What's your current fav pick(s)?

[cam]

Mines is a George Dennis 1.05 Sharp pick or, for a more trebly sound a Dunlop 500 delrin .71mm.

[steve in tampa]

Just got some of those "Dawg" picks, Had been using the Golden Gate mandolin picks. Seem to get a better tone with the new ones. They are the same basic shape as the Golden Gate, but a little larger. Got'em from the link to on the front page here with a string order. 6.95 for 6.

[Scotti Adams]

Tortoise

[AlanN]

ditto

[mando bandage]

The "Dawg"-shaped ivory pick made by our very own Bratsche. Worth every penny.

R

[John Flynn]

I have experimented with just about everything out there. I keep coming back to the Dunlop Ultex (the one with the rhino). I just switched from the 1.0 thickness to the 1.14.

[Mike Crocker]

Usually the Dunlop Ultex but I've been trying a Wegen lately which sounds and feels good. Mooh.

[jacobw]

I can't seem to decide, favoring the ProPlec, the Golden Gate, a 1.14 Ultex, and a .73 Dunlop Derlin for different occasions .

[Kevin K]

Wegen M150

[Ted Eschliman]

Dunlop Ultex 1.14

tortise and Dawg pics. Depends on the mandolin which I'm playing

[Michael H Geimer]

I'd love to try the Ultex 1.14, but I haven't run across any in the Large Rounded Triangle size.

Lately I've been sanding/shaping/beveling my own picks from cow horn slugs. It's a hassle for sure, but they sound great ... just plain fuller than anything else I've tried. I must say that they don't quite play as smoothly as the Dawgs do, so I'm only committed to Cow on guitar, and am still switching back and forth with mandolin.

[John Ely]

The new kind of Tor-tis. Mine is a triangle which I modified the points of - one is standard, one is rounded, one is in-between.

[BenE]

Turtle

[Ken Sager]

Dunlop 207
From Elderly's description: Standard size, rounded tip, extra heavy 2 mm gauge, non-slip surface and contoured edge.

Best,
Ken

[Rob Anderson]

Real tortoise, Golden Gate shaped.

[Joe Parker]

Fender Heavy's

JPP

[Dru Lee Parsec]

Wegen M150.

I tried, various guitar picks of different thicknesses played with the point and with the radius,
I tried Tortis
I tried Dawg
I tried Golden Gates
I tried Tortex
I tried filing and sanding different guitar picks to a "dawg" shape.

I keep coming back to the Wegen 150. I can tremelo with it and yet it still has the punch and brightness I like.

[mandough]

Ultex 1.14 gets my vote. Wish they would make them Dawg sized though.

[jcs271]

Dunlop 208,,,,just slightly larger than the 207 pictured above. Seems to give me the best tone on MY mandolin. I am always amazed at how much difference there is in the sound when I use a different (yet similar size/style) pick.

[Igor The Cat]

DAWG!!!!!!!!!!!!!http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[mandofiddle]

I've been using the Wegen Bluegrass picks lately. Prior to that I was using the M150, but I find I can get a little more volume with the Bluegrass pick.

[Flowerpot]

Home made tortoise shell. Triangle similar to Pro-plec, 1.4mm thickness.

[Bobbie Dier]

I like the Wegen M150 . Did I miss it?http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif Was it on the pick study(tour bus)? Since the pick study I've been using a Golden Gate. It took some getting use to but I really like those thicker picks now. Wish I had a Gypsy Jazz Wegen to play for a while.
ima

[ronlane3]

I have a black pick that is supposed to sound just like shell which I really like and of course my shell is always close by.

[nickdanger59]

Tortis , Wegan M150 but my favorite Wegan's twin the mini gypsy jazz pick . 3.5m thick glides threw strings and packs a real warm full punch

[jamesrenz]

A heavy teardrop pick custom-made by luthier Joe Mendel of St. Louis, Missouri.

[mandoman4807]

Wegan M150 all the way.


Darrell

[mad dawg]

My top three, in order of most favorite to least:

1. ProPlec rounded triangle, 1.8mm
2. Golden Gate rounded triangle
3. Dawg

[gibby24]

Wegen 150. Can't say its the best, just the best I have tried so far. The adventure continues.

[mandroid]

Gibson * (star), fender reissue as #347, A large teardrop, & Dawg/GoldenGate ,crosshatched and sanded in the center, for grip.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[eightstrings]

Pro-Plec 1.5 mm triangle, without a doubt.

[jasona]

Dunlop Ultex 1.14. Still wish it was made as a large triangle however.

[Ellie]

Medium gauge Herco thumbpick. I never drop it, and it's the thinner style thumbpick with the regular guitar pick shape on the bottom. It works great when switching between mando and guitar. They're not easy to find, so I buy them buy the box full.

[craigtoo]

Clayton Ultem #0.72s and...0.80 for rhythm (chop) and Irish

and the Clayton "White" #1mm for clean melody. #

Hmm I see thinner than most would prefer...

enjoy,

[BluegrassPhilfromFrance]

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif John Monteleone who was visiting me last week in Burgundy, France gave me some of his picks and they are working ... GREAT !!! #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[kvk]

Tried pro-plecs, wegans, jazz picks, dawgs. Know what I'm playing with now? A $.25 clown-barf Fender medium turned on it's side so I'm picking with one of the rounder top corners.

Hard to believe that my cheapest pick is now my pick of choice. I liked a lot of the others and really like the tone of a thicker pick but I'm still enough of a beginner to need a bit of flex, even the the thinest wegans at 1mm are still a bit too thick. I do find that switching picks for a while does help my playing so I do try some of the others from time to time.

-Ken

[kebmando]

I've tried just about everything everything, to include $30 on a tortiose shell pick (legal, I hope), and I get my best tone out of a plain-old Dunlop 2.0 mm pick for both my mandos...I like the Tortex 1.14 for guitar, but for some reason the Tortex feels "scratchy" (I mean a physical sensation, as opposed to anything tonal) to me on the mando.

I guess to each his own, everyone seems to think I'm crazy for liking such a thick cheapo pick, but it just feels and sounds right to me.

[wannabethile]

i actually use one of chris thile's picks. i was at a concert april 9th and one of the roadies gave me one of his picks. actually, 2 of his picks, but i gave one to a friend. #man that was cool of him. #it was funny, cuz after that, chris played my mando, and hes like "this is just like the pick i use!" . # hahahahaha:D

[Jaded]

I really like the sounds of the Dunlop Ultex picks, but I have problems with them wearing oddly and quit using them.

I like the sound of the wegen mandolin pick, but I don't like playing with round picks much. I also have a wegen twin pick and I like it quite a bit, but have a hard time getting much volume with it.

I am currently alternating between the regular clayton 1.0mm Triangle and a 2.0mm Dunlop teardrop (those slick purple things). I like the sound of the Dunlop a lot, but it seems to develop rough edges pretty quick and is kinda hard to hold on to.

Search for the perfect pick continues...

[mrbook]

My case pocket is full of every kind of pick, big, small, all heavy, but I'm back to using the upper corner of a standard heavy guitar pick - Martins seem a little stiffer than Fenders, or ones I had made with our band name on them. I used a Dawg pick for a few months, and it changed my playing for the better, but dropped it one night on a dark stage, so I finished the night with what came out of my pocket. I never went back.

[Mando4Life]

Tortoise...just can't put it down.

[onlyagibsonisgoodenuff]

It's funny how many people on this thread use the Ultex. I, too have been using that one lately, going between the 1.0 and 1.14. I've tried about everything on the market, and these seem to have just the right feel coming off the strings to me.

[PCypert]

I'd like to thank Ted for sending me an Ultex with a pack of TI's. I would have never tried one. Depending on string life and the type of strings I'm using at the time I'll either do the Ultex or a Dawg pick. Usually it's easier to work on a song with the Ultex and then I can switch to the Dawg if I want a little darker sound. If they made a Dawg shaped Ultex I think I would be satisfied for life....yeah right.
Paul

[Ted Eschliman]

Paul, I've been waiting for the Ultex (http://www.jimdunlop.com/products/picks/products/ultex/index.html) "Tri" picks for 5 months, now. At Winter NAMM they were scheduled for an April release. I have a ton of customers interested in these. (Back half of June is up, and they still aren't out. Dunlop doesn't seem to have anyone answering their website inquiries, either.)
Though at this point, the thickest will only be a measly 1.0, it's still going to be the answer to a maiden's prayer.
When they are out, I'll be sure to holler, here.
Also, for those that use the TIs, my buddy Peter Doyle pointed out to me the shaper point seems to pull the sound out of what might be a mellower articultion than the rounded corner (or shoulder) might yield.
We'll see when they come out...

[levin4now]

I grab either a Dawg or a GG - whichever one is closest. (At the moment that would be a .......Dawg.) I go through a spell where I lose most of my GG's and start playing my Dawg's and then my wife returns a bunch of my picks from nether reaches of our home, and all of a sudden I have tons of picks again.

[Albert Whiting]

sometimes shell most of the time clayton 1.26mm
bibey uses rounded shell
steffey uses 1.14 shiny pink plastic pick with a turtle on it
thile uses a proplec 1.5 triangle
leftwich uses a shell, standard guitar shape

[Greg H.]

$0.30 Fender Heavy (that way when I pull out my keys and the pick goes flying I don't spend the next 4 hours searching through the grass). I also like the feel and tone I get from them (using the shoulder not the point).

[Martin Jonas]

I use the Wegen 1.0mm bluegrass guitar pick on my F5-clone, which I much prefer to the M100 shape. On my European vintage mandolins, I use a 0.88 Dunlop nylon pick. Fender heavy guitar picks are also nice and I sometimes use them for variety. I've tried thicker picks and I've tried rounded corners, but they don't work for me.

Martin

[Michael H Geimer]

"If they made a Dawg shaped Ultex I think I would be satisfied for life.... "

Hmmm ... I'm hoping to get some the other way around. Different strokes ...

I stated earlier in this thread that I'd recently switched from Dawg's to Cow Horn, but I've switched back ... I always seem to come back to the Dawg's.

- Benig

[jmkatcher]

Maybe I'm just a newbie, but my current favorites are Dunlop Tortex .73s (I go back and forth between the teardrop and large triangles).

After reading the current thread, I bought some thicker picks (Tortex 1.14 and Martin 1.2). When I play with these, my treble is strongly suppressed or so it sounds to me. As this is one of the many reasons I love the mandolin, I've returned to the thinner picks. Maybe this is a bluegrass thing to emphasize chop?

[WireBoy]

my current fav is the Fender 346 fat triangle - heavy- white pearloid (mother of toilet seat). When i bought my Parsons F2 model from Dale Cater, he thoughtfully included it in the mando case (along with a spare set of strings) Thanks Dale! i also like the white pearloid cause it goes with the very nice pearl headstock inlay.

up until then (being a guitarist) my usual is the Fender flatpick - standerd shape- pearloid deep blue ( so i can find em when i drop em)

in my former mandolin life playing my Korean Avila, I used a Dunlop Tortex SHARP flatpick .73mm Yellow. I liked the total pick placement control with the sharp point.

But the Parsons doesn't require such a overt touch. i have been experimenting with other thicker picks and my second fav is the Golden Gate mandolin pick heavy.

[Steve G]

Dunlop 207s and Pro-plecs.

[Damnation Gulch]

I've always used what I use for guitar (Dunlop tortex .88 Shark Fins) until today. I kept reading about the pick changing your tone and since this has never applied for me with guitar I thought everyone was crazy till I grabbed a Fender thin someone had laying around... I'm a changed man. I dont like the way the thin sounds for chords but on single note runs it makes a huge difference. Now I have to find a happy medium. I use the top corner of the pic btw...

[potatoe]

dunlop ultex, (the one with the rhino) 1mm

[ira]

just tried the proplec. liked the sound, but awful slippery in my hand.

[jmkatcher]

I ended up switching to the Dunlop 1.14s with the Alligator and find I can't switch back. The Alligators feel good and the older ones I was I using now seem way too floppy.

[Damnation Gulch]

Just got my Dawgs in the mail today...kinda funky feeling (in a good way), but a little thicker than I thought they would be. Got something to do tonight, LOL! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[JD Cowles]

wegen m150 for me.

[mandonewbie]

Clayton 1.53mm

[STLmandoteacher]

I also use the Dunlop Tortex picks. #Can't remember what the thickness is, but I like the green and yellow ones. #Not too heavy, not too thin. #I play with them slightly tilted to the side so that I'm picking on an edge. #

I've tried more expensive picks, and I liked them, but I keep losing them! #I'm much better off with the cheapies. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[straight-a]

Fender 351 (teardrop), extra heavy, clown barf color. I use these for mandolin and guitar.

[Dan Cole]

1. Tortoise (but afraid to loose it!)
2. Tortis Mondo (still afraid to loose it)
3. Wegen M150 (can afford to loose them)
4. Dawg or Golden Gate (great jam picks that you don't have to worry about)

I would actually like to see/hear an exhibition similar to "Mando Tasting" where a player used several picks all unknown to him and then compare results. That too might provide some surprises in the results just as "Mando Tasting" always seems to.

[Jim Garber]

John Pearse Jazz heavy. I prefer the pointed picks. I used to use these small black Gibsons also. Of course, I am always looking for other choices.

Jim

[jim simpson]

I didn't think I would find anything that I liked better than the Clayton 1 or 1.25 but I did. It is the ProPlec 1.5 guitar shaped pick. Doing an A/B comparison, there is definately an increase in tone and volume.

[doublestop]

Once I tried a Wegen M150 I never looked back or ahead for that matter.

[Luthier Vandross]

A one inch triangle of hawkbill .086 thick. rounded over on every edge.

I like those Golden Gate thinys too, a little rounder, but nice. Tremendous punch, huge volume, barely any pick noise.


M

[Skittle]

DUNLOP ULTEX 1.14 TRIANGLE........WONDERFUL!!!!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[ShaneJ]

My new favorite is the Clayton Standard Ultem .94mm for both guitar and mando. The tone it produces is crisp, yet warm. Better (to my ear) than Ultex, Fenders, ivory, etc.

I use a different assortment i got some fender in there i think. Geez this topic has a lot of darn post just for picks!

[BluegrassPhilfromFrance]

1st : Monteleone
2nd : Dawg
3rd : Dan Domont (from Beanblossom, IN) but hard to get !
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Lee]

The blue Dunlop 1.14; is that an alligator on there? I used to use the heavier 1.4's but the 1.14 sound livelier. But that's on F-hole mandos. On a Old Wave oval-A a 1.0 is sweeter when used with a lighter touch.

[Asha]

In order of preference...

Mandolin:
-----------
Dawg (new favorite)
Wegen M-150
Golden Gate

Octave mandolin:
-------------------
Dunlop Jazztone D-207
Dawg

[jimbob]

I had a guy here in Angola make me some ivory picks using Jim Dunlop 1 mm guitar picks as a pattern. They work pretty well and don't sound bad. I received a Pro Plec 1.5 mm pick in the case of a new mandolin I purchased...it is great. I like the shape and size and it definitely sounds better than any of the other picks I have tried, which have mostly been different old guitar picks I have found laying around.

[Amandalyn]

Buffalo horn- really like the indents for the fingers- closest sound to tortise I've found.

[RI-Grass]

Just tried the Dawg pick. Wow! Does anyone know where I can have this kind of pick imprinted with a custom logo?

[luckylarue]

Who cares.

[mandoJeremy]

It's rare for me to say this but that was rude as hell luckylarue....you just might not be so lucky later on! I am still stuck on D'andrea Heavy picks.

[AlanN]

A local jeweler might do it, it's a cool idea. Pick preference is like an elbow http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

But, I always go back to my fave, found on the ground at the Delaware festival 7 years ago.

[Scotti Adams]

Turtle....then Fender extra heavies teardrop

[jasona]

Scotti, have you ever seen a Fender Extra Heavy large triangle?

The Jim Dunlop extra heavy is pretty much the same pick, BTW.

[Tim Saxton]

I am stuck on the Wengen black pic as of late. I seem to go back and forth from that to a TS pick.

Tim

[Scotti Adams]

..sorry to say Jasona I never have seen the Xtra heavy Fender Tri's....And Larue..you should go back and apologize to that man..what the hecks wrong with you.

[Harvey]

My favorites are:
1. Montelone
2. Dunlop 206 (turned upside down or with the small point sanded down)
3. Dawg
4. For fun I also like the Dunlop 3 mm Big Stubby (played on one of the upper corners).
5. Horn - Golden Gate mando shape.

[John Craton]

I use the Wolle.

http://www.craton.net/studio/wolle.jpg

[dasspunk]

In lue of turtle, I use Clayton Ultems (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/search/detail/base_id/100549/src=01340) 120s (Doritos). They sound good and they're cheap enough...

[sgarrity]

Ive been using the Dunlop Gator picks in 1.5mm and 2mm

[siren_20]

I've been using the Wegen TP 140 picks (Thile's new pick of choice). It's tough as nails and sounds great...good tremolo and I can move fast with it.

[jasona]

TF 140? I've not seen TP 140s listed anywhere...

Just got a chance to try a M150. I've not been happy with how Golden Gates or Dawgs work with my Ratcliff, but this Wegen sounds pretty nice. I prefer a bit more point and think I will try a TF140 nexts. Still $15 is a bit much to try a pick to see if you like it.

[siren_20]

Yeah, my mistake...they're TF 140s seen here at greg boyd. (http://www.gregboyd.com/images/accessories/TF140Wht.jpg)
Thile commented that someone gave him one of these, he liked the fact that they're long-wearing (he was going through something like three Claytons or two D'Andrea Pro-Plecs per show). #I think that he said that he'd used the same Wegen for 5 NC shows, plus the whole symposium, and he hadn't put a dent in it. #"Costs money because it saves money" type mentality. #The bottom line is that if you get one and you like it, the chances are good that you'll never wear it out...or you'll just lose it before you can wear through it.

[jasona]

Cool. Once the dust from the Symposium settles (and everybody gets their Wegens back in stock http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif ) I will give one a go.

I have been playing with the M150 for a little while more and have discovered you can coax fairly bright tone out of it. It just takes a little time to get used to how to play with it. So far I like it!