What's the most common pick thickness used on this forum?

Rosewood99 · #1 11-17-2012, 04:34 PM

I just switched from a .75mm V-Pick to a 1.5mm pick. Parts of it I like and parts I don't. Still trying it out. I wish they had a 1.0mm traditional lite model. I started out two years ago with a lite flapping type of pick and have slowly gone thicker.

What pick thickness do most people settle on?

HHP · #2 11-17-2012, 04:37 PM

I imagine most people use mediums, around a .73. These days, that feels like wet pasta to me. I use 1.92 mostly, sometimes down to a 1.5.

Rosewood99 · #3 11-17-2012, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HHP

I imagine most people use mediums, around a .73. These days, that feels like wet pasta to me. I use 1.92 mostly, sometimes down to a 1.5.

What draws you to the thicker picks? Is one better for strumming vs. flatpicking? Strangely enough, so far I have found the thicker pick better for strumming but not for picking out individual notes. I would have thought it would be the opposite.

HHP · #4 11-17-2012, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulzoom

What draws you to the thicker picks? Is one better for strumming vs. flatpicking? Strangely enough, so far I have found the thicker pick better for strumming but not for picking out individual notes. I would have thought it would be the opposite.

Articulation, control, and tone in everything. Takes the pick out of the equation and you really hear the guitar.

rkl245 · #5 11-17-2012, 04:42 PM

Blue Chip TD35

rmyAddison · #6 11-17-2012, 04:42 PM

Very individual, and depends on playing style.

My gang of old bucks are all ex-rockers, probably averaged .73 in our electric days, and now most are Blue Chippers and around 1.5 as an average. I really don't know anybody that uses less than 1.2 in my circles, but to each their own................

Does it really matter, if you can make a guitar sound great, I'll listen !!!

Wade Hampton · #7 11-17-2012, 04:48 PM

From what I have seen out in the real world, the most common pick thickness used by players is a medium. But on online guitar forums like this one, much heavier picks than that are more common.

Over the past thirty years bluegrass musicians as a group have moved away from mediums to ever-heavier picks, largely due to the influence of players like Tony Rice and David Grisman. Now Doc Watson used those grey nylon Jim Dunlop picks that are - what? - .73mm thick, and Dan Crary uses a Fender medium. But those two are old school, and all of the younger bluegrass players I encounter these days are using very rigid picks instead.

As usual, I follow my own path, and I find the D'Andrea Classic Celluloid in medium-heavy .84mm to be ideal for my playing. But I'm also using heavy picks these days, too, and will often choose a pick based on the tone and sort of effect I'm seeking for a given song.

Back when I was playing in bars all the time I didn't have that luxury of time, and had to grab my picks pretty quickly. So I went for consistency. The medium-heavies did everything I need a pick to do quite well, so I went for those, varying the tone and attack by shifting, tightening or loosening my grip on it, and by turning it around sometimes to use the round edges instead of the point. By adjusting your grip, you can get a LOT of different tones out of the same pick.

Anyway, I suspect the answers to your question on this thread will vary a great deal. Which helps make a forum like this one as interesting as it is.

Wade Hampton Miller

andrewbenw · #8 11-17-2012, 05:03 PM

.70 on electrics, 1.0 on acoustic.

catdaddy · #9 11-17-2012, 05:04 PM

I don't know what most players use but I've settled on 1.5mm Gravity Classic XL for myself. That thickness seems perfect for my playing style. I've tried thicker picks (up to 3.0mm) and don't care for the feel or the tone in the least. I can comfortably use down to 1.0mm but it doesn't get me to that sweet tone spot like the 1.5mm pick.

clintj · #10 11-17-2012, 05:09 PM

Anywhere from a .7 to 1.12 depending on what I'm playing. I just switched from a .73 to a .88 to a 1.0 on the acoustic this week, and I feel I have better control of picking and dynamic range with a thicker pick. Sounds better to me, too.

estayton · #11 11-17-2012, 05:10 PM

I haven't really experimented with types of picks, so all mine are Tortex standards. I keep a 0.73 and a 1.0 in my electric case, and a 0.88 and a 1.14 in my acoustic case. Lately I've been gravitating to the 1.0 and 1.14. It seems to be easier to modulate the sound.

mloywhite · #12 11-17-2012, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulzoom

I just switched from a .75mm V-Pick to a 1.5mm pick. Parts of it I like and parts I don't. Still trying it out. I wish they had a 1.0mm traditional lite model. I started out two years ago with a lite flapping type of pick and have slowly gone thicker.

What pick thickness do most people settle on?

Try a Gravity 1.0 Very similar to V-pick, and in exactly the thickness you want.

Dru Edwards · #13 11-17-2012, 05:11 PM

I mostly use picks in the .60 - .80 range. I'm starting to get into experimenting using heavier gauge picks but nothing over 1.0 yet.

kydave · #14 11-17-2012, 05:17 PM

I use either a Blue Chip in .055" or .05" or TS in the similar thickness (converts to aprox 1.4mm or 1.3mm).

BenPorter · #15 11-17-2012, 05:19 PM

In the past I've used mediums. This year started playing Red Bear picks, size 1.5mm. I have a C-Heavy with the speed bevel. This pick removes most of the "plasticky" sound you hear in a regular pick, and I hear a fuller more woody sound from my guitars. They're expensive, but worth it if you have a quality instrument.