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Thread: Picks

  1. #1
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    Greetings all. I'm a newbie with a pick question. I will be focusing my playing on Celtic and Classical. I have an Oval hole A style mando. I have a wide array of picks and am intrigued by the different sounds they can produce. My question is this. I love the sound I get from rounded edge Dawg style picks, but as a beginner I am finding it much easier to move around the strings with a more traditional shaped pick. I am best off staying with the rounded off pick and allowing my learning to progress with that style pick, or would anyone recommend coming back to that style after I have become more proficient in my playing abilities?
    Thanks for any advice!!

  2. #2
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    I like these. Hated them at first but now I love them.
    www.dawgnet.com/dawgpicks.htm

  3. #3
    Registered Muser dang's Avatar
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    Since no one else has commented I will venture to say that it really doesn't matter what you pick with as long as you like it. I mostly like the rounded edges, but I sometimes like a regular point on my picks, usually for a specific tone or for picking clean on a song with a lot of notes.
    Try using your guitar style picks and using the back 2 rounded corners. If you want to switch it around, it is not that hard before playing a specific section...experimenting on your own is what will be the best for YOU and YOUR playing.

    Anyway WELCOME to the cafe vtpicker!
    The best use of the cafe for a newbie would be to learn how to use the search function very well! You can find the answer to almost any question -- just try several combinations of words for searching for what you are interested in. (though pick is a common word in many different types of threads...)
    Here is my pick collection
    I should be pickin' rather than postin'

  4. #4
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    I had the same problem when I started. I finally figured out that if I bought the Golden Gate Dawg style picks and used my sander to make them about a third thinner. Then I buff them out so they are smooth. That they worked for me. I tried modifying the points and always ended up going back to the rounded corners. I also drill a hole in the middle and bevel that edge down to make them easier for me to hold. In other words, don't feel compelled to stick with stock picks. A block of wood with a piece of double sided carpet tape will hold the pick while you sand it. Experiment.

  5. #5
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    I use the Golden Gates. On one of the other threads, someone said they found it easier to do tremelo with thinner, more flexible picks. I've found just the opposite -- but that's probably something else that varies from player to player.

  6. #6
    Registered User alespa's Avatar
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    My advice . . . get all the picks you like and don't worry about developing "bad habits" due to the pick size.They are cheap compared to mando's. As long as you hold the pick correctly, I think you will find that by having different shapes and thicknesses (within reason) that you will enjoy the variety of sound, depending on what you are playing. I wondered the same thing you are asking when I first started. The picks I have now are the Dawg (my favorite), Jazz Mando (both shapes) and Claytons. I like them all for different reasons. I would like to try out Golden Gate and Wegens at some point.




  7. #7

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    I would wager that most players of "Dawg"-style plectra are looking for chop and a bluegrassy (or at least Dawg-like) tone that comes of relatively heavily strung, f-holed archtops. They are almost entirely unknown amongst classical players. "Dawg"-style plectra just sound plain goofy with my technique on my prefered instruments. I tend to like a traditional "Neapolitan" shape (i.e., like the small teardrops common in the US, but a good bit longer). Even though this was the most popular shape 100 years ago, you can't buy any in that shape in the US. I cut my own and buff and bevel the edges. Try everything you can and stick with whatever you like.

  8. #8
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    I found my pick of choice on the ground at the old Delaware bluegrass festival, maybe 9 years ago. Made for one GLAD mandolin picker (and probably made for one SAD mandolin picker!)

    Use whatever you like and like whatever you use.

  9. #9
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    Euugene, you can buy Pettine picks on eBay sometimes. I try different picks from time to time, but i'm stuck on the F1.
    Mandolins:
    Mid-mo M11 (#1855)
    Ovation MM68 (#490231)
    New flute CD:
    Wellsprings 2: Joyful!

  10. #10
    Jason Wicklund DryBones's Avatar
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    I am using Dunlop Gator Grips 1.14mm now. I didn't like them at first but for now they are my favorites, followed closely by D'Andreas Pro-Plec 1.5mm's.
    Jason

    Lefty JBovier F5 Tradition, Lefty Mid-Mo M1

  11. #11
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    Seems everyone but me uses heavy picks. I'll have to get some and try them. I still use .46mm nylon Dunlops. Same as on the guitar. Gotta a feeling that is why my sound is very peculiar.

    Jack



    "It's never too late to have a happy childhood"

  12. #12
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    Hey - I do not use heavy picks and, depending on the season, (or maybe its just my hearing), I change picks. Right now, I am using the Dava control pick (bought from Elderly). I actually find it a bit slippery, but I really like the sound...I'm going to experiment and sand it a little. Sometimes I use the lightest "Big Stubby" (Dunlop, I believe), and sometimes I use the lightest (for bluegrass) Wegen. As someone said, since picks don't cost as much as mandolins, feel free to experiment. I have SO MANY picks, its ridiculous. And BTW, I play a mix of music - Celtic, Scandanavian, Appalachian. Have fun experimenting!! J
    Judith

  13. #13
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    Hey Alan....I lost one at the old Delaware BG festival, it was 8 years ago.....you mighta nabbed my TS pick!!!

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    Ok buddy, describe and it's yours!

  15. #15

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    Anybody use, like, or dislike the horn picks. I got two and after sanding them a bit I smelled like I had been dehorning cattle all day.

    chuck

  16. #16
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    I tried a horn pick once but thought it was too clicky.
    Mandolins:
    Mid-mo M11 (#1855)
    Ovation MM68 (#490231)
    New flute CD:
    Wellsprings 2: Joyful!

  17. #17
    Registered User jim_n_virginia's Avatar
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    Personally I think people just get used to whatever they use a lot. I mean if all you ever had was a Dawg pick you would get used to it and it would be your favorite.

    I would tell a beginner to try all kinds and just pick (pun intended!) one.

    And also I USED to try out all these picks and I kinda find it limiting myself. I mean if you ONLY play Daddy's TS pick he left to you and you can't find it right before playing then it sorta messes you up.

    Partly through training and partly due to the fact I can't seem to keep a pick longer than a week I can now just use any ole pick as long as it is heavy.

    I do have my favorites but if I don't have one around handy it's no big deal and it doesn't affect my playing or my mind.

    Besides I heard that Big Mon used any pick laying around and if HE didn't take much stock in what pick he used thats good enough for me.

    The BEST pool shark I ever saw when I lived in New Orleans used to use the old beat up sticks on the wall.


  18. #18
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    Jim, i think you're on to something. I've tried several picks and liked some of them, just i haven't liked them enough to make me change from what i use.



    Mandolins:
    Mid-mo M11 (#1855)
    Ovation MM68 (#490231)
    New flute CD:
    Wellsprings 2: Joyful!

  19. #19
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    Smile

    Started on slide guitar before playing mandolin, so I like the "Herco" heavy thumb/flat pick. You can hold it like a flat pick, or just flail away as in thumb.

    or:

    Sometimes use a "Brain" 1.60 heavy flat pick.

    I tried drilling the hole thing to stop slippage, but found what really worked was to file off some violin rosin in a fine powder, dampen your finger and thumb and hold on. Sticks like glue but washes off with soap and water. Sooner or later ya gotta clean off the pick.
    Yuck. But it works. Just don't get any in your mouth. Blah!!

    Was that an original idea? Should I have taken out a patent? Too late now.......ah well.


  20. #20

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    I just switched to using a heavier, thick pick like the Dawg picks...you'll get a more traditional sound out of a mandolin with thoses...usually a more powerful chop...I used a normal guitar pick before, it took about a week and then I got used to the Dawg Pick...I am thankful for it too. people have been saying that my tone is better.
    Push the boundaries of mandolin playing

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by (glauber @ April 27 2006, 11:52)
    Jim, i think you're on to something. I've tried several picks and liked some of them, just i haven't liked them enough to make me change from what i use.
    By the way, this morning i noticed that the playing had worn out the point of my favourite pick to the point that it lost some of its clarity of sound. So i just took a pair of scissors and cut a new point for it. Polished it on my jeans and its good as new. Works for nylon picks, probably not for some of the harder materials.
    Mandolins:
    Mid-mo M11 (#1855)
    Ovation MM68 (#490231)
    New flute CD:
    Wellsprings 2: Joyful!

  22. #22
    Registered User Perry's Avatar
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    If you like DAWG's but want a traditional guitar shaped pick
    I think the D'Andrea Pro Plecs 1.5 will fit the ticket

  23. #23
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    Thanks for all the insight folks!! It appears I touched upon a topic near to many a pickers heart. My wife wondered where I was going with that sandpaper in my pocket last night. "Mums the word"

  24. #24
    Registered User Tom C's Avatar
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    I switched from rounded to a point. You hear the tone of the string, the crispness so much more. With the thick rounded picks (GoldedGate, Dawg)I hear the brushing of the pick going over the string. For quick tunes, it easier to miss the string with a rounded pick. From an old post for the top 10 reasons why I like a pointed pick...

    10)Cleaner tone.
    9)Less plectrum noise
    8)Easier to attack string.
    7)Less brushing or missing a string.
    6)Feels like I have a shorter stroke over a string.
    5)I can pick just as quick (timed)
    4)They are easy to find
    3)My rounded ones wore down to a point
    2)Gibson says that's the way it should be.
    and ...1) I'm Chris Thile

  25. #25
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    I always wondered what alias Chris was using on the board.
    Mandolins:
    Mid-mo M11 (#1855)
    Ovation MM68 (#490231)
    New flute CD:
    Wellsprings 2: Joyful!

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