Do bevels really make a difference?

[Tnfiddler]

I’ve read so many things about bevels on your picks. Does it really make a difference? I’m a rhythm player who does a little crosspicking, so would it benefit my style of playing? Any input, pros or cons, would be greatly appreciated.

[vindibona1]

Speed bevels can make a big difference with some picks in feel and the way it sounds as it comes off the strings. It can help make some picks move through the strings faster. A lot depends on the pick and how you bevel it.

You can see for yourself if you have any inexpensive picks lying around and a fingernail file and/or some sand paper. To bevel the pick, place the nail file or sand paper on a flat surface in front of you. If you're right handed, hold the pick with the point pointing left. Angle the pick about 45° up and move it back and forth across the file until you begin to see the bevel develop. Flip it over, keeping the point on the left and repeat. Then use finer and finer sand paper to polish the edge. You may want to do the bevels in increments so you can just the effect for yourself.

I was too lazy to look up the thread that taught me to do it, but the forum member was HHS if you want to look it up for yourself.

Good luck.

[DesertTwang]

For me, beveling has resulted in very noticeable improvements. On some picks, just adding a bevel allowed me to play a fiddle tune 10-20 bpm faster and more accurately, right out of the gate. I have experienced dramatic improvements in tone as well. Your mileage may vary. Try it out, it's really easy to add a bevel to a pick. There are YouTube videos explaining the procedure, including some that advise using a Dremel, but that's overkill in my opinion. No need to go over board. All you need is a 3-sided nail file.

[KittenClock]

On the crazy thick picks some people favor, absolutely.

I stick to the .73 to .88 realm and it is much less noticeable. YMMV.

[Silly Moustache]

I use medium thickness picks - 1.20 - 1.5 m/m.

I switched to 346 (large triagle shape after getting hold of a Blue Chip and realising that everything about it was superior to anything I'd used before.

I now use Blue Chip TAD 40-50, and Wegen TF140s.
You can improve cheap picks like Dunlop Tortex and Ultex by evemlling and polishing :

see :

[Steel and wood]

I pick with a slight angle to allow my pick to slide through the strings, acting as a bevel.

[AndrewG]

Not to me. Picks eventually develop a bevel anyway, just through playing wear.

[musicman1951]

In both sound and feel they make a significant difference to me. You'll have to decide if they make a difference to you.

[Goodallboy]

YSMV........

[Tnfiddler]

I put a bevel on my Ultex Sharp 2.0 and 1.40 picks last night. Haven't had a chance to play them yet, but it was easy to do. I used an emery board and polished them up with a 4-side fingernail file. I wanted to practice on those before I beveled my JP Fast Turtle thin. I'm gonna play them today and see if I can notice any difference with them.

[bufflehead]

In my experience, the thicker the pick, the more it needs a bevel.

[erhino41]

Originally Posted by AndrewG

Not to me. Picks eventually develop a bevel anyway, just through playing wear.

That's telling you the bevel should be there.
Creating that bevel manually is just breaking in the pick faster. Like a baseball player breaks in a new glove, sure it will happen with time but who wants to wait. Now the downside for some may be reduced paying life as you are technically adding wear to the pick, but I have not found that to be a problem.

To the op, the biggest problem I had with using picks was the constant need to mitigate the pick noise. I bevel any pick I use before I use it. The biggest benefit I find the bevel brings is cleaning up the sound of the interaction between the pick and the string. In doing so it allows me greater control over the tone and volume of the notes produced as I have to worry far less about how to control pick noise and can focus on the note itself. It will not eliminate pick noise but it reduces is greatly for me.

Speed is the other benefit. I find I can play quite a bit faster with a bevel, again this is simply a benefit of a cleaner entry into a moving string and a cleaner exit smoothing the transition to the next note to be played.

A simple test is to bevel one side of a pick and leave the other at the factory dimensions. Play with down strokes only and flip the pick around to a/b the effect. Pay particular attention to the sound of the pick first making contact with a string that is already moving this should be much cleaner, at least on my experience. Then pay attention to how developed the note is upon exciting the string. Experiment with how soft and how loud you can play. With the bevel I find that range to increase, I can play clean notes far more delicately as well as play them with more power than with the typical factory cut "corner".

I good way to figure out where the bevel should start and how much to angle it, is to fold a piece of fine sand paper over a string and attack that string with the pick the exact way you normally would. Be careful not to exert to much pressure at any given time. You don't want to wear a groove in it you simply want see how high up the pick contact is starting and at what angle you are riding along the string. Pluck it evenly and smoothly until you start to get a bevel, then simply match that angle with a nail file. I use the finer side of the typical two sided disposable nail file. And then simply buff it out on a finer disposable file. I was using more steps to bring it to final smoothness but found it to be overkill. How deep to bevel for your tastes will be a matter of experimentation.

I know this is long winded but I am an absolute believer in beveling any pick. Even fender thins can benefit from a slight bevel, and I do mean slight. The only reason all picks don't come beveled from the factory is there is not one perfect bevel and you would have to make separate products in order to satisfy different tastes, it is easier to let the players do it for themselves.

[Goat Mick]

As a general rule of thumb, if the pick is less than 1.0mm a bevel won't be very noticeable. For picks thicker than 1.0mm a bevel is very beneficial even if you're just chugging away on chords. If you want to do an inexpensive experiment buy a couple of d'Andrea Pro Plec pics (these are thick and fairly easy to bevel). Bevel one and leave the other stock and then play both back to back. You should be able to hear a big difference between the two. The stock pick will sound very warm and a bit on the dull side. The beveled pick will still be warm but will have a much clearer tone and attack. Besides it's fun to experiment.

[Mooh]

I've always angled my pick slightly, never used one heavier than 1.2mm, and for many years preferred a three corner pick (currently a Blue Chip TP40), all of which seems to reduce the need for a bevel. Plus I feel that the string likes to see the rounder edge of the non-beveled point. My tremolo is quick and even enough for my liking, on guitar and mandolin with the same pick, and the points hold up well with heavy strumming. (The Blue Chip never wears anyway it seems, but other materials last longer for me non-beveled.) I do have a couple of Wegen picks with a bevel and they seem brighter than the non-beveled to my ears.

Lots of players have a different preference than mine, and that's natural.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by DesertTwang

There are YouTube videos explaining the procedure, including some that advise using a Dremel, but that's overkill in my opinion.

Everyone should own a Dremel. But the diameter of those attachments is so tiny that it's easy to put a divot in a pick, especially working freehand.

If you want something electrical, a bench grinder is a better bet. But I've gotten the best results with a knife-sharpening stone and ultra-fine wet-dry paper.