What are your favorites?

Brian

Jim Dunlop 1mm black Nylon

shiny fender heavys

Smooth Jim Dunlop heavy or extra heavy gels.

I get these "Alice" brand picks in a little tin box, about 30 or so for about ten bucks.

They come in 4 sizes between .51mm and .87mm.

I rarely use picks myself and prefer a softer pick when I do use one, but the guitarists I know like the fact a 99.9% fingerstyle bassist carries a box or two of these about, and I always get compliments on the tins, as if I had the brains to take them out of the bag and into the tin :)

I use 2mm picks for extra manliness. They're kinda hard to use. Maybe that's why I don't play with a pick too often.

Has anyone here ever used a wooden pick? Are they more of a gimmick or a personal/appearance preference? Do they have a significantly different tone or feel?

Brian

I have used anything from a Tortex medium, or Celluloid mediums to extra heavy, and then those dunlop stubbies.

Has anyone here ever used a wooden pick? Are they more of a gimmick or a personal/appearance preference? Do they have a significantly different tone or feel?

Brian

I have, I didn't like the tone, they wore out very quickly, and they were too expensive, try finding wegin(sp) picks, they are incredible 'boutiqe' picks

I prefer big stubby, 1mm

Dunlop Tortex 88's

Nino, this is totally off-topic (but it's my thread... so I don't feel bad hijacking it lol)... I just wanted to let you know that what I've seen of your work on this site is great. Beautiful basses and I've heard nothing but good things about how they sound/play!

Brian

Dunlop 2mm

I use Wegen picks. They're expensive, but they are that good.

Herco 75, they are my choice... Nylon

If a plectrum is required I alternate between felt, or a 5.0mm Wedgie depending on what type of attack I need.

Dunlop Stubby Triangles 2mm, the light purple ones.

So many different answers lol. Oh well. So much for getting a consensus. Not that I'm surprised; I figured with all the picks out there, lots of different people would be using lots of different ones. I guess I'll just have to give the ol' trial and error a shot and see what I like. Thanks for the input, guys.

Brian

Yeah, I have like 6 or 7 different types of picks lying around. It's good that they aren't as expensive as strings. :p

Just go wild and pick out a bunch.

all kinds... i use some for a harder attack, some for softer. some are clicky, others are more meaty.

but my favorites are Dunlop Tortex .88.
http://planetsmilies.net/vicious-smiley-1815.gif

Felt pick for old school sound and regular shape extra heavy if I must use a pick. Sometimes use both I put a plastic pick behind the felt to stiffen it up, also give a little click to the note.

ernie ball medium.

i dont know how anyone could use anything thicker than medium.

And picks are picks, they wont alter your tone that much depending on the brand. Material and thickness are all that matter. But i have many thicknesses and a few different kinds lying around and none really change my tone much.

Dunlop tortex, good feel, good grip, very snappy, I like the 1mm or the 1.14mm (blue and purple)

Clayton 1mm ... don't slip around like Dunlops do when my hand gets sweaty, have a warmer tone (to my ear) than Dunlops, and have a weight and release that feels much more intuitive and articulate than the Dunlop. Plus they're cheap and they last a long time.

dunlop tortex .88mm

i've tried some stubbies and i don't like um. the dunlop are all i need.

Jazz III

I've been using the Wedgie 5mm rubber picks for some time now. I can't really hear much sound difference between their soft, medium, and hard picks. But the hard picks wear longer - you might get a week out of a soft pick, and as much as 2-3 weeks out of a hard pick. 5mm is thick, so these things don't slip much in your fingers. They do have a very different feel than plastic - they kind of grab the strings rather than sliding off, so they take some getting used to. Another difference is, they are MUCH quieter than plastic - you'll need to crank your volume knob to make up for the loss of sound. And you do get a kind of fine pick dust on the bass; I use a good paint brush to clean it off every time I play.

But they sound very much like fingers, and don't get blisters. Also, they're cheap (50 cents apiece). Definitely worth a try, but expect *different*. Not like plastic at all.

Clayton .63mm and .80mm.

i like really thin picks. i dunno what brand, i just take whatever from my guitarists :ninja:

Dunlop .46mm nylon.

dunlop 2mm, the black ones with the croc on it, heh

Yellow Dunlop Tortex. Which I modify. :ninja:

I alternate between fingers and picking depending on the song, but when using pick, I go for the Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm. (Purple)

As has already been said, they have a good feel, grip, and a very nice snap to them.

Picks are picks, the only thing that really matters for me is finding a comfortable size. With that said though, the tortex picks rock.

small red Dunlop Jazz III's (picture not to scale :) ):

http://media.samedaymusic.com/media/brand,sameday/4700_NYLON_JAZZ_3_PICK-ed8f25d140ace2ebe3f21f651a29ec8b.jpg

Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm or 1.35mm
Stubbies 2.0mm
"Picks By the Pound" heavy thumb pick

I rarely use a pick (maybe 5% of the time, if that), so I'm still playing around with which ones I like. I've tried other picks in 1.0 (and lighter) and 3.0 and they're too light and too heavy respectively. I've been using the thumb pick with a regular pick technique because I can switch between picking and fingerstyle without having to palm or drop the pick (I've never mastered palming it).

Well, for what it's worth, I ordered a bookmatched set of African Blackwood picks (one black, one streaked, and one white) from Woodenpicks.com. I guess I doubt they'll have any unique sound, but as long as I like the sound and feel of them... they look great!

Brian

The main pick I use is a 5.0mm Hard rubber pick made by Wedgie. Great tone out of that thing! I also use the 3.1mm Hard Rubber pick from Wedgie as it gives a different tone. That's why I also sometimes use the medium and Soft versions of those two picks on occasion when recording.

For Tortex picks, I like Purple, Blue and Green, again depending on the sound I'm looking for.

Dunlop Gator Grip 2.0mm. I used to use Dunlop Tortex .96mm, but I find them too slippery for my liking lately.

Jim Dunlop 1mm black Nylon

Me too - both on bass and guitar.

Dunlop Tortex Triangle.

Dunlop Tortex .88, 1 or 1.14. Depends on what's to hand.

Fender Heavy, basic all around pick that seems to do the job just fine, and I get them in white, so that I can see them better when the lights go down.

Jim Dunlop 1mm black Nylon

+1

Just your regular Dunlop Tortex 1mm or 1.14mm Wedge. I prefer the 1.14 but whatever is closer :p

I like Wegens. Got some for guitar and mando (M150, M250) and they sound great on bass too! My favorite is the Dipper though because of its three different edges.

2mm Dunlop Gator Grip usually

Wedgie 88s. They're the same as the green tortexes but they have a thumb imprint in them.

For some songs I use the blue ones, some I use the yellow.

jeff buckley tribute pick, i think they may be pretty rare but still cheap, they have a skull on the back with sorta barbed stuff and on the other side say jeff buckley. I got them at a bass master class i attended (when i had only played for 3 months)

Clayton .80mm Acetal "Black Jazz".. Ya gotta order them though.. I've never seen them in a store.

Buy a guitar.

Buy a guitar.


Agreed.

Dunlop Tortex 0.73's (yellow), 0.88's (blue).

White medium thickness triangular celluloid pick, a bit smaller that the big Fender Triangle picks. They are a bit odd but they fit my hands perfectly so I bought a whole gross way back when and I use them frugally.

It's a rare occurrence that I use a pick, but when I do, I use Dunlop Tortex .73mm

Buy a guitar.

Agreed.

Not only is this nonsense, but it's misplaced nonsense. The original question was:

-----------------------------------------------
"Questions for those that use a pick...

What are your favorites?"
-----------------------------------------------

There. I underlined the part you missed.


I use Jim Dunlop, grey, 0.80 or 0.88. 0.60 for guitar.

Dunlop tortex .73mm (yellow), thick enough to get solid sound but lenient enough that it does some of the workd for you :smug: (it also will never snap, it'll just get blunt)

Since winning the rock face-off with the devil in my loungeroom, I only use the pick of destiny. It's huge, cumbersome and it sometimes glows and stares at me, but my playing has become the stuff of legend.

Tortex yellows. I would like to know what Bobby Vega uses. He rocks a pick w/ the best of them

Dunlop Delrin 1.14mm.
The one and only in my eyes...
I got about 200 of them :)

Dunlop gray nylon .73mm

+4 on the Dunlop Tortex 2mm. Use 'em on my guitars also.

Dunlop .73 yellow tortex

Buy a guitar.Why should I buy a guitar? You obtuse fool!!!! :rolleyes:

What are your favorites?

Brian

Dunlop Delrin 2mm
Can sounds almost fingerstyle in its beefiness with roundwound strings.

Buy a guitar.

Agreed.

:spit:

Those purple dunlop big stubbies 2mm.

I use Blue Tortex (1mm)
actually I practically use anything. I also use Nylon .88 for more give if I need to play something quick that transitions to different strings quick.


I can play my bass with my tongue like Pete Wentz because he is awesome....



:rolleyes:

:spit:


+1, imagine if the energy some spend on elitism was put toward bass playing. The world would be a scary good place. :bassist:


Anyways, I use the 2.0 triangle stubbies when I flatpick the bass.

i don't use a pick very often anymore, i used to almost exclusively and i just used generic hard ones from the music store..

nowadays though, i like to be able to switch back and forth using a pick and using fingers in the middle of songs, and the only way to do that is with those picks that wrap around your thumb that finger-pickin' folk guitarists use.

For me, it depends. On my regular artist gig, which is a country gig, I try to cop the particular sound that the guy who played on the album got. (For the most part anyway.) I only use a pick for a couple of songs, and usually I use a Tortex medium.

But when I am playing on my own stuff, which leans a lot more to the rock side, I use something heavier to dig in and get the sound I want.

All in all, if you do have the freedom to choose, it's totally one of those personal choice things. When I am recording at home, I have a ton of picks that I will sift through to help me get the sound I am going after.

+1, imagine if the energy some spend on elitism was put toward bass playing. The world would be a scary good place. :bassist:

No doubt. :smug:

dunlop 1.14 mm

Dunlop Tortex .73mm (yellow) or Gator Grip 1.5mm (powdery green). I find the yellow ones work well for things where I'm doing a lot of string crossing and I need a little grind. They have a snap. For low end punch I dial back my p-bass and dig in. The gators give a smoother attack with a little more bottom, but not as much punch on the attack. If I mix pick with fingers I usually will use the gators because there's less difference between the tone of my fingers and that pick.

Now if I can only find a finger pick for my middle finger that I find comfortable and will match up with the tone of one of those two picks... Suggestions? Think Dominique Di Piazza style picking. I asked him, but I don't like the same picks that he uses.

Dunlop Tortex, Yellow

The grip on them is smooth and easy to hold, I've never tried the heavier ones, but the yellow (medium gauge ones) work wonders.

Ultra Cool Mediums, .80mm triangular

http://elderly.com/accessories/items/PKSRT-M.htm

THey are kind of hard to find but dunlop puts out a "fin" model of the tortex. You can get some really cool sounds by using each of the different sides. that and they don't break. but yea, 1mm are the way to go.

Clayton .80mm "Black Jazz"

Slug