In Search of the Perfect Pick

[Jäger]

Punch a pick out of your credit card. No! Your driver's license!

[fearfaoin]

Punch a pick out of your credit card. No! Your driver's license!

The Credit Card is pretty obvious. I have
some useless ones sitting around. I bet
the raised numbers will provide a bit more
grip...

I wonder if I could punch a pick from my
DL just right so it has my picture on it...
\yikes.

[mutepointe]

I thought this thread was worth resurrecting
when I found this new product:



Which allows you to punch your own picks
out of any thin material without traveling to
that special music store.

http://www.pickpunch.com/

I'm getting one just for funsies. What shall
I punch first?

Boy would I like one of these. I would go on a mission to find the thinnest pick and never come back. You are going to be the coolest among your friends for quite some time.

[brewerpaul]

In case people didn't see me mention these on my Tone-Gard posting....

A guitar playing buddy steered me to V-Picks:

http://v-picks.com/

I got two from Elderly for around $7.50 which is 'WAY more doable than $35 for a Blue Chip. I can't imagine a better mandolin pick. I'd recently been using Dawg or Golden Gate picks (big, fat, round) and Vinni (the V in V-Pick) recommended the Large Rounded as the nearest in size and shape. They make about 80 models in all, thick to thin, pointy, rounded, etc. Even glow-in-the-dark! Plus, the acrylic material has natural non-slip properties. The picks are glass smooth, but they simply don't rotate between the fingers the way my Dawg picks did. Take a look.

[crookedtune]

Wait, am I getting that right? "Over 80 models ranging from .75 to 11.5mm."
Why not just strum with your shoe?

Seriously, I've been using a Blue Chip for a long time now, and it's still by far the best pick I've ever played. The video of the V-pick suggests that I might like it just as well, as it has the same special property: once warmed up, it gently sticks to the skin, and doesn't travel. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't used such a pick just what that means. It makes a HUGE difference.

[brewerpaul]

I really love the non-slip aspect of these V-picks.
Since you don't have to squeeze the heck out of the pick to keep it from moving around, you have much more fine control of your picking. Less fatigue too.
I hope to try a Blue Chip some time, but for nearly 1/10 the cost, I'm happy with V-picks for now.

[Flexismart]

For playing backup guitar I use a red .50 mm Dunlop Tortex pick with light-ish strings - 11-53. I, too, had a hard time with tension in my right hand/arm holding on to the pick.
After playing a 3 to 4 hour gig my right arm/hand was pretty uncomfortable.
Several years ago I started using a cheap cake of violin rosin, (scratch into the cake and rub my index finger into it until it powders) to keep the pick in my hand. All of my right arm problems went away.

The advantage of the Dunlop Tortex pick is that it will wear out before it breaks. Or you'll lose it before it wears out. They're really tough.

I tried many other pick designs to see if they'd work better for me, but the thin Tortex and the rosin technique is what I've stayed with.
This is for a more shredded chord centric backup style. For ITM the thin pick is perfect for me. For flat picking I have to use a much thicker pick.

(The only issue I have is when I put down my guitar and pick up my flute, my right index finger can be a little sticky - but I just think of it as unique articulation.)

[Tim2723]

You might like a product called Gorilla Snot (seriously, that's the name). It's a paste rosin that evaporates away and doesn't leave your fingers as sticky as solid violin rosin.

Since this is an old, revived thread that has mentioned tortoise shell picks and the Mandolin Cafe, I'll mention this for new readers. Should you visit the Mandolin Cafe, know that the subject of tortoise shell is a strictly forbidden topic. For those who might desire natural shell picks, please reconsider. Putting aside any arguable and dubious advantages, and even though many picks today are supposedly made from pre-ban antique shell, as long as there is a market for the material there will be poaching. The Hawksbill tortoise is an endangered species, yet even today there are poachers caught every year. Their primary product is guitar picks.

[liestman]

I just tried the V-Picks (got the Acoustic assortment). The things I like is that they don't move around in your grip and the tone is good and bright. However, they have an annoying amount of pick noise (the sound of the initial contact of the pick hitting the string). So it is back to using a Blue Chip for me. (They don't move around either, have a bit better tone and not nearly so much pick noise.) I know they are expensive, but you just have to always wedge it back in the strings and it will last for many many years. On a per year basis, they are very good value - just take care not to lose them. I can see why electric guitar players would like the V-Picks (since the pick ups would not hear the pick noise, I think.)

[brewerpaul]

Check out Vinnie's video on v-picks.com where he addresses the issue of pick noise. It IS a manageable condition.

[mutepointe]

The Hawksbill tortoise is an endangered species, yet even today there are poachers caught every year. Their primary product is guitar picks.

This was more than I could bear to hear today. Who could call themselves an artist at the cost of a species?

[Tim2723]

It's unfathomable to me. I'm old enough to have owned natural shell picks before the ban and still own a couple. They were expensive then. Today even the supposedly legal ones made from antique shell change hands for significantly more than the most expensive of the new synthetics like Blue Chip. The newest synthetics are superior in my experience. I wouldn't want natural shell today any more than I'd want sheep's gut strings.

[Nanohedron]

FWIW, if you absolutely have to go natural I'd think horn could do the same job. That stuff can be worked to transparency and heated into all sorts of shapes or dimensions (stinky process, though), so I imagine picks of various flexibilities, even graded from a more solid grip, could be made. No guesses as to how long they might last, though. Blackface ram would probably be one of the best bets for durability.

[liestman]

Check out Vinnie's video on v-picks.com where he addresses the issue of pick noise. It IS a manageable condition.

Thanks for the suggestion but I checked it out and that is already how I have always played. I am not getting the chirp he refers to, it is the sound of the hard surface of the pick when it first contacts the string. If I mute the strings and don't actually pluck the strings, just whack them with the pick without going over and past the string, I get a lot more noise with the V Pick than with picks of a softer material, such as the Blue Chip or most other picks.

I do like the V Picks and actually for one of my mandolins, that needs a bit more attack, the V Pick pick noise kinda helps it, but in general, I don't want that extra sound. Just my preference. To each, their own.

[MTGuru]

I just played a guitar gig for St. Pat's. All acoustic, just lightly mic'd to a small amp. For straight Doylian back-up I used a thin Dunlop Tortex red. For counter-melody playing and hornpipes, etc. I switched to a Dunlop gray nylon medium. And for banjo-style melody playing I used a stiff Dunlop Big Stubby red.

So which one was the perfect pick?