Guitar Picks....

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

HA! I play the exact same pick and have for 40 years. I handed it to a friend once at a guitar gathering and he tried it for possibly 10 seconds and gave it back because he could not hold it. LOL

Recently I have found two old picks in my Mother-in-laws home as we are cleaning it out, they are the best sounding picks I have now!!! Don't know what they are or how old they are, but they are great. Ironically, no one knows anyone in the family that ever played a stringed instrument!

Tom, without seeing a photo, my guess would be genuine tortoise shell. Up till the mid-seventies this had been the material of choice for millennia. However, starting about a hundred years ago with the advent of celluloid, the "tortoise" design has been the most copied style in the industry, regardless of the material. Some are so close, it's really hard to tell fake from the real thing.

They vary quite a bit in appearance, so you see a spectrum, as below:



One word of caution: If there ARE the genuine article, treat them delicately. They don't liked to be flex and, like any plastic, become more brittle with age. Also, if they are slightly scooped or "dished out" this is a very good indication that they may be the real thing. And tonally, if they sound and feel better than anything you've ever played, that's the best confirmation yet.

Thanks for your post,
scott

[muscmp]

i use whatever pick works best with the song i'm playing as well as the guitar i'm playing and whether or not i'm singing. too limiting otherwise.

play music!

[stuco]

I've been liking the pickboy cellulose picks a lot lately.

[buzzardwhiskey]

Recently underwent a pick evolution and have landed on Ultex 1.14. I like 'em so much I bought a 72 pack.

[thechariot1x]

Fender premium Medium celluloids for me. The glossy finish just feels right in my hand and they glide across the strings so smoothly.

[tippy5]

Blue Chip 50's for me. Hybrid picking that provides dramatic warm tone and output. Makes cheap acoustics sound like they have twice the tone.

For strumming I like Scott's .73 and Star green picks with the star cutout. Your recommendation would probably fall into this category, good ol' rhythm guitar strumming. Sounds good I might try one on my next order?

For electric shredding I love the fat bevelled Wolfram. Super accurate and Very dramatic dynamic range. For those times you want to sound like the proverbial mosquito trapped in the screen door, 128th notes.

[JBCROTTY]

Opinions on guitar picks are as varied as the people responding to this post. You just need to try a bunch out until you find something you like. Like strings, everyone has the ones they like.....

For me, Dunlop Ultex .73 large triangle size is one of my favorites, along with the Clayton Acetal large triangle .73's, .88's, and 1.00's.

[rwhitney]

Blue Chip Jazz 35 most of the time for the past several years. It’s brighter than a Dunlop Jazz III but not as bright as a Tortex type pick. It produces a full sound, gives great control, and has a greater volume-to-atrack ratio than Tortex. It’s a little small and “muted” for all-out strumming, but great for jazzy flat picking and general picky-strummy stuff. It’s pricey at $35 a pick, though. Wish I could find something I like as well for less money.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by buzzardwhiskey

Recently underwent a pick evolution and have landed on Ultex 1.14. I like 'em so much I bought a 72 pack.

Either that, or one BC for the same price.

sm

[jojobean39]

My favorite is the Wegen Twins 3.5. Beveled edge. Grip. Scoop for my thumb. It’s just an all around perfect fit for me. Never wears down either. Or, it takes years, anyway.

I’ve yet to find a better deal.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by jojobean39

My favorite is the Wegen Twins 3.5. Beveled edge. Grip. Scoop for my thumb. It’s just an all around perfect fit for me. Never wears down either. Or, it takes years, anyway.

I’ve yet to find a better deal.

I like the Wegen like a lot and always tell folks they should give them a try. Excellent value and good players. Dunlop Primetones are cool too.

BTW, in case someone wonders why the Wegens perform quite well, it's pretty simple, actually.

If notice the striations in the material on the large tris and Bluegrassers. The reason those are there is because Wegen machines their picks out of solid sheets extruded by ther manufacturer. These sheets are produced under tremendous heat and pressure.

Almost every mainstream pick in the world is made using something called injection molding, primarily using celluloid. It's the same way they make plastic cups, buttons and combs, egg crates, etc. It is impossible in injection molding to create the mechanical properties inherent in a extruded solid shape. Ain't gonna happen. So that, in short, is why Wegen picks kick it over most of the stuff out there.

One other thing: Some of you have heard about the price of Blue Chip picks and scoffed -- but trust me, they ain't gettin' rich. I honestly think they do it for the love of doing it, not the little money they make. The DuPont material they use is one of the most expensive and indestructible plastics on the planet. Price? $1100 for a square 10" x 10" x .25". Do the math. Why do so many people love them? The extruded sheet they are cut from, made by DuPont, is extruded under extreme high pressure at over 1000 degrees F. These kinds of plastics -- known as engineering thermoset plastics -- are used in heavy industry where material failure is not an option. THAT's why they rock.

But here's the beautiful part. There are more than a hundred (100) engineering thermoplastics that have never been made into guitar picks by anyone on the planet. That's actually a conservative number. So we're just at the start of this thing. It is SUCH an exciting time to be an acoustic guitar player.

Sorry to babble on. I've learned so much the last three years and I get a little too excited sometimes. I LOVE doing research and learning new things; it keeps me young and preserves my youthful good lucks.

scott memmer

[Wade Hampton]

No, it's not babbling Scott, it's interesting. Keep learning more and passing that knowledge along to the rest of us.


whm

[OKCtodd71]

Scott,
Do most of these unused thermoplastics cost $1100 for a square 10" x 10" x .25?

[muscmp]

good for you to use at least a variety of thicknesses. i choose my pick based upon the guitar i'm playing, the song i'm working on and whether or not i'm singing.

play music!

[stringjunky]

Originally Posted by muscmp

good for you to use at least a variety of thicknesses. i choose my pick based upon the guitar i'm playing, the song i'm working on and whether or not i'm singing.

play music!

Picks are our brushes, with which we create our sonic landscapes... have many brushes.