strumNgrin
May-30-2004, 9:18am
This is posted elswhere (General Mandolin..The mandolin pick tour), but it is burried in page 11 of that topic and since many may miss seeing it back there, I decided to post it here as well. Hope no one minds.
Daryl (StrumNgrin)
Dear Café members,
I have completed my evaluation of the picks on the tour and they are on their way to the next person on the list. I sincerely apologize for how long it took me to do this. My work was an attempt to add a little science to the evaluation process, and it just took longer than I expected. I hope the data derived are useful to some of you. I know that I have changed the pick I use now as a result of this evaluation.
How pleasing the sound is that is produced by the combination of four factors (instrument, strings, pick, and technique) is rather subjective and a matter of taste. Two
things that CAN be quantified, however, are:
1. The spurious noise produced by a given pick.
2. The level of harmonics (overtones) produced which contribute to the depth, color and richness of the sound.
The method I used to do this evaluation was first, to construct a cradle for my mandolin (a Weber Fern) and remove one of the G strings and one of the E strings. The cradle was designed to be tipped into two positions, one that allowed my picking machine (described below) to pluck the single G string (a wound string) and the other position to pluck the E string (a single strand string). This allowed testing of both types of strings and different frequency ranges.
The picking machine I made was a wood disc 12 inches in diameter, which matched the picking stroke of a human hand/wrist/arm. Fixed to the disc was a pick clamp which held the pick in latex rubber jaws to allow it to flex a bit as it would in one’s thumb/index finger grip. The disc was mounted on a shaft and rotated at 30 RPM by an electric
motor and gear box. This means the string was plucked once every 2 seconds.
A high quality studio mic was placed 24 inches from the front of the mandolin and the output fed through a linear preamp to a 31 channel graphic equalizer. It was also fed simultaneously to a spectrum analyzer. The graphic equalizer was “tuned” to drop out the primary frequency as well as the first through the fourth overtones with the
remaining output applied across a load and the power (voltage and current) measured there. This measurement then represented the total of non-contributing sound (noise) produced by each pick (clicks, rubs, twangs, etc.). Obviously, the higher the power measured in this way, the noisier the pick.
The second measurement was the combined voltage output in millivolts of the root plus first, second, third and fourth harmonics as measured on the spectrum analyzer. Here the numbers indicated the “punch” of each pick and its ability to produce the overtones so necessary to a quality sound. The higher the number, the better the result.
Obviously, this is a very limited study. No attempt was made to quantify other factors like pick feel, tremolo friendliness, and many other things which also matter as to whether you like the pick or don’t.
If any of you have additional questions, I would be happy to field them. Email me at daryl@strumNgrin.com. Thank you all for your patience and happy pickin’.
Respectfully,
Daryl J. Thompson
Pick# /Description /Contributor /Noise rating /Tonal output
1 /Tri-corner mystery pick /Mandopete / 2.1 / 7.2
2 /Golden gate shaped mystery pick Mandopete / 1.4 / 6.0
3 /Unknown animal horn / Elenbrandt /1.2 / 9.7
4 /GoldenGate/Elenbrandt /2.0 / 7.1
5 /Dawg /Mandodude /1.0 / 9.9
6 /David Grisman / Imapickin /3.2 / 8.9
7 /D’Andrea Tricornercorner 1.5mm / Mandoplayer /1.9 /10.2
8 /Pygmy goat horn / Jaybee /1.1 /4.2
9 /Medium teardrop ivory / Dvatchka /9.8 /2.4
10 /Pygmy goat horn /Jaybee / 1.1 / 5.0
11 /Large teardrop ivory / Janjan /7.1 / 5.7
12 /Petite shape ivory (note 1) /Dvatchka /1.9 / 9.0
13 /Fender pearloid teardrop / Mandohack / 3.0 / 4.5
14 /Dunlop tortex H3 /Mandohack /1.9 / 4.2
15 /Dunlop big stubby clear /Mandohack /2.9 / 4.4
16 /Fender pearloid heavy / Mandohack /3.0 /7.2
17 /Dunlop gater grip 0.96mm /Mandohack /5.0 /5.0
18 /John Pearse /Mandohack /6.1 /3.9
19 /Dunlop ultex 1.0mm /Mandodude /2.0 /10.1
20 /Dunlop ultex 1.14mm /Mandohack /0.9 /11.0
21 /Clayton 0.8mm /Mandohack /5.2 /6.0
22 /Dunlop tortex 1.0mm / Landgrass /2.3 /8.1
23 /D’andrea brite 0.73 /Jim Pemantell /6.0 /4.9
24 /Martin H 0.96mm /Mandohack /2.9 / 6.4
25 /Fender teardrop heavy /Mandodude / 2.3 / 5.3
26 /Hix medium /Jaybee /3.7 / 4.4
27 /Clayton teardrop with grip 0.8mm /8ch(pl) /2.9 / 2.1
28 /Dunlop gatergrip / Fishdawg40 /1.7 /7.9
29 /Purloined from McCabes /Elenbrandt /2.2 /5.0
30 /Gryphon /Elenbrandt /1.9 / 8.3
31 /Artichoke music /Mandolinplayer / 1.8 / 7.9
32 /Bananas at large /Elenbrandt /6.3 / 3.9
33 /Martha Stewart /Joshro78 /7.1 /3.9
34 /Homestead pickin’ parlor / Joe F /6.2 /4.0
35 /Missing
36 /Fender heavy teardrop /Grant Eversoll /1.9 /5.5
37 /Dunlop stubby 2.0mm /Grant Eversoll /1.1 /3.0
38 /Planet waves /Rick Gaskin /1.0 /8.0
39 /Cool heavy /Wolfsong /2.9 /5.5
40 /Roswell pick /Wolfsong /5.1 /4.9
41 /Clayton 0.5mm /Wolfsong /9.0 /3.2
42 /Green ? /Wolfsong /2.9 /10.2
43 /Peavy H(modified teardrop) /Wolfsong /4.0 /6.1
44 /D’Andrea progrip brites 0.88 /Wolfsong /5.3 /5.2
45 /Dunlop 208 /Wolfsong /0.9 /11.0
46 /Peavy H teardrop /Wolfsong /3.0 /6.0
47 /Fender heavy /Wolfsong /3.1 /8.4
48 /Galli S heavy 1.2mm /Keith Newell /3.8 / 8.1
49 /Dunlop 208 (cut down thinner) /Keith Newell /2.0 /8.8
50 /Dunlop triangle lg stubby 3.0mm / Keith Newell /4.2 /9.1
51 /D’Andrea progrip 1.0mm /Keith Newell / 5.2 / 5.1
52 /Dunlop nylon 1.0mm / Keith Newell / 3.9 /5.4
53 /Clayton ultem 1.07mm /Mandomood /1.8 /9.3
54 /Animal horn Dugain knockoff /John Ely /5.3 /7.0
55 /Le Nose Pick ivory 1.45mm /Bratche /4.9 /8.0
56 /Clayton delrin XL 1.14mm /Old wave gal / 2.2 /7.0
57 /Clayton delrin lg triangle 1.14mm/Old wave gal/2.1/7.0
58 /Dunlop nylon 0.88 (modified) /StrumNgrin / 2.0 / 6.1
59 /PAF-heavy F-1 (right handed) /StrumNgrin /6.2 /5.9
60 /Funky animal horn /Christina /3.1 /5.0
61 /Wood / Christina /7.0 /4.9
62 /Weird shaped Dunlop tortex 0.73mm /Tracy Mazar/2.8 / 8.2
63 /Dunlop stubby clear 1.0mm /Tracy Mazar /3.4 /4.9
64 /Dunlop stubby 3.0mm /Tracy Mazar /2.1 /5.9
65 /Tortex sharp 1.5mm /Tig /1.0 /8.5
66 /Clayton 1.52mm /Tig /1.9 /7.4
67 /Clayton 1.9mm /Rick Volante /1.1 /9.0
68 /Dunlop tortex 0.88mm /Barb C /1.1 /9.0
69 /Dunlop ultex 0.73 / Barb C /2.0 /9.9
70 /Dunlop 204 /Drew Lyman /1.9 /7.7
71 /Sam R—? Heavy /Unknown /0.9 /9.3
72 /McPherson Design studio / Unknown /3.4 /6.9
Note 1: This pick produced the brightest tone of all I tested with the high frequencies
boosted, but it was marginal on the G string.
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Daryl (StrumNgrin)
Dear Café members,
I have completed my evaluation of the picks on the tour and they are on their way to the next person on the list. I sincerely apologize for how long it took me to do this. My work was an attempt to add a little science to the evaluation process, and it just took longer than I expected. I hope the data derived are useful to some of you. I know that I have changed the pick I use now as a result of this evaluation.
How pleasing the sound is that is produced by the combination of four factors (instrument, strings, pick, and technique) is rather subjective and a matter of taste. Two
things that CAN be quantified, however, are:
1. The spurious noise produced by a given pick.
2. The level of harmonics (overtones) produced which contribute to the depth, color and richness of the sound.
The method I used to do this evaluation was first, to construct a cradle for my mandolin (a Weber Fern) and remove one of the G strings and one of the E strings. The cradle was designed to be tipped into two positions, one that allowed my picking machine (described below) to pluck the single G string (a wound string) and the other position to pluck the E string (a single strand string). This allowed testing of both types of strings and different frequency ranges.
The picking machine I made was a wood disc 12 inches in diameter, which matched the picking stroke of a human hand/wrist/arm. Fixed to the disc was a pick clamp which held the pick in latex rubber jaws to allow it to flex a bit as it would in one’s thumb/index finger grip. The disc was mounted on a shaft and rotated at 30 RPM by an electric
motor and gear box. This means the string was plucked once every 2 seconds.
A high quality studio mic was placed 24 inches from the front of the mandolin and the output fed through a linear preamp to a 31 channel graphic equalizer. It was also fed simultaneously to a spectrum analyzer. The graphic equalizer was “tuned” to drop out the primary frequency as well as the first through the fourth overtones with the
remaining output applied across a load and the power (voltage and current) measured there. This measurement then represented the total of non-contributing sound (noise) produced by each pick (clicks, rubs, twangs, etc.). Obviously, the higher the power measured in this way, the noisier the pick.
The second measurement was the combined voltage output in millivolts of the root plus first, second, third and fourth harmonics as measured on the spectrum analyzer. Here the numbers indicated the “punch” of each pick and its ability to produce the overtones so necessary to a quality sound. The higher the number, the better the result.
Obviously, this is a very limited study. No attempt was made to quantify other factors like pick feel, tremolo friendliness, and many other things which also matter as to whether you like the pick or don’t.
If any of you have additional questions, I would be happy to field them. Email me at daryl@strumNgrin.com. Thank you all for your patience and happy pickin’.
Respectfully,
Daryl J. Thompson
Pick# /Description /Contributor /Noise rating /Tonal output
1 /Tri-corner mystery pick /Mandopete / 2.1 / 7.2
2 /Golden gate shaped mystery pick Mandopete / 1.4 / 6.0
3 /Unknown animal horn / Elenbrandt /1.2 / 9.7
4 /GoldenGate/Elenbrandt /2.0 / 7.1
5 /Dawg /Mandodude /1.0 / 9.9
6 /David Grisman / Imapickin /3.2 / 8.9
7 /D’Andrea Tricornercorner 1.5mm / Mandoplayer /1.9 /10.2
8 /Pygmy goat horn / Jaybee /1.1 /4.2
9 /Medium teardrop ivory / Dvatchka /9.8 /2.4
10 /Pygmy goat horn /Jaybee / 1.1 / 5.0
11 /Large teardrop ivory / Janjan /7.1 / 5.7
12 /Petite shape ivory (note 1) /Dvatchka /1.9 / 9.0
13 /Fender pearloid teardrop / Mandohack / 3.0 / 4.5
14 /Dunlop tortex H3 /Mandohack /1.9 / 4.2
15 /Dunlop big stubby clear /Mandohack /2.9 / 4.4
16 /Fender pearloid heavy / Mandohack /3.0 /7.2
17 /Dunlop gater grip 0.96mm /Mandohack /5.0 /5.0
18 /John Pearse /Mandohack /6.1 /3.9
19 /Dunlop ultex 1.0mm /Mandodude /2.0 /10.1
20 /Dunlop ultex 1.14mm /Mandohack /0.9 /11.0
21 /Clayton 0.8mm /Mandohack /5.2 /6.0
22 /Dunlop tortex 1.0mm / Landgrass /2.3 /8.1
23 /D’andrea brite 0.73 /Jim Pemantell /6.0 /4.9
24 /Martin H 0.96mm /Mandohack /2.9 / 6.4
25 /Fender teardrop heavy /Mandodude / 2.3 / 5.3
26 /Hix medium /Jaybee /3.7 / 4.4
27 /Clayton teardrop with grip 0.8mm /8ch(pl) /2.9 / 2.1
28 /Dunlop gatergrip / Fishdawg40 /1.7 /7.9
29 /Purloined from McCabes /Elenbrandt /2.2 /5.0
30 /Gryphon /Elenbrandt /1.9 / 8.3
31 /Artichoke music /Mandolinplayer / 1.8 / 7.9
32 /Bananas at large /Elenbrandt /6.3 / 3.9
33 /Martha Stewart /Joshro78 /7.1 /3.9
34 /Homestead pickin’ parlor / Joe F /6.2 /4.0
35 /Missing
36 /Fender heavy teardrop /Grant Eversoll /1.9 /5.5
37 /Dunlop stubby 2.0mm /Grant Eversoll /1.1 /3.0
38 /Planet waves /Rick Gaskin /1.0 /8.0
39 /Cool heavy /Wolfsong /2.9 /5.5
40 /Roswell pick /Wolfsong /5.1 /4.9
41 /Clayton 0.5mm /Wolfsong /9.0 /3.2
42 /Green ? /Wolfsong /2.9 /10.2
43 /Peavy H(modified teardrop) /Wolfsong /4.0 /6.1
44 /D’Andrea progrip brites 0.88 /Wolfsong /5.3 /5.2
45 /Dunlop 208 /Wolfsong /0.9 /11.0
46 /Peavy H teardrop /Wolfsong /3.0 /6.0
47 /Fender heavy /Wolfsong /3.1 /8.4
48 /Galli S heavy 1.2mm /Keith Newell /3.8 / 8.1
49 /Dunlop 208 (cut down thinner) /Keith Newell /2.0 /8.8
50 /Dunlop triangle lg stubby 3.0mm / Keith Newell /4.2 /9.1
51 /D’Andrea progrip 1.0mm /Keith Newell / 5.2 / 5.1
52 /Dunlop nylon 1.0mm / Keith Newell / 3.9 /5.4
53 /Clayton ultem 1.07mm /Mandomood /1.8 /9.3
54 /Animal horn Dugain knockoff /John Ely /5.3 /7.0
55 /Le Nose Pick ivory 1.45mm /Bratche /4.9 /8.0
56 /Clayton delrin XL 1.14mm /Old wave gal / 2.2 /7.0
57 /Clayton delrin lg triangle 1.14mm/Old wave gal/2.1/7.0
58 /Dunlop nylon 0.88 (modified) /StrumNgrin / 2.0 / 6.1
59 /PAF-heavy F-1 (right handed) /StrumNgrin /6.2 /5.9
60 /Funky animal horn /Christina /3.1 /5.0
61 /Wood / Christina /7.0 /4.9
62 /Weird shaped Dunlop tortex 0.73mm /Tracy Mazar/2.8 / 8.2
63 /Dunlop stubby clear 1.0mm /Tracy Mazar /3.4 /4.9
64 /Dunlop stubby 3.0mm /Tracy Mazar /2.1 /5.9
65 /Tortex sharp 1.5mm /Tig /1.0 /8.5
66 /Clayton 1.52mm /Tig /1.9 /7.4
67 /Clayton 1.9mm /Rick Volante /1.1 /9.0
68 /Dunlop tortex 0.88mm /Barb C /1.1 /9.0
69 /Dunlop ultex 0.73 / Barb C /2.0 /9.9
70 /Dunlop 204 /Drew Lyman /1.9 /7.7
71 /Sam R—? Heavy /Unknown /0.9 /9.3
72 /McPherson Design studio / Unknown /3.4 /6.9
Note 1: This pick produced the brightest tone of all I tested with the high frequencies
boosted, but it was marginal on the G string.
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