The End of the Great Pick Safari

HHP · #1 07-22-2017, 09:09 AM

As of this morning, I think I have gone as far as I can with picks. Been a long series of trial and error and it has come to somewhat of a surprise ending.

Year ago, I bought a John Pearse Fast Turtle pick in 2.5mm. Huge disappointment when I first tried it. No volume without big effort, not much in dynamic range, not much control. I really expected a 2.5mm pick to do more, but it didn't. Set it aside to be forgotten as a $9 experiment gone bad.

Sometime later, after discovering the potential of modifying picks, thinking I've got nothing to lose, I pulled the forgotten JP out and went at it with with grinder and polish. Stunning difference, almost unbelievable. Kept working with other picks but I kept coming back to that JP until I realized it was about the best of the bunch.

Ordered more so as to be able to make some back-ups and took a shot and ordered some 4mm to se what they could do. The 4mm's, after modifications, were hands down the best I had ever tried.

Got back into mandolin and that started a whole new bug hunt in the pick dept. Double course strings have very different demands from single strings. If the pick is too pointed or too thin, you get an odd sound like the two strings are sounding slightly out of phase. Thicker, more rounded picks give a single note on both strings at the same time.

Sharpening the tip on rounded picks worked pretty well but I wanted more articulation so I tried rounding pointed picks. After a few trials, I tried it with the 4mm JPFT and it all came together.

So, after all this time and effort, I end up with one pick I can use on mandolin and guitar, albeit with slightly different modifications, and it ends up being the pick I initially thought was the worst I ever tried.

As you can see, not much visible difference but a huge difference in playing the two instruments.

While 4mm may seem freakishly thick, it plays well and produces a bright, clear sound with plenty of volume. The grip is excellent despite the thickness due to the molded in thumb depression on the JP's above 2.5mm.

Since I started all this, they have released these picks in additional thicknesses of 1.2mm and 3.2mm to add to the existing 1.0mm, 2.5mm, and 4mm. Only thing I may do pick-wise going forward is try the "thinner" models. The 4mm is great but its close to real work to modify one that thick.

rokdog49 · #2 07-22-2017, 02:40 PM

Here's my homemade bevel job on a 1.0 Prime Tone.
I used a razor knife, a small file and two grades of sand cloth.
There's more of a bevel on it then the picture really shows.
Took me about thirty minutes. It was fun doing it and the pick works great.

HHP · #3 07-22-2017, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokdog49

Here's my homemade bevel job on a 1.0 Prime Tone.
I used a razor knife, a small file and two grades of sand cloth.
There's more of a bevel on it then the picture really shows.
Took me about thirty minutes. It was fun doing it and the pick works great.

I worked with some Primetones up to 2.5mm and they were very good out of the bag, enhancing the bevel did make they better. The Casein is a harder material that gives a little better note articulation.

rokdog49 · #4 07-22-2017, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HHP

I worked with some Primetones up to 2.5mm and they were very good out of the bag, enhancing the bevel did make they better. The Casein is a harder material that gives a little better note articulation.

Yes they are and you got that right, that stuff is tough. The existing bevel I increased has made a difference. I have six more to work on.

vindibona1 · #5 07-22-2017, 08:36 PM

Coincidentally I found the John Pearse picks at the local store just two days ago and bought the 3.2mm. It feels awesome. Super fast. Comfortable.

And so I took it to my gig last night. But interestingly it was much warmer sounding at the gig than in my practice room. I used it on some things, but not on others.

So how do you go about modifying a pick like this?

Looburst · #6 07-22-2017, 09:08 PM

There is one pick I currently use pretty exclusively now. Gilchrist makes a very nice 346 shaped mandolin pick that I'm really liking now. Kind of looks like French ivory, with the grain showing in it, but it provides great depth when used on my guitars. Thought many times about trying these JP picks however.

Charmed Life Picks · #7 07-22-2017, 11:21 PM

The casein material is very unique. It derives from a mammalian protein. Interestingly, genuine TS comes from a REPTILIAN protein. Many players will tell you it's the closest thing to real tortoise shell. At a jam today I briefly lent one to a friend (a very good lead player) and in about 30 seconds he said, "Wow." He knew right away he was dealing with something pretty special.

In our shop, and in the industry generally, this material is known as the "tone chasers" material. Quite remarkable, as many will attest.

Scott Memmer

AcousticDreams · #8 07-23-2017, 12:40 AM

Very Intriguing posts about Cassein and Modifying the bevel. Would love to learn more about how you are changing the bevel? I would assume that you basically making the end a bit thinner? and if so my how much..what are you thinning it to? and where does the bevel start.
And I have to admit...that Ivory colored pick looks super cool...what is that made of?

HHP · #9 07-23-2017, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vindibona1

Coincidentally I found the John Pearse picks at the local store just two days ago and bought the 3.2mm. It feels awesome. Super fast. Comfortable.

And so I took it to my gig last night. But interestingly it was much warmer sounding at the gig than in my practice room. I used it on some things, but not on others.

So how do you go about modifying a pick like this?

Photobucket screwed up the photo links but the description of the process is pretty straightforward.

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=359386

Here's a photo of the edge after re-shaping.

HHP · #10 07-23-2017, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Looburst

There is one pick I currently use pretty exclusively now. Gilchrist makes a very nice 347 shaped mandolin pick that I'm really liking now. Kind of looks like French ivory, with the grain showing in it, but it provides great depth when used on my guitars. Thought many times about trying these JP picks however.

I got a pick of that same material from Folkways Music in Waterloo, Ont., when I bough a guitar from them. It does look very good, seemed to be celluloid with an unusual color pattern. Saw Carter's has the Gilchrist picks like yours. Rather have a mandolin with that logo on it but I don't have a spare $20,000 at the moment.

HHP · #11 07-23-2017, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Very Intriguing posts about Cassein and Modifying the bevel. Would love to learn more about how you are changing the bevel? I would assume that you basically making the end a bit thinner? and if so my how much..what are you thinning it to? and where does the bevel start.
And I have to admit...that Ivory colored pick looks super cool...what is that made of?

In a nutshell, you grind, sand, or file the rounded over edge to flat surface at about a 60 degree angle. The edge looks like a chisel tip.The two edges of the pick receive the treatment on opposite sides of the pick so you have a leading edge and a trailing edge.

rokdog49 · #12 07-23-2017, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HHP

In a nutshell, you grind, sand, or file the rounded over edge to flat surface at about a 60 degree angle. The edge looks like a chisel tip.The two edges of the pick receive the treatment on opposite sides of the pick so you have a leading edge and a trailing edge.

Or you can do what I did which is use a razor knife to cut (or scrape if you will )the bevel; then file and sand.

HHP · #13 07-23-2017, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokdog49

Or you can do what I did which is use a razor knife to cut (or scrape if you will )the bevel; then file and sand.

You fail to consider that most people nutty enough to go to this much trouble over picks are not allowed to have sharp objects.

rokdog49 · #14 07-23-2017, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HHP

You fail to consider that most people nutty enough to go to this much trouble over picks are not allowed to have sharp objects.

Mr Fingers · #15 07-23-2017, 07:41 AM

Glad you found a pick you love. But your experience carries with it a projection for the future... In the same way the thick Pearce pick was not right for you way back when, there's no guarantee your preferences will not change again in the future. Lesson? Keep those old picks! And as for bevel and shape, I have done a lot of this and have found that tip shape can have a big impact on attack and release, pick noise, and feel. I like a tip partway between the "Razer" (sharp) and standard shapes, and fiddling in that region, small changes can have a surprising effect. I'm not fussy, really -- give me a 1.0 Ultex and I'm good -- but I like to optimize feel and function, and my CL Red, with a reshaped tip, has the perfect feel for me. ...for now.