Guitar Picks For Acoustic Guitars

  • Please delete post, this was a stupid question, I'm an idiot.

    I have to disagree; you're no idiot, Jen!


    It's a legitimate question IMHO. Some like super-soft, bendy and often large picks for strumming, whilst others feel they need stiff ones for picking 'cause the strings might require more force to move and achieve their desired acoustic-volume levels.


    I'm a luddite, but this is what I've noticed on the interwebs, for what it might be worth.

  • thin and flexible is the obvious choice for strumming, but I also like (or have to) use stiff picks like the Dunlop Jazz series, but I hold them very loosely.

    I takes a bit of practice so you don't lose the grip on the pick completely, but in a live situation, where you simply can't change picks it works really well.


    also there is a difference in tone between thin pick and stiff pick held very loosely.

  • You're an eejit for thinking that you're an idiot. :)

    I mainly use my fingers (on anll kinds of guitra)- but the nails on my index and middle finger wear out ...... so i try and use medium picks with acoustic to get a consistent attack/ sound. Or if it needs 'strumming' without huge volume - a thin pick.

  • sorry for that earlier comment, I've been stuck inside too much and if it wasn't for music I would have probably lost my mind by now.

    The pick question was prompted because I've been recording more songs lately and it's amazing the stuff you hear when you record and analyze everything (especially your voice), but the pick really mattered. My smooth picks that never fall out of my hand didn't sound as good as the textured nylon ones which I can't seem to keep a hold of.


    Maybe I'll try a dab of superglue :P

    You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools
    But that's the way I like it baby
    I don't wanna live forever

  • There used to be some stickers with some gritty stuff, sort of sandpaper-like , which you could stick to your picks. Now there 's the Monster grips in Amazon which are similar. And there are rubber grips, sort of gloves to put your pick in. And you may try Jeff Beck's method, gymnastics chalk, though you'll get pups and body a bit whitish . Cheer up. Where there is a will there is s way.

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

  • I also adopted a little friend recently that has kept me company during this lonely times.

    You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools
    But that's the way I like it baby
    I don't wanna live forever

  • Bluechip picks - end of story


    Yeah, wicked expensive. So are bows for a Stradivarius. Right now, nothing is in the same position inverse as Bluechip. If ( and it is a big if -you don’t lose it - they have been made a color that verrryyy difficult to find, especially in the dark) that one pick will last you and all of your decedents until the end of time and it will be as perfect as the day you bought it. Ridiculous.


    Smooth, no string noise, somehow don’t slip in your hand even when held very lightly - and feel great in-your hand Tone for days!


    ok, $35.... but so worth it!

  • Guitar picks are as personal a choice as the guitar itself. I've never met a guitarist who wasn't as passionate about having the right pick as they were every other aspect of their instrument and amps. I was reminded of just how important the right pick is to me when what I'd played on for 40 years became extinct.


    As a hippie from the 70s, I came up on standard Fender mediums. I liked the white ones because they were easier to see on a dark stage when you dropped one. I used to order them by the gross. Felt good on electric and acoustic alike. When I lean into it for hard acoustic strumming they give just enough, and when I'm playing electric lead I can dig in and get that snap to the attack that I enjoy. I guess mostly it's just what I'm used to.


    When I finally ran out of my stock a few years ago and ordered more, I was shocked to discover that what's sold as celluloid medium picks these days bears absolutely no resemblance to what they used to be. They may technically be some kind of celluloid material but they're much more like a cheap plastic, wear out in 30 seconds, and just don't feel right. And everyone uses the same material, no matter what brand you buy. This isn't just selective memory. I still have some of my original stock of Fender mediums. There's a difference, and it really bugs me.


    I then went on a long search trying to find someone, anyone, who still made old school Fender medium style picks. Eventually I just gave up, and tried to get comfortable with the Dunlop Tortex on electric and just living with the weird, cheap material of modern mediums on acoustic. I realize that life is change but of all the things in the world, I never expected the humble Fender medium to go the way of the Brontosaurus.


    By chance, I bought a Keeley D & M drive pedal (Dan & Mick from That Pedal Show). Included was a Keeley branded medium celluloid pick that felt instantly familiar. I emailed Keeley and asked where they got them, and they quickly replied (very nice folks), pointing me to In Tune guitar picks (http://intunegp.com). Their thing is making printed picks, which I don't really care about, but the material they use is much closer to what I was looking for. Still not the same as the original Fenders, but it's the best I've been able to find. The dragon logo in my Kemper profile is actually the artwork I used (and paid for) on the guitar picks. I think I paid something like $35 per 100. They're nice folks as well.


    Of course, this is just my own preference in guitar picks, but the lengths I've gone through to find what feels right should echo the sentiments of others. Finding the thing that's right for you is important. And sometimes hard.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Totally agree with your sentiment. I too was a 70s hippie and went through Fender heavy picks like water. Ton of great picks, everyone has their favorite and swears by them. Loves Torte , Dunlop - had a real thing for Claytons.


    Then things changed. A friend of mine was a guy named John McGann He started the Americana / bluegrass program at Berkelee college of music. He was a long time friend and jamming buddy (brilliant too. Sadly he passed away probably close to 10 years ago). Anyway , about 12 years ago or so I was picking with him at a jam session, and he was wowed by this amazing pick he was turned onto. He asked me try his Blue Chip. It was like an out of body experience- sounds dumb, I know, but it was for me in some weird way. It is the pick of choice by far away n the flatpick (bluegrass) guitar and Mando world. sure there was will more and even better picks coming down the pike.

  • Any variety of Dunlop ultex is a great inexpensive option. I like anywhere from their .88, 1.0, 1.15. Their Delrin picks also sound great.
    For pricey picks the best sounding for acoustic I’ve tried is V-picks Jalepeno. I tried a ton of V-picks and found the tone of the Jalepeno to have the least chirp of all their picks and it produces such a huge tone. At five bucks a pick they last a good amount of time and are a triangle shape, giving you three times the wear thanks to three identical edges.