Thicker picks

I keep going to thicker and thicker flat picks for playing my old D-25M with phosphor-bronze mediums. I've always strung it with mediums (that's what it came with from the factory in '76) but I've found I need a bit less flex lately - for years I played a grey Dunlop 1.0, the last couple years I've been playing the orange Snarling Dogs 1.14, and now I'm using a 1.30 Cool Pic. I prefer the sound of the nylon over other materials, and I think the reason I keep going thicker is because I'm playing more leads and it gives me better control overall.

I've always used thicker picks on my Starfire Special and on my mandolin, typically a Dunlop Jazz III, 1.38mm, because I play lots of leads on those instruments.

I have a large collection of picks made from various materials, but I seem to get the best sound from the nylon picks, except...

I recently purchased a solid silver 1964 Kennedy half-dollar pick that I love to play on my electrics. I also have a 1954 (year of my birth) solid silver US Quarter pick that I've had for awhile, but it is a bit smaller than a standard flat pick. The half-dollar pick is substantially larger and fits better between my Twinkie-sized thumb and forefinger. In my experience as the silver warms up, the tone and control improve.

That's my story and I'm stickin' with it.

Nice story.

I've moved from rather thin, the thicker picks. I stopped at 1.14. I think I may be moving down to 0.96 Dunlop Gater picks.

As far as using money and the metal warming up and sounding different.... What ever floats your picking boat.

Yeah, every one is chasing something different. I played a 1mm pick for 20 years. Now I play a .50mm almost exclusively because I like the brightness of the attack.

Good subject. I have also moved to thicker picks over the years. My go to is Dunlop 2mm. I have a silver quarter that produces the best tone, I really love the way you can dig in with it, but it's too small and smooth,so It's difficult to hold on to.
Dreadnut, Thanks for the tip; I'm going to find a silver half-dollar size, that might be the perfect pick.
While we're discussing picks, another thing I do is use a tiny Dunlop jazz pick sometimes. It is really hard (for me anyway) to control and hold on to. After using it for a while, my regular picks seem so comfortable and easy to control. Gives me the feeling of playing more freely and fluidly. Probably psychological, but I'll take it.

I tend to like thicker small picks but lately I have been going "bare back" in a Jeff Beck manner and like the harmonic nuances that result. It especially works well when picking with two or three fingers. But I don't have and significant callous on my thumb and it get pretty sore. Strumming is done with a combination of finger slides and expansion of my fingers to allow my finger nails to strum the chord resulting in a sharper pick type sound.

When my fingers get sore I revert to a pick.
M

Dennis, I got my Kennedy half-dollar pick from Peter's Plectrums (in Scotland,) he did an excellent job on this one. The back side has more raised surfaces so I use that side against my thumb.

M, I have also been doing the bare back style for fingerpicking, mainly because I've lost some mobility in my middle picking finger and I CAN NOT get it to work with a finger pick any more, due to carpal tunnel surgery several years ago. I was using a speed pick on my thumb and brass Pro-Piks on my first 2 fingers, but that middle finger just won't work with a pick on it any more. Interestingly, it works just fine without a pick, so like you, I'm building up the calluses on my right thumb and fingers. I also like the fact that I can upstroke with my fingers and downstroke with my nails, that's something you can't do with finger picks.

Thanks, I'm going to get one.

Dunlop 2.0 mm thick, nearly jazz guitar pics. Love the dig and growl they help produce. Sticking with light gague strings on Br but the change to a 2.0mm pick over 2 years ago has made a huge difference in my appreciation for what my Guild can do.

I started out with thin picks. Then as the years went by and I became a (little bit) better player, the thicker ones gave me more control. I've been there for a while and just bought some Dunlop nylons that are .73 which is a bit more flexible than I'm used to. I'm enjoying a more flexible pick for now. With strumming you get more pick noise though......

I'm a big fan of the Snarling Dog Brain Picks Dreadnut. I run several different thicknesses depending on what I am playing form the purple .60's all the way up to the Grey 1.00mm's. I love the way the Snarling Dogs nylon formula sounds and the Grip on the Brain picks is awesome as it doesn't take much to hold on to your pick even when playing outside in the summertime. I have other thick thumb picks for Mandolin and such but mostly I just use my nails and the meat of my fingers when I am fingerpicking guitars.

TX

I still have some of my original stash of Herco nylon picks from the late '70s, which tells you how much of a pick guy I am. These days I'm almost always fingers only, and when not I'm using an old blue plastic thumbpick out of a bag of the same that I've had for ~30 years.

-Dave-

Dunlop Wedge .6 picks for me. I went though a lot of picks looking for the best one (for me), after years of Fender mediums. Love these!

walrus

I've moved to heavier and heavier picks and lately have been using a slightly modified cast bronze man-hole cover.
Awkward to pick the fast bits, but quite the strummer...

Ok, in all seriousness... been using the big triangular fender mediums for years and slightly re-shaping them.]
Amazing how different thicknesses dramatically alter the sound. IME, increasing thickness sort of dulls
the sound as far as aggressive strumming, but seems to allow for better control when picking individual notes.
Comparing different thicknesses of the same pick with a measured sound comparison would be interesting...

Lmao!!!

Bonneville88 said:

Amazing how different thicknesses dramatically alter the sound. IME, increasing thickness sort of dulls
the sound as far as aggressive strumming....

Click to expand...

Interesting, as the thicker pick seems to increase the Br's overall volume and allows my attack to be so much more aggressive, and I have to work less to get more. The change to the 2.0 mm has had the greatest sonic impact of all re any of the string changes etc I have done to the dread.

http://www.letstalkguild.com/ltg/showthread.php?192657-i-love-these-things

They Play like glass...

WW - just picked up my caliper and went after some pics lying around... the big triangular Fender Mediums
I start with before reshaping are +/- .75 mm.

Opened up the caliper to 2.0 mm, and my immediate thought was "man hole cover!"...
2 mm is +/- .078", that is thick!

But I'll give 'em a shot, along with
some of Antney's Jim Dunlops... always looking to experiment.

I use a flat pick some of the time on my Nylon guitar, and very often no pick on the electrics. Maybe I'm just contrarian.

All of this pick info is great but I think we are missing the only variable that matters in this equation. So since it was inevitable let me ask, What are the best strings for the picks you are using? LOL!:biggrin-new:

TX