Medium vs Heavy Picks

[dgeorge]

The strangest thing has happened over the past couple years. I always used medium picks, .71 but I have migrated to heavier picks, .96 to 1.0 and now I can't stand the sound of the medium picks. I am 66 years old and I wonder if my hearing has changed? Has anyone else noticed this? Still using the same guitars and playing a lot of the same songs.

[AusTexMurf]

Probably still using so called medium or medium heavy picks, here.
But similar story.
Used .73's for a long time, then .88's, now 1.0's.
Sounds and feels really strange when I grab one of the thinner picks, now.
Dunlop Flow's are everywhere around our house but I have a strong preference for the 1.0's. Tried the 1.4's and they didn't work for me. 1.0 seems to be the sweet spot for me.

[AllanW]

Very similar experience for me: started with medium (around .73s), then moved to 1mm, and often use a 1.5mm now.

For me personally, I feel like it's changed as I've improved overall. It was easier for me to learn using a light/medium pick (more forgiving), and now I can branch out more to figure out what sound I like most (which turns out to be heavy apparently!).

[drumstrummer]

You're describing a path many of us have tread. As we build more control, we tend to get a tone we like better with a thicker pick. As for me, I started on a Fender thin (gasp), then went to Dunlop nylon .88, and for the last few years my pick of choice is the Ultex Jazz III XL, which I think is about 1.4

[thomasinaz]

Same for me; started out with thin picks back in the early 80s. After retiring around 2016 I started reading about such stuff as pick thickness, and other things, and started experimenting. Lo and behold I'm a thick pick guy now. I get better sound and play better with 1.3 to 1.5mm picks like Primetone, Wegen, and similar. I have found my limit with a couple of Pearse Fast Turtle picks. The 2.5 is too thick but the 1.2 is good. Got a baggie full of thinner picks that I'll probably give away some day.

[Goat Mick]

I started with thin picks back in the early 80's when I first tried learning to play guitar. After I had been playing a while, I found that I was most comfortable with something around 1.0. For some things I prefer a 1.25 - 1.5 but if I'm playing a gig and I'm going to have a pick in my had for 3 - 4 hours I usually grab an .88 and flex it a bit in my fingers to make it stiffer. My hand doesn't fatigue as much that way.

[alnico5]

My acoustic pick is the Dunlop Delrin lavender 1.5mm. My electric pick is the 2mm purple.

[Silly Moustache]

Things changed for me with the discovery of blue chip picks.

The first one I got (can't remember how - it was used) it was a 346 large triangle and 1 m/m thick, called a TAD40.

Before that I'd been using long discontinured Martin "Naturalrone" 1 m/m teardrops. (when I heard that they'd been discontinued them, I bought up the entire UK stock! - still got them!)

I do believe that for many (shouldn't generalise) as our style develops, our preference for thicker pick also develops.

I also believe that the slight extra mass of the large triangles mean you can have slightly lighter thicknesses, but its all about the material of course.

I've settled on BC TAD50s (1.25 m/m) for meduim guage strings (dreads etc), and TAD40s (1 m/m) for light guage on 000 and smaller.

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by drumstrummer

You're describing a path many of us have tread. As we build more control, we tend to get a tone we like better with a thicker pick. As for me, I started on a Fender thin (gasp), then went to Dunlop nylon .88, and for the last few years my pick of choice is the Ultex Jazz III XL, which I think is about 1.4

I have a bunch of the John Petrucci version of the Jazz III ultex. They’re 1.5mm, and I can’t use anything else now. I started with medium, and then moves to .95, and now I can’t use thin picks now. With thicker picks I can be more dynamic, and the tone is just better. Many go nuts testing strings, bridge pins, nut material, saddles, when most of the time a different pick is exactly what you need.

[Lillis]

I usually like a .8 - 1.0 although I just recently bought a Gravity classic 1.5 that I like quite a bit. Nice to switch around. I like experimenting with a lot of different materials and brands.

[Mandobart]

I also started with flimsy flapping nylon .73 mm picks back in the 70's. When I started picking mandolin I immediately saw these could not cut it with dual strung, high tension strings.

I now play all plectrum stringed instruments mostly with 2.0 mm picks. Those flimsy little under 1 mm picks just sound like a baseball card flipping through bicycle spokes.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

I also started with flimsy flapping nylon .73 mm picks back in the 70's. When I started picking mandolin I immediately saw these could not cut it with dual strung, high tension strings.

I now play all plectrum stringed instruments mostly with 2.0 mm picks. Those flimsy little under 1 mm picks just sound like a baseball card flipping through bicycle spokes.

... and those 2.0mm overkill monsters feel like hub caps/frying pans.

[letterk]

Never liked thin picks. Learned on Fender Heavy, but favor a smaller pick these days. My goto are Dunlop Ultex Jazz III XL for acoustic and Dunlop Jazz III for electric. Both are 1.38mm I think. But I do play around with all things Jazz III.

[ruger9]

For me, picks are a tone control. So it depends on the guitar. And the pick material.

On my Walden, I use a 1.14mm Ultex, also a M Red bear. It could use a little extra snap, with it's mellow cedar top.

The Farida likes Ultex 2.0 sounds best, the thicker pick adds a bit of body to the note over something thinner.

On the Ovation, I can use almost anything, and the tone doesn't change as much. But that guitar has such a rich sound (it's dreadnaught in nature), so a thinner pick helps older strings sparkle a little more.

I will say I've basically settled on Ultex for ALL my guitars- electrics too. While I do have a few different pick materials (Red Bear, Blue Chip, Gator, Ultex), in general, for simplicity's sake, I use my Ultex's all the time. Same reason I buy all my cable from Spectraflex- I bought a couple years ago, loved them, so stuck with them... it's not a price thing or a sound thing, it's just something that's always worked for me, and the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

[Rodger]

Hey DG... we're both 66!

I switched to Martin .96 picks many years ago... I use them for both acoustic and electric. I think the thicker pick gives me more dynamic range to play lightly, then dig in during the same song.

I used medium Fenders before that, but can't stand them now.