Guitar pick consultation

  • I believe it. And I really want to try it one day. But the thicker picks cost 106,- Euro each here in Germany! ?


    I know, that’s where I bought mine!;(

    Some good news, however: my brother-in-law just texted me to say that he’s found the pick under his rug!^^^^^^

    I was over there on Wednesday completing Resident Evil 3 remake:D

  • Now that I figured out, how easy I can make my own custom picks out of other big Ultex picks I did make a few more. All are "Flow" inspired variations of a wide angle pick with all kind of bevels.


  • Netheravon Daw Man now has "Flow" pick shape too - that is awesome! I am tempted to try them. But they are $7.70 each! How durable are they? They are made of some kind of acrylic, right? And I wear down acrylic picks so fast :(


    A pack of 24 (!) Standard Flow picks (2mm Ultex for example) costs only €20 on Amazon, sometimes cheaper (last pack with 1,5 mm was 15 €).

    The same amount of Daw Man picks would cost me 156 €, what means I could also buy at least 187 Dunlop Flow picks instead :saint:

    sambrox Or almost 2 Bue Chip picks ;)

  • As mentioned before, the D'Addario Nylpro is a very cheap, but durable and good sounding pick. Similar to the Dunlop Jazz III Carbon (slightly bigger) it sounds bright and crystal clear! Very nice! But the grip on it feels so uncomfortable and cheap. I like Dunlop Max Grip, but this here is just bad.


    And the funniest thing: After grinding it down to a smooth surface the grip is way better than before ?


  • As mentioned before, the D'Addario Nylpro is a very cheap, but durable and good sounding pick. Similar to the Dunlop Jazz III Carbon (slightly bigger) it sounds bright and crystal clear! Very nice! But the grip on it feels so uncomfortable and cheap. I like Dunlop Max Grip, but this here is just bad.


    And the funniest thing: After grinding it down to a smooth surface the grip is way better than before ?


    I believe they are ok picks, nothing spectacular, but I also think why so many guitar players actually settle on jazz III picks, they are close to perfect for lead guitar playing, great attack, enough "snap" effect when pushed hard, and nice textures. I dont believe that D´Addario has got it right with their materials. the plastic they use feels cheap most of the time.

    The answer is 42

  • I believe they are ok picks, nothing spectacular, but I also think why so many guitar players actually settle on jazz III picks, they are close to perfect for lead guitar playing, great attack, enough "snap" effect when pushed hard, and nice textures. I dont believe that D´Addario has got it right with their materials. the plastic they use feels cheap most of the time.

    I think it is only the texture that makes them feel like a toy. The material itself is really nice. The D'Addario combination of nylon with glass fibre works for me. I wish the similar Dunlop "carbon" would be available in other shapes and sizes.

    I like different materials - that's why I have a growing variety of picks now ?


  • I think it is only the texture that makes them feel like a toy. The material itself is really nice. The D'Addario combination of nylon with glass fibre works for me. I wish the similar Dunlop "carbon" would be available in other shapes and sizes.

    I like different materials - that's why I have a growing variety of picks now ?


    Holy moly of picks chest, that is sweet. Yeah, maybe is the texture, ¿what gritt did you use to polish those? I am sure I have a couple, it should be an easy job with my dremel. I will try.

    The answer is 42

  • I went looking for Blue Chips when I found out that Chris Thile used them on his mandolin. I got to try one when I was depping for a colleague and (thankfully) didn’t like it! I then found these M100 mandolin picks by Michel Wegen and they’re great on everything (I don’t do picks for this and picks for that) at a fraction of the price of BC.

  • Holy moly of picks chest, that is sweet. Yeah, maybe is the texture, ¿what gritt did you use to polish those? I am sure I have a couple, it should be an easy job with my dremel. I will try.

    I don't use my Dremel for picks (except stone). I get better results working with my hands, a file, padded files, sand paper, micro mesh, nail polish blocks...


    Start by masking off the glossy tip of the Nylpro pick with some tape, then use the rough side of those cushioned nail fails and completely eliminate the "grip" on the pick. You'll notice how abrasion resistant the nylon/glass fibre composite is. After that go to finer grit, than micro mesh / polish block until it feels good to you. On this pick I liked a kind of satin finish best, yet polished enough so that it sticks to the fingers.

  • My search for the elusive Fender Medium continues.


    Used to buy them by the gross and a few years back when I ordered more they were a massively different material that felt more plastic than cellulose. Tried a wide variety of others and apparently everyone orders the same stuff. I still have a few original Fender Mediums to compare with, so I know it's not my memory playing tricks on me.


    The closest I've found so far has been InTune (nice folks, btw). They make printed picks and while I don't really care about that, the material was closer in feel to the real thing than any of the others. However, even though they feel better, the wear out in about five minutes. It's not just them, all the mediums these days wear insanely fast.


    So, if any of you came up on Fender Mediums and are old enough to remember the real thing, I'd love to know what you're using these days and if you've found anything of that quality.


    These things wear so fast that once I'm done with this batch I'll probably go back to the Tortex. It doesn't have the same snap / flexibility as a Fender Medium, but at least I can get through a set on one pick.


    Of all the things I didn't expect to change...

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

  • As of tonight I've given up on Fender Medium impostors, at least for electric. I'll probably still use the ones I have for acoustic, but for electric I'm going back to the Dunlop Tortex 79s.


    Above and beyond the insanely fast wear of modern celluloid picks, I'm breaking in a new guitar and it hears freakin' everything. I mean, one minute into playing and I can hear the scratchiness from the wear of the pick. Moreover, this increased sensitivity (which is a good thing) points out that these picks create a very brittle tone, and the guitar already has plenty of bark as it is. The Tortex has some flexibility that lets me dig in, but is softer and doesn't add an additional edge to the tone.


    Ironically, when I was still playing the Strats, it was the slight softening of the tone compared to celluloid that made me put the Tortex back on the shelf in favor of the celluloid picks. Glad I found a combination that works as it was driving me crazy (er).

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