Thin picks just don’t work for Mick...

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

My take is that the entry of boutique pick makers coincided with a rise in popularity of thicker picks. Up until about twenty-five years ago the Fender heavy was about the thickest pick I ever recall anybody using and Fender mediums were way more common. As flatpicking styles started to catch on the demand for thicker picks started to increase. I moved my way up the Dunlop Delrin offerings until I got to the purple 2.0’s. Right around Y2K or shortly thereafter I started buying picks from Dave Skowron before they became Red Bear. He had recently acquired the technology from John Greven as I recall. In any case the offerings from Dave were something new but other companies like Golden Gate and V-Pick soon came to my attention. So I think there was a thick pick revolution of sorts that may account for why most boutique pick makers concentrated on them.



That said....I rarely find player’s that like picks as thick as I do and most guys I play with still prefer picks at 1.0mm or less. So I do also believe there is truth in your suspicion that people tend to make what they prefer rather that than what the market dictates.

JP: Interesting insights, thanks. As a player, I tend to play between 1.15-1.50 mm, but I know many, many Bluegrassers who play 2.0 and even 3.0 (they tend to be triangles, not teardrops). There are so many great choices out there than, as you noted, even ten years ago.

One observation that differs slightly for me is that I've been playing genuine tortoise for about 40 years now, so my views are certainly colored by that experience. I think Tony Rice was the first interview I read (back in the seventies) about his love for that material (not promoting it, folks; it's highly illegal now). I bought the last ones from McCabe's after CITES came into being.

Interestingly, tortoise are almost never more than 1.0 mm thick. Maybe there are thicker ones, but I've seen hundreds and they're always around that same thickness.

As a player, my personal preference, not shared by everyone, is casein, which I believe comes closest to the tone, feel and warmth of TS. Recently, for jollies, I've been sanding casein teardrops all the way down to .60 mm and tinkering with them down there. It's a stunning pick, the closest I've ever played to the genuine article. Just amazing. The other thing I love about casein is, even at .60 mm, it is almost perfectly stiff and rigid, so there's no sacrifice of accuracy. I've not found another material in the industry -- maybe TUSQ, which I confess I havne't played -- stay this rigid at .60 mm. All of them -- Vespel, celluloid, Ultem, etc. -- will have significant flex at that thickness, and thus sacrifice accuracy. A lot of people make Acrylic picks, but I never seen them below 1.0, which leads me to believe Acrylic becomes brittle and will break down there.

I'm rattling on here. Sorry. Yes, I'm obsessed.

My view? There's no such thing as a perfect pick, or a perfect pick material. I've played more materials than just about anyone I know, and ALL these materials have their drawbacks and advantages, including casein. Yes, even Vespel, folks. I've been a pick nerd my entire life, and my solution has been to carry a little case with me containing about four or five different materials. I've done this forever, decades before I started making picks for myself. My faves are Dunlop Ultex, which I consider the best performance in the industry for the least amount of money, then probably Wegens and the little casein picks from picks from John Pearse.

Safety & Health to Everyone. This too shall pass.

All the Best,
Scott Memmer

[Neil K Walk]

I won’t get into the pick material debate other than to say that sometimes mine get thrown in the wash in a pocket in a pair of pants and get “distressed” like an old pair of jeans.

In the case of the OP, at that point I’d have tossed the pick and gone clawhammer or at least spun it to pick with one of the shorter loves and choked down on it to minimize flex.

It’s a shame though; that’s a pretty material - but looks aren’t everything!

[redir]

Fender Heavy is about as thin as I go. I think I have a few mediums around but I have broken those in the past too. I think they tend to bend back and forth on the same line and eventually weaken to the point where they jsut snap. Kind of like bending metal back and forth till it gives way.

[personatech]

FWIW, I just picked up a Dunlop Flow Variety Pack (an AGFer had commented that Flows were their favorite) and, well, for $5 how could I go wrong?

8 picks made of the same material and basic design, 7 different thicknesses: .73, .88, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 (2 of slightly different sizes), 2.5, and 3.0mm.

It's been fun and eye-opening how different thicknesses can affect playability/comfort and tone. I seem to gravitate towards the thinner versions of these - as thickness increases, they seem to create more "clicky" pick noise.

Any idea what kind of material these are made of? They are very lightweight.

[ghostnote]

For guitar, I like them right around .73 or so, and I'm not loyal to any one brand, but I do have a couple of preferred brands. If I'm playing bass, I use heavy picks.

[Goodallboy]

Thin picks won’t work for me. I like to hear the strings, not the pick.