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What pick thickness do you use on your Gibsons ?


EuroAussie

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Big debate on the AGF going on right now on the virtues of lighter vs heavier picks. i.e under and over 1mm

 

Out of curiosity after following this thread I just picked up my Hummingbird and played the following styles with a 2.0mm, 1.2mm and .75mm picks.

 

I played same samples based on 16th note pop/rock strumming, bluegrass rhythm, bluegrass lead and a few jazz chords.

 

The only advantage I found in terms of tone gained with the thicker picks (over 1mmm) was were for the jazz chords, as it gives it that tighter, responsive tone that jazz required. Also for flatpicking, the control was better, but the tone wasn't.

 

In terms of pop/ rock and bluegreass rhythm the thicker picks just totally sucked the tone of the guitar and muted the the tone by I would honestly say 50% compared to the lighter pick. It just sounded dead as a door nail.

 

Which, on a side note made me wonder why so many folks on the AGF (who generally prefer the thicker picks) claim many Gibsons sound like they have socks in them .... maybe because they play them with such thick picks, and with the thicker ones this Bird really did sound like it was full of socks.

 

Just a little theory.

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Agree! I've got a Dawg, Golden Gate, and Wegen on the thick side, and you have to be careful with them. On my J-45 I use a Dunlop Heavy, which feels under 1 mm. It really lets the J ring out. I do round off the point a little, though, and that gives a little mellowness.

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I have a few thick picks, one is made from glass!! Honestly, I never ever use 'em ......tried to make 'em work in the past, many times, but just got the 'full of socks' effect too.

 

As far as tone goes....I can get just about any tone or voice I want out of my guitars with a simple Dunlop nylon .60mm.

The thing I like about this thin pick is that I can let it flex for heavy or fast ryhthmic strumming, I can pinch/bend it while holding it to give me nice attack on single notes and fast runs, I can use one of the top corners to get a fat 'jazz' like tone.

I consider it to be a much more versatile and useful pick than any of my thick picks. I have become soooo familiar with this pick over the years, I can vary the tone and voice to such a large degree, I almost feel lost with a thick pick.

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Given your experiment, I might be intrigued to go back and play with a medium and light pick again. I've been using dunlop gator 1.5mm for the past year or so. I feel like they give me a little more accuracy and move through the strings better with less hesitation. I also feel like I get better projection when I want it, but I can also lighten my touch if I want to back for something softer and more gentle.

 

I am curious now though, how something lighter will sound with my acoustics. I might have to dig and see what I have laying around 1.0mm, its been years since I've played with anything lighter than that.

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I've been experimenting with the Tortex .06, the orange. To get different tones and attacks, I do several things: I vary up and down stroke; use the pointed or round end; vary where my index finger is holding the pick ... I use the top part of my fingernail along with this technique, to get a wide variety of tones from one pick; and, I use either the back or front end for different "digs" into the note or chording. The nylon picks for my style of strum were a little less forgiving and dulled my technique but they work well, of course, in another's hand and style.

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Ah the old .60mm Orange Tortex - this has been my pick of choice for years, until I one day made a visit to Thomann, which is the biggest guitar shop in Europe, in Germany. Was roadtesting a number of Gibsons and speaking to the head of acoustics (big Gibson fan and owner of an AJ).

 

He handed me a medium size Gibson pick, after seeing my play with the .60mm Tortex. The difference for the better literally threw me.

 

Havent looked back since, but yes, like you Im definitely and advocate of the lighter pick. I think the Gibson medium is around .70mm.

 

Worth a try if you get a chance, maybe there was one included in the case when you got your Bird TV?

 

I have a few thick picks, one is made from glass!! Honestly, I never ever use 'em ......tried to make 'em work in the past, many times, but just got the 'full of socks' effect too.

 

As far as tone goes....I can get just about any tone or voice I want out of my guitars with a simple Dunlop nylon .60mm.

The thing I like about this thin pick is that I can let it flex for heavy or fast ryhthmic strumming, I can pinch/bend it while holding it to give me nice attack on single notes and fast runs, I can use one of the top corners to get a fat 'jazz' like tone.

I consider it to be a much more versatile and useful pick than any of my thick picks. I have become soooo familiar with this pick over the years, I can vary the tone and voice to such a large degree, I almost feel lost with a thick pick.

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I have a few thick picks, one is made from glass!! Honestly, I never ever use 'em ......tried to make 'em work in the past, many times, but just got the 'full of socks' effect too.

 

As far as tone goes....I can get just about any tone or voice I want out of my guitars with a simple Dunlop nylon .60mm.

The thing I like about this thin pick is that I can let it flex for heavy or fast ryhthmic strumming, I can pinch/bend it while holding it to give me nice attack on single notes and fast runs, I can use one of the top corners to get a fat 'jazz' like tone.

I consider it to be a much more versatile and useful pick than any of my thick picks. I have become soooo familiar with this pick over the years, I can vary the tone and voice to such a large degree, I almost feel lost with a thick pick.

 

 

Ah the old .60mm Orange Tortex - this has been my pick of choice for years, until I one day made a visit to Thomann, which is the biggest guitar shop in Europe, in Germany. Was roadtesting a number of Gibsons and speaking to the head of acoustics (big Gibson fan and owner of an AJ).

 

He handed me a medium size Gibson pick, after seeing my play with the .60mm Tortex. The difference for the better literally threw me.

 

Havent looked back since, but yes, like you Im definitely and advocate of the lighter pick. I think the Gibson medium is around .70mm.

 

Worth a try if you get a chance, maybe there was one included in the case when you got your Bird TV?

 

 

 

Been playing with a pick again for a couple of months now, after years of just fingers, and really enjoying it,

 

agree with both posts above

 

the dunlop 60-70 mm picks can produce almost any tone you like I find; with the techniques described by BB, and I also really like the Gibson picks EA mentions,

I too was very impressed by the difference in tone these picks produced

 

only thing is they seem to break on me really quick, snap in half!

 

I think this is why the dunlop picks seem to be the most popular ? nearly evreyone I come across out playing seem to use em. they last forever if you dont lose em

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yea I checked mine lying round here and they seem to range from .6 to .9mm....different brands.

But on various occasions at the Flatbaroque family get-togethers at my Dad's (now shuffled off this mortal coil)-where I don't have a guitar with me or picks, I have resorted to playing the inevitably 5 stringed Yamaha that lives there and cutting up a laminated library card for a pick. Plastic ice cream containers make fair picks too...just clean the vanilla ice cream off them first.

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So I actually found some picks laying around from various bands I've seen over the years. I don't know brand or mm thickness, but one is definitely light and one is definitely medium. I'm not sure if it is the pick on the string I'm hearing or if the guitar is actually more alive compared to my tortex 1.5mm when playing my J-45. I was quite surprised. Just to make sure that I was telling myself I was hearing something I wasn't, I asked my musically uneducated girlfriend her opinion, and she noticed a difference with the medium being a little brighter and sounding louder.

 

Guess I will be buying new picks this week

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I think, like strings, much debate can be made for the 'perfect' set to use. No one has the one right answer.

 

Pick selection is a matter of achieving desired tone and volume. The 'perfect pick' is affected, by guitar model, individuals within that model spec, string selection, playing style and the style of music being played..... and personal preference.

 

One should have at their disposal, a wide variety of picks. Find the 'one' style that works with a particular guitar then keep a dozen in it's case.

 

 

I've found that I have 4 playing edges on a standard shaped pick. The usual, pointed 'business' end, the rounded butt end, opposite the business end, and the shoulders where the shape transitions from butt end to the sides. Each lends a different tone quality and volume. If I am accompanying a not-so-boisterous vocalist or quite instrument like mandolin, I will use the quieter butt end or shoulder of the pick. If I'm competing with the banjo, I'll go with the louder, 'business' end. Even the rounded sides when raked at an oblique angle to the strings can give a pleasing, subdued quality... so I guess that's 6 edges, 4 distinct shapes on a single, run-of-the-mill, standard, guitar pick.

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Dunlop Tortex .73mm (the yellow ones) all the way. I have used these for donkeys' years, nothing comes close in terms of matching my style just so. The grip, feedback, give, tone, responsiveness etc is just THERE whenever I want it. I get through quite a few though, I use two new ones per gig and bin 'em afterwards as they lose a bit of their firmness and go 'blunt' at the end, which I don't like.

 

When my former band landed our Gibson artist deal, we were given a big stack of Gibson Medium picks. I loved the tone but found them a shade too flexible for my taste. I also found they have a tendency to break if played hard or with nuance (ie bending them a little in your grip to get resistance changes-I do this a lot).

 

I don't care about a broken pick at home, but if one breaks onstage or during "that" take at a session, it's a bit awkward.

 

I still have lots of those Gibson Mediums. I use 'em for Mandolin-less stress on the pick and they are the best sounding Mando pick I've ever heard, so I'm a happy man!

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I use 0,46mm and 0,58mm. "Stagg" s. Or same gauge "Martin"s (if I have Martins, but they are not in the shops here in Bulgaria and I buy Martin on internet).

This is the best sound I produce on my SJ 200 "M-R GIBS"

Don't like ticker picks.

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Well, not necessarily thick for me, but most certainly inflexible. You just cannot do THIS with a bending, wimpy pick. You have to make the string move out of the way of the pick, not visa versa.

 

I'm with Buc here. When not using my fingers, I use a 20-year-old Gibson heavy wedge (346) on my Woody, which is also what I use on electric. It is not really thick (must be under 1mm), but it is stiff - just the slightest, almost imperceptible touch of flex if held well away from the playing point and played hard, but essentially inflexible. The celluloid feels harder to me than the delrin of the Martin and Dunlop picks I own, which are a bit rubbery and seem to use thickness to generate stiffness rather than other qualities. The Gibson pick gets more crispness out of the Woody than they can. On the other hand, I use the thick delrin jobs on my beater, as I've always been afraid it would destroy the Gibson pick. Even though it currently has lighter strings on than the Woody, the tension from the longer scale length makes me feel uncomfortable when using the Gibson pick on it. The Gibson heavies might be what Jinder is looking for, and might be something for EA to try for a change too - hard and stiff without thickness.

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