Expensive picks

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Have you seen the price of these things?

https://bluechippick.net/

$35USD for a single pick!

I'm not much of a pick player on bass and the ones I use on guitar don't feel right on bass, but I have found I quite like the red 1.5mm Dunlop Tri Stubby.

I only have one of those, so I have ordered a few dunlop primetone 1.5mm triangles which appear to have similar dimensions and look like they share some of the characteristics of the blue chips at a less punishing price - about £10 for three.

[6feet7]

I use Black Mountain Thumbpicks. About £5 but they allow me to alternate pick or fingers easily.

[fretmeister]

19 minutes ago, 6feet7 said:

I use Black Mountain Thumbpicks. About £5 but they allow me to alternate pick or fingers easily.

@6feet7

They look interesting - where do you get them from?

[ubit]

11 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

@6feet7

They look interesting - where do you get them from?

They look very heavy. What thickness are they?

[Nail Soup]

41 minutes ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I only have one of those, so I have ordered a few dunlop primetone 1.5mm triangles which appear to have similar dimensions and look like they share some of the characteristics of the blue chips at a less punishing price - about £10 for three.

I can imagine there is some room for premium picks, but I reckon once you get above the £10 for 3 mentioned above (or the spring loaded thumb picks) you will get ........ how shall I say.......... extremely diminishing returns.

[Cato]

I'd be interested to see how the 'no wear' promise holds up against the reality of hitting a set of round wounds that shares the same basic properties with a carpenter's file several hundred times every time you play the instrument.

[Dad3353]

32 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

@6feet7

They look interesting - where do you get them from?

Here, maybe ..?

[fretmeister]

1 minute ago, Dad3353 said:

Here, maybe ..?

I was hoping for a sensible UK supplier!

[Dad3353]

Just now, fretmeister said:

I was hoping for a sensible UK supplier!

Sorry; was being flippant, really. I'll be ordering on-line from that link. Disclaimer : I'm a drummer; have never been capable of playing neither guitar nor bass with a plectrum, and these look to do the job, so I'll be giving the 'Starter Pack' a try. Maybe for nothing, but I'd like to have the option of pick playing (and have done for half a century..!). I doubt that I'd find a French supplier, and as a 'one off', hang the expense. 

[fretmeister]

3 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Sorry; was being flippant, really. I'll be ordering on-line from that link. Disclaimer : I'm a drummer; have never been capable of playing neither guitar nor bass with a plectrum, and these look to do the job, so I'll be giving the 'Starter Pack' a try. Maybe for nothing, but I'd like to have the option of pick playing (and have done for half a century..!). I doubt that I'd find a French supplier, and as a 'one off', hang the expense. 

While my finger is injured I've been using a pick and I've tried some normal thumb picks but the position of the pointy bit is much more forward along my thumb than the way I hold a normal pick and these look far more adjustable.

 

I think I might try the started pack too.

[Dad3353]

From that site, the shipping to France is more than reasonable (3.36€, 1-3 weeks...), and payable with Paypal, so I've Done the Deed. 

@6feet7 : Thanks for the tip. 

[fretmeister]

I've done the same.

But no to France!

[Dad3353]

Guitar.co.uk have them as singles ...

[Dad3353]

1 minute ago, fretmeister said:

I've done the same.

But no to France!

You are General de Gaulle and I claim my £5 ... 

[fretmeister]

Hot Rox have some as well.

I've never used them before. But I'll try the starter pack and then see which of them I get on with, if any.

[uk_lefty]

I don't see why you'd spend more than 79p on a pick in the 90s and keep using it forever. This one does me fine... 

[Killed_by_Death]

 

V-Picks last virtually forever, made of Acrylic:

I think I paid $5 USD

 

[6feet7]

3 hours ago, fretmeister said:

@6feet7

They look interesting - where do you get them from?

 

3 hours ago, ubit said:

They look very heavy. What thickness are they?

https://blackmountainpicks.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1PSDBhDbARIsAPeTqrcQjT2DwjH1Sda-rKVc1GE9OoLaFU3CirilX-G27LYgKrXjz70KkZMaAnv-EALw_wcB

I just did a google search (or amazon). Loads of places sell them.

[Hellzero]

Why not a French Dugain like this one at a very attractive price to play your brand new Harley Benton :

  

[BillyBass]

6 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

Have you seen the price of these things?

https://bluechippick.net/

$35USD for a single pick!

I'm not much of a pick player on bass and the ones I use on guitar don't feel right on bass, but I have found I quite like the red 1.5mm Dunlop Tri Stubby.

I only have one of those, so I have ordered a few dunlop primetone 1.5mm triangles which appear to have similar dimensions and look like they share some of the characteristics of the blue chips at a less punishing price - about £10 for three.

I've been experimenting with different picks recently, I bought the 1.5 mm red stubbies and thought they were good but prefer the 2mm smaller stubby, which is in a mauve translucent colour.  It has the same bit in the middle which really helps with the grip.

I also bought a pack of three Dunlop Primetones, but the ones with the rounded ends.  I also like these but so far the 2mm small stubby is the one I'm most comfortable with, they are about a fiver for 12

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/dunlop-big-stubby-guitar-picks-6-pack-2mm/25215

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

My dunlop prime tones were delivered this afternoon (thanks to amazon prime). So far I quite like them. They feel good in the hand and the bumps provide a good grip. I've temporarily lost my red tri stubby so I can't compare them to that one at the moment, but I'm sure it'll turn up.

[Dad3353]

The trial pack of four different Black Mountain thumb picks arrived this morning; that's fast (from Canada to France...). Well packed in a stout envelope, with wooden dowels where the thumb goes, to prevent them being crushed in the post, a nice thought. The paper inside states that it would be normal to have about fifty hours of picking to start to feel 'at home', with these or any other picks. I chose one from the pack and did a couple of ten-minute stints; only forty-nine and a half hours to go..!
First impression..? Positive. I've never been able to get on with plectrums, as my fingers don't grip very well (yes, I drop drum-sticks, too...). I looked up a string-skipping exercise on t'web, then played a few of my chord-melody sequences, and it started to feel quite comfortable. I can switch and/or mix my finger-picking/claw techniques, but will have to adapt the thumb strokes, as they are now using the pick. I could swivel the pick away to use 'thumb-brushing''; I'll get on to these refinements later.
Altogether pleased, for the moment. I'll try the others in the pack, although as I'm not a veteran pick user, and am not overly fussy in general, I suspect that I'll find 'em all much of a muchness. Are they worth their price..? Too soon to pronounce definitively, but so far I've no regrets. If it enables me to use a plectrum where before I couldn't, it'll be a winner for me. 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Dad3353

[Dad3353]

These new picks are an 'opportunity' to learn again how to play guitar, so I'm starting from scratch. Today I did Page Fifteen of Bert Weedon's 'Play in a Day' method, the first playing exercise in the book. Open strings only, down strokes, then up and down, then moving between strings, with a sort of arpeggio thing to finish, across the strings. Tomorrow I'll do the same again then turn the page, the next day again, and so on, with an extra page a day. It's all written on staves, so I may get a bit of reading practise at the same time, which can't hurt. I'm not so sure about the 'Play in a Day' part, unless one gets up very early and skips meals, but the first lesson has gone off quite well, and I didn't drop the plectrum..!  

[LeftyJ]

On 19/04/2021 at 12:42, 6feet7 said:

I use Black Mountain Thumbpicks. About £5 but they allow me to alternate pick or fingers easily.

I've tried something similar, the Fred Kelly Bumblebee thumbpicks.

They're fun, but didn't work for me: I have fairly big thumbs, and they wouldn't fit me comfortably. The thumb clips come in regular and large size, and the picks come in light, medium, heavy and extra heavy. And because the thumbclip is not symmetrical, they even do a lefty version (which I have). I ordered one of each gauge in the large size, but they're not for me. They also required me to change my pick technique (I like a pick that slightly bends along when I hit the strings, the thumbpick forced me to adjust my angle of attack in both up- and downstrokes).

My favourite pick for bass is the Dunlop Nylon series, in 0.88 mm and 1 mm. They're not too hard and rigid, still have some flex to them, and they offer excellent grip.  

[LeftyJ]

On 19/04/2021 at 16:22, Hellzero said:

Why not a French Dugain like this one at a very attractive price to play your brand new Harley Benton :

  

I tried a few (far more affordable!) Dugain picks for guitar and own two myself, and they're WEIRD. I think they're aimed mostly at gipsy jazz guitarists.

I have one in Acetate (tortoise style plastic) and one in buffalo horn. For starters, they are THICK. Second, they force you to hold them in a specific way with their shape. There's a hollowed-out area where your thumb goes, and a small channel on the other side where the side of your index finger falls. This way of holding a pick doesn't suit my (lack of) technique at all, so I've always felt very uncomfortable using them. And because they're so thick and immensely hard, there's a lot of very bright pick attack added to your tone.