picks

[markdavenport]

I've noticed that my mandolin
is louder with a thin pick...
is this generally the case??

[JiminRussia]

Well, with me that isn't exactly the case. It plays louder when I "dig it in" and pick harder and I just can't seem to do that easily with a thin pick. I use a thicker pick so that I can control the volume with the force of the picking. For me, it is just easier to pick softly or to accent a note or two (modulate it, if you prefer that term) with the force of the picking movement. I've found that the shape of the pick has more to do with the tone and the thickness has to do more with the range of volume that you can come up with by simply changing the "dig" or force that you put on the strings. But then again, I ain't exactly Bill Monroe either.

[pklima]

There's an ideal combination of pick thickness, stiffness and shape for each mando that will get the most sound out of it with the least work. This depends on the mando; lightly-strung bowlbacks like thinner picks than bluegrass-strung F-5s.

Loudness also varies somewhat with context. If you're playing with a banjo you want to produce more low frequencies to cut through it so a thicker/rounder pick may be louder; if playing with a piano you want to produce more treble to project over it which is more readily achieved with a thinner pick.

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

That explains a lot. It seems that I spend a lot of time these days trying to find the best pick for my tone, only to find when I get with the band, it just isn't cutting it. So it's back to one of the picks I'd rejected earlier!