playing super fast with a pick

[Albini_Fan]

I think my strings are too light guage, or my picks are too flimsey. I play with the lightest guage ernie ball strings. I forgot what kind, my picks are .66 mm I think. And I cannot for the life of me play real fast rattarattarattaratta lines (pardon me ;P). My string isn't back when I go back to pick it again, so I guess I need heavier guage? But if I get heavier strings, won't I need a thicker pick? The picks are already flimsy as it is :/

[Wes Whitmore]

Um..I am pretty sure the string is there since it doesnt go anywhere really. Are you downward picking? Up/down? Are you picking really hard?
Regardless, it shouldn't be the strings. I play the EB lights as well (each string is .05 smaller than OEM, I think), and I like them. I wouldn't play much thinner than a .7mm thick pick though. It gets too flimsy. Most people here will tell you to get the thickest pick you can, but I haven't be able to up/down pick very well with the 1.5mm picks that I just purchased.
Many people are going to tell you to slowdown and work the the technique of your strumming hand, and speed will come along when you are ready for it. Somehow relaxing will make you faster. In just 2 weeks, I have gotten much smoother and consistant with my picking by not picking as hard, and working on timing. I am much faster now. In those 2 weeks, I have lost all of my finger plucking speed though. Not a good tradeoff.
Hope this helps a little bit.
Wes

[Albini_Fan]

I play mostly downs, but I'll play some ups. I'm in a wierd hardcore band and I'm trying to play this real fast chuggachuggachugga thing as hard/fast as I can for a cool buzzy sound. Except when I do it the string is always going nuts when I get halfway into it, I think it's the pick that can't take it. I'm gonna go shop around for some 1.0 picks, that should help.

[ole Jason]

You mentioned you're in a hardcore band so do you tune down? If you're tuning down you may want to consider a heavier guage string, that will keep it from flopping around so much. When I play w/ a pick I use Dunlop 3mm stubby's. You can't beat them for speed and precision. As far as up/down strokes go just see what the guitarists are doing if they do the same rythm as you and copy that.

[andreas_bass]

I think it's both the pick and strings. I play with Dunlop Gator Grip 1.5mm and 045-105 strings in standard tuning. It is easier with harder pick to get more control of the string. Good luck!

[labrat]

If you tune down drastically that will cause problems. I prefer a medium thickness pick (when i use one), thins feel like paper, a thick are too rigid for me to do agile lines. Try playing closer to the bridge, the strings vibrations are tighter there.

[JMX]

I use .035-.095 strings and a thin pick, and I can pick very fast, you might have to use a lighter touch with the pick.

[darkspec]

I use extra heavy picks with regular gauge strings and have no problems. I think you need a thicker pick.

[Infernal Affair]

Originally posted by Albini_Fan
I play mostly downs, but I'll play some ups.

I think that's the problem there. My suggestion is to learn to upstroke so that you can do a down/up motion consistently. That way theoretically you become twice as fast. The easiest way to do thi is practice an down/up motion with a metronome, starting slow, and doing it for long time periods (say in nonstop 5 minute sessions). Then go faster by about 3-5 clicks each time until you start messing up. Then focus on the time you keep messing up on till you perfect it. Then go up another 5 clicks, etc. Also, it's good to relax and not dig in really hard. This really helps when you're trying to do consistently speedy riffs for 2 minutes (the length of a typical hardcore song).