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Does playing with a pick kills your strings faster?

#5
I play with a pick and so far it hasn't even damaged my DR Red Devils!
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#6
I can play with a pick as well as I can slap, which is horribly. But it seems to me that a pick could potentially damage the part of the string that the pick comes into contact with, couldn't it? Fingertips have dirt and oils and acids and whatnot, but isn't a pick far more physically abrasive than a fingertip?
 
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#7
I've always wondered how the dirt and sweat from finger picking could affect bass strings.

I've noticed how used strings can look different above the pickups...I always thought it was dirt and sweat from all of the fingers picking.

Then again I've seen a LOT of grimey basses.....crud all over the body and volume and tone knobs!
 
#11
I'd think the crud that kills bass strings will come primarily from contact with the fretting hand which is in contact over a larger part of the string, than the from the small contact point of "clean" pick. But I don't know (or care to learn) where your pick has been. YMMV
 
#12
I don't see a pick 'wearing out' the strings unless you're using a pick that's made of a material that's harder than the strings. Quite the opposite, really. The strings wear down the tips of picks. Since I started using a pick 10 years ago I've never noticed any wear on the strings at all.
 
#13
I don't use pick too much, but sometimes I play with a stainless steel pick. I like it but the nickel/steel of the strings comes off very quickly, producing a grey "dust" that will stick to the pickups and darkening the string where the pick strikes. So yes, at least in my case the string don' t last too much...
 
#15
Been using a pick almost exclusively for 30+ years and have only broken one string...last not of our ending to "Reeling In The Years" and that was probably @ '86 or so.

I've used just about every string you can imagine and was a long time user of Dean Markley SR2000's when they first came out (first exposed core string that I am aware of)
 
#17
Plastic pick vs. nickel or steel strings, the strings win.

Plastic pick vs. the coatings on some strings (eg. DR Black Beauties), the pick wins. I don't think it hurts the sound, but they don't look as nice when they start to get a "bald spot" after only a couple of months.

Structurally, strings take damage from the frets, the bridge saddles, the tailpiece anchor and the bend where they wind around the tuning peg. I've mostly only had strings break from taking them off and putting them back on too many times, and they always break at the tuning peg.

Sonically, strings wear out due to oil and crud and junk from your fingers. A pick theoretically would help prevent that, but I'm sure the strings get plenty from your left hand so it probably has no real effect on string life.
 
#18
It also depends on, you know, your hygiene, mang. Wash your damn hands.

But more than that, it depends on your unique body chemistry. I'm not going to pretend to understand the nuances of pH levels/diet/persperation, but I can tell you this: I kill nickel strings within weeks. I kill (quality) steel strings within months. A good set of DR's will last me six months before they start to fade.

Additionally, I used to be heavily pierced. All my jewelry was at least 316LVM surgical stainless steel, internally threaded. The one time I wore sterling silver (which contained nickel - it was a gift) my lip swelled up to twice its normal size, and I was in constant pain.

You can get into all kinds of arguments about your pick angle/attack. Tolex, rubber, nylon, graphite, what have you. Unless you're a serious punk rocker, or playing with a metallic pick, I don't see any impact upon the life of your strings. From your right hand, that is.

Your left hand will most always be in contact with your strings, and that's what you need to worry about. That's where you're going to be rubbing your acidic man-juices onto. A standard pick will move your strings with slightly more energy, and - depending on technique - impart that energy in a way that rubs against the windings in a generally negative way. Any attack straying from a parallel angle to the strings will, theoretically, create minor (minor [minor]) gaps between the windings. If you touch your string in the exact right spot where it's separating, or - heaven forbid - the string starts to unwind over a crucial point, such as the nut or bridge, you're boned.

I wish I could be more help, but... I am drunk. My ultimate advice is, as always; try it out. Nobody knows better than you.
 
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#19
Way back in the day I liked to use a -*$$banned word$$*- for a pick, it took a few months for me to realize this is why I was breaking strings at the rate of about once a week. I cannot say what effect playing with a pick has on the actual tone of the stings over time, but I can tell you the heavier the pick the more likely the sting is to break. Once I realized it was the heavy pick I developed my finger picking techniques. I still use a pick almost every time I play but only for certain songs and I also wont use anything thicker than than a yellow Dunlop.

(IF you have ever played poker with fake plastic coins at home or in a casino then you know what the banned words are??/ Why in all hell is this banned?? I wonder I separate the word "poker" from the word "chip" if the ban still works?)

EDIT - so you can say "poker" and you can say "chip" but don't put them together...someone might get offended??? WHAT???
 

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