The best picks for Acoustic Guitar Strumming - Page 3

musicman1951 · #31 12-10-2017, 02:04 PM

As you can see by now, there is no answer to your question.

Some of the information that goes into the decision:

How loud do you want/need to be
How fussy are you about tone
What's your budget
What's your comfort level in terms of thickness
Are you actually never going to play single strings with this pick

I am with you - mostly fingers, but the occasional song that simply demands a pick. I use a BlueChip TAD 40. But I don't like thin picks (not enough tone) and I'm not comfortable with really thick picks. I am also resigned to support my level of fussiness over tone with my wallet.

You may not hear much of a difference, or you might easily decide the difference in sound is not worth the difference in price. I don't see how you're going to get away without purchasing a pile of cheap picks and auditioning the lot.

FYI, BC has a 30 day return policy if you don't find a happy choice in the cheap pile.

AndrewG · #32 12-10-2017, 05:17 PM

I recently discovered Dunlop Ultex picks, having previously pretty much always used Tortex. For a given gauge the two materials sound very different, and I found Ultex Sharp .73 very nice for strumming. The tone is crisper/brighter than Tortex, and maybe smoother sounding too-the pick edges are very smoothly finished, unlike Tortex which seem to have a square edge from new. Ultex feels noticeably stiffer as well for the same gauge as Tortex.
Nice picks, and the .90 Sharp is great for flatpicking tunes, with a nice, punchy, attacking tone.

H2O · #33 12-10-2017, 05:32 PM

I like .73 mm picks for strumming. Jim Dunlop Nylons, Tortex or Ultex are all nice in my opinion.

drawshot1975 · #34 12-10-2017, 05:49 PM

Blue Chip TD35 or TD40 works wonders for me.

I played a BUNCH of different makes and models, tonight...just for giggles.

Nothing felt or sounded as good, to me, as my BCs.

That said, I did like the .73mm Primetones, too.

Shadowfox · #35 12-10-2017, 09:34 PM

1.0 or 1.14 ultex!

SpiderTrap · #36 12-11-2017, 02:36 AM

My Vote would be Guitar Moose Classic .65 STICKY or .80 Carbon Fiber STICKY. I've always had problems with picks twisting around til I found these . I've tried about all others over the years.

musicman1951 · #37 12-11-2017, 07:58 AM

By the by, I've been using BC TAD 40's for a while now. I decided to try a TAD 50. It's a fairly small difference, but it's a difference that makes me unhappy. I'm sending the 50 back for another 40.

So don't decide you like/dislike a pick after trying one thickness.

markm2553 · #38 12-11-2017, 08:01 AM

Dunlop Tortex red .50mm

I just can't get the hang of a thicker pick, too harsh on my "attack" I guess.

I have yet to wear one out, but I have lost dozens and dozens. They will survive a wash cycle without issue. Might even improve them just a bit...

Last year my son got me a pick maker kit for Christmas. It has a punch the shape of a pick. I have tried lots of different materials to punch, every kind of plastic container and have yet to find something I like better than the Dunlop's.

I thought for sure a Tide jug would be perfect...

fuman · #39 12-11-2017, 09:54 AM

John Pearse Fast Turtle. It's a big chunky pick and you would think it wouldn't be that great for strumming, but the sound is huge and percussive, it moves well over the strings, and it is very comfortable to hold.

Charmed Life Picks · #40 12-11-2017, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by musicman1951

By the by, I've been using BC TAD 40's for a while now. I decided to try a TAD 50. It's a fairly small difference, but it's a difference that makes me unhappy. I'm sending the 50 back for another 40.

So don't decide you like/dislike a pick after trying one thickness.

This can always happen, although I tend to go thicker, not thinner.

sm

doublescale1 · #41 12-11-2017, 03:19 PM

+1 on Ultex - they come in a variety of thickness's and I've found them to be the quietest for lack of string noise. I also have a Dava .71 that is very good for acoustic strumming.

billder99 · #42 12-11-2017, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hounddog905

I normally use my fingers when playing my acoustic (finger picking and strumming) but occasionally there's a song I feel warrants using a flat pick. Can anybody suggest what gauge pick is best to use for strumming?

O'boy Hounddog, you will get a spectrum of answers on this one. I went from fingers to pick because I wanted more volume, and a crisper tone. It took a long time to get good with the pick (2 years?), but now I very rarely play with finger tips.

I have experimented carefully with everything from .6 - 2.0 picks. The thinner picks are easy to use for rhythm, but they have a "flappy" sound on the strings and they are worthless for leads. The thicker picks are great for picking single notes (leads), but not so great on rhythm and they have a soft sound. And it's not just the thickness, it's also the material.

For me, the perfect pick is 1.0 Juratex... Cool Picks makes a very nice grippy sanded texture, buy on Amazon.

Tekadum · #43 12-11-2017, 11:01 PM

I've tried a large assortment of Dunlop picks including Ultex, Tortex, nylons, celluloids, etc. The clear winner is -- the Herco Flex 50.

This pick is brighter than a standard nylon pick. Great tone with more volume than other picks. Despite its name, this is a medium pick and has the same flexibility as a Dunlop .73 nylon. With the Herco, I feel like I'm getting the most I can from my instrument (a Yamaha FG730S).

OPJ77 · #44 04-10-2022, 06:57 AM

Thread bump. 4 years later, what are we strumming with?

LiveMusic · #45 04-10-2022, 07:32 AM

I have gone from using flimsy picks to picks that are real heavy gauge. A favorite is Prime Tone 1.0 to 1.3, usually, 1.3. That's pretty heavy. I can get some serious tone and volume out of a Martin guitar with a pretty aggressive strumming action. I also pick lightly with it, no problem. On slow ballads. But I def favor heavy picks these days.