What a difference a pick (the right one) makes !.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Here's yet another spanner to throw into the strings/pick works. For the past 18 months or so,i've been using DR strings,mainly their MD11 medium set on my 3 mandolins & along with the Dunlop 'Primetone' picks,my mandolins have never sounded 'better' to me. They all pack a real punch but still retain all their individual tones & i've never been happier.
Right - a couple of weeks back,i found 2 sets of my old J74 strings that i'd not used. As all 3 mandolins haven't been re-strung since Dec.last year (DR's do last a LONG time),i decided to try a set on my Lebeda to see if a J74/Primetone combo.would deliver. Oh boy ! - the combo.works terrifically well. Maybe not 100% of the punch that DR's have,but good enough.I put a set of J74's on my Weber with much the same result.
The 1.5mm thick Primetone pick works wonders on the J74's. I never heard them sound like that before in close to 9 years of using them.
OK - I know that they were new strings & that they should sound better than old DR's regardless of how good the DR's sound & last,but i remember my surprise at the change when i began to use DR's,& i was just as surprised & pleased at the sound of the J74's. Maybe all i needed was simply the right pick ?. But one thing i will say,is that the 2 BC picks i tried when using J74's,never produced the tone/volume of the Primetone/J74 combo.
I'm now in a bit of a dilemma - stick with DR's or go back to J74's ?. I really do like the overall sound of the J74/Primetone pick combo.,so it might be a matter of simply seeing how long the J74's keep their tone compared to the DR's. Re.the price - over here in the UK,the DRs are twice the price of J74's,but they last twice as long so i broke even on that. However,J74's are far more available than DRs,so.......... ?,
Ivan

[Michael Neverisky]

Yes, and I have found that to be true of other stringed instruments as well. Whether playing with a flatpick, fingerpicks or fingernails .. the shape and finish of what we use to articulate the strings of a mandolin, guitar or banjo has a huge influence on tone.

[CES]

Ivan, I'm a blue chip fan, previously a Wegen user. The prime tones fall nicely between the two., IMO..volume of the wegens with a slightly darker tone, though not as dark as BC. BC are still my favorites because of the way they glide through the strings, but I've been using Prime Tone 1.4mm with EJ 74s on my Eastman "beater," with great results so far. AH, the funny little things we obsess over (including myself in that, as I'm now debating whether to go back to 74s from coated strings on my better mandos as well)!

[Bertram Henze]

At half the price, you can change the J74s twice as often and have more pleasant surprises per year

[UsuallyPickin]

New strings always bring me a small thrill. I will give Primetone picks a try out one of these days. They aren't to my knowledge locally available so I will have to see on my next string order. R/

[Caleb]

Wow, Ivan, you've been pretty much THE DR guy here for so long that it's hard to imagine you using anything else.

I also use a Primetone pick, but here lately I've preferred the rounded edge of a regular "heavy" guitar pick, which is what I started out on. It tends to feel more natural these days.

[Jackgaryk]

I like the primetone picks also. Started out with the grippy finish. Now I prefer the smooth finish and I do believe I hear a difference them. Just curious Ivan...which one do you use?

[Tobin]

I like the primetone picks also. Started out with the grippy finish. Now I prefer the smooth finish and I do believe I hear a difference them. Just curious Ivan...which one do you use?

I have both the smooth and the grippy/pimpled ones, and I hear a big difference. The pimpled ones seem a bit brighter and clearer, while the smooth ones seem a bit darker.

[Willie Poole]

I have four mandolins and I have done some testing by using a different pick on each one to see which pick would sound the best with each mandolin and I found that each one has it`s own sound with a different pick so I now keep a preferred pick with each mandolin so that I will get it`s best sound, I do use a Primetone pick on two of them and I use nothing but GHS A-270 strings on all four.....This takes a few hours to do but for me it is worth it to know that I am getting the best sound from each instrument, at least to my old ears anyway...One thing to remember is that mandolins do sound different on days when the weather changes so you have to really give them a fair shake...

Willie

[jlsmando]

Could I ask you what is the nut width on your Lebeda F5 ? I have one and am unsure what its exact spec nut width is supposed to be.

thanks.

[bigskygirl]

While I like both types of strings I favor the DRs more, no particular reason I can describe I just do. That said I usually just string my mando with whatever I have. When I visit music stores and play all their expensive instruments without buying one I generally buy a few packs of strings....I'm pretty sure that evens things out....ha

[CES]

I'm using the smooth Prime Tone 1.4mm large triangle picks, not the more rounded version or the dimpled version. I just can't seem to pull the tone and volume out of rounded picks like Dawgs and Golden Gates, even though I went through a phase early on where I used the rounded edge of a fender heavy or tortex pick. Really need that point, now...which saddens me a bit, as the Dawg is the man, and I'd really like to be able to rock his picks...

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jackgaryk - I use the teardrop shaped ones with the 'grip'.
Bertram - A good point,if it wasn't for the fact that changing strings is possibly my least favourite 'thing to do'.
Jlsmando - I've owned 2 Lebeda mandolins & they were(are - i still have one) slightly larger than a standard build.The nut width is 1- 3/16". My Weber is 1-1/8" wide at the nut & my Ellis a tiny fraction over.
Caleb - Yes,i think i did sort of start a DR revolution ( a tiny one ),& they are a terrific string. I was blown away re.what they did for my mandolins,& equally amazed at what the Primetone picks added. I simply had 2 sets of J74's that i either gave away or tried out with the PT pick to 'hear' what the result would be - it's the only way !. The PT picks give far more clarity & punch than the Wegen Bluegrass picks that i used for 7 years ever did,so it was worth trying the J74/PT combo.out & it worked.
It simply remains for me to evaluate the staying power of the J74's against the long life that i know DR strings to have. Currently my Ellis "A" style's wearing Tom Ellis's 'go to' strings - GHS A270's & it sings. It's had DR's on it & they were superb. They gave more punch to the sound,but maybe lacked the sweetness of the A270s. I have a spare set of A270's which i'll fit when the time comes,but after that it's ''make your mind up time'',& honestly,i think i'd be happy with DR's or J74's right now. One combo i haven't tried on the Weber or Lebeda,is A270's + PT picks,but i can't help thinking that the PT picks would add their magic to that combo.as well.
Cripes !! - I'm gonna end up like Willie if i don't watch out - he knows what i mean,
Ivan

PS - Tobin - I agree re.the smooth PT picks not being as 'bright'. They're the same material,but a different specification of it.

[Steve L]

I tried without success using Golden Gates and a few other thick round edged picks. I liked the tone but couldn't get the articulation I need for Irish trad. I tried the Primetone 1.3 dimpled picks and really like them. Very full tone, much more volume and only slightly less control than the very sharp pointed green Dunlop Tortex jazz picks I had been using for years.

[bbaker2050]

I have tried many of the Primetones, but have settled on the smooth Large 1.4 triangle. Grippy ones are too bright and rounded ones too quiet.

[Caleb]

The tone can get a little harsh with my Primetone (smooth one, I don't have a grippy one) but it can be mellowed out with a little time and practice. Same goes for the V-Picks: lots of pick noise till you get the hang of it; then you're in for some serious tone.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Personally,i think that the PT picks are the best bargain to come along in quite a while. Some folks see them as a ''poor man's' BC pick,i certainly don't. I see them as a very viable alternative.The 2 BC picks i've tried were of a similar shape to my PT,but they were a tad thicker,which never works for me. That the PT's produce a seriously great tone from strings which i'd thought 'less good' than the DR's i've been using,is testament to just how good they really are. I haven't tried it myself because i like the tone of mine 'as they come',but the treble can be subdued a bit by rounding off the point a tiny bit at a time,at least that's what happend with the picks i have tried it on in the past,
Ivan

[David Smith]

It's extraordinary how different instruments respond to different material or maybe how each of us has different touch and attack angles on strings to produce the longed for tone. When my Mowry F5 arrived in April it had a new set of J74s on it. The sound was very loud and quite bright. I figured the strings would settled after a while and the tone would warm up a bit. That never happened. When it came time to change strings, I put on a set of DRMD 11's and VOILA...there it was. The tone was immediately warm, rich, with plenty of punch. I switch picks depending on setting and song but favor the BC CT55 and the primetone round as well.

[Tobin]

Personally,i think that the PT picks are the best bargain to come along in quite a while. Some folks see them as a ''poor man's' BC pick,i certainly don't. I see them as a very viable alternative.

I agree. You're the one who convinced me to try Primetone picks, and I really didn't want to believe that they would be this good. I'm sure there's a subconscious thing going on, where my brain doesn't want to accept that a pick which costs about 7% as much as a Blue Chip could possibly provide the same level of enjoyment. And in all fairness, the PT picks are distinctly different from BC picks. I find the tone to be a bit brighter, and they certainly provide more volume, but they are very tone-rich. I like them just as much as a BC, depending on what I'm playing. In fact, these days it's a PT pick that I reach for instead of a BC. Another mandolin player at my local jam who usually plays with a BC (he's a well-known member here) liked it so much that he bought some PT picks too.

I've been playing my fiddle more than my mandolin lately, so I had gotten lazy and hadn't changed my strings in a while. But I put on a fresh set of EXP74CMs a couple of nights ago. Those strings + a PT pick = WOW.

[Willie Poole]

I like the Golden Gate picks on my Ratliff mandolin and as someone stated they are not as loud as the prime Tones but when playing a show I can just set the sound system higher, myself I go for the tone over the loudness when I am playing a show and recording, when jamming I like the loudness over the tone because I want to be heard over those dreaded banjos.

To be perfectly honest I have never found a pick that I think is perfect, but I have never found a lot of things that I thought were perfect, including mandolins...ANOTHER STORY FOR ANOTHER TIME......

Willie

[Ivan Kelsall]

Tobin - The ''subconcious thing going on'' as you put it,is all too prevalent in matters of choice between one 'item' or another. That's why in one thread regarding choosing a mandolin,i suggested that pre-conceived ideas based on other folk's prefferences ie.a Gil. / Dude etc sounds 'better' than a Heiden / Ellis etc. might come into play. It might be hard for some folks to realise that they do in fact prefer an instrument lower down the price ladder, because they've read that the higher priced ones have to be better & they get to thinking that their own opinion can't possibly be correct. In the case of the PT picks,some of us have found that not to be the case. That's one reason why i tried the J74's again. Despite the fact that when i was still using the Wegen picks,the J74's never delivered what the DRs did. However,since J74's are possibly the most popular string out there,all the users can't be wrong can they ?. So,i tried the J74/PT pick combo.& maybe discovered what lots of folk already knew,that with the right pick ('their' choice),that J74's really are a terrific string - when using the 'right' pick,
Ivan