Pick restoration.

[Lostgallifreyan]

I am a cheapskate. Also, having found no match in pages of search results, I may well be in a class of my own, it may be that this was never asked.

Is there an easy way to restore the tip shape of Tortex and Ultex triangle picks?

Waste annoys me, but not as much as the effects of a rapidly worn-out pick, asymmetry of weighting of up/down strokes being a particular vice of a worn Ultex pick, which is otherwise great.

The best idea I have so far is to use very fine sand and cement to form a channel, carved out at the right moment as it sets, by a known-good pick, then left to cure fully, so later on, at convenient moments, a worn pick can be dragged down the channel to re-form an ideal edge profile on it within seconds, maybe faster even than grabbing a new one..

I don't mind a lack of perfect bevelling (there's no such thing), the big deal for me is loss of precisely shaped profile, and excessive drag on over-worn long edges. The scheme mentioned above seems to be easy to make, but if anyone knows a better way, please let me know.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Tortex yes.

Take the pick and run the edge along a low pile carpet. A few passes on each side will sharpen it. The pick will be ever so slightly smaller, but it works. Similar to your sandpaper idea.

Ultex is harder and I just haven't experimented with it as much.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

Tortex yes.

Take the pick and run the edge along a low pile carpet. A few passes on each side will sharpen it. The pick will be ever so slightly smaller, but it works. Similar to your sandpaper idea.

Ultex is harder and I just haven't experimented with it as much.

Thanks. I thought that thread had sunk like a stone.

I've done that with Tortex and I agree, it can really get a great edge back, but I found that the poor thermal conductivity of Tortex means too little force can test my patience, and if I get really impatient with it and swipe it too hard, it ablates so much material off it that it's wrecked. The profile meaning more to me than the edge, had me thinking there might be some kind of stamper or cutter made to do an entire pick as easily as punching holes in a card, but maybe not, except for making new picks from arbitrary larger sheets.

I've not done a lot with Ultex yet, it's still very new to me, but it definitely responds well to fine emery paper on a flat board. The problem is that even tiny asymmetry of a renewed tip can cause very obvious uneveness in up/down strokes. When it's new it's so good that it's worth a lot of exploration to renew it because unlike Tortex, Ultex is likely a lot faster to repair than it is to damage, given a viable and easily repeatable method.

I've got to make a decision soon, stay with Tortex, or go to Ultex and not look back. The current indecision is raising hell with my technique. Despite difficulty, Ultex still looks like winning out.

 

[HelpImaRock]

Thanks. I thought that thread had sunk like a stone.

I've done that with Tortex and I agree, it can really get a great edge back, but I found that the poor thermal conductivity of Tortex means too little force can test my patience, and if I get really impatient with it and swipe it too hard, it ablates so much material off it that it's wrecked. The profile meaning more to me than the edge, had me thinking there might be some kind of stamper or cutter made to do an entire pick as easily as punching holes in a card, but maybe not, except for making new picks from arbitrary larger sheets.

I've not done a lot with Ultex yet, it's still very new to me, but it definitely responds well to fine emery paper on a flat board. The problem is that even tiny asymmetry of a renewed tip can cause very obvious uneveness in up/down strokes. When it's new it's so good that it's worth a lot of exploration to renew it because unlike Tortex, Ultex is likely a lot faster to repair than it is to damage, given a viable and easily repeatable method.

I've got to make a decision soon, stay with Tortex, or go to Ultex and not look back. The current indecision is raising hell with my technique. Despite difficulty, Ultex still looks like winning out.

I went to Ultex because it's harder and retains more highs. But overwhelmingly, I wouldn't worry about trying to save picks. Buy the ones you like in bulk and you'll have all the sharp edges you want for a long time.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

I went to Ultex because it's harder and retains more highs. But overwhelmingly, I wouldn't worry about trying to save picks. Buy the ones you like in bulk and you'll have all the sharp edges you want for a long time.

I wish it were true. I'd hoped that Ultex triangles were the same shape as Tortex, but the Ultex tips are rounder, the edges also rounder. I got optimal results by using a fine pen to draw Tortex outline on Ultex pick, then a tapered grind to get the old shape while leaving the Ultex tip and bevel intact as well as keeping symmetry.

That's a level of detail justified in new explorations but it would suck to do it all the time, and it's because the Ultex shape isn't ideal for me straight out of the bag, that I want to solve this. If I get it right I can prepare new picks, AND renew them at will later.

Right now I'm favouring Polyfilla. Cheap to buy, makes a hard and very fine grinding surface, easy to mould and carve with precision before it sets hard. I even considered stoneware clay, but I don't have access to a kiln... Besides, I probably want a coarser grind than those will do. Got to be easy and fast.


About highs in Ultex, I like that too, my strings are fairly close and I like to play them hard, even very hard, so the smaller movements needed for the same high are welcome. Tortex is hard work! Its warmer tone may also be something I miss with heavy slides if I stay with Ultex...

 

[HelpImaRock]

I wish it were true. I'd hoped that Ultex triangles were the same shape as Tortex, but the Ultex tips are rounder, the edges also rounder. I got optimal results by using a fine pen to draw Tortex outline on Ultex pick, then a tapered grind to get the old shape while leaving the Ultex tip and bevel intact as well as keeping symmetry.

That's a level of detail justified in new explorations but it would suck to do it all the time, and it's because the Ultex shape isn't ideal for me straight out of the bag, that I want to solve this. If I get it right I can prepare new picks, AND renew them at will later.

Right now I'm favouring Polyfilla. Cheap to buy, makes a hard and very fine grinding surface, easy to mould and carve with precision before it sets hard. I even considered stoneware clay, but I don't have access to a kiln... Besides, I probably want a coarser grind than those will do. Got to be easy and fast.


About highs in Ultex, I like that too, my strings are fairly close and I like to play them hard, even very hard, so the smaller movements needed for the same high are welcome. Tortex is hard work! Its warmer tone may also be something I miss with heavy slides if I stay with Ultex...

I use standard raindrop picks, so the Ultex Sharp 2mm do me just fine. That said, I switched to Primetone 3mm and haven't looked back.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

I use standard raindrop picks, so the Ultex Sharp 2mm do me just fine. That said, I switched to Primetone 3mm and haven't looked back.

Given that I like JJ Burnel's sound as a basis for mine, I might go the other way. Currently 1.14mm, he used 0.88, 'Gibson Heavies', therefore celluloid. I won't tolerate that kind of flammable material lying around loose here, but I might well try a thinner Ultex because it is stiffer. I can't imagine using 2mm, let alone 3. They might last forever, but I like to have a bit of whip-like action in the end of it.

When I first tried Ultex it was a teardrop shape, and it seemed to work well, if being harder to control positional accuracy when playing hard with it. The triangles suprised me my how much more rounded they were, even than the Tortex ones. (The shop I found the teardrop Ultex in didn't have anything thicker than 1.14mm so I assumed that was it.)

 

[klejst]

You can resharpen/sand the edges of a lot of the "thinner" material picks, however, they will come a time you likely will not be able to do it on the same one again. Honestly picks at least in my opinion are generally cheap (unless they are custom or made out of gold or something) comparable to other stuff you may buy as well musically related.