Odd picks

[Selta]

Ok, well, this thread came to me today when I couldn't find a pick to use. Somehow in the past week I've managed to lose 12 picks, but that's ok! I found my replacements when digging through my drawers...pennies! At first I used quarters, which turned out to be much to large and heavey, so I went to dimes, which were too small to hold, then I went to pennies. I imagine the whole metal-on-metal contact wont be to healthy as far as the strings are concerned though, and I'm almost certain to break a few strings using these (since picks usually at least bend or have a lower contact area than pennies).

So my question is, who out there has used odd picks, why for, and how'd it work? I'm kindof curious as to how this penny will look in a month playing daily for an hour. Kindof a unique sound as well though.


Ray

[Rich600]

I once used a bit of chewing gum wrapper folded up until it was stiff, that worked ok for about 5 minutes then it wore away, and ive used coins aswell but im not too keen on them but the best was the broken off corner of my credit card.

[pepsican]

I have also used pennies when I cant find a pick and I'm just messing around. I've also done the credit card thing. Ive bent bottle caps a certain way and used those too, which actually worked really well.

[kaboom133]

I use pennies often, but then again, my preferred pick is a thick metal pick.

[leanne]

That plastic thing on bread bags... just cut it to shape.

[cowsgomoo]

when i was a student, one of the college dorm phones was a 'phonecard' phone.., you had to buy cards and swipe them through the phone to make a call

so people would leave dead phonecards lying about the place, and they were an ideal thickness for making picks out of... (the material was a bit thinner but a bit less brittle than yer typical credit card) so I used my phonecard pick stash for a couple of years

now I prefer the sound of a slightly heavier & stiffer pick (Dunlop Jazz III's) but the homemade ones worked pretty well