Just a curious question. What picks do you use?

[AltGrendel]

Dunlop 2mm Gator grip.

 

[Jim C]

I use the hard 5.0mm one. They last forever. Thumb indentation is great...have yet to drop a pick.

Thanks,
Soft, medium or hard?

 

[Jim C]

Yellow Dunlop tortext, standard shape. Played on the rounded edge a la Bobby Vega. Other picks for guitar work, but I have an insane amount of the yellow Dunlops so I use them predominantly.

Also Dean Ween uses them...

So you hold them 180 degrees backward, or 90 degrees to get to the big radiused corner?
Never even thought to try them in any direction other than standard.

BTW, for those that have a problem hanging onto picks, Dunlop offers standard size celluloid pick with a round cork washer on one side which I mainly use.
You can get close to this grippyness by drilling a 1/4” hole in a pick as well.

 

[39-Bassist]

"I usually don't use a pick, BUT when I do...... I use Dunlop Tortex 60mm"...thin and fast...and easy to throw...lol

 

[TerriblePeril]

So you hold them 180 degrees backward, or 90 degrees to get to the big radiused corner?
Never even thought to try them in any direction other than standard.

BTW, for those that have a problem hanging onto picks, Dunlop offers standard size celluloid pick with a round cork washer on one side which I mainly use.
You can get close to this grippyness by drilling a 1/4” hole in a pick as well.

90, with the point in towards my palm. I still get some skin contact, its not as "picky" or "sharp" of an attack, and I often hold at an angle so there's a little scrunch or scrape to it. Vega's "GOSH!" video on YouTube is a perfect example, however he holds with the point out, not in. Also, if I recall correctly, the P he plays in that video has the pickups from which the GZR sig pups were based.

For speedier mehtall I'll use an orange Dunlop tortex played in standard grip, that extra flex I find facilitates faster playing and less excursion on the string and less fatigue from not having to grip something stiffer as it plucks through the strings. I also find that playing with a crooked pick can get me a great Paul D'Amour scrapy sound without having to wear my bass BTD (below the d**k).

 

[Hi-End Basses]

Over the years I've used hard felt, quarters, and pesos (about $1.00 for over 2,000 of them back in the early eighties, now about a dime each from coin store junk boxes). A friend gave me one of the hard Wedgies recently (hmmm... that just doesn't sound comfortable...) and it seems pretty cool.

I love the sound of a hard felt pick, it seems to be the most versatile in the range of possible sounds but holy crap do they make a mess. By angling them differently and switching between the point and the back corners you can get anything from a finger sound to a hard pick sound.

You won't have that problem with UKE 1's or UKE 2's from Mick's Picks. It's a composite material that's felt. The 1's are 2.5 mm and the 2's are 3.8mm. They sound like you're plucking with your fingers.

 

[Biggbass]

when I use a pick I use a thumb pick

 

[Muttleybass]

When I do use a pick, it's Dunlop Tortex Triangle .60 mm... The orange ones.

 

[LoDownSinner]

You won't have that problem with UKE 1's or UKE 2's from Mick's Picks. It's a composite material that's felt. The 1's are 2.5 mm and the 2's are 3.8mm. They sound like you're plucking with your fingers.

Which I would probably try, but due to a previous admonishment in this thread I probably shouldn't say that I've been exclusively using my fingers for the last several years.

 

[Stevorebob]

Dunlop Ultex .73 cut down to a jazz-style teardrop shape to make it stiffer and easier to hold.

 

[TripleDouble]

Dunlop Jazztones, the little 204 0r 205 teardrop ones. They sound really nice and are quick.

 

[Iroquoisroadwarrior]

The orange Dunlap tortex picks. Sometimes felt picks if the song calls for a really dull thumpy tone.

 

[Feral Feline]

you that use really thick picks


why?

- different tone
- easier grip
- faster response during fast picking passages (pick doesn't need to flex back to its "neutral" position like floppy thin picks do)
- like fatter strings, the greater mass just seems to add Le Boeuf.

Typically, I use fingers. But some stuff just calls for a pick. I really haven't found "my" pick yet. It's been the green Tortex ones in the past, but lately I've been using black Tortex Jazz IIIs, which are definitely my preferred pick on guitar. Guess I'm just getting used to that one. Anybody have any suggestions for a pick that is nice and stiff like the Jazz III and is relatively small profile for faster songs?

The Tusqs come in a Jazz III shape (and the large triangles, which I haven't tried yet) ...

The "pro" to the "con" of their slipperiness is that they glide over the strings.

...
And a SikPik sample pack.They're twisted.View attachment 758088

I've gotta try those twisties!

I like to purchase 1 or 2 picks any time I hit a music store just to have something new to walk out with and try, but I've never seen these twisted SikPik pickers in any shop – where did you get them?


******
SLIP-SLIDE AWAY...
For picks without grips, I'll take an Xacto blade and cut into them cross-hatch style, gives a bit more texture-grippage than sandpapering them.


Tried coins, prefer the ones without serrated edges on roundwounds, though I can see where having a serrated edge at times might be the sound to go for.

*******

Pick maestro Bobby Vega has had a couple of "pick" articles in Bass Player mag recently, the "Holiday 2015" issue of the mag (Lemmy on the cover); Vega describes different ways of holding the pick and different angles of attack and how that affects the sound.

As TerriblePeril noted, Vega holds his picks longways so the broad curvature of the pick is attacking the string:
"Try holding the point of the pick at 6 o'clock and your thumb at 9 o'clock. Now turn it so that the point is at 9 o'clock, under your thumbnail"

I've been on a Bobby Vega kick for a while now and I just seem to be delving deeper into his funky pickstyle. Sure wish I could cop some of his style, even a few licks ... okay, I'd settle for being able to play one BV lick well!

 

[Dradder]

The soft rubber or the medium one?
Because I've been using the hard rubber, same one for the past year with no dust whatsoever.

It was probably the soft rubber Wedgies. I bought 'em quite a while before I actually gave them a good workout, so not absolutely sure. But if your experience with the hard rubber variety is different, that would explain it.

 

[Watchootognbout]

- different tone
- easier grip
- faster response during fast picking passages (pick doesn't need to flex back to its "neutral" position like floppy thin picks do)
- like fatter strings, the greater mass just seems to add Le Boeuf.

I've gotta try those twisties!

I like to purchase 1 or 2 picks any time I hit a music store just to have something new to walk out with and try, but I've never seen these twisted SikPik pickers in any shop – where did you get them?

Your reasons are the exact reasons why I use thicker picks!

I bought a sample pack of SikPks on Ebay a while back.SikPiks.Anybody try them?

I tried to order more from their site,but their Paypal account was having problems.
You may have to actually call them to order a set.SikPik - It's Twisted :: Home

You get four different Piks in a sample set.
My fav is the D35.

 

[Bodeanly]

I use an ice pick. But usually just to stab the elitists that come into these threads and brag about only using their fingers.

 

[mikecd1]

As the man said, I don't use picks often, but when I do I like Everly Star Picks. Easy to hold...

 

[ChrisG19]

 

[Hi-End Basses]

Fender does a beautiful job, no doubt!

 

[eldorado2001]

When I (rarely) use a pick...
These are great, they don't slip out of my grip. The green .88mm work well for bass.