picks - trading tone for speed?

[mommythrice]

I can never settle on which pick I want to play because it seems like I am always trading tone for speed, or the other way around.

I love the sound of my Wegen. I can't remember which one I have; it's like an M-150, but with holes (I don't see it on their website). Anyway, it has very rounded corners and a nice, dark, "bluegrassy" sound. But I can't pick as fast with it. For speed, I like my Bluechip TAD-1R 50 (2 pointy corners & 1 rounded). I can play faster with the pointy corners, but it just doesn't sound as nice. Sometimes I flip it around to the rounded corner for chopping.

I also find I can hold the Wegen better in the summer when I'm sweaty (Texas is HOT) and the Bluechip is better in the winter when my hands are dry.

So, I'm curious... do you all deal with this? Do you trade back-and-forth? Or do you ever settle in one one pick? I know some players that you almost completely round picks - how does that work for speed?

[Adam Sweet]

I have basically 3 picks

1. Grain 2mm - for bluegrass gigs and loud jam sessions with a lot of guitars
2. Jim Dunlop 1.5mm - my favorite pick for most everything
3. Dava "tractor" - for celtic, classical

[OldSausage]

If you are ever faced with a choice between tone and speed, choose tone.

[Mike Bunting]

If you are ever faced with a choice between tone and speed, choose tone.

Absolutely!

[greg_tsam]

I use the pick that performs best in the most effortless way then try to work on the shortcomings. But when I got the BC I put down the Wegen and stuck with it ever since. I have toyed with the idea of changing the bevel, ordering a couple BC's to try out the variety but as far as tone goes I stick with the BC and work around the other issues. I've considered gluing a small dot of sandpaper to help it be stickier in the summer as I'm in Houston, TX and it's high heat and humidity more than it's not.

[Buck]

Choose the pick with the best tone and play with nothing else. After a little while, you'll find that you play faster with it than you did with your previous "fast" pick.

[sachmo63]

I struggled with this for a lonnnnnnnggggg time, then I signed up for lessons with mike marshall from the academy of music site and followed his advise and got a pro-plec and thought for sure I was trading speed for tone but its not true. You get fantastic tone and I had to learn how to play with the new pick.

I sold all my other picks and just play with the pro-plec now....

[norm351]

My Favorite picks, Dawg picks, Goldengate, and D'andra Pro-Plec 1,5mm I take the pro-plec triangle pick and round two of the corners, that makes it a little bigger than their normal tear drop picks, those are my favorites, but I've used others along the way, I've been playing mandolin since I was 10, and I'm 61 now, so I've tried a lot of picks,but I've never used one that cost more than an average meal , and some of these they have out today..well if you want to spend that much go ahead...but it all comes down to what YOU like,and what YOU are comfortable with, and as far as a round one..I like them got some pro-plecs that I've rounded...but it's not new...I got the Idea from Bobby Osborne, when I was about 16, as far as speed...if your pick starts to turn on you, well you have got the same amount all the way around...LOL...I like them just a little bit bigger than a quater...so what ever you pick with...just pick, and have fun at it...Norm

[Ivan Kelsall]

I've just changed from using the Wegen Bluegrass picks,to using a Dunlop 500 1.14mm thick pick.I found one a few days ago,that i must have bought years back.I tried it out & it gives me the same tone as the Wegen,but it's smoother across the strings when picking, & doesn't have the slightly harsh overtones that the Wegen has.It's so good,i ordered a 12 pack, & at just over $7.0 US they've got to be good value,
Ivan

[david blair]

Every few months I get the "which pick" bug, and spend time comparing all sorts of picks. I always fall back to the Dunlop Jazztone 207. You gotta try them!

[Gelsenbury]

I'm sure the tone depends on your mandolin, your strings and your playing style as well as your pick. Personally, I have never found that the heavy, rounded picks popular among Bluegrass players give me better tone (or higher speed). My favourite at the moment is a small Dunlop Jazz pick, which gives me clear tone and enough precision and control. But then I am still at beginner level, and it is all a matter of taste too ...

[blueron]

Specialist pick manufacturers love this sort of imaginary conundrum, since profits in their business are doubtless huge.

Many of the best professional players are performing every day using 50 cent Dunlops. Meanwhile, people around the world imagine they can play better and sound better if only they identify which $30 pick will solve their playing and technical inadequacies overnight.

And in the meantime, the pick makers rub their hands with glee.

[mommythrice]

I wasn't asking "which pick brand" (or cost) as much as pointy vs. rounded. Is there not a general consensus that you can pick faster with a slightly pointy pick? Does anyone think they can play faster with a rounded corner? Or do you choose rounded for tone at the cost of speed?

[lenf12]

Here's what I've been using for the past 14 or 15 years. For me, it provides the best combination of tone and speed. I play with the rounded corner about 98% of the time and use the pointy corners when I want to have a strong, fast attack with a bit more volume and bite.



Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Mike Bunting]

Specialist pick manufacturers love this sort of imaginary conundrum, since profits in their business are doubtless huge.

Many of the best professional players are performing every day using 50 cent Dunlops. Meanwhile, people around the world imagine they can play better and sound better if only they identify which $30 pick will solve their playing and technical inadequacies overnight.

And in the meantime, the pick makers rub their hands with glee.

Are you suggesting that players like Adam Steffey and Chris Thile and many more professional players are deluding themselves by using the $30 picks? Kind of insulting too, even to the people who answered this thread and like the $30 pick.

To stay on topic though, I find that a pointy pick slows me down because I have to dig too deeply to get any tone. With a rounded pick it seems that I don't have to dig as deep to get enough "meat" on the string to draw out the tone.

[blueron]

Are you suggesting that players like Adam Steffey and Chris Thile and many more professional players are deluding themselves by using the $30 picks? Kind of insulting too, even to the people who answered this thread and like the $30 pick..

I am suggesting nothing of the sort. Nor am I insulting anyone by pointing out that many professionals do just great with 50 cent Dunlops. The obsession among amateurs with picks is, in my view, energy wasted. Far better to worry about your scales and arpeggios than fret over what pick is 'best'.

ron

[Marcelyn]

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that rounded vs. pointed tips aren't so much about speed as precision. When playing a fast melody line, it's difficult to be as accurate and clear with a really round pick, but the pointed picks don't give as much depth of tone as you said. My ideal compromise is the rounded triangle picks like the BC TAD60 or the Wegen TF140. The corners are round enough to give good tone, but sharp enough for picking melody lines. Once you've found a favorite pick, it seems counterproductive to me to keep switching back and forth.
Also, one trick I learned here about keeping a slippery pick in my hands is violin rosin. It works great. I wouldn't recommend using it in the beginning when you're learning how to grip the pick, but for extenuating circumstances like hot summer days or sweaty fingers due to stage nerves, it's a great help.

[Trent Crawford]

I`m dealing with this problem myself... Reasonably new to the mandolin i`m loving the tone of my Papa`s pick, using the round edge... i`m finding it harder to play faster lines with the round edge, but for the moment am forcing myself to use it... thinking down the track it will pay off.

I guess this is a whole other kettle of fish, coming from guitar i`m finding myself playing too loudly and am having to settle down and play a lot more focused and controlled to get that nice throaty meat from my mando. She gonna gonna be a long journey this mando one! : )

[greg_tsam]

I am suggesting nothing of the sort. Nor am I insulting anyone by pointing out that many professionals do just great with 50 cent Dunlops. The obsession among amateurs with picks is, in my view, energy wasted. Far better to worry about your scales and arpeggios than fret over what pick is 'best'.

ron

I confess. I use a BC but i really like it. I like it so much I'd even use it if it cost $0.25 but it doesn't so I paid the price it costs. Conversely, I was at a Tim O'Brien concert 2 months ago and asked for a pick for my friend's collection. It was a $0.25 pick but it did have one of the edges sanded away for a custom edge.

[Fretbear]

Discussing the difference in tone between a pointed vs. a rounded edge is only relevant when it is on the same pick. Change the pick and everything changes. I am not going to say what I use, just that I personally have found that the combination of the pick material, it's thickness and it's point (I use and need one) is everything. They all work together, as do tone and speed.
Without full strong tone speed is nothing but a waste of time, and is a vastly overrated musical commodity.

[Mike Snyder]

I really like the shape of the pointier points of the 1R picks from BC and Red Bear and the TF series from Wegen. The shape is something I've really come to require in a pick also and I use the TF 140and 120 on tenor banjo. The Wegen is probably the fastest, thinnest and brightest, the BC in the middle on all counts and getting the most play time, the Red Bear the darkest and the best tone of the three. If I play solo or small ensemble, want max tone or to really emote through my instrument the Red Bear. When it gets really loud and rowdy, the Wegen. The 140 is really thin in comparison and the Red Bear is a slab chunk.

[Bob Clark]

Without full strong tone speed is nothing but a waste of time, and is a vastly overrated musical commodity.

Well stated. I couldn't agree more, and not just for mandolin but other instruments as well!

[Cheryl Watson]

The best picks have tone AND speed; there's no doubt in my mind! But, most of it is up to the player. Talent and technique go a LONG way--much further than chose of ax and pick.

[Pete Summers]

I am suggesting nothing of the sort. Nor am I insulting anyone by pointing out that many professionals do just great with 50 cent Dunlops. The obsession among amateurs with picks is, in my view, energy wasted. Far better to worry about your scales and arpeggios than fret over what pick is 'best'.

ron

If mandolins (and mandolin music) is a hobby, as it is for most of us amateurs, then pondering and discussing anything concerning the instruments, music or mandolin paraphernalia is not wasted time. It's all part of the fun of the hobby.

Undoubtedly time spent practicing scales and arpeggios is useful, but enjoying the other aspects of the hobby, such as considering pick choices, thinking about styles of instruments -- and spending time on this forum -- can contribute to the enjoyment of our chosen avocation. That certainly isn't time wasted.

For professionals, maybe not so much.

[Justus True Waldron]

I used to have this problem, then I got a BC CT55... wasn't entirely sold right off the bat, but I liked it enough to keep playing with it, and have ended up using it as my only pic for the past 4 months or so. Once I got used to it I think that was the best balance of tone, speed, and accuracy I've found. Only problem is that last Sunday I played gospel at an old folks home here with some friends like I've been doing once a month since I was 12... went to jam later that night and realised I had no pick! Turns out it's resting under the bingo machine, I can remember it falling as I was packing up. I'm glad this thread reminded me, I need to call and see if it's still there!

Anyways, at the jam I was forced to go back to my old love - TS picks. However, none of mine are in great shape right now, and my best one is a good deal thicker than my BC was. After 4 months on one pick, change is weird! I was really digging the fatty tone I was getting out again, but having the same issue as you - lack of accuracy. It's not even that I was hitting wrong notes or anything, but it was hard to dial in exact timing, which made playing fast harder.

So that's a really roundabout way of saying that yes, I've always seemed to deal with a trade off of tone vs. speed... but the BC I had was the closest I've come to a perfect compromise. I hope I can find it again, but if I can't I'm going to mess around with bevels on my TS picks, I think with a good point/bevel I could get those close to perfection too.

My motto is play whatever you have and make it sound good... but I'm also a big believer in the difference pics can make!