Guitar picks. Which one do you use ?

  • Another vote for the petrucci jazz iii, I did move away from it for a while to the primetone jazz iii but ended up back with the JPs. Interested to try the flow picks though

    - Liam

  • I've fallen in love with the Dawman picks I got, but I'm admittedly considering jumping ship. There's a company right here in Texas called Iron Age that makes handmade picks (I use their killswitch in my Brian Moore. Their stuff is fantastic). They have a pick that's shaped exactly like my dawman but theirs is polished all sides, which I don't like. If they can make them for me with rough finished edges I'll be all over supporting a local business (not to mention getting them a bit faster!).

    Just a guy who plays a little bit of guitar.

  • Jazz III.... somehow i missed that JP had his own version of the Jazz III, so I definitely need to check those out. They may be my new go-to! Thanks for the heads up, gang!


    Regs,
    Jeff

    Shred 'til yer dead,

    Jeff in Houston

  • For years, I have been using Dunlop Stubby picks. I originally played the 1.0mm, but they were clear picks, and I was losing them in record numbers. Play, and if you drop a pick, you realize it's gone forever. I would lose a few every time playing out. In fact, I was losing them in my house!!! The damn things would just disappear.

    I called Dunlop and asked if I could order some with ANY color in them. The end result was "NO". I then moved onto the 2,0mm, which were deep blue/purple. I got used to them. Years later, they came out with the 1.0mm in red. So, I went back.

    After learning to play Sixx A.M. - Stars, I realized that DJ was hitting the string with the edge of the pick. I then learned to play the song using that technique during those parts of the song. Very soon, I realized that the stubby picks would get notches in them after just one time through the song. I went so far as to use sandpaper to re-sharpen the pick edges. That got real old, real fast.

    Even when not playing Sixx AM Stars, the picks no longer lasted as long as they once did. I would be tossing a stubby at least weekly. Time to look for another pick. I was looking to different picks, and I saw the Petrucci jazz 1.5mm picks, so I gave them a shot.

    The first thing I noticed was that they a significantly smaller than the stubby, not only in width (stubby picks are fat), but height and width. I put it through it's paces, and it took about a half hour to get used to the new pick size. Pinch harmonics, etc., are different with any pick, but most picks are pretty much the same size. The smaller pick meant that I would have to get used to a new position holding the pick. Once I found it, I was very comfortable with it.

    Both pickups are pretty sharp, but I think the Petrucci is actually sharper at the point than the Stubby. The real test was playing Stars a few times. After several times through, not a single indent in the pick.

    So far, I'm impressed with these picks. They're black, so I wont be losing them as fast as the clear ones. :)

    Will they become my new "go to"? Only time will tell, but as of today, I have no reason for them not to be. It's looking like I have a new pick.

    Here's the size of the Petrucci with (very worn) Stubby and a Standard sized pick


    [Blocked Image: https://lespauled.com/photosforforums/PickSizeComparison.jpg]


    After playing them for a while, I realized what it was that I loved about these picks. I hold my pick slanted downward in the front, toward the neck (something like this: / with the string being vertical: | ) With a standard pick, the edge is rounded. These have a point everywhere, which gives you that pick attack, even when you hold the pick slanted.


    Even though I really like these picks, I noticed there were a few others that had the same basic design. One was a newer Petrucci model, and the other was an Andy James model, which is exactly like the Petrucci, just bigger.


    Here are the 3 side by side:


    [Blocked Image: https://lespauled.com/photosforforums/PetrucciWithAndyJamesPicks.jpg]


    I now use all three. Each has it's own characteristics. From left to right, the sound has more bass. The Jazz III Petrucci is definitely the brightest of the 3. The Andy James has much more bass. I tend to use them for acoustic guitar more than electric. I go between the 2 Petrucci models, depending on which I feel sounds better to me on that particular day.

  • For years, I have been using Dunlop Stubby picks. I originally played the 1.0mm, but they were clear picks, and I was losing them in record numbers. Play, and if you drop a pick, you realize it's gone forever. I would lose a few every time playing out. In fact, I was losing them in my house!!! The damn things would just disappear.

    Doesn't that happen to us all? :D And when you vacuum and you hear that rattling noise...oh there was another lost guitar pick...again.:D

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Dunlop MaxGrip Jazz III's. Just started using these a few weeks ago and am thrilled. I have dry hands and most picks go flying out of my hands quickly, especially small ones like Jazz III's. I tried the Petrucci picks and found them far too slippery. But the MaxGrip process completely cures that problem with the Jazz III's. I'd love to find the person that invented MaxGrip and buy them a beer.

  • That's so interesting because that's exactly why I don't like the MaxGrips... too much "grip". Like it's sticking to my fingers.


    But the Petrucci picks have just a little bit of grip more than a plain old pick.

  • Thank you, Alan.

    Yes, but I am finding those MaxGrip picks far too grippy. The Jazz III XL is grippy enough for me. And they also come in red, so that they are easier to find if they happen to fly away.

    Thank you, RiF.


    I really must try the XL by the sound of it. The regular JIII is fantastic for picking, but I graze my knuckles trying to play any rhythm besides straight chugging. Switching to the regular JD1mm black picks just for funky rhythm seems ridiculous, and of course those regulars lack any sort of attack "accuracy", not having a point as such.

  • GuitarMoose StickyGrip for me. Used Mini for a while but the max thickness is .80, so I just switched to Classic with 1.0

    '19 Relish Eucalypt Mary | '17 PRS McCarty 594 | '15 PRS 408 | '96 PRS Custom 22 | '78 Les Paul Custom | '19 Silver Sky

    Kemper Toaster | Rack | Remote

    Friedman ASM-12 | Atomic CLR Neo Mk II Wedge | ValveTrain Powertrain Studio 20

  • Dunlop III since 80’s.


    I always play them so long They are all chewed up from me biting/holding them with my mouth and the edges are worn down like I've sanded the them hehe. I never throw them away, I kind of like the way the pick wears over time better than a new one.

    Edited 2 times, last by oozish ().