Pick Mod

Retired1 · #1 10-17-2021, 02:04 PM

I usually use thicker picks - like 1.5 mm for playing single note runs and 1.2 mm for Carter style mixing chords and lead. Recently I've had to practice in a room loaded with carpeting, drapes and overstuffed furniture and it basically deadens the tone and volume of the guitar. In this situation thinner picks, like .7 to .9 mm have resolved the problem but I really miss what thicker picks have to offer - the accuracy and heft etc. So I got to thinking and came up with the idea of gluing a smaller pick onto the thin ones to bring up the thickness to my liking. After some experimenting I'm now gluing cut down to one inch old picks and crazy gluing them to the thin picks - aiming at a thickness of about 1.7 mm. So far I've done this to .46, .71 and .96 picks and I'm really delighted with the results - making good use of old worn down picks. I'm sure others have done this before.

lar · #2 10-18-2021, 07:01 PM

From the response, it looks like it's just you an me doing this (?).

I like the Ultex material so lately I've been experimenting with gluing them together. CA glue didn't work very well, and neither does rapid cure epoxy. So I use long cure epoxy (24 hours) - which I've used for a long time in assembling golf club heads onto the shafts. The long cure epoxy is slightly stronger - especially the peel strength. I scrape the pick up, apply epoxy and then clamp them together overnight. Works well. Just is a little inconvenient since it takes so long to cure.

Yesterday I made a simple wood jig I can use to bevel the pick at various angles.

I'm also changing the shape of the pick: not a triangle or 351 "standard" shape. And making some ergonomic modifications.

I have some very novel (i.e., bizarre) ideas that I want to try. It will either be incredible success or a complete failure. There is no middle ground.
Probably a complete failure. But it's fun to try.

Dyson Guitars · #3 10-19-2021, 07:14 AM

You can buy casein material and make your own custom picks if you'd like. It is pretty easy to find in small square sheets about 1/4 or 3/8 inch thick. You could design the picks to be thicker in the middle and thin out on the edges maybe. I have made a bunch of picks, always flat though. I like the idea of varying thicknesses to get different feels and sounds.

Very cool OP.

rstaight · #4 10-19-2021, 09:29 AM

I use various picks depending on my mood. I use the old standby Fender medium. Dunlop nylon in .6mm and 1.0mm thickness. The Dunlop Tortex .88mm.

My thumb picks are Black Mountain, .7mm and 1.5mm nylon. The .7 tapers from .7mm up to 1.5mm thickness. This was done mostly for the spring on the thumb bar. But it is surprising how much it reduces the "click" from .7mm thickness.

The .7mm Black Mountain is what I use the most.

erhino41 · #5 10-19-2021, 12:26 PM

What shape pick do you use? A sharper point should brighten the sound up. A thicker pick with a sharper point may be what your looking for.

Retired1 · #6 10-21-2021, 06:14 PM

I'm using the large triangle picks - I'm really hung up on celluloid at this time - I tried the Dunlop ultex 1.4 and 2.0 sharp picks, which are tapered - they are nice but I'm more drawn to the tone of celluloid - this is fun !

Colinguitar · #7 10-22-2021, 08:52 AM

I wonder what three picks glued together might do. The idea is to have the middle one retracted slightly, in other words like a spacer, the two outer picks might make two notes, very close together, for each stroke. With some practice it should be possible to generate one note from one of the outer picks? Just a thought but it has probably been done before.

lar · #8 10-22-2021, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colinguitar

I wonder what three picks glued together might do. The idea is to have the middle one retracted slightly, in other words like a spacer, the two outer picks might make two notes, very close together, for each stroke. With some practice it should be possible to generate one note from one of the outer picks? Just a thought but it has probably been done before.

You can try this very easily by just holding 3 picks at the same time. No need to glue them. If they slip around too much you can tape them together (double sided tape works well).

Colinguitar · #9 10-24-2021, 04:15 PM

I tried holding three picks together but it is a bit fiddly as they tend to slide around being shiny. They don’t make a particularly pleasant noise but that might be because they are not tight together. I might try again with better bonding and see if that makes a difference.

FrankHudson · #10 10-24-2021, 05:30 PM

I keep bringing these up, but to little interest here: Fender makes a line of picks called "F Grip" that is a 3 pick sandwich bonded together with the middle pick standing proud a bit making a small beveled edge.

Some of the ones I have are not entirely symmetrical. On those there's a variation on how much middle layer one gets or between the top or bottom bevel face. That can look sloppy, but if you're nutty about picks you may find your "lucky edge" -- or think so in your mind.

The other cool thing about them, referenced in the name, is that the top and bottom layers have the big F Fender logo cut out and they really work for me as grip aid (while raised dots, holes, and so forth generally don't work for me).