I am meeting with Mike Gordon in Toronto on 7/9 for our annual Source Audio effects summit!
Can I come???
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I am meeting with Mike Gordon in Toronto on 7/9 for our annual Source Audio effects summit!
I am meeting with Mike Gordon in Toronto on 7/9 for our annual Source Audio effects summit!
Who makes those big picks Mike is using?
Hey Edwin,
I bought one of the Adamas picks on fleabay awhile ago, thinking that Mike used them. I have been floored by the attack. I probably will stock up on them, but what makes the big stubby better in your opinion?
The Adamas is too thick to get the attack to be right. It works great for guitar, but for bass, having a thin but utterly stiff pick is really the way to go. I seem to recall that in the early 80s I read a Phil interview where he said he was using a titanium pick or something like that. It makes sense because he had a kind of clanky tone at times back then.
When I discovered the Adamas pick, I felt the same way as you and bought every one I could find (my local music store could still get them at 75c/ea). Dunlop then did a few more runs of them, so you could by them by the bag, for varying prices. In the mid 00s, Mike gave me one of the big stubbys to check out and I was pretty skeptical because of the size. Then, when Great American Taxi was making Reckless Habits, I decided to give it a spin and really loved it. Barry Sless managed to get me another from Phil, when he was doing Phil and Friends, so I had just two of these magical picks that I guarded assiduously. I called Dunlop probably every 6 weeks or so to ask that they do another run, but they wouldn't go for it. TFunk has been a lifesaver. Before they did that, Mike was down to just a few and showed me his gig pick, which was worn down considerably. That's hard to do with these picks, they last forever.
However, just for fun, I've been going back to a Fender heavy, with my Starfire and Showman/Sunn 200S rig and it definitely has a very cool tone as well. Brings out more of the upper mids.
That's awesome. I'm really interested to try them since you had the same feeling as me toward the Adamas. I played one of the purple plastic Dunlop Big Stubbys, but those things are like trying to hold a piece of ice between your fingers. I liked the sloped tip of them, though. I felt like the string released cleaner of of the edge from that shape. Maybe this Telefunken is the way to go.
Is that what you meant by "get te action right"?
If you meant attack, then the answer is yes.