth less than the metal they're minted from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinceS Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I've tried them. Stock coins, not ground down. They didn't work well for me. Right now I'm using some picks I found in a small music store in Littleton, NH. They're heavy white plastic with a blue kind of sandpaper finish where your thumb and forefinger go. They say "cool" in the insert. They're great for me as they don't seem to slip around as much when I play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I don't think Ive ever scratched a guitar with a pick now belt buckles, bracelets, the floor and even a ceiling fan or two but never a pick maybe because I use a pick guard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Nathan, Heat up some pennies (not enough to melt them completely, but enough to make them malleable) and reshape those into picks. Pennies are worthless--seriously, they're minted on a loss. They're worth less than the metal they're minted from. Only if they were minted before 1982 - that makes them 95% copper but new pennies are 97% Zinc with a copper coating so the price of zinc is the key, but pennies still are not a money loser since they last in excess of 40 years on average. The biggest negative issue with pennies is that people don't like to carry them anymore since they buy so little so unlike most other coins pennies are stored in huge numbers by people just leaving them at home in jars or whatever so they last almost twice as long as other coins and need to be minted in large numbers as they don't stay in circulation as long. You also can't just forge pennies with heat as you suggested like you could with a real pre 82 copper penny because zinc melts so easily at only 787 degree fahrenheit vs copper which doesn't melt until you get it to about 1981 degrees fahrenheit (strangely the last year that all pennies were made of copper) so if you try to heat forge a modern penny you just get a blob. But don't get too excited and start collecting pennies to melt just yet, the cost of melting pennies even pre-82 ones and separating out the other crap metals still costs more than the price of copper but who knows the way metal is going up maybe the future of copper mining will be searching peoples houses for cups and jars of old pennies and most importantly remember that pennies are mostly zinc so they would damage the strings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 works for Brian May. but he's an astrophysicist. Yup......I've been doing it since 1975............................................I also use other picks.....ain't nothing strange about it...............file them, abuse them, different country's coins, yup, been doing it for years............. Any guitar without dings is not a played guitar..........any coin without dings is a non used coin................thin brass picks are great.................flattened pennies on a railroad track make good picks.......... Tone is tone.....................and tone is good......................I feel better knowing that many players do this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I've been using these things since the late '70s. This particular one I've had since about '84. It's a Victorian silver 3d from 1900. I lost the previous one (which was from 1881). I've a small bunch of them but this one has 'worn-in' the best. It measures 15mm (9/32") in diameter. Just as the date of the quarter has been mentioned, with these coins it's better to use those minted prior to 1921 (I think) as there is a much higher proportion of silver in the metal and the edges quickly round off to give a more gentle attack. String-life is unaffected. It gives a lovely 'ching' sound when used gently and is perfect for pinched harmonics. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I've been using these things since the late '70s. This particular one I've had since about '84. It's a Victorian silver 3d from 1900. I lost the previous one (which was from 1881). I've a small bunch of them but this one has 'worn-in' the best. It measures 15mm (9/32") in diameter. Just as the date of the quarter has been mentioned, with these coins it's better to use those minted prior to 1921 (I think) as there is a much higher proportion of silver in the metal and the edges quickly round off to give a more gentle attack. String-life is unaffected. It gives a lovely 'ching' sound when used gently and is perfect for pinched harmonics. P. Ah Pippy, no wonder I can't find my picks, I dropped them all out of my pocket in London...............Someone found them......hmm.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Ah Pippy, no wonder I can't find my picks, I dropped them all out of my pocket in London...............Someone found them......hmm.............. LOL! That's why I always walk around staring at the ground. It all comes from trying to find deposit-paid lemonade bottles as a child. Scottish, remember! P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I've got a Bluechip pick that cost $40.00. It's great on the mandolin, but I don't care for it on guitar. Hey retro, I used to collect Mexican Onza's, well I had about 100 of em'. I think I traded them for beer back in the 80's...... I don't remember that day too well...... :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tartanbeastie Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I've tried alsorts of coins from british and european to canadian and US. It just doesnt work for me, i prefer light to medium picks. I did use a bud bottle top for a while, easy to cut and shape and not too heavy. done the credit card cut into a pick as well[bored] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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