preferred guitar picks

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:32 pm

after finding out i hold a pick weird and kept shaving down the noses, I found a pick i fell in love with.

jim dunlop jazz III sharp 1.38. I hold my guitar picks at a little more of an angle than I think I should, and I hit my pinch harmonics with up strokes, and these picks are fucking beautiful. I get killer harmonics and have a lot more control with them as opposed to the 'traditional' style heavy picks. I can alternate pick a lot better and they last a lot goddam longer than the other picks. My playing might just be improving as well since I've been playing and writiing- A LOT.

anyone else use these bad boys? I guess they come in two styles, red nylon and black stiffo nylon...i guess it's the same thing just a different color?

BassPhemy · Post by **BassPhemy** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:36 pm

I hate those dildo ass picks.

Three Second Doom · Post by **Three Second Doom** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 1:37 pm

Fender Heavy.

Dawdy · Post by **Dawdy** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:14 pm

gibson pure heavy wedge style

Hunter/Killer · Post by **Hunter/Killer** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:16 pm

Dunlop Tortex

Cock Rocket Blast Off · Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:18 pm

I play almost entirely fingerstyle now, but when I do use a pick I use Big Stubby 3.0's.

Wrona · Post by **Wrona** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:26 pm

I use the tortex 72's i believe they are, as well as jazz 3's

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 2:28 pm

I still can't use a pick on my bass. Even though I can't finger pick as fast as I can pick with my hand, the attack on the bass guitar is unmatched with the fingers. 3 finger picking ftw. I just had to throw that little quip of bass guitar information so you all know I haven't pussed out and still play bass like a man.

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 3:33 pm

the only thing i don't like about the jazz III picks is the palm mutes. my first knuckle on my index finger keeps getting sore whenever i play fast chugs, and it won't callous. wtf.

BassPhemy · Post by **BassPhemy** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 4:34 pm

Haha. Chugs.

False_Prophet · Post by **False_Prophet** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:38 pm

I use Jazz IIIs

JesseJames · Post by **JesseJames** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:25 pm

I used jim dunlop heavy.
Although, I like the design of that pic you use hektik, i may have to try those. I often have problem string skipping when I am doing a fast alternate picking pattern, because the pick gets caught on one side of the string.

slay · Post by **slay** » Sun Aug 30, 2009 10:30 pm

dunlop 1.14

AoD · Post by **AoD** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:53 am

ive used jazz3's forever. im pissed i cant find them cheap bulk anywhere.

Acid Flashbakc · Post by **Acid Flashbakc** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:09 pm

yea, Jazz III's all the way. and when I play punkish/crust riffs it fucks up my fingers too, but it's worth it.

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:26 pm

AoD wrote:ive used jazz3's forever. im pissed i cant find them cheap bulk anywhere.

the place i buy them at it's like fifty cents a pick. Not a bad price, but it'd be better if I could get 25 of them for like 3 bucks like a lot of other picks.

good to see a lot of jazz III players here! WOO! WOO! WOO!

hippy · Post by **hippy** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:10 pm

i used to play the black plastic jazz III's but like you i discovered their way better brother the nylon jazz III's. i use yellow tortex picks for acoustic. i wish i could find a nylon yellow tortex. NYLON FTW

hippy · Post by **hippy** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:11 pm

i also believe that bass should never be played with a pick

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 5:41 pm

I have never used a pick on my bass guitar. When it comes to playing bass I am strictly a finger player. You get such a better tone and way more of a strategic attack. A lot of the riffs I have written on my bass I can't play on my guitar unless I play it finger style. I'm getting better at guitar though. I can't play any songs by any bands really except for my own material, but why bother learning any one else's songs at this point?

UNGODLIKE · Post by **UNGODLIKE** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:35 pm

Hunter/Killer wrote:Dunlop Tortex

i like the green ones

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:40 pm

hippy wrote:i used to play the black plastic jazz III's but like you i discovered their way better brother the nylon jazz III's. i use yellow tortex picks for acoustic. i wish i could find a nylon yellow tortex. NYLON FTW

I haven't used the black ones yet, there's a difference between the red ones and the black ones?

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:05 pm

oh shit i just used one, there is a difference! fuck!

Acid Flashbakc · Post by **Acid Flashbakc** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:21 am

eargazm wrote:
hippy wrote:i used to play the black plastic jazz III's but like you i discovered their way better brother the nylon jazz III's. i use yellow tortex picks for acoustic. i wish i could find a nylon yellow tortex. NYLON FTW
I haven't used the black ones yet, there's a difference between the red ones and the black ones?

yea, to me the black ones slip less from your fingers, but get dull quicker then the red ones. gotta pick what you care about more i guess.

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 12:33 am

i tried a black one (tee hee).

definetly get a much better tone out of the nylon ones, I think so anyway. I have a fucked up picking technique, period. I use all upstrokes, except for chugging riffs. I even do pinch harmonics with an up stroke. I also hold my pick at a pretty steady angle...when I was using regular ernie ball picks I'd shred them down to a little nub with one session of playing, leaving different colored pick dust all over the pick ups of my guitar...

these jazz IIIs don't really dull that much, I used the same pick for close to a week, playing for an hour or two every day. that's pretty fucking impressive to me. with the other picks i was using i'd go through a pick pretty much every time i was jamming. a pack of 25 lasted me a week. again, my technique also comes into play, too.

i pick a lot from my elbow, i can't really help it. when i do tremelo picking i tend to use my wrist a little more, but it's just how i play guitar naturally. that and i pretty much only use the top four strings. B and e don't have much use in my playing style, I'm used to writing on my bass, so it just kinda transfers over to my guitar playing, only now i can play power chords and have 'em sound bad ayuss.

Acid Flashbakc · Post by **Acid Flashbakc** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:07 am

eargazm wrote:i tried a black one (tee hee).

definetly get a much better tone out of the nylon ones, I think so anyway. I have a fucked up picking technique, period. I use all upstrokes, except for chugging riffs. I even do pinch harmonics with an up stroke. I also hold my pick at a pretty steady angle...when I was using regular ernie ball picks I'd shred them down to a little nub with one session of playing, leaving different colored pick dust all over the pick ups of my guitar...

these jazz IIIs don't really dull that much, I used the same pick for close to a week, playing for an hour or two every day. that's pretty fucking impressive to me. with the other picks i was using i'd go through a pick pretty much every time i was jamming. a pack of 25 lasted me a week. again, my technique also comes into play, too.

i pick a lot from my elbow, i can't really help it. when i do tremelo picking i tend to use my wrist a little more, but it's just how i play guitar naturally. that and i pretty much only use the top four strings. B and e don't have much use in my playing style, I'm used to writing on my bass, so it just kinda transfers over to my guitar playing, only now i can play power chords and have 'em sound bad ayuss.

wait, all upstrokes like the motion is the pick starts towards the bottom of the guitar, and then moves up towards you? or by upstroke you mean the pick moves down, and away from you? if its the first one, thats really fucking weird. and if your the least bit serious in playing for your whole life i would try to change your technique as soon as possible before you run into any problems.

i know it can be a pain to work on technique on an instrument, but i sort of embrace that fact if i found a hole in my technique, I have something to work on that will make me a better player, and not just learning the same old songs/scales. when i change something in my technique it usually shows in my playing in the same week that i started working on it... as opposed to running scales with a metronome that takes a while to show in my playing.

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 1:14 am

first one, i start with the pick more toward the bottom of the guitar and move it up toward me. i'm pretty sure it's because i'm a bassist through and through, used to the finger approach, and always pick up with my fingers. makes sense to me.

i tried working on my technique, but nothing helps. i'm getting better at playing with the way i have been, though. i'm able to play more and more technical material and slowly working my way up to being able to play some of the disjointed bass riffs i got written on my guitar, so i'm not gonna fix what ain't broken.

eventually once i get my demo recorded i'd like to play shows and have a guitarist learn all my material, but in no way, shape, or form do i want to write with any other musicians, so i don't know how well this would work

. i got my guitar strictly to write and record a demo with, but now it's becoming a passion of mine, and each time i shred i feel like i improve that much more each time.

plus i can't play guitar and spit vocals, i can only do that with my bass. something to do with playing with my fingers just centers me so i can sing and play at the same time. put a pick in my hand and watch me try to spit vocals, i can't do it. weirrrrrrd man

Gor-Gor · Post by **Gor-Gor** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 2:13 am

Dunlop Nylon 1mm.

UNGODLIKE · Post by **UNGODLIKE** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:09 pm

break the habit if you can, but don't forget to acknowledge that you still have another unorthodox technique in your arsenal of musical versatility. i'm damn fucking sure that dimebag darell played the first notes of the chorus riff to stronger than all w/an upstroke... because when i discovered that shit by accident it had more of a natural feel and the corectly accented sound. it's like riding a riff wave off the coast of corpus cristi or some shit

BassPhemy · Post by **BassPhemy** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:33 pm

I know he played the verse riffs of Cowboys From Hell with upstrokes.

eargazm · Post by **eargazm** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:02 pm

what's the big deal about the way I play? I know it's not traditional at all but it works for me for the most part. I try to use down strokes when I play but upstrokes just seem to come more natural. I get a more full sound when I'm playing powerchords, when I down pick power chords they don't sound as full and have almost a flat sound to them. I do downpick for heavy chugging palm muting passages, though. But for 90 percent of my playing it's all upstrokes, even pinch harmonics

hippy · Post by **hippy** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 2:45 am

i dont know about you but i can hear the difference between plastic and nylon picks