This thread is intended for pick users. (Pick haters, please stay away. . . lets keep it clean and focused...)

Because there are so many pick choices out there regarding materials and shapes (anything from hard Dunlop Jazz nylons, to traditional Fenders tortoise heavies, etc.) I wonder if you care to share what works best for you.

Seasoned pickers know that a pick's material and thickness changes the sound drastically.

I have been using traditional Fenders mediums with a Jazz bass with rounds, and both pickups on.

I also have a P-Bass with flats that sounds really good picked when recording, but no so much when playing it by itself -- too boinky boinky, clakity. . . if those are words...

Regarding picks, I find that heavy picks give the best sound (thicker, more attack, less "click") but are a bit too hard when playing fast. I like the small amount of flexibility I get with medium picks.

So, I wonder, if others have developed a recipe.

Name your best pick-sound combination, for example:

Bass type + string type + pick thickness + pick material.


I really like the sound the Graham Maby got on those older Joe Jackson CDs (late '70s) as opposed to the sound that Steve Swallow gets (less attack).


;)

Fender heavy w/ roundwounds when you want that bright sound. Sounds nasty with a wah too.

Big Stubbies or any thick tapered pick, you have to use a light toch and a lot of control, but they give you the best tone

fender heavys for me

Green Dunlops here.

Whatever I can steal from the guitarists in my band. I can never keep track of those things, and don't use them all the time. If I can pick though I generally use about a medium (yellow dunlop?). I find that heavier picks are harder to control? if thats the word.

Dunlop Jazz III's...the red ones. That's all that I've been using for the last 10 years or so...on guitar first, then on bass. I can't use anything else. They are small, stay sharp for a long time, and are pretty heavy.

Fender MIA Jazz
Ernie Ball Regular Slinky
Clayton Acetal Rounded Triangle 1.00mm

This has been my setup since the early-mid 90's. I don't get much clicky and the pick gauge doesn't slow my playing. Sometimes I hold the pick with my ring finger and pinky while I play finger style. It's easy to switch back to pick without having to hunt for the pick tip since it has 3 playing surfaces.

i'm feeling empathy & brotherhood with a lot of the stuff in this thread :)

I use Dunlop Jazz III's ... the red ones, not the black ones (they wear down too quickly) ... I get on better with their little size than a standard sized pick (I get more mobility because it doesn't interfere with my first finger's 1st joint :) )and they last a long while... they're thick enough and flex just about right to give me the sound I need... the only drawback is they can get a bit slippy when the gig's on and the sweating starts... if they could make fluorescent ones so I can find them on my amp head durign a gig they'd be perfect :)

I'm not fussy about strings provided they're nickel 105-85-65-45's... at the moment i've been going for Boomers, which are fine

as for basses, i'm a Fender guy, so it's either my P or my J :) and I'm a big fan of Graham Maby like the original poster... that kind of punchy but defined, crisp & attacking sound, a bit like Andy Rourke from the Smiths or Scott Thunes in Zappa's 80's bands...

Either Dunlop Stubbies (2.0mm), Dunlop tortex (1.35mm) or a heavy "Picks by the Pound" thumb pick which helps if I'm switching between picking and fingerstyle (I have trouble palming the pick).

Usually don't use picks, but when I do, I use my guitar picks:
Dunlop Tortex (3 different shapes (small teardrop, regular, large triangle) all the blue ones, can't remember size).

Dunlop nylon 1mm (black).

~John

I usually use a standard shape pick at about 0.8mm thick (is that an medium-thick?). This is the same ones I use on my guitar. I only pick on about 10% of the songs we play.

Later
Rob

I use what seems to be a 1mm Dunlop Jazztone 208. The only picture I can find online makes them look like they're made of a different material than mine, but everything else matches up. They're just slick enough and the edge is just rounded enough to slide over the strings perfectly.

i've always used a teardrop shaped min'd pick.
i love the bright sound of polished stone! they're
really hard to find these days $15.00 picks don't
exactly fly off the shelf. i've found an acceptable
substitute in those polished heart shaped stones
you can find in giftshops and new-age boutiques.

i use everything between 0.70 - 3.00 mm depending on mood and the groove of the music, strings are DD chromes.

mostly fingerpicking though!

I play fingerstyle and pick style, but I always use 2 different basses to do it. I use a Jazz for fingers, but can't get a pick sound I like out of it to save my life.

I play a Fender MIA Precision with the pick, using Fender 8250 nickel rounds. To my ears nothing sounds better than a Precision played with a pick, and I say that having tried Ricks, Thunderbirds, and various active basses. The P just has the exact combination of bass, treble, and drive I like, particularly when I mute the notes with my palm while picking.

For the pick I use old Fender rounded triangles, heavy guage. I have a stash of them I bought many years ago, and they are completely different than the ones Fender sells now. The old ones are a real thick, super smooth plastic and seem to last forever, especially since there are 3 sides to work through. The new ones are much less stiff and made of a different material. I can't stand them. I guess when my old ones are gone I'll give up the pick :)

I rarely us picks, but I do one a few picks, I don't know why.

I use felt picks, preferably one that has been used a bit so it has some flex. They cost a dollar peice though.

5 String Jazz Bass, DR LoRiders
Ovation Acoustic Labella Tape Wound

I love Big Stubbies. I am not a pick player, but when I do use it for chording I love thick picks.

Dunlop .38mm Nylon

1.00 mm Blue Tortex Triangles

1.00 mm Blue Tortex Triangles

Ditto, it doesn't get any better than that. Triangles are the way to go on bass.

Green Dunlops here.
+1, DR Sunbeams, tone rolled off.

Strings: Ernie Ball Super Slinkies (45-100)
Picks: Herco Flex .75mm, Pickboy Edge 1.14mm, Dunlop Gator Grip 2.0mm -- I'm not tied to one, but lately I've been favoring the Herco.

i'm feeling empathy & brotherhood with a lot of the stuff in this thread :)

I use Dunlop Jazz III's ... the red ones, not the black ones (they wear down too quickly) ... I get on better with their little size than a standard sized pick (I get more mobility because it doesn't interfere with my first finger's 1st joint :) )and they last a long while... they're thick enough and flex just about right to give me the sound I need... the only drawback is they can get a bit slippy when the gig's on and the sweating starts... if they could make fluorescent ones so I can find them on my amp head durign a gig they'd be perfect :)



I've been dreaming of finding a pick like this! Could this be, THE ONE? :eek:

I have not played bass for a long while, the last time I did, I used Dunlop Tortex 0.73
I liked it ok but I hate that numb feeling after I play because of the intensive string vibration (I don't know how to explain this.)
So I thought I'd try the Dunlop 0.6 Orange ones the next time. Or the Jazz III.

I don't understand how you guys could use gauges like 1.0mm. (String virbration numbness)
My thumb hurt like heck after playing with a 3.0 for less then an hr too.

I used Dunlop Tortex blues and purples for years, including when I played professionally in my early 20s. After playing guitar for a number of years I discovered that the thinner picks are faster, easier to hold, and give a better tone by being more expressive. I was simply having to work way too hard with the thicker picks and wasn't getting any benefit out of it. I now typically use the red Dunlop .5 mm for most playing and the orange .6 mm ones when I feel like I really need to dig in.

My point is this: If you use a certain pick, ask yourself why you use it, and make sure you try everything. Using the wrong type of pick is an easy mistake to make, but even easier to fix. I'm sure glad I did.

Ditto, it doesn't get any better than that. Triangles are the way to go on bass.

DON'T POST ANYMORE! You currently have 666 posts. That is sooo Metal :cool: :ninja: :p

After 35 years of using Fender Heavy, 2 weeks ago I changed (at the suggestion of our lead guitarist) to the Dunlop Tortox (blue - 1mm). I had complained to him that the Fender pick lost it's point too soon.

I don't use a pick all the time, only for a few of the songs that really NEED that sound ( maybe 5 out of the 85 songs that we do regularly)

i had been using anything, all the different dunlops, from big stubbies to pansy little .66's but when i picked up a fender heavy i just knew straight away i had to have em.

I find thicker picks give much better control. To each his own.

Anyway, I use 2mm Dunlop Jazztones - nice warm tone, less click than some other materials.

I just bought Dunlop standard picks guages 0.60mm-1.0mm, Dunlop Blue Triangle (1.0mm) and the Dunlop Jazz III XL Series (Black) picks to find "The One".

But no bass to test on. :bawl:

I've only used the pick much on one bass - ESP/LTD B-50.

But it sounds great with standard strings (I've never changed them) and my (jes I only have one) Dunlop 1mm "USA Nylon".

I actually found it in my classroom. I also had a Peavey .85mm, but I found it too small and too thin, so I gave it back - the guy who gave it to me had also found it :p
Go figure.

After 35 years of using Fender Heavy, 2 weeks ago I changed (at the suggestion of our lead guitarist) to the Dunlop Tortox (blue - 1mm). I had complained to him that the Fender pick lost it's point too soon.

I don't use a pick all the time, only for a few of the songs that really NEED that sound ( maybe 5 out of the 85 songs that we do regularly)

Here's a tip for sharpening a pick:

Hold the pick between your thumb and index finger with the point going up instead of down and swipe the edge against a piece of carpet a few times, pretty fast. A thick tortex pick will leave melt marks on some carpets so you're better off doing it on scrap. A few swipes will put a new edge on the thickest picks.

Mainly Dunlop Tortex 1.14 Jazz picks, but Im thinking of ordering a set of .88 Tortex Jazz picks. I like the Ultex material but I dont believe they make a Jazz size.

Big Graham Maby fan. In about 1994 I bought a gross of Fender Neons .88's. Still got a bunch of them, don't do as much pick playing as I used to. Rumblefish with nickel rounds, soon going to try some flats.

I find thicker picks give much better
control.

+1

AND a thicker pick SOUNDS better, too!



Here's a tip for sharpening a pick:

Hold the pick between your thumb and index finger with the point going up instead of down and swipe the edge against a piece of carpet a few times, pretty fast.

Yeah, thanks for the "new" idea . . . I've been doing that "carpet trick" for over 50 years!!

:D

Ditto, it doesn't get any better than that. Triangles are the way to go on bass.

This may sound stupid but can you tell me the proper way to hold the Triangular pic?

Any wayyou want to, but most people like one of the 3 pints to pluck the string.

I use green Dunlop Tortex Triangles on LaBella 760N nylon tapewounds and on various roundwounds.

Jim Dunlop Nylon 1mm

I personally don't use picks any more but these were what i used to use.

Yeah, thanks for the "new" idea . . . I've been doing that "carpet trick" for over 50 years!!

:D

I'm sorry, when did you think I said that it was a "new" idea? I guess the same place you thought I said one pick sounds better than another, which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense, either.

Wasburn, thin/light roundwounds, 1.14mm, tortex

Tortex is really tough, compared to celluloid, which is what fender picks are made out of.
I'm not bashing the fender picks here, but I'd seriously kill them in >30 minutes, it was sad.

I'm sorry, when did you think I said that it was a "new" idea?

Hey, easy . . . didn't you see the "smiley"? I was trying to make a JOKE out of it! Sorry for the confusion . . .

I'm sorry, when did you think I said that it was a "new" idea? I guess the same place you thought I said one pick sounds better than another, which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense, either.
The comment about "a thicker pick SOUNDS better, too!" was refering to the post about how one could have better control with a thicker pick as opposed to one of those "floppy" thinner picks.
I find thicker picks give much better control.
YMMV.


BTW, using different picks (different thickness, different shape, different material, etc.) DO make the bass (OR guitar, for that matter) "sound" DIFFERENT! And IMHO, "a thicker pick SOUNDS better".

I'm NOT trying to pi$$ you off, Scott . . . but seen in contex, what I said DOES make a lot of sense.

And IMHO, "a thicker pick SOUNDS better".

It reads much better with the IMHO in front of it.

Dunlop Ultex triangle-shaped - .73mm

I use felt picks when I do pick .. thick (roughly 1/8" thick) ... white .. triangle ..

i don't like the clicky tone of any guitar style pics .. the felt pick is the closest you can get to a finger tone.

Whenever i use i pick, i use a thick Dunlop pick, the purple 2.0mm version. They maybe thick, but give a powerful tone and sounds nice and deep.

I use both fingers and pick on my P-bass, but when I play my Ric, only a pick will do - ala Chris Squire and Paul D'amour.

I use Clayton Acetal triangle 1.25mm or lately, Dunlop Ultex triangle 1.14mm.... I find anything thinner flexes too much for me, and anything thicker takes away from my precision, speed, and getting that perfect attack, with just enough bottom, and that nice, subtle "tinge" on top..

For that punk/thrash pickstyle tone, I opt for a combination of Dunlop Gator Grip picks and D'Addario XL Nickelwounds on my Schecter Stiletto Elite-4L. I'm still experimenting with 1.00mm and 1.14mm gauges to see which I like best. Lighter picks don't provide enough “thump” for me, and heavier picks impede my speed and attack style. I was previously using Tortex, but at the same gauges, it seems that Tortex is stiffer and doesn't deliver the tone and control I'm looking for.

[QUOTE=FaithNoMan;3931258]I use both fingers and pick on my P-bass, but when I play my Ric, only a pick will do - ala Chris Squire and Paul D'amour.

I use Clayton Acetal triangle 1.25mm or lately, Dunlop Ultex triangle 1.14mm.... [QUOTE]

+1 for the Clayton Acetals, after 20 or so years of using them (on a Ric, natch) I'm not sure I could play without them. I use the .80 myself, I like that little bit of flex that makes it pop off the string. I am also weird in that I rely primary on _upstrokes_, or at least that is how I'll start a run. I understand Carol Kaye does that as well, but it seems to be unusual.

The holy grail of picks, at least for me:

http://www.steveclayton.com/acetal.html

For picks, I've gone through a whole lot, and I just can't find a better pick than these really cheap fat purple Dunlop 2mm ones. They are inflexible, which to me is perfect. They don't dull when doing scrapes, however nylon work even better, they just don't make a nylon version.

I personally want to try a bone pick sometime though.