Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 91

Thread: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playing?

  1. #1
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Co. Mayo, Ireland
    Posts
    3,569

    Default straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playing?

    Hey all,
    Just curious what plecs folks are favoring for their trad/celtic playing. I was a pretty confirmed Blue Chip user a few years ago, and they seemed to facilitate speed and nice tone on my Webers back then. Since getting the Ajr I've not been as fond of my BC pick, (a TPR35, approx .89mm thick). On a whim I picked up a nondescript Weber celluloid pick that came in the case pocket of my long gone Vintage A. It looks to be about 1mm, and to my ears sounded far better than the BC - I'm using the shoulder end of it since it's teardrop shaped. The Weber pick pulls more volume out of the strings, has a lovely warm almost creamy sound vs. the Blue Chip which seems quieter and a little thin sounding. Aside from the difference in material they're made of and thickness, the BC has a speed bevel and the Weber does not. Part of me was inclined to order a TPR40 but instead I just ordered a variety of picks from Elderly - a few other faux tortoiseshell celluloid ones (D'Andrea 96mm and Fender Heavy), a 1mm Primetone and a three pack of 1mm Wegen picks. Previously I'd always preferred a lighter pick (.88-.89mm) as I liked the feel of triplets/trebles with them, to the point that I felt 1mm picks had a negative effect on my playing. Thinking on it a bit I reckon that I'd just gotten so used to the lighter picks that the difference between them and a 1mm pick seemed extreme. Now on the other hand, having not played much for the past few years I'm as rusty with an .89mm as I am with a 1mm! As a result, making the move to the thicker pick has been easy.

    Anyways, just wondering what other folks are preferring these days...
    2018 Girouard Concert oval A
    2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
    2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
    1969 Martin 00-18




    my Youtube channel

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    San Diego CA
    Posts
    2,200

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Jill - I still use a BC TAD50 primarily on my F-hole, A style mandolin for all playing styles, but lately I have been very fond of the Dunlop Primetone pick (the 1.4mm big triangle variety). It gives a very close sound to the BC at a fraction of the cost, and it also produces a slightly sharper, and louder tone to my ear. Dunlop makes all kinds of thickness and shapes with the Primetone so I encourage you to give it a try.

  3. #3
    Registered User James Rankine's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Leeds UK
    Posts
    300

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    I use a triangle Dunlop Primetone 1.4 for all styles. I can't tell much difference between this and Blue Chips but I've only tried other peoples in noisy pubs which is not the best environment for a comparison. I use a .72 Dunlop primetone for the tenor banjo and have experimented with virtually every thickness they make. Strangely enough the thickness doesn't seem to affect my ability to do triplets - I find them difficult with every pick! I prefer the darker sound I get with a thick pick on the mandolin, and the crisper sound I get with a thinner pick on the tenor banjo.

  4. #4
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Posts
    5,293

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Still using a BC TAD40-1R here. I used to play on the rounded shoulder, but now it's always on the point where it feels a little easier to hit those Irish trebles. And the rounded corner is still there if I ever decide to go back. Anything thicker than 1.0mm thickness like this just doesn't work for me with ornaments. To avoid sounding too thin up on the E string notes, I usually put a little more angle on the pick when I'm playing up there.

    Another thing I like about this pick is that it works well on acoustic guitar and octave mandolin, where a thicker "mandolin pick" would probably sound too dark. It keeps life simple, with just one pick style and shape to keep track of.

  5. #5
    Registered User BlueMt.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Oregon, USA
    Posts
    333

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    I love the speed and ease of playing with my BC CT55, but I have to admit I get better tone out of my Old Wave oval with a Dunlop Ultrex 1.14.
    Eric

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    44

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    I've been using the Dunlop Primetone 1.4mm plectrums, not the triangular ones but the other ones which are a bit pointier. I like bit of a point on my plectrum to make the triplets/trebles cleaner and brighter, so I've been experimenting with a nail file to make them even pointier.

    I had Irish trad lessons for a couple of years a few years ago and the teacher was always urging me to try thinner and thinner picks, but I could never get on with them, much preferring the tone and the attack of the thick picks.

  7. #7
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Co. Mayo, Ireland
    Posts
    3,569

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Quote Originally Posted by James Rankine View Post
    I use a triangle Dunlop Primetone 1.4 for all styles. I can't tell much difference between this and Blue Chips but I've only tried other peoples in noisy pubs which is not the best environment for a comparison. I use a .72 Dunlop primetone for the tenor banjo and have experimented with virtually every thickness they make. Strangely enough the thickness doesn't seem to affect my ability to do triplets - I find them difficult with every pick! I prefer the darker sound I get with a thick pick on the mandolin, and the crisper sound I get with a thinner pick on the tenor banjo.
    James, have you tried using a .50mm pick with your tenor banjo? I use Clayton .50mm ones on the tenor banjo and to me they really lend themselves to playing triplets with ease. I also suspect that because I played tenor banjo first and came to grips with triplets on it, that it made playing them on the mandolin much easier.
    2018 Girouard Concert oval A
    2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
    2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
    1969 Martin 00-18




    my Youtube channel

  8. #8
    Registered User James Rankine's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Leeds UK
    Posts
    300

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Jill, if .5mm is the answer to playing triplets like you do I'm willing to give it a try! I'm actually the other way round- I had a few years of mandolin playing under my belt before taking up the banjo so I find them marginally easier on the mandolin. Or at least I found them impossible on the banjo for a while, but I've put a lot more time into the banjo over the last couple of years so it's evening out now.

  9. #9
    Registered User Nick Quig's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    143

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Pickboy..Meta Carbonate 1mm..great tone and sticks to your fingers..though they do wear rather quickly.
    Also like Dunlop Tortex Jazz III XL 1mm (blue) and the Dunlop Tortex Wedge 1mm.
    Wegen Bluegrass 1.4mm for a warmer tone.

  10. #10
    Registered User Francis J's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Kilkenny City, Ireland
    Posts
    88

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    My pick of choice for mandolin is a Blue Chip CT55. Since I started using it, I just cant seem to play properly with anything else (and I've tried several. For Tenor Banjo I use a Dunlop .73 or maybe a D'andrea .60 or .73, depending on how hot it gets. But I haven't played Banjo in public for years! I notice banjo players tend to use Clayton 0.60, but I've never persevered long enough with those.

  11. #11
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Essex UK
    Posts
    1,065

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Dawa Jazz Grips, not the nylon one -probably the delrin one because it's red and red is always quicker ; or a red Dunlop Jazz III prefer nylon on these.

    On the TB I'm using a generic nylon .75, or a tortex one that about the same, think I prefer the nylon.

    And a ProPlec 1.5mm on the OM.

  12. #12
    Mandolin Botherer Shelagh Moore's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Leicestershire, UK
    Posts
    1,378

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    I alternate between a sculpted Primetone .96, a V-Pick Tremelo, an Ultex 0.73 and an ancient pink D'Andrea of about 1.2 on my mandolins, depending on what I'm playing and on which mandolin, and an Ultex .60 or no-name clownbarf pick of around 0.50 on the tenor banjo. For OM I use a Kasho 1.0 celluloid.

  13. #13
    Registered User Randi Gormley's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Connecticut, USA
    Posts
    3,379

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Pearse jazz picks, but i'm not sure of the weight. Fairly stiff (I think it's the 'hard' vs the 'medium' version) but I just don't like to hold the really thick rounded picks. I use the tip a lot for triplets and the occasional tremolo. My teacher and I did a pick comparison a couple years ago -- he has a bunch, from blue chip to wegen to stuff you get sent free from ordering something on line and the pearse won hands down, with the snake and, oddly enough, with my Eastman.
    --------------------------------
    1920 Lyon & Healy bowlback
    1923 Gibson A-1 snakehead
    1952 Strad-o-lin
    1983 Giannini ABSM1 bandolim
    2009 Giannini GBSM3 bandolim
    2011 Eastman MD305

  14. #14
    Registered User Paul Cowham's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    manchester uk
    Posts
    495

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    I find that if I'm playing a carved top "bluegrass" style mandolin (A or F) then I need a hard pick to get the bast tone out of it whatever style of music I'm trying to play (Bluechip CT55).

    For playing on a flattop which I know a lot of people use for Irish music I find that a thinner pick works better, I use a medium, large gibson pick for playing guitar and octave mandolin along to ITM.

  15. #15
    Registered User zoukboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Lubbock, TX
    Posts
    1,251

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Clayton Acetal Polymer large triangle.
    .063mm for bouzouki/guitar/mando
    .050mm for tenor banjo,
    sometimes .080mm for mando and guitar

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	claytonpick.jpg 
Views:	232 
Size:	28.1 KB 
ID:	143115

    Planet Waves Duralin Wide 1.10mm (for electric guitar)

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	planetwavespick.jpg 
Views:	248 
Size:	7.1 KB 
ID:	143116

  16. #16

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Whatever the fella alongside me leaves out of his hand...

  17. #17
    working musician Jim Bevan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Limache, Chile
    Posts
    809

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    BC TPR40.

    (I didn't know that they made a TPR35 -- I think I'll give that a try, considering that I bought the 40s 'cuz, at the time, they were the thinnest TPR that Blue Chip made.)

  18. #18
    working musician Jim Bevan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Limache, Chile
    Posts
    809

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    I don't see them on the website...

    http://shop.bluechippick.net/categories/TPR/

  19. #19
    two t's and one hyphen fatt-dad's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Richmond, Virginia
    Posts
    7,635

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    for now it's my BC Large Jazz 50. I like the Wegan and the CT55.

    f-d
    ˇpapá gordo ain’t no madre flaca!

    '20 A3, '30 L-1, '97 914, 2012 Cohen A5, 2012 Muth A5, '14 OM28A

  20. #20

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Quote Originally Posted by Jill McAuley View Post
    ... Just curious what plecs folks are favoring for their trad/celtic playing. ...
    Nowadays: generic medium picks. And light-gauge strings.

    1960s/70s: extra-super-heavy picks (I don't remember the brand), and heavy-gauge strings on every instrument (tenor banjo, tenor guitar, mandolin, 12-string guitar tuned in 5ths, etc).

    Never: thin flexible picks. I could never make them work right.

  21. #21
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Co. Mayo, Ireland
    Posts
    3,569

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Bevan View Post
    I don't see them on the website...

    http://shop.bluechippick.net/categories/TPR/
    When I got mine I emailed the folks at Blue Chip and asked them if they could do a TPR35 (I already had the TD35) and they said no problem, didn't cost extra and I had it within a week if I remember correctly.
    2018 Girouard Concert oval A
    2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
    2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
    1969 Martin 00-18




    my Youtube channel

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


  23. #22
    Registered User liestman's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Conroe, Texas
    Posts
    431

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Jill, for playing Irish trad on my '23 A2, I use a BC TAD40. On other mandolins, for Irish trad, I use a TAD35 also! And for tenor banjo, I use a BC TAD25 (which is a BC TAD40, thinned down on sandpaper and buffed out to be .50 thick - no, BC will not make a TAD25, but it rocks my tenor!)
    John Liestman -
    Eye new ewe wood lye kit!

  24. #23
    Registered User Mike Snyder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Neosho, Mo
    Posts
    2,320

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    BC TAD 80 on a Mike Black A4, TAD1R 100 on an F5, Wegen T-140 on tenor banjo. Could be a 120, not sure.
    Mike Snyder

  25. #24

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    I keep returning to a Pyramid Heavy.

  26. #25
    Registered User Andy Boden's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Hertfordshire, UK
    Posts
    383

    Default Re: straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playin

    Bc ct55
    Mandolins -
    Paul Shippey electric custom - 2009
    Paul Shippey maple model oval hole - 2012
    J Bovier EMC-5
    Suzuki (Nagoya) bowlback 1973

    My Soundcloud Stream

    My Mandolin Music Page

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
  •