Another Pick Thread

[Torpedotom]

Is anyone using the little teardrop shaped picks anymore? I bought some Dunlop Prime Tone Sculpted 1.5 picks to try. I drilled some holes in one to see if it would be easier to hold without it turning. Still hard to hold. I found a bunch of different guitar picks I had and found a GraphTech Tusq 1.4 in the bunch. It is a small teardrop and seems to be easier to hold in one position. Still a newb so maybe with practice I'll adapt to the prime Tones.

[misterstormalong]

I've been through a lot of picks in the last year or so. I'm currently using a Prime Tone 1.3 but it's a rounded triangle rather than a tear drop shape. It has a grip pattern on both sides. I've never dropped a pick while playing but I did have one that slipped around.

I used to use thicker plectrums like the Golden Gate but when I started playing melody I found I needed something harder and this Prime Tone suits my playing for chopping and picking, at least at the moment.

[Zach Wilson]

Practice more. You'll get there! Try loosening your grip and relaxing (also, play quiet-easy). It sounds sounds backwards but it will help.

All shapes and sizes of picks used to spin in my hand when I was new. But after a while (lots of practice) playing became easier and picking more effortlessly. When this happens you'll find it easier to relax and loosen your grip.

[Randi Gormley]

I prefer a little tear-drop pick -- but I play melody, so there's that. I have found that blue chip picks (yes, i know!) don't slip in your grip. I own a little tear-drop shaped blue chip jazz pick, sort of a best of both worlds for me. Use whatever pick you like and gives you the sound you want. seriously. your pick choice is yours alone.

[JeffD]

I use the Pick Boy tear-drop heart shaped picks. 0.75 mm I believe. For classical music. They really bring out the brilliance and scintillation that the mandolin is capable of.

[Br1ck]

May as well get it over with and buy a Blue Chip. Like it or not, you will want to know. Buy a few mid priced picks like Wegens too, along with a variety of others. One is bound to feel and sound right to you.

[dhergert]

A person can spend their lifetime trying picks and still never know if they have what they want. I'd suggest learning to pull tone from the mandolin using whatever pick you have first. Once you learn how to pull tone, you will know what to expect so you can can pull tone with any pick. At that point, it's just a matter of seeing which pick does that most easily for you.

Personally, I use a Fender heavy, but that's just me. I've tried BC and a number of others, and keep going back to the Fender Heavy because that's what my hand is comfortable with. And although at first I used them because they are cheap and easy to replace, it's not the cost or convenience anymore. I like how the Fender Heavy subtly molds to the shape of my fingers over time. (Ironically, I'd easily pay the cost of a BC for a Fender Heavy that is already molded to my fingers.)

We are all different (and possibly a little obsessed ).

[lukmanohnz]

I got so used to the larger triangle shaped picks when I began mando that I now use them for guitar as well, but the teardrop 351 shape was my one and only for many, many years. Another cafe member offered up some of these little beauties (2mm thick) on the classifieds a while ago and I really liked the tone from them but the small size was not a great match for my grip. If the OP is interested in trying one out, PM me and I’ll mail one out to you gratis.

[Bill McCall]

The Fender trushell picks are pretty good. And reasonably cheap. You can get one of each weight, medium, heavy and extra heavy for less than 1 BC. I have both, depends on the day what feels and/or sounds best.

[joebloggs]

Good day all! This is my first post here. I received a Kentucky KM505 Artist for Christmas and have been using my Thalia 1.4 wood pick that I use with my acoustics. I find the combination gives me great tone. Love my new instrument!

[LadysSolo]

I use teardrop shaped picks on my bowlbacks and sometimes on my other mandolins. I prefer o.6-0.8 thickness picks, both for mandolin and guitar. I use Blue Chips on my mandolins most of the time. I have some other picks (I like to try picks) I use at times.

[jimmy powells]

Wegen 2.00. Used them for about 12 years now and never found anything better. Tone and Volume.They initially did 1.00 and 1.4 for mandolin but they also do a 2.00 and I very much prefer those. I've tried others but they are the best tone and they never slip with me although I've always held a pick with three fingers.

[Cliff Seruntine]

I was very fond of the Prime Tones, those large triangular ones that come to points on all sides. I still like them a great deal but have been enthralled by the technique of the German mandolin players and have taken to mellower, lower tension strings and softer picks. In that vein, I have become exceedingly fond of the Dava Grip Tips with delrin tips. They are very similar to the famous German Wolle picks, a pick just soft enough to give warm tone without pick noise. The Dava have a similar character for about 1/8th the cost.

[Austin Bob]

For the first 15 years of playing mandolin, I just used slightly thicker, .88mm Dunlop Tortex picks, the same ones I used for my acoustic guitars. They worked for a mostly cross picking style I used with my oval with lighter strings. When I moved to an F with heaver strings, and started to play some bluegrass stuff, I ended up trying a Blue Chip, after reading so much about them.

I didn't know what to buy, but ended up buying a teardrop in the lightest gauge they had. One thing I liked so much about the pick, is that it sticks to my fingers. I NEVER drop one when playing, and never have to readjust my grip like I used to.

I've eventually moved to the CT 55, but interesting enough, I no longer like the teardrop shape for acoustic guitar. I now buy the Dunlop Ultex in a triangle shape at .88mm, much thicker than the old .50mm picks I used to play with.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the Blue Chips have altered my picking style, and therefore the picks I use.

[Garry Nance]

I thought I was the only one that has problems holding on to picks. I've tried drilling holes. Tried one big hole. Thumb picks are terrible to try to pick anything. But what works the best for me is crushed fiddle rosin. Mash it up into powder. Take a knife and score the pick real good. Place a pile on the pick. Heat it with a cig lighter held upside down. When the rosin melts and starts to bubble mash it flat with your thumb. It should stick on there real good. When it starts to get slick again just scratch the rosin with your thumbnail and it gets sticky again. It really fixed my problem. I carry a small medicine bottle with powdered rosin in my case. I hope it helps you too

[Ivan Kelsall]

Bill Monroe had it - ''Lick 'n pick''. I used the 'Monster Grips' stick on pads for a while & they do work very well - until your fingers get a tad greasy,then they're just like anything else. Keeping your fingers free from skin oil is important ,& i wipe my finger tips & pick with a 'facial wipe',the sort of thing that airlines hand out. I find that i play longer without the pick starting to slip,when it does,i wipe my fingers again - cheap & easy !,
Ivan