Pics....the type you play with with....

Alright.....so I'm not alone in this.....makes me feel better....hahaha.

With the Tortex .88s, I don't like them brand new very much. With a bit of time, they wear a bit and develop a curve. Not much of one, but enough that they aren't completely flat when on a table. It's enough that I can feel it when I hold it. That's when they are perfect.....but then the tip wears down and one side develops a fine edge. They should be retired at that point, but I keep using them instead of grabbing a fresh one.

I don't know if I have ever noticed a tone difference between a new pick and a worn one (of the same type of course). I know that my picking techniques changes a bit. I've never had one develop a snag and break a string....but then again, I haven't broken a string on a PRS guitar at the nut or bridge.
 
I normally refurbish them. This one is a stone (agate) pick, so diamond files are used. It's long arduous work!
Strictly for use on flatwound strings & (neck pickup) archtop guitars.

pyv0ftt.jpg


I do sometimes make my own perspex picks. These are some experiments (all successful).

1vp6CJ5.jpg


This is my 'regular' type of pick for gigging & recording. V-Pick Psycho. I changed to these black ones ('Smokey Mountain') because I have lost too many clear ones; and they aint cheap! I've manage to renew the points on all of them so far, though a couple are getting a bit small now...

Psycho-Smokey-Mountain-by-V-PICKS-Guitar-Picks.jpg
 
I normally refurbish them. This one is a stone (agate) pick, so diamond files are used. It's long arduous work!
Strictly for use on flatwound strings & (neck pickup) archtop guitars.

pyv0ftt.jpg


I do sometimes make my own perspex picks. These are some experiments (all successful).

1vp6CJ5.jpg


This is my 'regular' type of pick for gigging & recording. V-Pick Psycho. I changed to these black ones ('Smokey Mountain') because I have lost too many clear ones; and they aint cheap! I've manage to renew the points on all of them so far, though a couple are getting a bit small now...

Psycho-Smokey-Mountain-by-V-PICKS-Guitar-Picks.jpg

Wow the v-picks aren’t cheap!
 
“What’s that leather thing in your guitar case?”

“Oh, that’s a pick wallet. It also has room for extra strings and a capo.”

“What about that thing shaped like a pick on your keychain?”

“It’s a pick case. Holds a few picks in case I’m somewhere and need a pick, but don’t have my pick wallet with me.”

“Well, what’s that round thing on your table?”

“Pick box. I keep a bunch of picks in there just in case I have neither the pick wallet, nor the pick case in the room.”

“And this wooden box thing on your desk?”

“Well, it was designed to be a paper clip holder, which is why it’s curved on the inside bottom, makes it easier to grab items in the box, but I use it for picks.”

“Why don’t you just keep them in your pockets?”

“Because they get lost that way.”

“Seems you have an awful lot of pick storage things. It must be an expensive chore to keep them all filled.”

“Oh, I get them for free. Picks spontaneously appear in my washer and dryer. Every load of wash seems to generate them. It’s like, washers and dryers have spontaneous combustion, only instead of fire, they make picks. It’s purely science, of course. In fact, the spontaneous appearance of picks in my washer and dryer led to a deep understanding of the argument that the entire universe spontaneously came into being from a single particle.”

“Seems impossible.”

“That’s what my wife says. Her theory is that the washer and dryer use the material from the socks that disappear to create the picks.”

:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
.

Guitar picks share the fates of ink pens and socks ... they are there and then they disappear.

You've probably only ever used up all the ink in an ink pen once or twice in your life.
You probably only ever wore out one pick.

.
 
When I use the old “Fender Heavy” style plastic picks, I burn the tip off in one set. Seriously. A bag of 144 would last for a few months. Even now when I use the blue Planet Waves 1.0mm variety, that 100 pack lasted 6 months, max. Once the tip is worn too much, my articulation suffers noticeably. Went to the Dunlop Max Grip .88mm and they last forever. Same with the Petrucci sig JIIIs. Like Hans I also play Gravity 2.0s and watch them like a hawk.

I store most of my used picks in the dryer.
 
re: pick wear

To save the tips, I never play rhythm on them. Instead I rotate the pick and use the sides.
That way the tips only get used for lead work.
 
re: pick wear

To save the tips, I never play rhythm on them. Instead I rotate the pick and use the sides.
That way the tips only get used for lead work.

Along with the feel of the bigger size which I like, this is also another reason I like the triangle size Ultex's. Three tips!
 
When I use the old “Fender Heavy” style plastic picks, I burn the tip off in one set. Seriously. A bag of 144 would last for a few months. Even now when I use the blue Planet Waves 1.0mm variety, that 100 pack lasted 6 months, max. Once the tip is worn too much, my articulation suffers noticeably. Went to the Dunlop Max Grip .88mm and they last forever. Same with the Petrucci sig JIIIs. Like Hans I also play Gravity 2.0s and watch them like a hawk.

I store most of my used picks in the dryer.

Same here. I wore out even the Ultex stuff in one session, maybe two max. But everyone’s got a different idea of what kind of wear is too much on a pick. The Fender celluloid picks were always only good for one or two sets, and then they were thrown out.

The picks I haven’t worn out at all, not even slightly, are the Blue Chip picks. I have no idea what they’re made of - some kind of unobtainium, evidently - but I’ve got 4 year old Blue Chips that are like new. Which, c’mon! That’s pretty amazing.
 
Same here. I wore out even the Ultex stuff in one session, maybe two max. But everyone’s got a different idea of what kind of wear is too much on a pick. The Fender celluloid picks were always only good for one or two sets, and then they were thrown out.

The picks I haven’t worn out at all, not even slightly, are the Blue Chip picks. I have no idea what they’re made of - some kind of unobtainium, evidently - but I’ve got 4 year old Blue Chips that are like new. Which, c’mon! That’s pretty amazing.

"...unobtainium"!
 
Dunlop Tortex. I toss them after an hour or two. I like the string to be able to bite into the edge of the pick. Once it gets worn too far I loose that sound.

When I was younger I didn’t have a lot of money and the closest guitar store was three towns over, so I got in the habit of using a pick as long as possible. When I lost my pick I was stuck using the little plastic thing that holds a bread bag closed for awhile.

As a result, for a long time as an adult I held onto used picks in case I needed them some day. A couple years ago (I’m 41) I finally learned to let go and now chuck them straight into the garbage.
 
I’m actually a huge trumpet fan. What you guys want is a trombone, or what I like to refer to it as: A slide whoopee cushion.
Ha ha. My son plays trombone in HS band and municipal band. He keeps bugging me to dig out my trumpet and relearn it.

It WOULD be cool but who has time for that? I've got to do things like go pickup a guitar!
 
Back
Top