Results 1 to 17 of 17

Thread: V-picks

  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    49

    Default V-picks

    The ads on the cafe homepage are effective I guess. I can’t bring my self to spend ~$30 on a bluechip but $5-15 I can indulge. Who uses them or has tried them? What models?

  2. The following members say thank you to mandos&turtles for this post:


  3. #2
    Plinkity,Plinkity Hillsdale Leroy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Okinawa, Japan
    Posts
    65

    Default Re: V-picks

    I love my V-picks. Right now I am using the Lite Traditional model. I can use the same pick for guitar and mandolin. The material that the V pick is made of makes it very easy to keep ahold of.
    Because mine has eight, does that make it twice as cool as a ukulele?

  4. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    49

    Default Re: V-picks

    Thanks! T think I'm gonna try the pointed medium and the jazz mando II, i'll look up that model

  5. #4
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Kalamazoo, MI.
    Posts
    7,487

    Default Re: V-picks

    Jalapeño has been my go to since I won a really cool set from the cafe!
    Thanks,Scott!
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

  6. #5
    Mando-Afflicted lflngpicker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    So Cal
    Posts
    2,239
    Blog Entries
    6

    Default Re: V-picks

    I have tried a number of the V-Picks. The one I like best for the mandolin is the Saga-- it is a large triangle pick with rounded corners in the 1.5 thickness. Looks like this: https://v-picks.com/shop/saga/

  7. #6
    Registered User fentonjames's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Fenton, Missouri USA
    Posts
    378

    Default Re: V-picks

    I've used V-picks for a few years.

    But, I just switched to Wegen.


    1935 Gibson A-1 Wide mandolin
    Late 1800's Unbranded German fiddle

  8. The following members say thank you to fentonjames for this post:


  9. #7
    Orrig Onion HonketyHank's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Beaverton, OR, USA
    Posts
    1,778
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: V-picks

    I get a lot of string noise from the V-Picks I have tried. Maybe it is my technique, but I don't get that noise from other picks.
    New to mando? Click this link -->Newbies to join us at the Newbies Social Group.

    Just send an email to rob.meldrum@gmail.com with "mandolin setup" in the subject line and he will email you a copy of his ebook for free (free to all mandolincafe members).

    My website and blog: honketyhank.com

  10. The following members say thank you to HonketyHank for this post:


  11. #8

    Default Re: V-picks

    Shop the classifieds for a Blue Chip, usually $25. If you don't think it's worth it, sell it for $25.

    I now have two, but I have many more Wegens. I like to have a pick for every instrument. You just need to try everything. Some like Fender heavy picks, some various Dunlops, others like BCs, Red Bears and other exotica. The traveling pick collection would be good for you too.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  12. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Bavaria
    Posts
    34

    Default Re: V-picks

    I've tried different V-Picks on the mandolin and found they produced too much string noise as they are quite thick. That is, until I found the Tremolo P, which is only 1.00 mm - I haven't used another one since (three years now)! I absolutely love it!

  13. #10
    Registered User sblock's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Redwood City, CA
    Posts
    2,335

    Default Re: V-picks

    Nothing against V-picks, but wonder why you can't bring yourself to spend $35 on a BlueChip pick when you've already spent vastly more than that on your mandolin, in the first place, in all likelihood? Also, the market for used BlueChip picks is very solid, since these things almost never wear out: if you don't like your pick, you can sell it easily for $25, so you're only out $10. Also, if you're even more stingy with your money, you can buy a used BlueChip in the first place for $25, and later sell it for the same price if you don't like it, as Br1ck pointed out. So there is no real price advantage with a V-pick versus a BlueChip if your only goal is to try them out. Also, as musicology wrote, BlueChip picks tend to produce less string noise than V-picks, and they are at least as fast off the strings.

  14. The following members say thank you to sblock for this post:


  15. #11
    Registered User almeriastrings's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Almeria, Spain
    Posts
    5,442
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default Re: V-picks

    I tried the V-pick. Did not like at all. First preference: Blue Chip. Second preference: Primetone. Third Preference: Pro plec. Very much a personal taste thing, though.
    Gibson F5 'Harvey' Fern, Gibson F5 'Derrington' Fern
    Distressed Silverangel F 'Esmerelda' aka 'Maxx'
    Northfield Big Mon #127
    Ellis F5 Special #288
    '39 & '45 D-18's, 1950 D-28.

  16. #12
    Registered User mandobassman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Delran, NJ
    Posts
    2,921

    Default Re: V-picks

    Quote Originally Posted by HonketyHank View Post
    I get a lot of string noise from the V-Picks I have tried. Maybe it is my technique, but I don't get that noise from other picks.
    I have tried several models of V-Picks. They are one of the noisiest picks I have ever used. There are some qualities about them I like, but they not only are very scratchy-sounding, in my opinion, but they are very inconsistent. I had purchased 4 or 5 of each model I tried. Each one of the same model had a different sound. Even the 3 points of a triangle pick all sounded different. I still have one of the V-Picks I bought. I get it out every once in a while just for variety. Its a large triangle and two of the points are somewhat bright but the third edge is horribly bright.
    I pretty much gave up on acrylic picks since I had the same experience with Gravity Picks.
    Larry Hunsberger

    2013 J Bovier A5 Special w/ToneGard
    D'Addario FW-74 flatwound strings
    1909 Weymann&Sons bowlback
    1919 Weymann&Sons mandolute
    Ibanez PF5
    1993 Oriente HO-20 hybrid double bass
    3/4 guitar converted to octave mandolin

  17. #13
    Registered User mandobassman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Delran, NJ
    Posts
    2,921

    Default Re: V-picks

    Quote Originally Posted by mandos&turtles View Post
    The ads on the cafe homepage are effective I guess. I can’t bring my self to spend ~$30 on a bluechip but $5-15 I can indulge. Who uses them or has tried them? What models?
    The difference between Blue Chip and V-Picks is night and day. Blue Chip has about the smoothest edge surface I have ever seen on a pick, while the V-Picks are very rough and inconsistent. Same with pick noise. Blue Chip-virtually no pick noise while V-Pick has lots of pick noise, or "chirp" as some have called it.
    Larry Hunsberger

    2013 J Bovier A5 Special w/ToneGard
    D'Addario FW-74 flatwound strings
    1909 Weymann&Sons bowlback
    1919 Weymann&Sons mandolute
    Ibanez PF5
    1993 Oriente HO-20 hybrid double bass
    3/4 guitar converted to octave mandolin

  18. The following members say thank you to mandobassman for this post:


  19. #14

    Default Re: V-picks

    I also found V-picks very chirpy and also extremely slippery. I guess they're supposed to become grippier as they get warm but I never experienced that.

    I'm currently using Primetones but I also like plain old Tortex with a home-cut bevel. For guitar I've been experimenting with Herco thumbpicks that are shaped like a flat pick, and they're excellent for control but terrible for strumming.

  20. The following members say thank you to DevanBennett for this post:


  21. #15
    Registered User mandobassman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Delran, NJ
    Posts
    2,921

    Default Re: V-picks

    Quote Originally Posted by sblock View Post
    Nothing against V-picks, but wonder why you can't bring yourself to spend $35 on a BlueChip pick when you've already spent vastly more than that on your mandolin...
    I see this over and over again in Blue Chip threads. People that spent two or three thousand dollars on a mandolin complaining about $35 for a pick. Be glad you don't play a quality violin. Top quality bows sell for thousands of dollars. The pick is a tool to achieve the sound you want. If it takes a additional $35 to get that tone, so be it. It's well worth it.
    Larry Hunsberger

    2013 J Bovier A5 Special w/ToneGard
    D'Addario FW-74 flatwound strings
    1909 Weymann&Sons bowlback
    1919 Weymann&Sons mandolute
    Ibanez PF5
    1993 Oriente HO-20 hybrid double bass
    3/4 guitar converted to octave mandolin

  22. The following members say thank you to mandobassman for this post:


  23. #16

    Default Re: V-picks

    The Jazz Mando is my default pick for mandolin. I have an irrationally large collection of picks. When I find one I really like, I buy several as back-ups. I have a lifetime supply of Jazz Mandos. I concur with the comments about variability in tone from one pick to the next. I think it has to do with significant variation in thickness and bevels in these picks. I am a bevel and point shape tweaker. I have a set of sanding and polishing pads made for lapidary use. I polish my picks to dial in tone and dial out string chirp. I have found that I can make radical changes to pick tone with these alterations. I also concur with mandobassman’s comments about pricey picks. I expect I have several hundred dollars invested in my pick collection, accumulated over 40+ years.
    "Well, I don't know much about bands but I do know you can't make a living selling big trombones, no sir. Mandolin picks, perhaps..."

  24. #17

    Default Re: V-picks

    Quote Originally Posted by mandobassman View Post
    I see this over and over again in Blue Chip threads. People that spent two or three thousand dollars on a mandolin complaining about $35 for a pick. Be glad you don't play a quality violin. Top quality bows sell for thousands of dollars. The pick is a tool to achieve the sound you want. If it takes a additional $35 to get that tone, so be it. It's well worth it.
    Your violin bow also doesn't disappear if you drop it, or leave it on your amp, or it got snagged when you pulled out your keys, or you accidentally sent it through the wash, or....

    Plus, how many violinists buy "top quality bows?" Wouldn't a better question be: how much does the average fiddle player pay for a bow, and how long is it expected to last?

    Do they sell violin bows in 12-packs?

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •