Down with the Piccness -- and Thiccness -- for science!

[nabilhuakbar]

I really liked the tone of this Nylon .60, but again too thin
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Now we're starting to get into the realm of picks that don't flex so much that you can't do anything with them:

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I'm also a big fan of the tone of these delrin guys
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I want a max grip in 2mm
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slightly thicker nylon

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I've found that I'm not a fan of thinner Tortex picks
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Annnnnnnd to round out the Thin Boys, here's a Dunlop Medium Celluloid.

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[nabilhuakbar]

Here's a Tortex .88 sharp point

I did a demo of the same pick, but rounded, earlier in the thread.

I really like the Gator Grip picks when they're thicker...I didn't really care for this one. It was a little too flexy for me.

And now we're getting into the territory of what I feel more comfortable with...

Same one, but sharper

This was by far my favorite out of the whole Med/Thick variety pack. It's become my go-to for anything that needs strumming.

 

[nabilhuakbar]

I used the triangle-shaped bigger brother of this guy in my initial experiment. This one's SHARRRP OOOOH

If you want to try to get a bit of thumb in your picking, then the Jazz III is the way to go.

The Ultex 2.0 was pretty neat.

And we'll kick off our exotics with the Jazz III of copper picks: A PENNY.

 

[nabilhuakbar]

AND ON TO THE MAIN EVENT. THE THING PEOPLE ACTUALLY MIGHT CARE ABOUT.

The Exotics.

First, I have for you a lovely vintage Clayton Brass pick.

This was my favorite of the metallic ones. Maybe I'm just hearing stuff that's not there, but I feel like it had a kind of...warmth? I guess? To go along with the scratchy metallic clankiness. It also played the best to me.



Next up we have Clayton Copper

We have this Clayton Nickel/Steel alloy pick. I'm sure they had to mix a ton of nickel in it so it wouldn't wear out your strings super fast.

Taking a page from Carol Kaye, here's a felt pick.

These were surprisingly stiff and responsive! I kinda like 'em. I bet they'd sound killer on muted flats.



Here's Bone

 

[nabilhuakbar]

And finally, to cap it all off...these were my favorite from the Exotics bunch.

I REALLY liked this leather pick. It was kind of like combining your fingers, a pick, and a mute all in one.

My main complaint about these is that they wear out SUPER fast. If I did it all again and could only have one exotic pick, this would probably be the one I'd choose.



Last but not least: wood. I cheated a bit and rounded the tip (it was sharp when I first got it) and I'm glad. I'm a huge fan of it, and it's a close second to the leather pick in terms of how I like it.

So there you have it! This is by no means a comprehensive list. There are a lot of things that affect your tone -- amp and guitar settings, string age, pickups and pickup height, body wood, etc etc etc...but now when people talk about "oh these picks have such and such tone", I'm hoping that this thread can provide a reference for that. I'm hoping that this can give you a jumping-off point so you have a rough idea of what something might sound like before you get it...a sort of "listen before you buy," if you will.

Since uploading the pictures is really what takes the longest, when I get around to doing this for flats I'm going to reduce what I test. We probably don't need an example of every thin nylon pick out there, for example.

 

[Oneirogenic]

I've done a bunch of less detailed pick testing over the years and came to many of the same conclusion you did. I had a no name stainless steel pick that I used for a long time because the tone was so enjoyable. The fundamental of each note sounded stronger and the upper harmonics and scrapey sounds had more presence creating a sound that really cut through the mix. The visible damage it was doing to the strings and breaking an E string scared me away from still using it. You should try some of Clayton's acetal polymer picks. They have a unique tone amongst the plastic type picks and aren't expensive. I might have to try some metal picks that aren't steel. Thanks for these detailed analyses and recordings! Btw, this might be outdated info but I'm pretty sure Justin Chancellor uses the big triangle Clayton's.

 

[Vinny_G]

Btw, this might be outdated info but I'm pretty sure Justin Chancellor uses the big triangle Clayton's.

He currently uses a 1mm Dunlop Tortex Triangle pick
Invalid Link Removed

 

[Oneirogenic]

He currently uses a 1mm Dunlop Tortex Triangle pick
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Figures my info is outdated....it was a bass magazine nearly 15 years ago hahaha.

 

[nabilhuakbar]

Figures my info is outdated....it was a bass magazine nearly 15 years ago hahaha.

I really like the 1.14mm version of those... They're just a tiny bit stiffer.

I keep bouncing between 1mm and 2mm thicknesses and I don't know what I like the best anymore. 1mm is better for strumming and 2mm is a little better for faster picking for me.

Oh well now I have like 80 million picks to choose from. I also got a Fender Extra Heavy celluloid that I'm kind of excited to test out.

I've done a bunch of less detailed pick testing over the years and came to many of the same conclusion you did. I had a no name stainless steel pick that I used for a long time because the tone was so enjoyable. The fundamental of each note sounded stronger and the upper harmonics and scrapey sounds had more presence creating a sound that really cut through the mix. The visible damage it was doing to the strings and breaking an E string scared me away from still using it. You should try some of Clayton's acetal polymer picks. They have a unique tone amongst the plastic type picks and aren't expensive. I might have to try some metal picks that aren't steel. Thanks for these detailed analyses and recordings! Btw, this might be outdated info but I'm pretty sure Justin Chancellor uses the big triangle Clayton's.

Thank you much for the kind words!

If you're looking for a new metal pick, I really liked the Clayton Brass ones. They were my favorite out of the metal ones I've tried so far.

 

[Vinny_G]

Have you tried the Dunlop Teckpicks? They are excellent and are available in brass and aluminum:
Products - Guitar Picks - Other - Dunlop

 

[Resonance129]

Enjoyed reading through these detailed explanations of your findings with each pick model. I've been going through a similar "pick period", trying to not only get better/more proficient with a pick, but also find the best materials and shapes.

If it means anything in the thread, I've come to find some of my current favs are:.

* Medium DAVA Picks - I use these as a "barometer" of sorts as it's become one of my all time favs. I always come back to these for their comfort, response, sound, and general feel.

* 1.5mm Dunlop ULTEX SHARP - No textured grip, but the thickness of the pick tends to keep it pretty still in my fingers. Great sound, IMO, and comfortable even for long periods.

* Dunlop Nylon MAX GRIP Jazz III - Small picks used to make me nervous, but I've developed a love for them. They force me to control the pick better than standard-sized ones, and with the texturing, confidence increases a bit. I find my picking accuracy increases a little with these.

* 2mm Dunlop BIG STUBBY - Similar to the Jazz III variations, the Stubby is small, but accurate. LOVE the tone from these, and the little thumb well makes them comfy and secure.

There are more I like a lot, but those are some of my "go-to"s.
Never knew what type of pic Justin Chancellor played with til now, too (thanks for that). Might have to grab some Tortex Triangular 1mm's soon.

 

[nabilhuakbar]

Enjoyed reading through these detailed explanations of your findings with each pick model. I've been going through a similar "pick period", trying to not only get better/more proficient with a pick, but also find the best materials and shapes.

If it means anything in the thread, I've come to find some of my current favs are:.

* Medium DAVA Picks - I use these as a "barometer" of sorts as it's become one of my all time favs. I always come back to these for their comfort, response, sound, and general feel.

* 1.5mm Dunlop ULTEX SHARP - No textured grip, but the thickness of the pick tends to keep it pretty still in my fingers. Great sound, IMO, and comfortable even for long periods.

* Dunlop Nylon MAX GRIP Jazz III - Small picks used to make me nervous, but I've developed a love for them. They force me to control the pick better than standard-sized ones, and with the texturing, confidence increases a bit. I find my picking accuracy increases a little with these.

* 2mm Dunlop BIG STUBBY - Similar to the Jazz III variations, the Stubby is small, but accurate. LOVE the tone from these, and the little thumb well makes them comfy and secure.

There are more I like a lot, but those are some of my "go-to"s.
Never knew what type of pic Justin Chancellor played with til now, too (thanks for that). Might have to grab some Tortex Triangular 1mm's soon.

Thanks for that! I need to get a BIG STUBBY and try it out. I really liked the thicker ULTEX pick, and the Jazz III was one of my go-tos back in my guitar days. I think they're really cool for bass because you can really easily add a little meat from your thumb if you want, and it won't make a pinch harmonic like it would on guitar.

I think the biggest thing I learned from this whole thing is that A) I really like triangle picks and B) there's no "best pick"...since different picks have different attack and make different sound it's a good idea to have a few different ones on hand since some might fit a song better than others.

 

[LBS-bass]

I'm not normally a pick player, so will generally just grab any old pick that's around for the few songs I use it on. That said, I prefer the Dunlop nylons for their tone and they seem to have just the right amount of give to keep them from being overly harsh on the attack. But .60 is too thin, I use the .88s. Which reminds me that I should order some.