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Post by ourclarioncall on Jul 10, 2020 6:15:09 GMT -5
Now it’s plectrums 🙂
1. Do you have a favourite ?
2. which brands have you tried ?
3. which brands would you like to try but haven’t yet ?
4. Have you settled on a certain guage ?
5. hace you experimented with different guages ?
6. if a newbie guitar player said, I got a guitar but the strings are bust, I’m away to the guitar shop to get a pack, which ones would you recommend to him ?
7. do you use fingers aswell as or instead of plectrum ?
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Post by thetragichero on Jul 10, 2020 11:37:47 GMT -5
dunloo tortex purple (1.14mm?) for both guitar and bass. incrementally worked my way up to them from the orange. i seem to have less pain in my hands with the harder picks. sometimes I'll use the slightly thinner blue for guitar if that's what's handy not too long ago tried the gator grip but they don't last long at all I've used all sorts of nylon picks with weird knurled grips in the past
i use whatever to play. sometimes I'll Palm the pick and use my fingers if it gives an appropriate tone for the part
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Post by b4nj0 on Jul 10, 2020 16:02:20 GMT -5
Heavy picks rule for me. I can't abide floppy bits of plastic. I once bought one of the American quarters fashioned into a Jazz III sort of style. That is (was) kind of OK but ...
I have a large antique Whitbread earthernware ashtray serving far better use as a Dunlop Jazz III repository. A friend on another forum gave me a heads-up on bone picks, I eventually tried one that SWMBO bought for me and as they say- once bitten, forever smitten. I have some several now! I still leave Jazz IIIs tucked under the strings on all my guit fiddles, but bone picks are my choice these days. I'm probably in a bit of a minority there.
Edit: I should say that strictly speaking I just use fingers. It's good enough the the two Jeffs!
e&oe ...
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Post by ashcatlt on Jul 10, 2020 20:29:39 GMT -5
dunloo tortex purple (1.14mm?) for both guitar and bass....sometimes I'll use the slightly thinner blue... Same. Except I have a bunch of the black ones that are the same thickness as the purple. I sometimes use a heavy gauge stainless steel pick when I want that specific extra zingy sound. Somebody around here recently mentioned a bronze pick made out of an old cymbal, and I kind of want one of those now. I'd also be interested in trying maybe a stone or wooden pick, but I'm not sure I want to spend that kind of money on such a thing. I'm generally perfectly fine without a pick, though, and kind of only grab one if I'm doing something specific where I really want that precise sharp attack or really playing hard and fast for an extended period. Most of the time, I just flail at it with my fingers, and even when I have a pick, it's often suplemented with the other three fingers in one way or another.
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Post by blademaster2 on Jul 10, 2020 23:19:06 GMT -5
I always used to use Fender teardrop mediums, but lately I have been using fingers mostly to get more variety of volume and attack. It is limiting at times, and I am getting rusty on my picking but I still like the use of fingernails (when I can grow them).
Years ago I thought that the attack of a 12-string guitar was interesting, so I made a 'double-pick' using two thin nylon picks glued side by side with a spacer in between them (approximately the thickness of the spacing of 12-string high E strings). The effect was very nice, especially on acoustic guitar and when recording because it accentuated the transient of the pick attack. A guitarist friend said I should patent it, and although I never did try to patent it myself I saw that someone else has since then (around 6 years later than when I invented it). I have never seen one offered for sale, but I have made a few and I do like to use them occasionally.
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Post by newey on Jul 11, 2020 6:55:03 GMT -5
A guitarist friend said I should patent it, and although I never did try to patent it myself I saw that someone else has since then (around 6 years later than when I invented it). I have never seen one offered for sale, but I have made a few and I do like to use them occasionally. I bought one of those, commercially made, many years ago- if I had to guess, I'd say it was in the late 1970s. I do not recall the brand name or where I got it, but I definitely bought it over-the-counter in a music store. It worked OK for a 12-string(-ish) sound with strumming chords, but not so much for lead runs, fills or the like. As for picks, I'm a Fender Medium guy, although since buying my pick-maker tool, I've been making my own- enough that I am not likely to run out for years.
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Post by sumgai on Jul 11, 2020 11:29:17 GMT -5
Somebody around here recently mentioned a bronze pick made out of an old cymbal, and I kind of want one of those now. That would be me, as found in this thread: What pick to you pick?
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Post by blademaster2 on Jul 12, 2020 13:04:34 GMT -5
That sounds about right. I made mine in 1977, so it was possibly less than 6 years. It was limiting, I agree, but for recording acoustic it added back the attack that the microphone sometimes lost depending on its placement. Useless for melody and lead playing. I have had a few variations in mind for picks recently. I might try them and report back to the Nutz if they have any merit.
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Post by blademaster2 on Jul 12, 2020 13:09:57 GMT -5
dunloo tortex purple (1.14mm?) for both guitar and bass....sometimes I'll use the slightly thinner blue... Same. Except I have a bunch of the black ones that are the same thickness as the purple. I sometimes use a heavy gauge stainless steel pick when I want that specific extra zingy sound. Somebody around here recently mentioned a bronze pick made out of an old cymbal, and I kind of want one of those now. I'd also be interested in trying maybe a stone or wooden pick, but I'm not sure I want to spend that kind of money on such a thing. I'm generally perfectly fine without a pick, though, and kind of only grab one if I'm doing something specific where I really want that precise sharp attack or really playing hard and fast for an extended period. Most of the time, I just flail at it with my fingers, and even when I have a pick, it's often suplemented with the other three fingers in one way or another. I tried metal picks a few times - inspired by Brian May's use of a coin. Each time I liked the attack, but I cringed at the notion that any contact with the guitar finish would carve out chunks and be cosmetically damaging. Seeing close up photos of May's guitar illustrates how damaging this can be to the finish after long term use - even down to the wood. I avoided metal for that reason.
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Post by ashcatlt on Jul 13, 2020 10:55:30 GMT -5
blademaster2 - “A beautiful guitar is like a pretty wrench.”
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Post by newey on Jul 14, 2020 8:11:01 GMT -5
blademaster2 - “A beautiful guitar is like a pretty wrench.” When I bang my knuckles using a wrench, it ends up looking like ashcatlt's guitar- blood-soaked.
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Post by ashcatlt on Jul 14, 2020 12:09:25 GMT -5
Every time I do any kind of work on a car I end up bleeding. The album before last was called Blood Is Cheap and that phrase came from when I saved myself $80 by replacing the cabin air filter in the car by myself instead of paying the oil change guys to do it.
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mikesr1963
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 99
Likes: 3
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Post by mikesr1963 on Jul 16, 2020 20:36:10 GMT -5
1. Do you have a favorite ?
No. I use all kinds of picks from .38 mm up to 4 mm thick. I don't have problems going from really thin to thick picks and it rotates mostly around the sound coming out of my amps. Picks make a difference. 2. which brands have you tried ? Many brands: Dunlop, Fender, D'addario, Ernie Ball, V-Picks, Gravity... 3. which brands would you like to try but haven’t yet ?
None. I've tried all that I've wanted to. 4. Have you settled on a certain gauge ? No. Different gauges give different results and I don't like pick noise coming out of the amp. If I'm playing soft acoustic music I'll use thin picks to get rid of the the pick slap. If using a compressor/sustainer on acoustic I have to pay attention to dial out and reduce pick slap as much as I can. There are times I want it and time I don't. 5. Have you experimented with different gauges ?
Yes. .38 mm up to 4 mm V-picks. 6. If a newbie guitar player said, I got a guitar but the strings are bust, I’m away to the guitar shop to get a pack, which ones would you recommend to him ?
I use Musician's Friend brand strings on my electric guitars and Elixir on my acoustic guitars. 7. Do you use fingers as well as or instead of plectrum ? Yes. I finger pick and I finger pick with finger picks.
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Post by sumgai on Jul 17, 2020 13:15:04 GMT -5
(images of probably more than 100 picks) That's obscene! I mean, you can physically use only one pick at a time, so why have beaucoup different ones stashed all over the house, organized into carriers or otherwise? (I tend to make the same argument about guitars - how many can you play at one time? So do you really need a stable full of 'em?) In general, they're your fingers and your ears, do what you want.... it's also your money. But for me, it's one pick, plus a few spares, and one guitar (no spare needed). If I can't get the sounds I want out of that combo, then I'm doing it wrong. (True Confessions time.... Yes, I do still have those cymbal picks that quarry made for me, way back in the ancient history of The NutzHouse. But I don't use 'em, they're more of a conversation starter than anything else. (Sorry, q!)) sumgai p.s. I have to wonder, what would Runewalker think of ..... Tone Picks?
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mikesr1963
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 99
Likes: 3
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Post by mikesr1963 on Jul 17, 2020 14:20:45 GMT -5
When you pay for my picks I'll give some consideration to your obscene and asinine reply. (images of probably more than 100 picks) That's obscene! I mean, you can physically use only one pick at a time, so why have beaucoup different ones stashed all over the house, organized into carriers or otherwise? (I tend to make the same argument about guitars - how many can you play at one time? So do you really need a stable full of 'em?) In general, they're your fingers and your ears, do what you want.... it's also your money. But for me, it's one pick, plus a few spares, and one guitar (no spare needed). If I can't get the sounds I want out of that combo, then I'm doing it wrong. (True Confessions time.... Yes, I do still have those cymbal picks that quarry made for me, way back in the ancient history of The NutzHouse. But I don't use 'em, they're more of a conversation starter than anything else. (Sorry, q!)) sumgai p.s. I have to wonder, what would Runewalker think of ..... Tone Picks? When you pay for my picks I'll give some consideration to your obscene and asinine reply.
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Post by reTrEaD on Jul 18, 2020 11:59:54 GMT -5
I use my fingers slightly more often than a pick. I tend to 'claw' up to five strings simultaneously, or finger-pick individually.
I tried using finger picks but never really mastered that. I was somewhat successful with a thumb pick but was clumsy AF with picks on my fingers.
When I do use a flat pick, I use a classic Fender 351 Extra Heavy. Or just Heavy as I have a bunch of those from an earlier purchase and I find them acceptable.
I often like to dig-in with the pick and thumb-drag to accentuate harmonics.
Regarding those with massive collections of various types and styles of pick, that's not for me. But if that suits you, who am I to judge? Whatever gets you where you want to go!
Also, I tried to mimic this once ... it did not go well:
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