What pick do you use?

[shreddy bender]

I used the Tortex as a first choice (now I like the Ultex/Ultem best) and still use them; I have broken a few!

next time i'm pick purchasing i'll check them out. i've been using tortex for 20 years but hey... i can try new things right?

 

[dbb]

next time i'm pick purchasing i'll check them out. i've been using tortex for 20 years but hey... i can try new things right?

The Ultex is a bit snappier and seems to wear better, less need to resharpen the tips. I still have broken a couple of these too!

I still use the yellow, sometimes green Tortex. Mostly the yellows.

 

[Angry Tele]

I get these from my local M&P. They are
the same as Tortex .88 but cheaper.

 

[Zeppelin Rules]

Tortex greens for me.

 

[thinkgreen]

I was using Dunlop tortex and I thought I had found the pick for me. The 2 weeks ago I was given a Dunlop big stubby and I really liked it. So I got my self some of them and jazz ones as well n love that one too, its the perple one I've been using. Been through lots of different picks now, everytime thinking I had the right one. The only constant is they all been made by Dunlop

 

[JohnP]

Most of the time:

Sharkfins medium
Dunlop Jazz II

 

[Dreamscape]

Dunlop Jazz II my favourite.

 

[donepearce]

Fender 354 medium (mostly).
Solid agate (sometimes).
Thin bronze cut from drum cymbal (once in a while).

Pretty much fingers only. I guess a lot of people got sick of dropping picks and then having to use fingers. I did, and I decided to learn to do without. I'm glad I did - there's a lot of epxression in fingers you just can't get from a pick. And of course with fingers you can actually play chords; arpeggios are as close as you get with a pick.

 

[Susihukkanen]

This:

Dunlop Jazz III

 

[smitty_p]

Pretty much fingers only. I guess a lot of people got sick of dropping picks and then having to use fingers. I did, and I decided to learn to do without. I'm glad I did - there's a lot of epxression in fingers you just can't get from a pick. And of course with fingers you can actually play chords; arpeggios are as close as you get with a pick.

Do you use the flesh of your fingertips or do you keep your nails long enough to pluck primarily with the nail?

Also curious...do you ever attempt any pinch harmonics with just your fingers?

 

[donepearce]

Do you use the flesh of your fingertips or do you keep your nails long enough to pluck primarily with the nail?

Also curious...do you ever attempt any pinch harmonics with just your fingers?

The flesh - I keep my nails short. Pinch harmonics? I actually find them easier to strike than I did with a pick. Index finger is followed up with the thumb, which I hold against it (or vice versa).

 

[Biddlin]

One for Wade !

http://www.etsy.com/listing/110991187/yosemite-sam-brass-guitar-pick

 

[nbeersiii]

What do you guys think of those custom made picks that are mede from stone? I gotta have a little give in my pick. I have used quarters and dimes as picks but thats just in a pinch. Im not gonna nock it until I try it but I just think stone would be too thick.

 

[MartyF]

1.0mm or .88mm usually. I like that they don't slip out easily.

 

[donepearce]

What do you guys think of those custom made picks that are mede from stone? I gotta have a little give in my pick. I have used quarters and dimes as picks but thats just in a pinch. Im not gonna nock it until I try it but I just think stone would be too thick.

Too thick, and probably harder than the steel of the string - a recipe for quick wear.

 

[smitty_p]

What do you guys think of those custom made picks that are mede from stone? I gotta have a little give in my pick. I have used quarters and dimes as picks but thats just in a pinch. Im not gonna nock it until I try it but I just think stone would be too thick.

I've used the polished agate picks. It does require a really light touch with the pick. You have to let the pick just barely graze the string. I've also used 2mm thick graphite picks. I actually like the 2mm graphite.

I never really thought about the string wear issue with polished agate that donepearce mentioned, but it makes sense. Even though they are polished, they are still...well...hard as a rock!

That said, I don't actually own a polished agate pick...I've just used them before.

 

[smitty_p]

Too thick, and probably harder than the steel of the string - a recipe for quick wear.

I can lend support to your hypothesis. I just got done playing for awhile with my glass pick on fairly new strings. This time, I took the time to really look at the strings after playing. What happens is that the round windings on the wound strings start to get flattened a little bit.

I didn't play enough to see any wear on the unwound strings, but my glass pick did, at least, deform the windings. I wasn't playing really aggressively, bug I wasn't babying it, either.

I would assume an agate, or other stone pick, would behave similarly. Now, my glass pick could stand to be polished a little better on the tip, so I'm sure that contributed to the situation, but I think it's worth noting the result, anyway.

 

[Sootio]

Good old Fender medium's. They can be thin, medium or heavy depending on where you grab 'em.

 

[Tobacco Worm]

I know a guy that said he uses picks he got from a naked lady that used to teach cheerleading back in the 50's.

The very of thought trying to picture that encounter made me cringe.

Wade

 

[nbeersiii]

I know a guy that said he uses picks he got from a naked lady that used to teach cheerleading back in the 50's.

The very of thought trying to picture that encounter made me cringe.

Wade

What the hell? Ok Wade your gonna have to elaberate on that story a bit.