CBOM picks

[Sarge]

Ive been experimenting with what small selection of picks I have. Im just curious what you guys tend do use to play these bigger instruments.

[Steve L]

I use Fender 358 teardrops medium gauge.

[Bertram Henze]

Dunlop Tortex .60

Bertram

[Celtic Saguaro]

On my Petersen I use Fender mediums as well. The premium (MOTO) ones do seem to sound better. Clayton .80 mm's aren't bad.

[rclepper]

Clayton Tortex Ultem .80mm for melody, .72mm if primarily accompanying.

Randy

[dunbarhamlin]

Same as my mondolin - Dunlop 207/208 or Wegen SR.
On my electric zouk, also occasionally use a copper foil pick - really to to freshen up though.

[EdSherry]

I tend to use a heavier pick for both mando and OM than some others do. I used to use 1mm Dunlop "stiff" (red) nylon picks, but they stopped making them. (Drat!) I now use a 1mm Wegen.

[Bill Van Liere]

Anything from a Fender medium to Clayton .80, nothing heavier for me. I like to try for a percussive sound of the pick on the strings.

[jmcgann]

Dunlop Tortex 500 series 1.5mm (http://www.johnmcgann.com/om.html)

I prefer the sound of the instrument over the sound of the pick (http://www.johnmcgann.com/techtips.html) http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Unseen122]

I like those "Cool" pics with the grip tape, I use the Jazz guitar lights (1mm)the white ones. Here they are. (http://elderly.com/accessories/items/PKAGJ.htm)

[Bluegrasstjej]

Anything medium. Not too soft, not too heavy. At the moment I use something I got from Strings and Beyond, with a little text "Elixir strings" on one side and "Strings and Beyond" on the other side.

[Seth Austen]

I use a Herdim tricorner, usually its stiffest side. I've tried numerous other picks for bouzouki and always come back to it. Funny thing is that I prefer a much heavier pick, Wegen M150, for mandolin, mandola and cello.

Seth

[zoukboy]

Clayton white plastic .073mm on lightly strung 4 course with octave basses. Clayton Ultem Tortis .080 on heavier strung unison 4 course and mandocello. Clayton Ultem Tortis .094 on mandolin.

[steve V. johnson]

Orange Dulop Tortex (.60?... all the print is rubbed off mine...) and recently a Clayton white .63.

I use the round edge, not the pointy one. Old habit...

stv

[Kid Charlemagne]

I keep one of my two Wegens with my mandolin, and one with my octave/zouk.

I've tried a couple others, but so far I like the feel it has on the strings the best.

[Richard Russell]

Dunlop 500 series 1.14mm. I tried thinner picks at first, but thought it sounded too "clicky" for my tastes.

[Danny Packer]

dunlop ultex 1.14 with the red rhino on it.

[BluegrassPhilfromFrance]

Hi there, lately I'm using those picks from Michel Wegen in Holland and they are really fine (www.wegenpicks.com) #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[steve V. johnson]

John McGann offered a very useful link titled "I prefer the sound of the instrument over the sound of the pick"...

I've found that I hear the sound of very light flexy picks, -and- the sound of very stiff picks, like the Golden Gate (Dawg-ish) ones that I like for my old mandolin and the heavier Tortex types. Both seem click-y, so that's how I landed in that 60-ish range.

Anybody else have this experience?

My experience may be because I hold most of the pick back with only a small bit between strings and fingers, and I also use the round corner and not the pointy one.

stv

[clarksavage]

The pick I choose really depends on my mood and the sound I want. I have come to respect (and enjoy) the percussive "clicking" across the strings of the rhythm guitar of Stuart Mason in Molly's Revenge, it really holds the spot where a mandolin might be plunking if it was bluegrass instead of Irish. The "bounce back" provided by the thinner picks is also useful when I want tremolo of certain cadances (word choice?)

I dearly love my very thick picks (with a few holes drilled in the center for grip, I bevel the edges with a grinder to "roll" the pick off the strings) - for bluegrass or very precise picking patterns, I lose the "clicking" sound but also lose some of the high response, with a duller but more mellow sort of sound.

I have quite a collection of picks now, the only real preference I have is for triangular picks, I don't like the teardrop shapes for some silly reason. I have three different picks in my pocket at all times and it just about covers me when I need it.

[Keith Miller]

Landstrom sharkfin blue for me, sometimes the heavier black tried a lot of others but always seem to go back to the sharkfin
Keith

[Jeffro]

I am pretty sensitive to pick noise and have done alot of experimenting in this regard. For me, I have found that while I prefer the Dawg picks for mandolin (give me a nice round, woody tone), I like standard Fender X-Heavy guitar picks for the octave mandolin. For the OM, I like to have the point on the pick.

JR

[otterly2k]

I'm using this Dava control pick lately... Jude gave me one, and I'm hooked. I really like the way I can alter the tone and effective gauge by shifting my grip. I also like the Ultex ones with the rhino on 'em...1.0

[steve V. johnson]

Wow, Karen, that's an interesting design! Cool.

Ok, so I read Keith's mention of the sharkfin, and a client had left some here, so I tried 'em. What an amazing sound! I'm not sure if I like it or not, and I -am- sure that I can't control it very well... <GG>

Now, maybe this isn't the same "sharkfin," but this one has a scalloped side, so that the scallops brush along the strings consecutively. I wish I could scan it, but so far I haven't been successful... On a guitar, this sharkfin gives a very 12-string-y sound, and on the bouzouki it's like ... well... -twelve- strings (maybe more!!!<GG>).
Very interesting.

Thanks,

stv

[Unseen122]

I remember playing on those Dava picks at the Philly gathering, I thought they were pretty nice. I have been thinking about getting a few.

[Keith Miller]

Steve,
These are the sharkfins I use other makers have their versions as well but I prefer the Langstrom.
Keith