Tenor guitar picks

[West]

As I understand it, many players here moved to guitar from mandolin. I'm the reverse -- broadening from mandolin to tenor guitar. I know that there must be a thousand answers to the question I'm about to ask, but what pick do you use? I'd be interested to hear the specific pick as well as more general answers about what weight you use, etc.

[Brandon Flynn]

I have been wondering the same thing, as I am also looking to broaden my horizons with a tenor, because of what I heard of them on the new tenor section. I would think, since the tenor is single-stringed, more guitar-ish picks would be suitable than the most popular shapes for mando- dawg and rounded triangle. However, I don't play tenor so I don't know. And I know some people will say it is personal preference, but I want to know the general concensus.

[Griffis]

I use regular guitar picks for my tenor, though I fingerpick it a lot as well since I already did a lot of 6-string and ukulele fingerpicking.

My favorite guitar picks are called Hercos. They are now made by Dunlop. They are very nice and have a great grip. I've never had one fly out of my hands and I've never broken or split one.

The Hercos I use are the Flex 50 (gold) and Flex 75 (silver.)

This link has pics of both:

http://www.activemusician.com/item--MC.HE210

These are made of nylon and obviously some people prefer other materials. I have played my mandolin with these and didn't care for them on that instrument, but IMO they work great on guitars. I love them. I have some of these Hercos that I've had for 12 years and which have seen innumerable gigs and jams and they still look pretty much brand new.

[acousticphd]

I also use a guitar pick as I would on a 6-string. These days I use something like a 0.88mm or 1.0 mm rounded triangle, or a standard teardrop where I make the tip less pointy.

[first string]

I use the same pick as I use on Mandolin: the Dunlop Tortex 1.4 big triangle. But I've been thinking I should go lower on the gauge due to the lower string tension and single courses. Maybe just a 1. I'm also curious to try the Wegens due to their excellent reputation on this forum, but I'm not willing to hand over 25 bucks for a pick without trying one first.

[mandolooter]

It depends on what Im playing but I like and use these three most of the time, a John Pearse shaped TS pick that I use both the pointy end and one of the corners, a Cool medium nylon with the pointy end slighty rounded off and one of those Rhino picks. (forget who makes em) Same deal, I round off the point some. The tonal differences seem smaller than on mando and mostly related to thickness instead of material. YEMV

[EdSherry]

For years, I've played guitar and tenor guitar with a Dunlop 1mm "stiff" nylon pick (which, unfortunately, they've quit making - drat!). I used to use the same pick on mando and OM, but switched to the Wegen 1.4mm "bluegrass" pick about a year ago. I find I like the thicker pick on double-course instruments, and the thinner pick on single-strung ones.

[Ken Sager]

I play with pretty heavy guage strings on my tenor so I like to use the stiffest guitar pick I can find. I'll sometimes use my favorite mandolin pick (Tortis XH E shape).

I'll sometimes use the Dunlop 208 jazztone guitar pick with the point.