The Traveling Pick Sampler - Anyone Interested?

[jtv]

Have now had an hour or two of playing with them (so far mandolin only, plan to also test on mandocello and guitar).

So far mostly what I've determined is that I'm not a good enough player or listener to tell a significant difference between all the picks. I definitely know that pick choice is important though as some of them (and some of mine) just seem to not work.

It is interesting that I was not a big fan of 2 of the 3 picks I picked up before this but have liked almost all of the dozen or so I've tried from the sampler.

[Chris Daniels]

Evening all,

I've been watching this thread to see how things have been going and looks like all is good. However, there are a couple of updates I've promised that I've been too busy to take on and it's time for me to get back on that horse.

First of all, for my contributions to Sampler #1 I searched for a variety of materials and shapes that were not already well-represented. I ended up adding 4 each of the following:

Fender 346 Triangle Heavy
Dunlop Tortex .73 Yellow. (Thanks to Caleb for the suggestion)
Clayton Duraplex Delrin Rounded Triangle 1.14 mm
D'Andrea 358 Teardrop Celluloid Jazz Shell Heavy

Next, here are my top 18 picks from Sampler #1

I had to find some way to organize my preferences and by shape ended up being the easiest, which is how I ended up with 18 as a nice round number. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the whole thing was I could actually use and like pointed and/or triangle-shaped picks, but the exact shape and material makes all the difference.



Rounded (my preferred style)

1. Dunlop Primetone 1.3 Semi-Round: An easy choice since this is my current #3 after my near-identically shaped BC SR50 and Wegen M150. The affordable backup for all my mandolins.
2. Wegen Rounded: The pick that started this sampler and for good reason. Excellent feel and playability. Good volume like all Wegens. I'll be picking one of these up in the near future.
3. Jim Dunlop 'Manually Sanded': A one-of-a-kind pick with one-of-a-kind tone and feel.
4. Dawg: A classic. C'mon, it's a Dawg. Another for the purchase list.
5. D'Andrea ProPlec: Another Cafe favorite. Easy to see why. Nice tone but a little lacking in volume for me.
6. Gravity Axis Std 1.5: Not a huge fan of the tone, but one of the easiest picks to play out of the whole lot. Grip is unsurpassed.

Triangle

1. Hawk SB: Wow, an excellent pick. Great volume and tone, easy to grip and good options due to different tips. I'll be buying one for sure.
2. Buffalo horn: I've tried a number of horn picks before and been underwhelmed. This was a great all around pick and I'll probably never find another like it.
3. Bluechip CT 55: No it didn't make me Thile, but I liked it better this time around. Won't buy one but wouldn't turn one down.
4. Clayton Duraplex Delrin Rounded Triangle 1.14 mm: One of my contributions and of the four I added my favorite. Easy to grip, easy to pick, and a tone unlike most of the others. I think it's the only Delrin pick in the bunch so that is probably why it stands out.
5. Dunlop Primetone 1.5 Triangle no grip: I had an extra one with grip lying around so I replaced the one that had gone missing but this one confirmed I prefer the Primetones without grip. It also reinforced my opinion that PT's are a great choice for those who don't want to fork out for a BC. This one is so close to a CT55 it's unbelievable.
6. Fender Heavy: Another one I added. The standard shape of these picks was the breakout star for Sampler #2 and the triangle shape should be no different on this sampler. This style was actually my first preferred pick and I still grab one every now and again to remind myself I could have saved a ton of $$ and just stuck with it and been perfectly happy. A great all-around pick.

Standard

1. Clifford Essex "Buffy" horn: Second most surprising pick for me. First because of the material (as mentioned above I've had less than great luck with buffalo horn) and second the shape. Perhaps the sharpest point in the pile but still easy to play, with clear tone and good volume. Will be seeking to add one of these to my personal inventory.
2. Dunlop 207: Good tone and the rounded tip made all the difference for me in playability, but it was just a little too small for my taste.
3. Chicken Pick: 3rd most surprising pick. The tone was rather thin, but the playability was excellent. It was almost as though I had become a shredder, knocking out licks at the speed of light. If the tone had been there I would be unstoppable.
4. Planet Waves Nylpro: The most surprising pick of the while shebang. The one that changed my mind about my not being able to play pointed picks. Smooth and quick picking with an unusual but not horrible tone. Not really a mandolin pick which is why it's down on the list.
5. Dunlop Tortex 1.5 Purple: The last of these added to this sampler by Timbofood. Hope this one sticks around because it definitely belongs. Nice picks for mando, especially from the shoulder.
6. Dunlop 204: Double the size of this pick and it might just become a strong contender for a top 5 favorite.

Lastly, I'll be updating the recipient list in another post to follow.

C.

[Chris Daniels]

Don't miss my post above but here are the updated recipient lists. There were a number of new pickers that had sent requests and some of the others needed to be shuffled to add some fairness. If anyone has a complaint about where I've placed them, has a better way to organize the two lists, or you've been left out, please let me know:

Sampler I

jtv - Current holder of Sampler 1
Lowlands Blue
henryswift
Popolopolos
Mando Barber
John Garcia
MontanaMatt
Paul Busman

Sampler II

mtm - Current holder of Sampler 2
Kennyz55
John Garcia
MontanaMatt
GASguy
Elron
Trebor Renklauf
RFMando
Kennyz55
henryswift
Mando Barber

C.

[Kalasinar]

A very comprehensive run-down of picks Chris. I really enjoy reading this thread. I think I'm going to look about getting some Fender Heavy picks. And the Clayton Duraplex Delrin sounds worth a purchase as well, I'm intrigued.

Also glad to see some love for the Clifford Essex 'Buffy' pick. CE sent one to me as a freebie when I purchased a Wegen TF140 from them. Their standard practice seems to be to include some free picks when placing orders, which is a neat way to please customers and in my case, make them spend more! They sent that Buffy pick and, having been disappointed by buffalo horn picks before, I wasn't expecting much. When I tried it I was genuinely surprised. I bought more and keep one in each case. Very pointy and thick picks. Unusual for me as I prefer large triangles, but I love 'em.

[RFMando]

Hey! MTM and I had communicated about a quick trip from Wi to MN on Sampler #2....however, I'm patient if this needs to be reshuffled then I'll wait....

RF

[Chris Daniels]

Hey! MTM and I had communicated about a quick trip from Wi to MN on Sampler #2....however, I'm patient if this needs to be reshuffled then I'll wait....

RF

Hey Rob!

If you already have the next shipment worked out it's fine with me. Just trying to keep things moving on to those who haven't had a shot at either but my sorting was random and late in the game. This will update the list to:

Sampler II

mtm - Current holder of Sampler 2
RFMando
Kennyz55
John Garcia
MontanaMatt
GASguy
Elron
Trebor Renklauf
henryswift
Mando Barber

[RFMando]

Thx all, much appreciated! RF

[mtm]

Alrighty ... the world's greatest golfers have left Wisconsin, and so has Sampler #2 !!!! It is in the mail and on it's way to RF in the great state of Minnesota.

Really fun time with the picks, and it is really interesting to sample so many and hear how much of a difference a pick makes.

Great reviews by others, but I've learned I like the large sizes, and a "crisp" sound. I'm liking my Primetone 1.5, and found the Dunlop ULTEX and V-Pick Jazz Mando to be in my sweet spot. The Wegan is nice too but a bit mellower. And, I gave the BlueChip a lot of time but it was not my favorite ... I thought the Clayton 1.52 matched up well with the BC for a lot less money. And, the wood chip (wooden chip?) was actually pleasing.

If you aren't on the list, sign up because it was eye opening to sample them all.

[mandobassman]

I'm really wanting to try the Hawk Pick but I wonder how outrageous the shipping would be for one pick. Has anyone bought one?

[lflngpicker]

Larry, I haven't heard of the Hawk. I will do some looking. Why does it appeal to you? Thanks, Dan

[Kalasinar]

I'm really wanting to try the Hawk Pick but I wonder how outrageous the shipping would be for one pick. Has anyone bought one?

Riff City Guitar Outlet sell Hawk Picks in the US. I can't seem to find the Simon Brady Signature Pick in their stock though. Could be worth messaging them and expressing your interest for one. If there is enough demand it might be worth their while to stock it.

[mandobassman]

Thanks for the info. I checked the site and it looks as though they don't carry any triangular picks. I might contact them and ask. Can't hurt.

[mandobassman]

Larry, I haven't heard of the Hawk. I will do some looking. Why does it appeal to you? Thanks, Dan

They're made of casein like Red Bear and a few others. I love the tone from that material but the Red Bear picks are nearly impossible to get and some of the others don't carry a shape or thickness I like. The Hawk Simon Brady model looks like one I'd like to try. Only problem is they are in the UK and I don't want to pay twice the price in shipping.

Here is a link to Hawk Picks if you're interested.

https://hawkpicks.co.uk/

Unfortunately, the Hawk was added to the sampler just after I had it.

[mandobassman]

Hense is another pick I want to try but haven't got around to it yet. Similar to the Hawk. Made in Germany. Cotton Music in Nashville carries them, but they are not listed on their website. You have to call and ask.

This is the one I want to order.

http://www.happyturtlepick.de/?p=46

Artisan Guitars in Franklin, TN also carries them.

https://artisanguitars.com/hense-tri...k-14mm-id-9835

[Chris Daniels]

I too was very intrigued by the Hawk SB pick and would like to own one.

Just a thought: Perhaps we can coordinate a group buy to save on shipping and then distribute them for shipping of <$1 apiece once they make it to the states?

C.

[RFMando]

Picks arrived safely from WI - thx MTM! I'll give these a good workout this weekend and have them out the door to Kennyz55 early next week, thank you all! RF

[RFMando]

Pick Sampler #2

Very Nice:
Clayton as usual lots of bang for buck!

Wegens all are great as usual think I need to get the BG one! M200 really feels so nice in hand just not a banjo killer on mando...but smooth like George Benson on guitar....

V-Pick Jazz Mando, finally a V-pick I really like such a cool company but have never bonded w/these...this might be the one

CT55 Bluechip - still my holy grail in the case and man it sounds good, grips good etc. Maybe it can't be beat? but is it 30+ dollars better...gulp...

Surprises:
Weed pick? Nice volume, if awkward grip...

Gravity Pick Classic .60 super thin; super loud, WOW! surprised I love it but I Do! Striker XL pretty nice also!

JT's Style 4 great volume for style of pick just a little slippery of a grip for me...

Herdim? Thin red triangle; looks like one I'd hate but wow! I like it...what IS this?! Anyone have an extra they'd trade something for?

Apitius picks nice classic pick for guitar nice look to them but a little small and slippery for me...

Ying Yang pick, wow! haven't seen one of these since maybe 1985 Rising Force tour when a buddy had one stuck to his forehead after a boot kick of the pick, would never use this on mando but I'm sure it would burn it down on a strat!

Clunker/Just Not for me:
Big rubber picks; great feeling grip/shape-mold but feels like hangs on strings even on bass, guitar, etc.

Red D'Andrea triangle .60 wanted to like it but too slippery in the hand

Eric Johnson mini pick....man I love EJ! TONE for days but this pick is just too small and doesn't he use the rounded end...almost like playing w/side of your thumb so small

Well there ya go after more trial and error, top 3 from this batch for me beyond my still champion CT55 is...the weird Herdim red triangle, the Wegen BG pick and the M200

I'll have this in the mail manana headed over to Kennyz55

Thx again all for doing this! -RF

**Bottom five picks I've added to general population picks, thx again!**

[RFMando]

On its way to Kennyz55 via USPS this a.m. - thx again all! RF

[jtv]

Well my (too long) time with the pick sampler has ended. Sorry for taking so long and great thanks to all those who have contributed picks!

When I first got the pick sampler I was barely able to tell the difference between picks other than clickiness on the strings, vague feelings in my hand, and "pointy ones can tremolo a bit easier". After a few weeks of playing with a bunch of different picks and trying to hear differences I think I am now much more conscious of the tone I am getting out of them. It's still fairly vague different impressions, but hey, improvement! Definitely figured out some preferences for picks (around the 1.3-1.5mm range, really don't like the thicker ones because they click on the strings too much, wood picks were quite mediocre for the most part).

Here are the top 6 picks I ended up liking.



The Gravity picks just seem like nice, solidly made picks that I really like the thickness/style of. Their "master finish" unpolished edge gave a really interesting texture to the sound. Similarly with the Primetones (for those it really depended on the day whether I preferred the textured ones or the plain ones). I think it's being fairly new that makes me like both the triangle and rounded shapes, they both seem to have good points to them and I imagine as time goes on I'll drift more towards one of the other. The middle bottom pick there is a Wegen I believe. It feels really nice with the holes in it and plays super nice and loud. The top middle is the Clifford Essex buffalo horn pick that was included. I can't really describe specifically why I liked it, but it just feels and sounds great.

Special mentions should definitely go out to a few of the other picks I tried. The BlueChip picks probably felt the best just holding them, they had a nice slight stickiness to them that made them feel secure, but the sound for some reason was just a bit below some others. The stubby triangle was one of the more interesting picks as it felt better than most of the other thick picks and had an amazing tremolo with it's pointy point. Also the dogal picks were amazing on guitar (just rhythm/chords stuff), but too thin for my liking on mandolin/mandocello. Edit: Forgot to mention the Dawg pick as standing out for a beautiful deep, mellow tone, but it was too quiet for my liking. Perhaps when I upgrade mandolins or my tonegard comes in I'll enjoy that kind more.


When going to buy some picks for myself now I ran across TUSQ picks by graphtech which looked interesting and relatively unreviewed for mandolin (there are 1-2 threads here on them, but they seem to be from when they only had one material and shape that weren't particularly mandolin suited). I grabbed a bi-angle (seems to be basically your standard large triangle shaped pick) mixed pack for me and one for the sampler to try them out. To me they sound fairly different from most of the picks here, but I can't decide if it's better, worse, or just different. Excited to see what others think of them.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this. It's a truly unbelievable thing to get to try this crazy variety!

-jtv

[Chris Daniels]

Happy July everyone. Hope the summer heat hasn't melted your enthusiasm for picking! Here's a list update:

Sampler I

Lowlands Blue - Current holder of Sampler 1
henryswift
Popolopolos
Mando Barber
John Garcia
MontanaMatt
Paul Busman
spud3

Sampler II

Kennyz55 - Current holder of Sampler 2
John Garcia
MontanaMatt
GASguy
Elron
Trebor Renklauf
henryswift
Mando Barber

A reminder to all of the group-established house rules:

1. Current holder of each sampler contacts the next recipient in advance via PM to get both address and phone number.
2. At some point prior to shipping, phone contact (voice or text) should be made for final confirmation.
3. The new recipient should post to this thread when they have their sampler.

These simple steps will make sure that there are minimal delays in getting the picks passed around plus making it possible to track down a sampler if it goes AWOL again.

C.

[Lowlands Blue]

I received the sampler this week. Really excited to get pickin' and try out the plethora of options!
Thanks to jtv for shipping them!

[Billkwando]

I'd like to get on the list. I have a couple picks I can contribute too.

[jtv]

Glad to hear it arrived safely. Let us know what you find!

[John Garcia]

Just received Sampler #2. I'm a little overwhelmed! I plan on keeping it for the next week, I'm going to take it the the Columbia Gorge Bluegrass festival to let my fellow players get a chance to try some of them out.

I'd say there's 75 picks in this collection now, including a lot of duplicates. It came via a small Priority Mail Box, with $7.15 postage on it!! It's no longer a simple envelope. Thanks Kennyz55 for doing that. I'll Priority Mail it to the next person in about 9 days.

Edited to add: Just counted, and there's 102 in the collection, including a Blue Chip CT55 model

[John Garcia]

Here's the current list of what's in the box: mostly correct....