Guitar Picks

[GADonis]

I agree. After going through many brands and gauges of picks, I am using Dunlop Ultex .6 gauge.

I really like the Ultex Sharp in a .73.

 

[mojo1fan]

I use the orange Tortex picks, and I use them sideways (ie, the rounded corner is what hits the strings). I also put a small dab of super glue in the middle to create a bit of a raised grip.

 

[]-[@n$0Ma☩!©]

 

[alantig]

It's about time we had a pick discussion here.

 

[shinksma]

So I just spent some time (taking a break from working at home) playing a whole whack of picks, on both acoustic and electric guitar, and then on mandolin. Selections were:

• Three types and sizes of V-picks (but all quite thick)
• Dunlop Tortex - red, yellow, green, blue, purple, all "normal" issue (not sharp)
• The Thin white custom-initialed picks my wife got me (they are thicker than tortex reds, thinner than yellow, so I assume about orange, and I think they are acrylic plastic like many picks - not the same stuff as tortex) (I need to find out more)
• Other random picks that I have collected over the years

I have concluded that the Green Tortex are what I like for acoustic and electric guitar, and those white personalized ones for mandolin.

Which surprised me, I have been using the Yellow Tortex for years on electric, and had started to use the Purple Tortex on acoustic because I thought they would be louder/clearer (which I need for unplugged gigs). But the green were the ones that I could get the clearest and most distinct sound from, on both types of guitar. Not the super stiff purple, not the ultra-stiff V-picks. I found the V-picks made me feel like I was playing with a plank of wood in my hands - just too thick.

The mando sounded best with those white picks, but I had mostly come to that conclusion previously - they aren't as loud, but I can articulate better with them, and the mando sounds better. It is a relatively loud instrument, so I wasn't worried about overall volume for unplugged gigs.

I have just one green tortex pick that I can find, so I ordered more.

Thanks to the OP for spurring on this experiment!

So this thread is re-animated, and I will provide an update to my post from three years ago (wow!):

The V-picks I had acquired went unused after a while as a result of the above comparison testing, I even bought another larger one to see if they did anything for me but they didn't. I think I lost that big one soon after anyway.

For guitar I continue to use yellow tortex, sometimes the green, but have also started using the orange ones too. And for mandolin still using the white plastic ones, but occasionally when I forget to swap picks the orange tortex work quite well too.

I dug out the three V-Picks to try them out again - we'll see if my opinion has changed.