Take your pick (NPD)...

[Captain Jim]

Smooth edges on the Gravity acrylics I have - and if not, I use an emery board to smooth or bevel them. I haven’t tried a Wegen. The Pick Punch is just that: a punch made for cutting picks out of old credit cards or whatever material will fit. I made some acrylic and ultem picks with it... interesting, but not as thick as I prefer.

[jdinco]

I've tried the Wegens, still have a couple around here some where. I didn't think they compared to the CL or Blue Chips. But I've been wrong before.

[jojobean39]

Originally Posted by jdinco

I've tried the Wegens, still have a couple around here some where. I didn't think they compared to the CL or Blue Chips. But I've been wrong before.

I have not tried the CL picks. But I don't believe they make the thickness that I like. I have tried the Blue Chips once, but the same problem persists. I cannot get them at the thickness I want. And to get the super thick Blue Chip, it's incredibly pricey.

I might be willing to try a CL pick at their thickest, just for acoustic strumming maybe. They seem great.

The Wegens just have the perfect feel to me. The grip. The indention. The bevel.

I have heard good things about Red Bear. Never tried those.

I do have one pick that is pretty cool. It is a wooden pick, made of lignum vitae. That's a super hard wood- significantly harder than ebony. It's a great sounding pick though. But it is slippery. I have one made with a rubber grip I like, which helps.

[jdinco]

Just like guitars...we all like different things. And that's cool. I know that CL offers a money back guarantee if you don't like it. They are great to deal with too.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by jojobean39

I have not tried the CL picks. But I don't believe they make the thickness that I like. I have tried the Blue Chips once, but the same problem persists. I cannot get them at the thickness I want. And to get the super thick Blue Chip, it's incredibly pricey.

I might be willing to try a CL pick at their thickest, just for acoustic strumming maybe. They seem great.

The Wegens just have the perfect feel to me. The grip. The indention. The bevel.

I have heard good things about Red Bear. Never tried those.

I do have one pick that is pretty cool. It is a wooden pick, made of lignum vitae. That's a super hard wood- significantly harder than ebony. It's a great sounding pick though. But it is slippery. I have one made with a rubber grip I like, which helps.

JoJo, thanks for your post. Would love to hear what specific thickness you prefer playing. It sounds like you're wanting something in maybe the 2.5-3.0 range. Are you playing large triangles or teardrops?

FYI, the Gravity Gold Series is a very good product line, and I think they might make something up there in the thickness you like. This is a similar material to the stuff BC uses, but Gravity sells these for only $20. I've tested them and they're quite good.

Anyway, always enjoy the conversation.

scott memmer

[CFW]

I’ll just toss this out, since I haven’t read about them anywhere

John Pearce fast turtle picks. They’re casein and 10 bucks.

Multiple thicknesses, the 4mm has a fantastic concave shape for the thumb. I thought I wouldn’t like it, but ok and behold, fantastic. Great shape to the bevels too.

A nice mid-price fancy pick.

[Captain Jim]

Originally Posted by CFW

I’ll just toss this out, since I haven’t read about them anywhere

John Pearce fast turtle picks. They’re casein and 10 bucks.

Multiple thicknesses, the 4mm has a fantastic concave shape for the thumb. I thought I wouldn’t like it, but ok and behold, fantastic. Great shape to the bevels too.

A nice mid-price fancy pick.

Lots of interesting stuff on that John Pearse site.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by CFW

I’ll just toss this out, since I haven’t read about them anywhere

John Pearce fast turtle picks. They’re casein and 10 bucks.

Multiple thicknesses, the 4mm has a fantastic concave shape for the thumb. I thought I wouldn’t like it, but ok and behold, fantastic. Great shape to the bevels too.

A nice mid-price fancy pick.

CFW, Bingo. I can't believe that slipped my mind. Jon Pearse would be the perfect choice. Great picks, not a lot of money.

However, he didn't say whether he's a tri player or a teardrop guy. The vast majority of players over 2 mm are Bluegrassers, and that entire crowd is very heavily into large triangles, not teardrops. But if he's a teardrop guy, you hit the nail on the said.

Good work, young man.

scott memmer


(the majority of

[jojobean39]

Scott-

I play the teardrop shapes. I actually prefer a pretty small pick. I used to primarily use the Dunlop Stubby 3.0mm for everything until I found these boutique picks.

My preferred thickness is around 3mm. The Wegen Twins I have are the 2.5 & 3.5mm picks. They are wonderful. But if I need something for speed (on electric) their edges are a bit too round.

That’s good info on the gravity picks. I didn’t know the material is similar to Blue Chips.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by jojobean39

Scott-

I play the teardrop shapes. I actually prefer a pretty small pick. I used to primarily use the Dunlop Stubby 3.0mm for everything until I found these boutique picks.

My preferred thickness is around 3mm. The Wegen Twins I have are the 2.5 & 3.5mm picks. They are wonderful. But if I need something for speed (on electric) their edges are a bit too round.

That’s good info on the gravity picks. I didn’t know the material is similar to Blue Chips.

JoJo, BTW, I just responded to the email you sent me. Have some options for you.

Yes, the Gravity Golds are very good but will likely be going up in price. I'm surprised they've held them where they are. Their acrylic picks have a material cost of literally ten cents each, but the gold stuff is MUCH more expensive. So get 'em while you can.

To give you just a bit more info, Jo, there are a whole class of thermoplastics in the industrial world known as engineering plastics. The gold series and the brown are only two of them. There are more than A HUNDRED related thermoplastics, minimum, that have never been made into picks BY ANYONE. So we are just at the beginning of this thing.]

In fact: Check it out. Most people aren't aware that the brown stuff from DuPont that BC uses is only one of an entire family of plastics. That family alone has more than ten different grades, filled with various additives for specific industries. And get this: The brown is the cheapest (!). But someone will eventually come out with picks in one of those upgraded family members. They have some pretty cool mechanical properties.

We will soon see our first $100 flatpick. No, not from CLP, but from someone.

scott memmer

[jojobean39]

Very interesting stuff. I’m an engineer myself and I have found the world of materials engineering very fascinating (and incredibly difficult). Materials engineering was the hardest class I took in college. The first day the professor said, “You’ll remember from Quantum Physics and Organic Chemistry...” I remember thinking, “Uh, I never took those.”

Sorry for the ramble. But this is fascinating stuff in my mind. I do believe the law of finishing returns must begin to apply after about $30 or so. I’m having a hard time envisioning the sound differences that can come from picks after a point. But, I keep an open mind. The first time I heard of a $6 pick I thought it was absurd.

I wrote back to your email and I am interested in trying one. Thanks!

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by jojobean39

Very interesting stuff. I’m an engineer myself and I have found the world of materials engineering very fascinating (and incredibly difficult). Materials engineering was the hardest class I took in college. The first day the professor said, “You’ll remember from Quantum Physics and Organic Chemistry...” I remember thinking, “Uh, I never took those.”

Sorry for the ramble. But this is fascinating stuff in my mind. I do believe the law of finishing returns must begin to apply after about $30 or so. I’m having a hard time envisioning the sound differences that can come from picks after a point. But, I keep an open mind. The first time I heard of a $6 pick I thought it was absurd.

I wrote back to your email and I am interested in trying one. Thanks!

JoJo: Yeah, it's kinda silly to be that expensive without benefit. Not to get all sales-y, but we offer the longest return policy in the industry: 35 days. We really don't someone to keep it if it doesn't work with them. But we get almost nothing back.

[mot]

CLP,

Figure I might get some free advice and maybe order some picks eventually. I use Planet Wave 1.25mm tri-tip picks. I have tried skinnier plastic picks, but I don't like thinner than about .75. I have tried 3 or 4 mm plastic picks (tri-tips mainly) but I haven't liked any of them yet. I have also tried those carbon picks, but they just don't feel right and are awfully small.

I like the 1.25 tri-tips the best so far and am ok with the slightly thinner ones. I like that I don't have to think about what way to hold the pick and they fit my hand ok. I do drop them occasionally while busking so I either grab another or go to fingers until the end of the song or set. My nails hold up OK but the fleshy parts don't like me doing that for too long, so I try to keep a couple extra handy whenever I am out and about.

I would like something better though. Maybe even a little thicker. Any directions you recommend? I don't want to go too pricey as I expect to lose a few of them depending on where I am playing. These aren't perfect IMO. I have tried other material and cutting my own, but I keep coming back to these 1.25 mm as the best for now.

I have toyed with using a thumb pick, but I haven't found one that I like. I guess I could go higher in the price range in searching for the perfect one assuming I find it wouldn't go flying off my thumb too often. That's enough of a diatribe. Thank you in advance.

PS Thank you Jim for starting this thread. Good info.

[Captain Jim]

You're welcome, Tom. Glad to see that Scott from Charmed Life has been participating on this thread. I like the fact that he "tells it like it is," with all picks, not just his.

I was playing the X7 today, with the Charmed Life "N" (Natural Series) - good combination!

[Long Jon]

There’s already some hunner dollah picks available from forum sponsor Wolfram Slides.

https://www.wolframslides.com/precis...hurikenCarbide

l have met David the owner (great guy) and have handled one of these beautiful tungsten steel picks,
Very nice feel, very heavy like gold, but diamond hard. The slides are really hefty too.
We didn’t have guitars with us so I haven’t played one.

I have since bought one of the “plastic” ones, and like it a lot, (They’re about $20).

https://www.wolframslides.com/precis...e_shuriken.php

I think it is 1.4mm , similar feel and hardness/density to my 1.5mm Gravity Gold , little smaller, nicely bevelled,
much prettier to look at, the material is black with red veins and little silvery stardust (?) spots that almost look illuminated.
Goes nice with my red X7 !

]