Members plasticscouse Posted January 8, 2006 Members Posted January 8, 2006 Right this is my 1st post in the Acoustic section so please be gentle on me. I'm not necessarily a noob but I would like to know how much the thickness of the plectrum/pick affect the tone of the guitar. I've startred back up on my acoustic because I missed it (it wasn't with me) and I use uite thick plectrums with it, I was just curious about it and thought you guys would know Thanks
Members DonK Posted January 8, 2006 Members Posted January 8, 2006 Originally posted by plasticscouse Right this is my 1st post in the Acoustic section so please be gentle on me.I'm not necessarily a noob but I would like to know how much the thickness of the plectrum/pick affect the tone of the guitar. I've startred back up on my acoustic because I missed it (it wasn't with me) and I use uite thick plectrums with it,I was just curious about it and thought you guys would knowThanks Man, you are talking to a pick connoisseur here; I have hundreds of different picks (though I now use mostly a 2mm Wegen mandolin pick for electric and a 1.5mm Dunlop Black Jazz for acoustic). Generally, the thinner the pick the brighter the tone. Among picks of the same thickness, certain materials will yield a brighter tone than others. For example, Clayton makes a pick made from a material it calls Ultem (Dunlop version is called Ultex) that is brighter than - say - a celluloid pick of the same thickness. That said, I've noticed that most of the "famous" flatpickers's - think bluegrass, for example - tend to use relatively thick picks, from 1mm to 2mm.
Members tamolina Posted January 8, 2006 Members Posted January 8, 2006 One of the guys in ZZ Top uses a quarter or a Mexican peso as a pick. That is about as thick as you can go, I would think.
Members DonK Posted January 8, 2006 Members Posted January 8, 2006 Originally posted by tamolina One of the guys in ZZ Top uses a quarter or a Mexican peso as a pick. That is about as thick as you can go, I would think. Actually, there are a number of thicker picks out there that are popular. Dunlop makes a 3mm Big Stubby that's about as thick as 2 quarters. Wegen makes 5mm and 7mm Gypsy Jazz picks (I have both, they're great for REALLY fast single note alternate picking, but not so hot for strumming chords). 5mm is about the thickness of a CD jewel case, so you can imagine it's a pretty thick pick.
Members tamolina Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 You have thousands of picks, Donk? I buy a dozen every three or four months, and right now I have one tucked between the strings and two in my Jewelry box. If I held my guitar face down and shook it I might get one more. I don't know where the hell they go.
Members DonK Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 Originally posted by tamolina You have thousands of picks, Donk? I buy a dozen every three or four months, and right now I have one tucked between the strings and two in my Jewelry box. If I held my guitar face down and shook it I might get one more. I don't know where the hell they go. The reason I've got so many is that I used to be obssessive-compulsive (I think I can safely say "used to be"), and I kept trying new picks looking for the perfect one. Everytime I thought I might have found it, I bought a few dozen to a gross, fearing they might stop making them. I'm insane, right? So now I've got thousands of these picks, some of them downright goofy. Ever seen a "Butterfly" pick? Or a 7mm Wegen Gypsy Jazz Pick (thicker than a CD jewel case)? I think I'm gonna start posting "Don K's pick of the evening" to compete with Bbreaker's "guitar of the evening" over on the GJ forum.
Members sid langley Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 I currently like thumbpicks which have a standard pick as the sharp working end - a thumbpick and standard pick hybrid. First saw one used by Nanci Griffith. It means you can switch from picking to strumming just likethat. I use a Herco medium version as well as standard plastic thumbpicks. For flatpicking I use a big triangular Fender medium which I have had for at least ten years.
Members tamolina Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 Once when I couldn't find a pick I cut one out of an old credit card. It was playable but it really wasn't stiff enough. My uncle, who was good enough to play professionally with several country and Texas swing bands around the Southwest in the forties and fifties, didn't use a pick. He grew the nails on his thumb and first two fingers long, and flat picked with his thumb nail. He was weird in other ways too.
Members Scodiddly Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 Another heavy-pick guy here... for acoustic I use the Jim Dunlop "Delrin", the 2mm gauge. On electric I'll go even farther to a Dunlop 3mm "Big Stubby", but the material (Lexan) is a little too bright on acoustic.Back when I was in my first couple of years on guitar I learned that heavier picks generally produce more bass. And as a bass-player guess where I went with that?
Members DonK Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 Originally posted by Scodiddly Another heavy-pick guy here... for acoustic I use the Jim Dunlop "Delrin", the 2mm gauge. On electric I'll go even farther to a Dunlop 3mm "Big Stubby", but the material (Lexan) is a little too bright on acoustic. Back when I was in my first couple of years on guitar I learned that heavier picks generally produce more bass. And as a bass-player guess where I went with that? I agree the 3mm Big Stubby is too bright for acoustic - creates kind of a whistling sound from the pick scrape - but did you know that they now make them in nylon. It's not rough textured like a regular Dunlop nylon, it's just like the Lexan Big Stubby, but feels like Delrin.
Members air guitar Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 Thicker picks will give you more speed.
Members Johneecatt Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 Different guitars will respond differently as well. I recently got a Collings OM, and it's VERY sensitive to different picks........and even bevel shape. Just last night I tried filing the bevel off a Fender heavy, and it sounds totally different.......kinda cool actually. I used to just grabbed a Fender medium until I got this guitar. Now I've found I can use different picks for different sounds. Try a bunch of 'em.
Members Whalebot Posted January 9, 2006 Members Posted January 9, 2006 Tortis are really expensive but they make you feel cool for owning one. They are actually a 'duller' sounding pick. I like my chunky Sarod Rosewood pick from Maury's Music. I get it to sound just like I'm fingerpicking. Pretty neat. I like the fender mandolin pcks as well.
Members Scodiddly Posted January 10, 2006 Members Posted January 10, 2006 Originally posted by DonK I agree the 3mm Big Stubby is too bright for acoustic - creates kind of a whistling sound from the pick scrape - but did you know that they now make them in nylon. It's not rough textured like a regular Dunlop nylon, it's just like the Lexan Big Stubby, but feels like Delrin. Cool - I gotta get me some!
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