Tried Dunlop Primetone Pick- am I missing something?

[LivesForever]

I decided to pick up a large triangle 1.5 mm Dunlop Primetone pick, and I tried it out at a jam session last night at the store where I picked it up. I have to say, I don't love it. When I picked hard, I felt like my guitar lacked volume. If I strum lightly, I hear a ton of clicky pick noise. Maybe my technique is bad? I'm open to learning better technique! My current favorite pick is just a regular Dunlop Tortex standard shaped green pick, maybe .88 mm. With that one, I feel like I get a nice, crisp attack without the twanginess of lighter picks. With the primetone, I just felt clunky and mushy. What am I doing wrong?

FYI, I am not a super experienced flatpicker, but I have been getting into some great (at least to me) bluegrass/acoustic jams.

[Denny B]

Although my go to pick is a Blue Chip TD35, my wife got me an assortment of the Primetone picks awhile back...

I get the same results from the 1.5mm...loud pick click but a muffled tone...doesn't make sense to me either...

But I do like the 1.0 and the .88 picks a lot more...not near the click and pretty good tone...if I'm going out, I take those 2 with me because if I lose a pick, they're a whole lot cheaper to replace than a BC...

[Ed-in-Ohio]

Originally Posted by LivesForever

I decided to pick up a large triangle 1.5 mm Dunlop Primetone pick, and I tried it out at a jam session last night at the store where I picked it up. I have to say, I don't love it. ...snip...

I am not impressed by the Primetone pics without grip (they are made of a browner, less reflective material). I get the same results as you with these. Is this what you tried?

However, I LOVE the Primetone picks with grip (try the 1.4 mm). They are made of a more orange, reflective material. For me the difference between these two picks is remarkable. Night and day.

IMO they need a little bevel to sound they're best. After that they are nice picks for the money. However, I still prefer Dunlop 207's as my preferred "cheap" pick. I could buy 50 or 60 of those for the price of one good TS pick and I'd be set for life. I use other picks but the 207's perform far above their price.

[JonHBone]

I also prefer tortex over the primetone. I currently use 1.14 in a triangle shape. Is there a tortex or gator pick that's thicker in triangle shape? Would be great if i could find 1.4 or thicker up to 2.

For a while I used dunlop gator (feels and sounds the same as tortex to me) 1.5 in the teardrop shape. I'm kind of hooked on the triangle shape at the moment.

For cheap picks tortex and gators work for me. I know ultex is somewhat popular. Primetones aren't bad...I personally just find myself preferring the tortex over them.

[tippy5]

I love my BC 50. I lost it for 4 hours the other day and it made me move all furniture and clean the whole guitar room. I found it in one of my lazy boy's liner. Never thought I'd Jones for a guitar pick like that.

I still use the 1.3 Dunlop Prime tones with the grip a lot.
I think I might try the BC 35 after the above recommendation?

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Todd Yates

IMO they need a little bevel to sound they're best. After that they are nice picks for the money. However, I still prefer Dunlop 207's as my preferred "cheap" pick. I could buy 50 or 60 of those for the price of one good TS pick and I'd be set for life. I use other picks but the 207's perform far above their price.

I like the 207s a lot too, Todd.

As for the OP: There are many variables that determine pick performance: setup, strings, action, guitar, etc. I always recommend folks step up and try Wegens. You can get two large tris for about $15.00 bucks. Those are an excellent value, and very popular with many players.

The Primetones are made of Ultem, same as the Dunlop Ultex line. I'm a standard teardrop player, not a large tri guy, but for some reason I much prefer the Ultexes to the Primetones, although I confess I've played the Primetones a lot less. I do like the feature on certain models with the raised grip in the center. The Ultex 1.14 was my go-to pick for many years before we starting making picks ourselves. Great stuff for little $$$.

scott memmer

[mattwood]

I tried them at GC and didn't walk away feeling overly impressed either. Not bad, but just not great to my ear.

[davenumber2]

I'm not a big fan of the Primetone triangle picks (or triangle picks in general) but I like the .96 teardrop with grip and also like the 1.14 "sculpted" without the grip. I think the price to performance ratio of the Primetones is really good overall. It's not TOO far off my BC TD-45 and for about 1/10 the price.

[Woodstock School Of Music]

I've tried a couple different gauges and thought they were too clicky

[SpruceTop]

I like the .73mm Primetone picks with the raised grip.

[Perchman]

I just bought some about 2 weeks ago and initially thought I liked the warmer sound I was getting vs my standard Ultex. Last night I switched back to Ultex .73, and I was very happy to hear my preferred tone come back. I didn't realize just how much picks matter. On a related note, even though they have grips, the Primetones seem to want to slip out of my fingers much more than Ultex. Even if Primetones are the same material, I'm finding I prefer standard Ultex.

[martingitdave]

I bought some Primetone .73 and .88 picks with grips. I like them. Fat tone but slightly bright sound compared to celluloid. I ordered a triangle to compare to the blue chip pick I have. I'm not a fan of the blue chip pick I bought. It's too thick.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

I bought some Prinetone .73 and .88 picks with grips. I like them. Fat tone but slightly bright sound compared to celluloid. I ordered a triangle to compare to the blue chip pick I have. I'm not a fan of the blue chip pick I bought. It's too thick.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Dave, I recommend checking the Charmed Life Brown Vespel picks in thinner gages. I have a BlueChip TD35 and a TAD40, both of which I find too thick, especially the TAD40, for my playing style. I ordered a .75mm Charmed Life Brown pick (Vespel) from Scott and find it's just about right for my style. I may even order a thinner Brown (.65mm/.70mm approx.) from Scott when he has them available.

I've sent a few emails to BlueChip inquiring about them making a thinner-gage pick than their current thinnest "35" (.035-inch/.89mm). I never heard back from them but on their site they do infer that the nature of Vespel indicates to them that their 35 thickness is the thinnest they want to offer. I believe they feel that with the addition of speed bevels, Vespel thinner than their 35 may not wear well or be subject to possible chipping. Currently, Charmed Life Picks doesn't offer speed bevels on their picks but from usage of my .75mm Charmed Life Brown, I firmly believe that thinner than "35" Vespel can survive very well with speed bevels.

From the FAQ section of Blue Chip Picks: Can I make My Pick Thinner?

You can reshape the material by standard methods. Sandpaper can be used. We would suggest starting out with 220 and then 400 and then 600 and 1000. The black wet and dry sandpaper works the best, if you use it with a steady stream of water that will keep the paper clean. Be advised that this material is difficult to shape.

We recommend that you not go any thinner than .035″(35 thousandths) or .85mm.

Remember that any modification of the pick will void our 30 day guarantee.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

I like the .73mm Primetone picks with the raised grip.

Me too. Seems to work just fine.