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Thread: Pick thickness

  1. #1
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    Default Pick thickness

    What pick thickness do you use and why do you use that thickness? Tone, playability, other? Clamdigger

  2. #2

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I shouldn't chime in with the first answer as a mandolin beginner but what the heck. Somewhere in the 1.4-1.5mm neighborhood seems to work well for me.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    John McGann said on his rhythm mando DVD that thick picks drive the strings to get volume, so I switched from a 1.5mm Wegen to to the black Jim Dunlop 2.0mm Jazztone 205 and 207 series. At first it felt like playing with a piece of 1/4" plywood but now when I go back to my 1.5mm Wegen, it feels like I'm using a Fender extra-thin.

    I tried a Stubby a while ago because Anthony Hanigan said that he uses little picks, but they were too tiny for me. The black Jazztone 200 series gives me just about the right purchase.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I've been using a 1.2 pick lately. I think it's a Gator but I'm not sure. It's purple. It seems to give me the tone that I like. I've tried thicker ones but I can't get used to them and I don't think they get the best tone out of my instrument.
    Richard Hutchings

  5. #5
    Destroyer of Mandolins
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I use .5mm large triangles. I like the grip, and the flexibility is important for me in Irish music. I play amplified, so volume is not an issue, and the tone I seek is not the 'High Lonesome' of the Bluegrass enthusiast.
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    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I use Dawg and D'Adrea Pro Plecs (Jazzmando Picks) most often. On my mandolin and string combinations these give me the sound I like the best. Thick picks of different materials will give differing tones too. I'll drill holes in them (like a Wegen) to help with comfort (and speed... love the speed holes).

    Jamie

    I'll use a different pick on my bowlback (often just a Martin Heavy) than I will on my arch/flat tops.
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  7. #7
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    For me, the pick should not bend/flex. And my shape is round.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    Depends on which instrument I'm playing and which strings are on it. I tend to use a lighter pick on my National which has JazzMandos than on my normal instruments which have J74s. On those I use either a 1.0mm or 1.5mm Wegen. There is a difference between the two but it depends how I feel at the time. Personally, I think too many people get hung up by what type of pick should be used with what. In the end, use what you're happy with. Incidentally, I have never got on with Dawgs.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    Hung up? Nah. I'll use any pick that's available if I can't find the one I've been using.
    Richard Hutchings

  10. #10
    Registered User ELSOL102's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I started using a Golden Gate pick...it's very very thick...and I get a much better tone with it. Before I was using the rounded side of a guitar pick that was about .71 and the difference in tone with the pick that is probable 2 or 3 times thicker is astounding. I really like the Golden Gate pick...I also like the Golden Gate case which gives a lot of protection and I can use the strap to throw it over my shoulder. The Golden Gate pick is a large triangular pick with rounded edges...it looks similar to the Dawg pick that David Grisman uses. I would recommend either of these picks. I get a much thicker sound with this thick pick. I found out about this at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival. These picks are about $1 a piece and they are worth it. They are actually 1.50 mm thick go here:
    http://www.bigcitystring.com/pgg.htm
    I've been playing fiddle tunes. Now if I strum the mandolin to sing and not bluegrass chops I might use the rounded edge of a guitar pick not sure yet but for fiddle tunes and bluegrass chop chords I like the Golden Gate!

  11. #11
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    Pro-Plec-1.5mm

  12. #12
    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    The best explanation I have read on the impact of pick shape on pick performance: http://jazzmando.com/tips/archives/000718.shtml
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  13. #13
    Registered User i-vibe's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    i'll use anything from a 1.14 Dunlop Ultex up to a 3.5 Wegen Gypsy and everything in between.

    i'd probably do better from a consistency point by just finding, working and settling down with one and sticking to that...but where's the fun in that?
    just groove, baby!


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  14. #14

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    +1
    Richard Hutchings

  15. #15
    Registered User rsgars's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I have tried and continue to try so many picks that it is getting to the point of being ridiculous. Every now and then I treat myself to a night of "pick tasting" to see if anything changes to my ear or feel.

    For a long time I was a fan of Ultex 1.0. I then switched to the Pro-Plec that Ted sent with a set of Jazzmando strings. I went back to the Ultex for a while, then returned to the Pro-plec, then a Golden Gate. I didn't like the volume from the Golden Gate but I stuck with it because I liked the bevel. It became my pick of choice.

    Last night I received a Dawg and some Wegens. I love the tone of the Dawg but it is a bit large for my taste, size-wise not thickness. I like the thickness. I like the size and speed of the Wegens but actually think I would like thicker ones better than the ones I bought. So, for the time being I will be alternating between those two while throwing in the occasional Pro-Plec and Golden Gate.

    Here's the real irony -- in all of this experimentation, when the mando is plugged in I feel I get the best control and least pick noise from . . . . a medium guitar pick using the rounded corner.

  16. #16
    Registered User Mike Snyder's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    Big triangles for me. Using Wegan Trimus 250 for now and gonna try out a 350 at Winfield, if the vendor has them. Change is the nature of life, so..........things change. I like a dark sound, and thick picks do it for me. Good volume. I used the really round picks for a long time and finally found that they slowed me down. A little point, not a lot, is cleaner and faster for me. Picks, for the most part, are cheap fun. Try a bunch, see what gives the tone and playability yer lookin' for.
    Mike Snyder

  17. #17

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I like those big triangles also. I don't have any right now. Gave my last one away to a dulcimer player. Have to get some more. Claytons are the ones I like.
    Richard Hutchings

  18. #18
    still Lefty & French Philippe Bony's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    Round (left handed bevel) Michel Wegen M200 for me.

  19. #19

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I always seem to come back to the Dawg pic, but I'm always testing. Fat and rounded for me.
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  20. #20
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    As I've said - I can't get on with Dawgs. There is something peculiar about them; I just can't get any sound/volume out of them. Anyone else experience this? I have a couple of Ted's Pro-Plecs but I don't think I've tried them.

  21. #21
    Registered User Elliot Luber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    I think it's easier to start with a thinner pick, but eventually you'll migrate to a thicker pick in search of more tone.

  22. #22
    Registered User 300win's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    My pick, a Blue Chip 60, which is plenty thick, and the reason I like a thick one is ease of play, the best tone, easier to get speed, and in my opinion having a somewhat rounded corner, the only kind of pick that brings out the best in a mandolin.

  23. #23

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    300win,

    Every tried the "Kenny Smith" Blue Chip 60? Talk about a fast pick that gets through the strings in a hurry. But its a tiny little bugger, hard to hold onto with dragging a fingernail into a string once in a while.

  24. #24
    Registered User Elliot Luber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pick thickness

    Are you talking about this new model? I may try one.

  25. #25

    Default Re: Pick thickness

    Quote Originally Posted by Santiago View Post
    Are you talking about this new model? I may try one.
    Nope, this one. Same tiny size but rounder and with the most awesomest (that's a guitar term) wide bevel I've ever seen. Plays slicker'n eel spit on those wound strings.



    P.S. In my previous message I meant to say "...hard to hold onto without dragging a fingernail into a string..." instead of "with".

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