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slippery pick

I did both, dig grooves in picks in an X pattern and I used textured picks in the heaviest grade. Gator Grip are my favorites. The texture wears off, though, if your fingers sweat alot, as mine do. So I went through a lot of picks, because they would soften up, lose their texture and bend after a couple hours of rehearsal or a gig.

My band tuned down so we were using very heavy guage strings and that demanded heavy picks. I think you can get a better grip on the heaviest guage picks and they are easier to scratch lines in.

There is another solution. Don't use a pick. Use fingerstyle picking, but you may not feel fingerstyle is appropriate to your style of music.
 
I use a metal file to make deep X's into the gripping area of the pick and them make shallower grooves across the pick's width.

Thats often still not enough so I also carry banjo thumb picks which wrap around your thumb to stay in place. Those also have the advantage of allowing easy switching between finger and pick styles mid song.

One warning, if your pick style is so agressive that not even heavy carving into your picks will keep them in your hand, then its so agressive that thumb picks will probably give you painful blisters.

My thumb is still hurting from last thursday's gig.
 
I use the Herco Flex .75mm nylon picks. I seem to like these the best. The "grip" design on them is more "grabby" than the similar Dunlop picks (they're made by Dunlop as well). The down side is that they don't seem to be as consistent as the Dunlop picks, I've found there are stiffer ones than others the same gauge. It's no big deal, I prefer the "bendier" ones for guitar anyway. After using them for a few years I found out these are/were the picks of choice for both Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones.

Action Kung Fu Grip:

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Wow. Sounds like alot of labor put into an item tha costs you 20 cents.

What is this, "Pimp my Pick"? :smug:

Seriously, I use them Hercos as well as .88 Dunlop nylons. I sweat like a feind sometimes, but never enough in one song that I lose that much of a grip...

Between songs wipe your fingers on the side of your shirt to dry them. Takes half a second...more than enough time for your singer to blather about something rockin.
 
Honestly, just use the tortex picks by Dunlop. I play for a living, and I sweat often during a concert. You won't lose your grip with them. I promise.
All of these pick modification ideas, seem like a lot of work for nothing. Trust me and those that suggested the same.
 

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