Primetone Picks

[George Henry]

Ran into these at Gruhn Guitars. I got a 3-pack of large triangle 1.4 and a pack of 1.5. I like the feel of the pick, which has a sticky etching on the sides, good for grip. The picks have nice stiffness and bevelling. 3 picks for $5.

They work well; well enough that I tucked away my Blue Chips and tortoise picks for safety.

[Kerbie]

Excellent picks! I have several of the thinner tear drops, although I like the tri better. For the money, I don't think you can beat them.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Agree with both of you. Probably the best value vs performance line on the market. I wouldn't be surprised if Dunlop entered the premium pick market at some point, maybe $15-20 pricepoints, either through acquisition or internally. The main issue they'd have to deal with is MUCH lower profit margins than their other pick lines. But you never know....

scott memmer

[David MacNeill]

I just today received my first Primetones, a 3 pack of 1.3 semi-round. They do not work better than good old yellow Ultex 0.73 — in fact, they are rather clackety clack for anything but single notes. Tossed ‘em in the dead accessories drawer.

[lowrider]

Love Primetones, a 2.0 really brings depth to single note playing, .78(I think) is the best for strumming and 1.0 is my favorite overall. I like them without the nubs better.

[KenL]

I like the Primetone, but just bought a couple that I like even better- the Dunlop 50th Anniversary picks. I got the .60mm and the .73mm versions, but they make thicker ones too.

Nice picks.

[BrunoBlack]

I have a bunch of 1.4 textured triangles that I think are a fabulous deal. I find they produce no pick-click, provide a solid grip and deliver a very nice tone. I still favor BC, but I like Prime Tones a lot.

[Purfle Haze]

Originally Posted by George Henry

Ran into these at Gruhn Guitars. I got a 3-pack of large triangle 1.4 and a pack of 1.5. I like the feel of the pick, which has a sticky etching on the sides, good for grip. The picks have nice stiffness and bevelling. 3 picks for $5.

I use those same models, and I like them very much. I started out with the PrimeTone teardrops, having come from the Tortex series of colorful teardrops. I like the raised branding, which Dunlop calls Grip, as opposed to the PrimeTones with just printed gold branding.

I do wish they came in different colors, though, to differentiate thickness. It's hard to see the tiny marking. But a wise man suggested that perhaps Dunlop wants these picks to look like Blue Chips, hence the brownish-browny-brown color.

[varmonter]

i tried a couple of prime tones i bought in asheville a few years back.
i liked the grippy texture . but as posted above i did
not like the "clackety" sound. these were not thin
picks 1.2 or 1.4 if i recall. I recently bought a handful of
Wegans on ebay. I am liking those. almost as much as my go to
celluloid fender extra heavys . i have a couple of
blue chips as well but find i just don't use them.
i think i am afraid to lose them.. ha i know doesn't
make sense . i do like the sound of BC though.
but for 35 bucks i can buy over a hundred white
fender extra heavys. and if i drop it in the grass
or on a wood floor i can see it..

[HHP]

Tried a lot of the Primetone picks from about 1.3mm to 3mm. Like them quite well, probably the best you can get under $5.00.

Like the small triangles with the bevels deepened and two of the points re-profiled to a rounded point and a full round edge. Gives me three different tonal choice with the same pick.

[GuitarFundi]

I was fortunate to get to test the Beta version of the Primetones and it was the best "thicker" than 1.0 pick i hav ever used and it ran across the strings like butter with no clackety clack... so when the Primetone came out I was very excited, but ofcourse they changed it to a harder lighter pick and my first thought was i cant stand the clackety clack of that light plastic smacking the strings... maybe someday the beta version will get produced.

[Social Exodus]

Heavy gauge (1.0-1.4mm) Primetone and white Ultex picks from Taylor (Dunlop actually makes these I believe) picks were my go to picks for all my acoustics until I got these picks from both Charmed Life and Gravity. I'll probably still use the Primetones at times, but the picks from these upscale manufacturers have made a huge difference in the feel and tone of my guitars. But I would also agree that these are the best mass marketed picks out there for sure, outside of the boutique market.

[brancher]

I discovered Primetones awhile back, when I was experimenting with many shapes, sizes, and materials. I agree that these are probably the bedst value bang-for-buck out there. I use the .73 teardrop (on the round edge), the .88, and both the 1.3 sm triangle and the 1.3 sm rounded triangle, depending on what music, what technique (strumming, picking, fastpicking, etc), and which guitar I'm using. I still like 'em a lot!

I also picked up a V-picks Jalapeno, a 1.5 Acrylic (I believe). Decent pick, great bevel and shape, but not really 'better' than the Primetones imho.

Interestingly, I had a conversation with Trey Hensley at an Emmanual show last month, we were talking technique, and he told me he uses a Blue Chip TAD60. So, I think if I get a TAD60, I'll be able to play like him! Not really.... but I would like to try a BC sometime.

As usual, ymmv.

[Goat Mick]

The Primetone line really are good products for the money. Especially if you play plugged in. I generally always have a few of the raised grip small triangle Primetones in the watchpocket of my jeans because it doesn't matter if I lose one. Also if I'm playing plugged in there really isn't a difference in tone between those and an boutique pick. It's when you're unplugged the game starts changing...

[Marco Polo]

Just sharing my recent experience. I've been using the Taylor celluloid medium picks my son 'won' at a road show for the past several years. Before that, it was Dunlop vinyl mediums.

After reading thread after thread on AGF about pics, I decided to experiment. I purchased a pack of 1.4 Dunlop Primetone after reading several raving reviews.

There was no epiphany. Honestly, the difference between the Taylor and Dunlop Primetone picks to my ears was barely perceptible. Perhaps there is less pick noise? Perhaps the heavy metal concerts in the 80s destroyed my hearing? Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Edges are pre-beveled...maybe I need to file more?

YMMV.