Posts by guenterhaas

    Have you tried the Diamond? Or the Dimension/Dimension Jr? It wasnt untill I tried these, that I made the swap.

    I think you're talking about the V-Pick-Diamond and V-Pick Dimension, no I didn't test these ones, but a lot of others, also big ones like Gladiator and Memphis. Probably the Diamond and Dimension are too thick for me, too. Unfortunately not all models are available in German music-stores, I ordered the V-Picks primarily in other European countries. Generally I like the V-Picks very much and I'll stay with them, Bullseye and/or Euro 2 will replace my Dunlop Delrin 1.5 mm.


    Would you recommend the Diamond Pointed or normal?

    Coming from the Dunlop Delrin 1.5 mm, I noticed that I still like a similar form and size. Therefore my favourite ones are the V-Pick "Euro 2", "Bullseye" and "Tradition Lite", strangely right now I'm playing best with the Euro 2 (despite the holes).... ;)


    Some of the V-Picks are too big and some are too small for me, Dava was just a little waste of time and money.


    I still had no chance to test a lot of other picks like BlueChip, Red Bear ect.


    Anyway, to find the V-Picks has been a big improvement for me. :thumbup:

    I bought the same as you, Tradition Lite 1.5 mm. They're nice picks, just not for me. I've gotten too used to the Dava Control gel Grip Tips, which are slightly smaller and have a lot more 'give' in them. I remembered them as being 1.5mm, but I think they might actually be 1.0. If you want to try Dava, I'd go for the delrin variant, as they're stiffer and closer to the feel of the V-picks (though they still have more flex). I guess this has taught me that sometimes the grass is just as green right here! :)

    Thanks, I will try the Dava picks, too. I just ordered 2 sets with different picks. ;)

    So my 3 V-picks arrived today from Thomann. Check out their packaging!!!


    [Blocked Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/zukvt3.jpg]
    First impressions after playing Dava Control Grip Tips for the last 2-3 years are that they're BIG! They're also much thicker and stiffer, even when holding the Davas right at the very tip for more control. I can totally get the improved tone thing, as the Dava gels I favour have a very plasticky attack that is very obvious when coming from the V-picks. To me though, the V-picks seem way more cumbersome and the improvement in tone isn't worth the loss of control for me. It also made me realise that when I'm alternate or economy picking, I'm not actually holding the Davas right at the end, so there's more "give" in them. Contrary to what I believed, this doesn't lead to less control for me but more fluidity. Who would have thought that I'd actually prefer thinner picks after all?!?
    Such a great experiment, even if it was a fairly expensive one!

    What V-Picks did you order? The one I prefer is the Tradition Lite 1.5 mm, what Dava-Picks do you use? I'm still not finished with comparing the "boutique"-picks (or any other ones) with my standard pick (Dunlop Delrin 1.5 mm). But of course I wouldn't spend a fortune just for one pick, V-Picks are not thaaaat expensive (compared to Red Bear and Blue Chip, which I haven't seen or tried, yet).

    An inspiring thread, indeed. I just came up with testing new picks, because the quality of my long time favourites (Dunlop Delrin) went down extremely. The last package I bought was just wasted money.


    I don't know Dava, Red Bear and Blue Chip, but for more than 30 $ for 1 pick. it is hard to test several ones.

    OMG what a thread. I could not immagine there would be much to say about picks. I've always considered them as give-aways from the music shop. I play the green kemper picks, I think they are 0.88mm tortex.


    funny I'll give some a try next time I'll order from thomann but I'm definitely not putting 6.8€ on a single pick (price for V-picks)

    Red Bear-picks start at 27 $ for a single one..... of course you don't have to spend a lot of money for a good pick, f.e. the Dunlop Delrin + Primtetone picks 1.5 mm are very good, too. For me it's worth to spend 6 $ for an excellent pic.

    Folreden guitars seem to be very good guitars with an excellent concept and a very reasonable price. Just for comparison: my Fender Custom Shop strat - '56 Reissue (Fiesta Red, the one in the back) would be much more expensive (around 3.000 EUR) and of course we don't talk about the original ones ('58 and '66)...


    I think the definition of "thick" is very subjective. Some are using very thin pics (like 0.6 mm) and some really thick ones (4 mm). For me it's hard to imagine to get a good clean sound with a very thin pick, and also I couldn't play fast runs very precisely with a thin pick. I'm using thinner picks than 1.14 mm just for strumming on acoustic guitars.


    Generally I'm feeling comfortable around 1.3 to 1.5 mm, but other guitar-players may have other playing techniques and other strings, too (I'm using 010 and 011 on electric guitars).

    it's interesting.... the pick I bought and really didn't like was a V Pick so I wrote them off as a manufacturer. Which is bad on my part. A bit like writing off a band because you don't like one song.....
    The one I struggled with was the Diamond. I think I bought it due to reviews and it's like 4mm thick and makes the Kemper sound like a weird plastic piano :). Maybe I could have dialled this out but with the Hercos and the right profile my ears are happy with no tweaking. I think it shows how much difference this subject makes to us and it's pretty much the last thing anyone thinks of when they say they cannot find 'their sound'.


    If, instead of being thought of as an insignificant bit of plastic, some marketing guy described them as 'the interface between your soul and the strings' then us guitarists would be all over it :)

    Always very subjective.... but 4 mm would be MUCH too thick for me.... The V-Pick I like most (until now) is the Tradition Lite 1.5 mm, similar to the one I'm using (Dunlop Delrin 1.5 mm / Dunlop Primetone 1.5 mm), a liitle bit larger, but same shape.


    There are so many different V-Picks-models available, I couldn't use any pick (manufacturer doesn't matter), which is too large, too small, too thick or too thin for me.... ;)

    This thread is changing my "pick-life".....


    I've never tried V-Picks before, but because of Bert's recommendation I tried them and I LOVE them !!! Right now I'm playing the blue "Tradition Lite" (1.5 mm), which comes very close to my favourite Dunlop Delrin 1.5 mm, but:


    - it's easier and better to play (fast runs....)
    - the guitar-sound is getting warmer and thicker


    Of course it's plastic, too ("acrylics"), but there seems to be a major difference. I have to say that I tried Chicken Picks before, but I didn't like them that much.

    Interesting thread :!:


    For electric guitars: recently I switched from Dunlop Delrin 1.14 to Dunlop Delrin 1.5 / I'm also using my fingers a lot and sometimes my E-Bow ;)


    For acoustic guitars: Dunlop Delrin .71 / .96 / 1.14


    I also tried Chicken Picks, comfortable to play, but soundwise strange for me.

    I don't think it makes much sense to make a comparison-vid with 3 or 4 distorted guitar-tracks playing all at the same time. To hear the difference it would be much better to hear just a single guitar track and nothing more.


    In this exmaple the pure amp sounds best, followed very closely by the Kemper, Axe FX-II sounds ok, Bias Head sounds artificial and cheap.

    I don't think that these kind of ...vs....vs...vs....-demos and vids are representing the endless options of modern guitar-gear.


    I'm glad that there are several really good digital amps on the market right now and the rest is simply very subjective. For me the Kemper is the "holy grail", because with the right profiles for me it feels and sounds like a real amp. And of course I can profile my own amps, no other gear can do that. I'm also a big fan of the "all-in-one-box"-solution, just the Kemper and the Remote, that's actually all you need, of course Helix and AX-8 offer this, too.


    The only thing I really would like: a floorboard-Kemper similar to Helix and AX-8, I easily could take on a plane. ;)


    I'm sure that the search for the "perfect" gear generally is overrated, a good guitar-player will sound good on most amps, traditional tube-amps or digital amps. I'm more than happy with the KPA especially for tours and recording, for other guitar-players it might be something else.

    Of course now there are A LOT of excellent profiles around, everybody got his own taste and can find the right ones. Andy, Armin, MBritt ect. offer excellent profiles, too, for me Bert's profiles fit perfectly and actually I could just use the 2 packs and that's it. Maybe because we both are long-time session-players with a similar playing-style and taste, similar guitars ect., everything on this planet is subjective. ;)


    I just watched the DVD of the last tour I did (Gregorian - Final Chapter Live) and I used 80% of Bert's 1st pack (guitars: Fender Custom Shop Strat '56 reissue, Les Paul Goldtop '73, Les Paul Studio) and they sound brilliant in the mix. :thumbup:

    Just for the single coil vs. humbucker-discussion:


    I'm using both packs with my favourite guitars and they sound excellent all over, no matter if I'm playing a single-coil or humbucker-guitar, here are my favourite guitars:


    Single Coil: Fender strat '58 (original), Fender strat custom shop '56 reissue, Fender tele Blackguard '54 (original), Fender tele '66 + '70 (original), custom made strat with Häussel pickups


    Humbucker: Gibson Les Paul Goldtop '73 (original), Gibson Les Paul *Burst* custom shop '59 historic reissue, Gibson SG (Les Paul) custom shop '62 reissue, Gibson ES-335 '69 (original), Epiphone Riviera '62 (original), Charvel San Dimas 2 custom shop, Steinberger GM4-TA (EMG pickups)


    Both packs sound outstanding with all these guitars, so I don't see any discussion about using single-coils or humbuckers. ;)