Spare picks

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1445934600' post='2895435']

yep, I use the black 1mm ones, never worn one out yet, keep losing the little buggers though

[/quote]

I occasionally use a pick and usually those 1mm black nylon Dunlops and they are hard to find when lost.

My guitraist son uses the 0.94mm bright green ones which are much easier to find.

[ahpook]

I imagine they do it cos it looks like people expect it to look.

It's TV....it's a spectacle, not an Open Univeristy course.

Edited October 27, 2015 by ahpook

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1445939359' post='2895492']
I occasionally use a pick and usually those 1mm black nylon Dunlops and they are hard to find when lost.

My guitraist son uses the 0.94mm bright green ones which are much easier to find.
[/quote]thanks for the tip, found some glow in the dark ones I found when looking for the green ones, should be easy to find when I drop one on that floral carpet pubs are so fond of using

[BigRedX]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1445638648' post='2893118']
I use Herco Flex 50 Gold and they just don't wear out. So the only time I need to buy new ones is when I eventually lose 'em all, which generally takes about six or seven years.
[/quote]

Really? I use the Silver Flex 75s which I believe a the heavier versions. If I don't loose them they last less than a month before the point has become too rounded to give me the desired feel and sound when playing.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1445664891' post='2893177']
Also, big bands like to throw pics to the audience
[/quote]

Rarely the ones that they actually use to play. Promotional picks are cheap and easy to produce, but I wouldn't want to use one to play my guitar or bass.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1445868993' post='2894839']
Try a nylon pick, they never snap.
[/quote]

But they sound completely different.

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1445953749' post='2895650']
Really? I use the Silver Flex 75s which I believe a the heavier versions. If I don't loose them they last less than a month before the point has become too rounded to give me the desired feel and sound when playing.
[/quote]

Are you playing roundwounds? I find I wear out the point of picks with roundwounds but less so with flats. On guitar I really seem to get through them - I used to like the Fender celluloid ones but they would leave a fine dust of grated pick material all over my guitar!

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1445953873' post='2895656']
But they sound completely different.
[/quote]it's all in the fingers

[discreet]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1445953749' post='2895650']
Really? I use the Silver Flex 75s which I believe a the heavier versions. If I don't loose them they last less than a month before the point has become too rounded to give me the desired feel and sound when playing.
[/quote]

Yes. The 50s are, er... 0.50mm and I believe the 75s are... 0.75mm. So possibly the 50s are more flexible and wear less.

[randythoades]

I play with a pick and although I lose them often in he washing machine, I have never dropped one on stage. I am fearful about doing so though as I don't like the sound of playing with fingers, so I do keep half a dozen on top of my amp to grab if I needed to. So I can see the point of doing it if you are playing those sort of stages when you are not backed into a corner and leaning on you amp stack...

[spike]

I always make sure I have a spare pick at a wedding gig

[discreet]

[quote name='spike' timestamp='1446042915' post='2896445']
I always make sure I have a spare pick at a wedding gig
[/quote]

Thinking for ages about how to say this. Glad you did it.

[KingBollock]

On my first bass I had a strip of Velcro (the soft side) attached to my bass and had little circles of the rough side that I would stick to my picks. It also made the picks easier to hold, so less likely to be dropped.

For quite a while I played with a 1mm Dunlop pick that I had stuck a rubber foot from under a TV to. It made the pick feel thicker and easier to hold. I played with that thing until there was no more plastic left sticking out from under the rubber foot.

For twenty odd years I played with 3mm picks which wore down rather slowly. Then, last year, I started playing with the Dunlop orange ones, which are quite thin (~.70) and noticed that I wore them out very quickly. So I got one of those spring loaded pick holders. I haven't decided where to stick it, yet, for best convenience, but it sits on my make shift pedalboard at the moment, which I keep on a stand a couple of feet high for easier fiddling.

[LiamPodmore]

When i was gigging, especially when we were doing quite a lot, i could lose picks without any struggle. When there was a mic stand in the vicinity i had some on that, if not they were on top of the amp an/or in my pockets. It wasn't abnormal to go through 3/4 an hour for me.

Liam

[iamtheelvy]

I always have a few spares on the mic stand, but not excessive numbers...

On a slightly related note, watched this video recently:

http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/therapy-bass-player-michael-mckeegan-reveals-his-rig-625040

If me eyes do not deceive me, those are Dunlop 0.6 and 0.73 picks that he holds at the end. Are these really considered heavy...?

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='iamtheelvy' timestamp='1446202758' post='2897637']
I always have a few spares on the mic stand, but not excessive numbers...

On a slightly related note, watched this video recently:

[url="http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/therapy-bass-player-michael-mckeegan-reveals-his-rig-625040"]http://www.musicrada...-his-rig-625040[/url]

If me eyes do not deceive me, those are Dunlop 0.6 and 0.73 picks that he holds at the end. Are these really considered heavy...?
[/quote]I wouldn't have said so, I use .60mm for acoustic guitar but a 1mm for bass

[iamtheelvy]

Yeah, my thoughts exactly... I generally use a .88 on guitar and a 1mm on bass...

But each to their own... :-)

[hairychris]

On guitar I rarely dropped picks, but always made sure that I had a couple on my pedalboard just in case.

For bass I use these huge 5mm thick things. Played with just the one for a while, but have recently bought a few spares.

[tauzero]

[quote name='iamtheelvy' timestamp='1446206328' post='2897683']
Yeah, my thoughts exactly... I generally use a .88 on guitar and a 1mm on bass...
[/quote]

I use 1mm for both, it saves me having to think about it.

[EssentialTension]

Even 1mm is not heavy, maybe 3mm is heavyish.

[alyctes]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1445664891' post='2893177']
Also, big bands like to throw pics at the audience
[/quote]

Fixed

[jonnythenotes]

I had a pick many years ago, but I lost it....Sooner than spend hard earned cash on a new one, I started to use my fingers... These fingers are still with me, I have never lost one, and I never have to tape spare fingers to mic stands... I have probably saved in excess of £5 over the last twenty years by making this transition....

[Hobbayne]

I have a little tin in the kitchen which I keep pound coins and Jim Dunlop 1mm picks in. i grab a handful before a rehearsal or a gig and stuff them in my back pocket.
However, I have to be quick because we start with a song i do fingerstyle which segues into a Thin Lizzy number which requires a pick.
I have about 2 seconds to reach in my pocket and grab one before it starts.

[seashell]

I know a bass player who always keeps her pick in her mouth when she's playing finger style (ie between her teeth, not actually in her mouth!)
It always makes me nervous watching her, cos I'm terrified she'll swallow it if she starts rocking out.
And it must be difficult to do the heimlich manoeuvre on someone wearing a bass!

[DarkHeart]

I didnt use to bother with spare pics on the mic stand till some very buxom wench insist i stuck a pic as far into her cleavage as i could, needless to say I now have a dozen just waiting!!