Post a pic of your picks [Archive]

pjlama

Feb-08-2008, 12:34am

I started playing mandolin less than two years ago after playing bass for 25 years. All I needed for bass was my fingers. Playing mandolin has been quite the education on how much a pick changes your tone and playing. I've acquired lots of picks, once I find one I like I buy a bunch just in case and then move on to something else. Anyway, here's just a smattering of picks in the box but a good cross section. I omitted duplicates, or same pick different guage. I use the Wegen TF120 on mostly but have decided my newly acquired jazzmando pick works best on my MM. I can't wait to see what you guys who've been playing forever have to show us.

craig.collas

Feb-08-2008, 5:27am

Hi
I found the sound was changed when I shaped the point as in the red bear picks. That made a huge difference to the sound of my dawg pick. Still experementing.
Craig

AlanN

Feb-08-2008, 6:56am

Nice collection there. I like cell A2 http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

MikeEdgerton

Feb-08-2008, 8:29am

My collection has become really boring. I use the same brand and size pick for everything.

Ace

Feb-08-2008, 8:37am

I too have tried a lot of different pics but the best one is one I have made myself. I can't keep enough of them around when I go to jams and such. Everyone wants one! Takes me about 10 minutes to produce! I did JUST receive a new pic from Pics and stones made from Brazilian Agate. A big difference in sound from all the others and Imight say it's a little cleaner sounding! I DO like the REAL shell too! LOL

pjlama

Feb-08-2008, 11:11am

Boring or not let's see them.

Mandolusional

Feb-08-2008, 12:16pm

Here are mine, but I only use the lefty TF140 one on the bottom right.

JeffD

Feb-08-2008, 12:51pm

Run away, run away!

MikeEdgerton

Feb-08-2008, 12:56pm

We are reaching the limits of good taste folks. Let me rephrase that, we have surpassed the limits of good taste.

pjlama

Feb-08-2008, 1:01pm

I like that pick, good technique http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

JeffD

Feb-08-2008, 1:14pm

I don't use anything you haven't seen before. Indeed my favorites are pictured here already.

I would like to see some of the more interesting picks the classical players use. I am a classical neophyte, but I find that my bowlback sounds the best with a good old Fender Heavy. This came as a little bit of a shock, because I had become something of a pick snob. But there it is.

For everything else I still use the Red Bear style C, heavy with bevel, and the Wegen TF140, with the Fender Heavy as a distant third.

I have tried the Dunlop Tortex 1.0 mm, you know, the powder blue ones. I really tried to like them, because I was given a handfull, but they are not to my taste.

I know that pick collecting is becoming quite a popular hobby, and I can feel the pull, but I MUST resist, I must. I have enough hobbies and interests.

Ted Eschliman

Feb-08-2008, 2:02pm

I use an old, tried and true, traditional pick. #Really, though any pick would do, cause it's all in the grip, as the photo demonstrates.

Jim
Sorry Jim. Picture just a little bit overboard; not supportive of thread topic.

Chris Biorkman

Feb-08-2008, 4:05pm

Jim, you should pick your battles. Pun intended. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Austin Koerner

Feb-08-2008, 4:39pm

Great thread, I can't stop buying picks.

I have more, but this is what I use most.

in no particular order, Jazzmando, M150, HOFI ivoroid (M150 shape), TF140, two V-picks, and a Dawg pick. My main pick is the M150, I love the other ones alot too, but not the dawg pick.

JimRichter

Feb-08-2008, 5:14pm

We are reaching the limits of good taste folks. Let me rephrase that, we have surpassed the limits of good taste.
One person's Jerry Lewis is another person's Lenny Bruce.

There's no accounting for taste.

Jim

MikeEdgerton

Feb-08-2008, 5:20pm

One person's Jerry Lewis is another person's Lenny Bruce.
That must be why I can't stand Jerry and own Lenny's autobiography. There's a time and place for Jerry and a time and place for Lenny. I do have to say it was a nice hat you had on.

AlanN

Feb-08-2008, 6:35pm

From a friend's CD cover...

Gail Hester

Feb-08-2008, 7:12pm

Here are just a few of my husbands picks.

Bruce Evans

Feb-08-2008, 7:34pm

This is just what is laying on the top of my dresser.
http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/tocotodo/DSCF0946.jpg

JGWoods

Feb-08-2008, 7:55pm

A big mix.

MikeEdgerton

Feb-08-2008, 8:04pm

You know, this seems like a glimpse into people's lives http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

JEStanek

Feb-08-2008, 8:06pm

I arranged mine. I only use the four from the top left mostly. Mainly the Dawg, then the big Pro-Plecs.

Yes, those are Folk of the Wood pics. I had a Café member thoughtfully send me those. I've not used them but they always get a smile when I see them.

Jamie

Jonathan James

Feb-08-2008, 8:10pm

Here is my pick *collection*....I found this Plano fishing tackle box to be a good storage/organizer for these.

AlanN

Feb-08-2008, 8:25pm

My goodness, y'all have scads of picks! I have maybe 30 lying around, + a bag full o' da 'specials'.

pjlama

Feb-08-2008, 9:57pm

Jamie, I dig the Philadelphia Folk Fest egg shaker. I have some great some great memories of that event.

Plamen Ivanov

Feb-09-2008, 5:32am

I would like to see some of the more interesting picks the classical players use.
There was a great thread in the classical section of the old Message Board about classical picks - with pictures, history, self-making instructions, dimensions, how to hold them, etc. I think i have saved the file and it could be recovered, but i'm far from home now and it will take time. Here are some of the picks that are with me...

senior72

Feb-10-2008, 5:40am

This is not all that I have, but a good representation. a mixture of guitar, banjo, ukulele and mandolin. The 6 white picks in the lower right corner, are self made from bone and are my second favorite picks. My all time favorite picks are the 2 black picks just above the 6 white. They are also bone.

Jim MacDaniel

Feb-10-2008, 10:54pm

Here are my current and past favorites, with the 1.14 Tomastik as my most-favorite-at-the-moment. Even though the Tomastik is more narrow than the rounded triangles I usally favor, I feel I have better control with it, and when picking faster it feels more precise and sounds cleaner, and I get a better tremelo with it as well.

thefiddlemon

Feb-11-2008, 11:36am

Sorry about the last post... I realized that a picture of those types of antiques may be questionable. So here is what I use to play with. Please keep in mind that they are antiques!

craig.collas

Mar-01-2008, 3:48am

Hi
Plami's picks the elongated clear plastic ones remind me of the oud picks I have seen in the Middle East. They have a very different technique, flexable pick and a lot of contact area on the hand.

TeleMark

Mar-01-2008, 10:39am

Was there some odd pick-related controversy in this thread? I'm feeling a little schizophrenic trying to follow the conversation.

earthsave

Mar-01-2008, 10:44am

pjlama

Mar-01-2008, 12:46pm

300win

Mar-01-2008, 3:18pm

Ain't got any pictures, but I do have about 12 in a ring box in my case which by the way is a good way to keep picks in your case. Only use three of them, but really only one. It is a ancient shell pick that is very thick that is in a semi-triangle shape { the corners are rounded off a bit by me}, as are the other two top three. I just got some new picks yesterday to try. One was a very heavy Fender semi-triangle that sounds ok, but nothing compares to my old ones. I've got "Dawgs", "Golden Gate", even tried some of bone, and ebony which by the way really "sucked". To me nothing compares to real shell. Yes I know that it is against the law now, and I don't condone getting black market stuff, but I've had these picks for a very long time. The tone you get with them can not compare with anything else, at least in my opinion.

Ace

Mar-02-2008, 10:46pm

I would have to agree 300win! I have tried a LOT of different pics and I'm sold on the REAL thing!

Jim MacDaniel

Mar-08-2008, 5:45pm

The Dawg is stock, I have a pile of them. I'd find the pick du jor and buy plenty only to discover something better. Anybody need some Dawgs?
I think for me at this point it's gotta be a triangle but the material is dependent on the mando.
Mine is stock too, but is it just me, or are some of the Dawgs such as PJ's and mine more asymmetrical than others' pictured? (By design they are supposed to have three different shaped tips, but some seem more extreme than others -- did their design vary over time, or is it just a trick of the camera?)

Ken Olmstead

Mar-09-2008, 11:18am

jimmacd, Dawg picks, I think most versions are designed with 3 different points and yield nice variations in tone. I think what is freaking you out is the latest incarnation, The Dawg II. It has a more pronounced point than the older ones do.

Mike Crocker

Mar-09-2008, 12:23pm

A long time ago Master Ted of JazzMando sent me some three corner 1mm Dunlop Ultex picks which I have drilled 7 little grip holes in exactly like the Wegen. Much less expensive than the Wegen, and with just a little "dressing" with fine abrasive, sounds wonderful.

Peace, Mooh.

jim simpson

Mar-25-2008, 10:55pm

I found a variety of picks of which most I no longer use. I found one from the long ago closed Pickin' Parlour of Wheeling, WV.

pjlama

Mar-25-2008, 11:05pm

That golden gate is almost a circle, you must like that one or am I seeing things?

F5G WIZ

Mar-25-2008, 11:43pm

Wow I feel inadequate now! I play with a wegan 150, one is always in the strings of the mandolin and one is always in my wallet. I think I might have a Golden Gate layin around somewhere. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

pjlama

Mar-26-2008, 12:15am

Well more than two is a collection.

Soupy1957

Mar-26-2008, 4:55am

Based on SOME of the collections shown here, I'd guess that SOME of you are folks who tend to loose a ton of picks......(a "tackle box" yet?!)
-Soupy1957

Plamen Ivanov

Mar-26-2008, 5:21am

Hi
Plami's picks the elongated clear plastic ones remind me of the oud picks I have seen in the Middle East. They have a very different technique, flexable pick and a lot of contact area on the hand.
Sorry for the late response...

The elongated plastic pics are "Roman pics" or "Embergher-Ranieri" pics. More about them and how to make one by yourself - here (http://www.embergher.com/index.php?id=56).

Best,
Plamen

jim simpson

Mar-26-2008, 5:08pm

"That golden gate is almost a circle, you must like that one or am I seeing things"? - PJ

I made a trip to Mandolin Bros. early in my mandolin playing days. Larry Wexer was still working there at the time; he noticed my tremolo (or attempt at it) and suggested I try a Dawg style pick to develop it. I think the Golden Gate pick must have been used a lot while I did just that. The funny thing is once I had the technique down, it didn't seem to matter what kind of pick I'd select, I could still tremolo. I now prefer and only use the big Dunlop Ultex 1.14 for both mandolin and guitar.
Jim

pjlama

Mar-26-2008, 6:08pm

I'd imagine your tremolo is fairly developed by now http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Brad Weiss

Mar-27-2008, 5:47am

All of mine here. The ones I've used regularly are: Ultex 1/14, Gator grips 1.5, Dunlop 207s, ProPlecs, and now I use the Wegen CF 140 exclusively. Coupla V-picks, too, which feel as nice as any plectrum. Oh, I played the Big Stubby when I had a Djangolin.

Ben Milne

Sep-02-2009, 6:00am

here you go... the white slips are all names and logos, bags are doubles for swapsies, taketh from the cup of stock for players and the
magnetic clear lid for popular gig picks...

i don't think any real devil's tooth used in P.O.D...

http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/kk106/enginearing/100_2472.jpg

terzinator

Sep-02-2009, 10:15am

I use these two. I got the thicker one (TPR-60) for mandolin after owning the TD-50 for guitar. I shaped one point of the 60 to make it less beveled and more rounded (keeping two of the points as stock). Jury's still out on it. I'll be playing the mando and think, hey, this is nice tone, and I'll look down, and it'll be the thinner 50 in my hand. So at some point I might get another 50 in the larger size.

http://www.toosmoto.com/images/misc/bluechips.jpg

sachmo63

Sep-02-2009, 12:21pm

I love the cafe', I think i'm the weirdest guy on the planet then I read posts like this.

Thanks for making me feel better.

S

terzinator

Sep-02-2009, 4:26pm

if it's any consolation, you're slightly less weird than those of us who actually posted photos.

Josh Kaplan

Sep-02-2009, 6:35pm

Where can you get Thomastik picks?

-Josh

Here are my current and past favorites, with the 1.14 Tomastik as my most-favorite-at-the-moment. Even though the Tomastik is more narrow than the rounded triangles I usally favor, I feel I have better control with it, and when picking faster it feels more precise and sounds cleaner, and I get a better tremelo with it as well.

Ben Milne

Sep-02-2009, 8:08pm

[QUOTE=terzinator;709099]I use these two. I got the thicker one (TPR-60) for mandolin after owning the TD-50 for guitar. I shaped one point of the 60 to make it less beveled and more rounded (keeping two of the points as stock). Jury's still out on it. I'll be playing the mando and think, hey, this is nice tone, and I'll look down, and it'll be the thinner 50 in my hand. So at some point I might get another 50 in the larger size.

so the blue chips are easy medium to shape?