Thinner Picks For Lead Playing

[Griffinator]

Since I attack the strings at a 45 degree angle pretty much by habit anymore, whether strumming or picking, I find a thin pick to be so much sawdust on my bridge at the end of the night. Since I depend on a nice sharp edge to enhance the accuracy I'm too lazy to develop via practice, a thick pick (Dunlop Jazz Stubbies here!) is my weapon of choice.

 

Oh - and string breakage isn't an issue for me either...

[Eric Iverson]

I can't play lead with thin picks. It has to be at least a medium.

So I usually use heavy picks - don't ask for numbers, please, LOL.

If I played a lot of material with fast strumming, I'd probably use a medium for that.

But I don't subscribe to "the heavier, the better" either, for picks or strings, either - a lot depends on your personal touch and the instrument you're using.

[Gifthorse]

I think picks are the same as amps.

 

I can play anything through any amp, on any guitar. You know--within reason.

 

If you hand me a heavy pick, I can play and make it sound good. If you give me a thin or medium pick the same.

 

If you can't play with a certain pick or tone, that is simply a shortcoming of your own playing and technique. I mean your tone or playing should never rely on anything outside of yourself (in my opinion).

 

If you made me play simply with fingers I could still make rock licks sound cool, even metal licks or riffs. It is all about vision and motivation. Those 2 elements are the most important aspects a player can understand. They decide your direction. They make you able to MAKE IT HAPPEN regardless-- technically.

 

 

When I was younger I would complain I couldn't play fast licks with thin picks because they would bend when I attacked the note. But I would also complain about amps. You know, "this amp is easy for shred because it has so much preamp gain." "this amp makes me sound sloppy because it doesn't have enough preamp gain."

 

But you know what? If you can play guitar, you can ALWAYS sound clean technically through any amp. You can sweep arpeggios and make them sound good through Jimmy Pages Led Zep II tone.

 

I have evolved my technique and changed many parts of my picking hand as a result of this 'can do' attitude towards guitar. The can do aspect is simply that you will do whatever it takes to make it happen. If that means angling the pick different, or picking harder, or not picking, or digging in more because you have less distortion, or using your left hand strength to add conviction in tone.. All the same.

 

The more evolved a player we all become, the more adaptable we are to different variables.

 

Not to say I am at the end of the road as a guitarist. I am always trying to improve this or that, and plenty of guys smoke me. But I do know the truth is pretty basic.

 

Guys that sound good can play the guitar. Like you could give Steve Vai or Jeff Beck a thin pick, a jazz pick, heavy pick or whatever and if you plugged them into ANY amp it will probably sound damn good. That is because regardless of the variables--they can play the guitar.

 

The reason? Vision. They know what they want the guitar to sound like, and they have developed their technique around that vision.

 

If you don't have vision of personal tone, you will be like many of the people out there chasing gear to find tone..

 

Just my opinion..

 

 

[Larryz]

Don't have time to switch picks so I use the same thickness for lead work...but I cheat and use my fingers too...

[SEHpicker]

I mean your tone or playing should never rely on anything outside of yourself (in my opinion).

 

 

Really Gifthorse? I understand what you're saying about tone coming from your fingers, attack, attitude etc. But you can't ignore the contribution that certain tools and how they are applied help to shape your tone and overall sound. It's not a question of whether you can or can't... I think it's more a question of what tools you choose and how you apply them to achieve "Your Tone". Not being able to achieve a certain sound without the use of specific tools is not a "shortcoming of your playing or technique" it is simply reality. My 2cents

SEHpicker

[skipclone 1]

I think there is a lot to what GH is saying but also good to distinguish between `I choose to use whatever` and `I can`t play without whatever`. Even many of the guys who sound great playing anything have their own signature gear-why, because they`ve tried everything they can get their hands on, know what they like and they know what allows them to sound their best, without thinking about the gear at all.

[Griffinator]

I think there is a lot to what GH is saying but also good to distinguish between `I choose to use whatever` and `I can`t play without whatever`. Even many of the guys who sound great playing anything have their own signature gear-why, because they`ve tried everything they can get their hands on, know what they like and they know what allows them to sound their best, without thinking about the gear at all.

 

Yep, a big piece of it is comfort zone. Just because a guy prefers to use B guitar through C amp with D settings and E and F stompboxes, with G string gauge and H pick, doesn't mean he can't do it using some other setup - just that this combination gets him to where he wants to be via the path of least resistance.

[Gifthorse]

Yeah, my point was basically what Skip said. But if you take some guy who is a decent player, but maybe not world class and put him through a Bogner Ecstacy, then you take Jeff Beck and put him through a Peavey--guess who will have better tone?

 

I am not saying that the Bogner won't sound better than the Peavey (depending on what you like), I am saying that ultimately the biggest contributing factor is the player in terms of how it sounds through the amp.

 

The answer would be Jeff Beck through a Peavey. Why? Because he has tone in his hands, and really can sound good through most amps.

 

Nowadays people are marketed gear/tone to sell products. Many lose site of the truth which is it starts from your vision, hands, and ends with the gear. The gear will never give you 'tone'. It can help to improve what you already have, but it will never make you sound good.

 

The best guys I know can make an amp that has little overdrive/distortion sound distorted, or more distorted than it really has. This is because of their playing ability, and ability to almost create an illusion of playing that there is more gain than there is.

 

Of course by all means play whatever pick you want. I wasn't saying that you should go to GC and grab a handful of random picks and MAN UP!! I was just saying that I think people nowadays chase gear too much, thinking that somehow THAT is going to give them tone.

[skipclone 1]

Ya, agreed there. And there is also the knowledge gained from taking what`s told to you-`this box does that`-and thinking, well what else does it do? that is what drove EVH to push the electric guitar into new frontiers. You can take a couple of cheap components, put them together in a new way and as the saying goes, Bob`s your uncle.

[SEHpicker]

I agree!

I guess the point I was trying to make is that in the end, even the guitar itself is just another tone tool and each tool we use adds another layer and it's importance should not be left out of the equation as to what makes up that tone.

SEHpicker

[G. A. Donis]

For me it's not a matter of thickness but flex. The less flexibility a pick has, the more accurate I can be with it. I also like a more pointed tip, once again for accuracy purposes. Right now I'm a Dunlop Jazz III guy. I don't even know how thick they are to be honest.

 

You might want to look at the Ultex Sharps from Dunlop. They have a nice sharp point to them. I know they are available in Ultex but don't know if they are available in other materials.

 

I just looked and it appears that the Jazz 3 has at least a sharp a point as the Ultex Sharp. It may even be slightly sharper. Maybe I'll check some of those out. When I switched from "regular" to "sharp" picks I noticed that my picking became a lot cleaner.

[Terrell]

As a diversely influenced player that has certainly shredded, I can offer these opinions and observations.

 

The pick should match the string, your amp/rig and your playing style. The pick should be thick enough to win the battle against the string with immediate strike through, but slim enough to glide through without snapping or deforming the string (an attack pitch) undesirably.

 

When I was more into a shred, 80% of the set list, I had similar tastes as those you've mentioned. Inter-string articulation with precision, consistency and finesse was more important than right hand expressiveness. So, I opted for a thinner pick and let the gain of my rig compensate for the output. A thinner pick keeps the widely varying speeds (force) of attacks from sweeping arpeggios, to string skipping to single string tremolo techniques consistent and keeps the strike percussive noise (chirp) to a minimum at high shredder gain. Dunlop Tortex Red sharpened to a point on standard music store pile carpet on Slinky 8s or 9s and heavily pre-amped moded marshalls. :-)

 

As I've grown older, I have developed a taste for a more expressive right hand. Thicker (stronger) materials give much more control over the battle between pick and string. The battle of the expressive hand gain, strike noise, harmonics, hand position, palm mute, etc. It is also much more demanding to apply the shred techniques and achieve the machine like consistency some admire and increases pick noise.

 

Dunlop Purple Tortex that now come pre-sharpened in the package on 10s, 11s and 12s, straight into an amp!!! Yay for pre-sharpened! I knew I wasn't the only one...

 

[Mooseboy]

Interesting topic. Here's my experience:

 

I've played for about 45 years (yes, I'm OLD!) and had used the thinnest Fender jazz picks for the first 40 years of playing. I liked the sound, but found that they would wear out rather quickly. Just for the record, I have a pretty light touch.

 

I decided to start trying some heavier picks, and immediately found that they recover from the actual picking action much more quickly, thereby making faster playing easier. I also noticed that I didn't like the sound quite as well, but was willing to live with that. I'm now using a Dunlop 1.15, and am quite happy with it. However, if I'm playing acoustic and just strumming, I'll still go back to the old Fender jazz light picks. They sound as if they have more "air" to my ears.

[redguitars]

As with anything musical, everything is a matter of personal taste and choice. I, for one, used Dunlop .50 mm picks for years and went through countless plastic picks. I tired of wasting so much, and wanted to find something more durable in a plectrum. I used a thin copper pick for a while but, found the attack to be too harsh. Then after some research, came across some stone picks and tried that and that's what I use now. The picks I am using now are 1mm - 2mm. They take some getting used to but, once I adjusted to them, my speed and accuracy improved. Use what you like.

[Eric Iverson]

Actually, my favorite pick for lead playing is a sarod pick, made of Indian teakwood. But I don't really use it because they cost $20 apiece, and if you keep it in your wallet it's liable to break.

(Yes, I'm one of these nut jobs who carry picks in their wallet even if there is no cash, LOL!)

[G. A. Donis]

Last night I sat in with a local jam group and didn't have a pick on me. I borrowed one from the other guitar player, a .60 nylon Dunlop, and it felt like I was playing with something made from paper. This suprised me because that is the exact pick I used to use. I later changed to a quarter.

 

As a side note, quarter + Strat = very bright!

[SEHpicker]

Someone once told me that Billy Gibbons used a filed down nickel.

[Winston Psmith]

(Yes, I'm one of these nut jobs who carry picks in their wallet even if there is no cash, LOL!)

 

Isn't that what the little front pocket in your jeans is for?

[Eric Iverson]

Sure, but if they're in the wallet they STAY there until I pull them out and use them! Front pocket stuff tends to get left at home, or wherever I take it out.

Yes, I carry extra picks in the bag with the effects and music stand, too. I used to put them in a used pill bottle...

Of course I borrow picks from other guitarists and forget to return them, but they certainly return the favor! LOL

[doc taz]

I've tried using thinner picks, but I'm an aggressive player, so I can't use them for long periods. They just wear out too quickly, esp. when playing the fast extreme metal rhythms and solos. I don't go thinner than .88 mm. Anything thinner than that just seems too wimpy for me. These days, my baseline for pick thickness is 1 mm.

 

 

[doc taz]

(Yes, I'm one of these nut jobs who carry picks in their wallet even if there is no cash, LOL!)

 

+1 =D

[Winston Psmith]

I keep mine in my pocket, because I might go out without my wallet, but I never leave home without my pants.

[Terrell]

I keep mine in my pocket, because I might go out without my wallet, but I never leave home without my pants.

 

+ 1 I have a fresh pick in the little change pocket in every pair of jeans I own...

[d halfnote]

Since I attack the strings at a 45 degree angle pretty much by habit anymore, whether strumming or picking...

Really ?

In the heat of playing I can't say I even know what angle I'm at !

I'm fairly certain it's not consistent when I'm changing strings, etc., though.

[Mooseboy]

exactly, look how different a drum sounds when you strike it differently or use different things to hit it.

 

Just like a drummer. They sound different when you hit them differently, or use a pipe wrench rather than a baseball bat.

 

Of course, if you pay them for the pizza, they'll get off your doorstep.

[mooncaine]

Moonie likes thick teardrop picks made of Delrin. The edge stays nice and smooth as they wear down, they're small enough to palm if I want to get tappy, and thick enough to play loud & fast (well, as fast as I can manage, anyway). I don't do a lot of mandolin-style fast pickin', though.

 

Lately got into some slightly thinner 'normal size' picks, just for variety when sitting on the divan recreating with the family unit. Still like the teardrops best, though.

[RLM67]

I've always used a variety of "medium" picks over the 28+ years that I've been playing and they've served me well. However, the last couple of years, I've been using Dunlop's "Ultex" 1.0, a "heavy"--I love the tone, it stays put, it's light,and has 'cleaned up' my technique quite a bit. I believe that Pat Metheny and Steve Morse both use thin picks as well, so I guess it's a matter of preference.