Picks and tone suckage

[surgevw]

So I am a total noob.

But I am still stunned how much tone suckage there is from a thick pick. I use Fender thin usually. I was trying a copper pick (Beryllium Copper?) and it was nice. But it seems like even a medium will change a single coil to a humbucker or a single coil with the tone set on "5".

 

Being used to a thin, squirmy pick, a thin metal pick isn't my "thing", but for those who want more highs but don't want to strum with a chewing gum wrapper pick, I would suggest giving it a try.

 

[Guitarzan]

you want some tone? try a dunlop bigstubby 3.0 mm

[Caevan O’Shite]

I find it's all in how you use it; well, to a point, anyways. Your attack, angle, up or down, placement along the string(s) length...

 

Personally, I prefer using no pick at all most of the time. Pretty much all of the time, really! Unless you count my nails.

[BiC]

The only thing I like about thick picks is that it is easier for me to gallop. Other than that, it's all thin for me or pickless.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

I Used to use stone picks, but they break when they hit a hard surface, and they were very slick, so a little persperation, and they go flying... usually to land on a hard surface.

 

I have a stainless steel pick given to me by one of the guitar techs for Def Leopard. It eats strings. (Not as baddly as the stone picks did, though.)

 

For years I used Gibson heavys. They don't bend when they heat up, while Fenders do. Gobsons just wear out.

 

I like the accuracy and solid attack that I get from a solid unyielding pick. Give me a whimpy pick, I'll just use my fingers or pull out a quarter.

 

When I first started out, I used real thin picks, and also was enamored of those Herco flexible thingies. Neither work for me any more.

 

Bill

[Guitarzan]

the 3.0 mm bigstubbies are my fave for that reason.

with a floppy pic it is hard to be accurate when the end of the pick is wiggling.

by going to the 3.0 mm one i have the benefit of a slight roundness on the tip (when viewed from the side) which helps it glide without snagging on the strings like flat picks.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Yeah, I liked the Dunlop "Big Stubbies" when I still occasionally used a pick. Keep meaning to get some again...

 

I think that a big part of it all is to use just the very tip of the pick on the string, with any pick, most of the time.

 

Sometime, try actually using the flat side, brushing or almost rubbing up the side of the string in light upstrokes. (That's key to getting some of those classic "British Blues/Rock"-tones!)

 

Spend some time experimenting with pick attack, placement, etc. on an acoustic guitar for a while. Then go to an electric and elaborate on what you've found!

 

Much of my earliest electric guitar experience was with a driftwood special that was down to just one (wound) string...

[phaeton]

I liked the "chirp" sound that copper picks make, but at the same time i also had a habit of sticking the picks in my mouth to hold them while fingerpicking.

 

copper tastes freaking naassssty

[Gabriel E.]

I use misc. standard heavy picks that I file down to a point. Right now I have a mix of Dunlop and Fender but I'm not picky about the brand (pun intended).

 

I grew up in the shred era and a guitar teacher tought me that stiffer picks allow for better control when playing fast passages and sweep picking (a technique I use a lot).

 

The pointy tip gives me a really pure, focused sound.

 

If I play with a thinner pick, it feels like driving a car with really loose steering.

[phaeton]

I grew up in the shred era and a guitar teacher tought me that stiffer picks allow for better control when playing fast passages and sweep picking (a technique I use a lot).

 

Some guys were taught just the opposite

 

(use thinner picks for more feel and control

 

I switch around sometimes... Different picks for different sounds..

[Blue Strat]

I use medium to heavy picks. I'm using Dunlop's .88mm Tortex most of the time now, but I'm comfortable with the 1.5mm Delrin I've got too. I hate it when my picks develop a bow from thumb pressure, and that's where the 1.5mm comes in. I can play fast or slow with the heavy picks, and for strumming I just loosen my grip a bit.

[GuitarWolf]

Originally posted by guitarzan:

the 3.0 mm bigstubbies are my fave for that reason.

with a floppy pic it is hard to be accurate when the end of the pick is wiggling.

by going to the 3.0 mm one i have the benefit of a slight roundness on the tip (when viewed from the side) which helps it glide without snagging on the strings like flat picks.

Yea I use the 3.0mm Bigstubs for those reasons also.

 

For playing shred licks you definitely need a hard pick with rounded ends to keep up with you.

 

By the way, does anybody know the best way to keep your pick intact when doing pick scrapes? I find that even after one scrape even my bigstubbys have huge gouges in them from the friction against the strings.

[Danzilla]

I've always liked heavy picks. Occassionally use a medium if it's just rhythm/strumming work. Wish I could remember my favorite brand of picks, but I've worn away the logos. I bought them a dozen years ago or so; they glow in the dark, are very stiff, and have an edge to them that is thin yet stiff- they were actually pretty sharp when I first got them.

And as for them making single coils sound like humbuckers- jsut do what I do: play humbuckers from the start!

[mwestenberg]

By the way, does anybody know the best way to keep your pick intact when doing pick scrapes? I find that even after one scrape even my bigstubbys have huge gouges in them from the friction against the strings.

Back when I played a lot of that style of music I found that the Tortex picks held up a little longer, though I don't think anything would last forever under that kind of abuse. A metal pick might do well though I can't imagine what it would do to your strings though.

[Big Red 67]

Pick slide with the side or back of the pick.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Yeah, those Tortex picks are very durable in a scrape, whereas I'd say that thin metal ones are good in a pinch.

 

Also try a lighter amount of pressure against the strings when scraping up and down the neck (can make for slight variations in the sound) and try different angles, too. Dragging the pick, angled back, might wear into it less than digging-in like a plough...

[Darcy H]

I love those Stubbies, but I prefer the smaller jazz sized 2.0mm.

[Björn Fröberg]

I've been playing mostly bass (and a bit of fingerpicking) the past year, but I've switched from Sharp Tortex (1mm) to thicker rounded picks. I realized I can't get the tone I'm after (more of a jazz-tone) with thinner picks, so I was fingerpicking all the time, until I picked up a 2mm rounded pick. There it was. (almost)