Guitar Pick Materials - Guitar Players Discussion

RE: Guitar Pick Materials

koldobrew — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 14:09:20 +0000

Regarding ultra-fast, I prefer celluloid picks, thickness: 0.8 - 1.2.

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

StevenStanleyBayes — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 01:12:37 +0000

There have been many updates in the file since the previous post.

An important point :

Some people wrongly think the pick can be compensated for by playing techniques. This is not true. The pick drives the strings to make sound. The pick is an important piece of the chain. The only technique to compensate for a slow pick is to play by fingers. Now, there are pieces where the pick does not influence the play as much ( usually, slow pieces ) and pieces where the importance of the pick is extreme ( usually, fast pieces ), but, there is always an influence. In other words, a good pick is also good for slow pieces, yet, the importance is not as high. Why use a bad pick for slow when a good pick can be used as well. The good pick influences the slow play too, I. e. the slow play is performed better with a good pick, yet, the difference between the slow play with a good pick and bad pick may be insignificant. Even though, better is to play with the good pick.

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

StevenStanleyBayes — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 08:24:43 +0000

I have updated the document with the new picks.

Also, I have purchased and received the Teflon pick. 1mm is too soft for Teflon. Even 3mm may flex. Must be >= 3mm, best be 5mm not to flex. Otherwise, may be OK. Cannot say for sure because the pick flexes a lot.

I have switched from Dunlop Carbon Fiber to Fender Tru Shell for now. The Fender Tru Shel pick self healed the sides, the top and the bottom of the modified tip to be smooth and lighting fast. No scratching sound. Maybe, light and heat from fingers ( 36.5 degrees Celsius ) did the trick after played for a while. An amazing pick! Ritchie Blackmore is right with everything : pick and strings!

Fender Tru Shell picks can also be easily unwarped, when they are heated by the fingers to the human heat of 36.5 degrees Celsius and then finger pressure is applied in the direction opposite of the warp. The pick, although extremely hard, gives under the pressure.

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

StevenStanleyBayes — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 13:10:26 +0000

Help the Pick :

In some cases, with some picks, one may increase the speed by twisting the picking hand ( right hand is assumed ) to upper and slightly to the right.

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

StevenStanleyBayes — Sun, 18 Nov 2018 09:20:47 +0000

Who Uses What :

1. Yngwie Malmsteen :
http://pickingpower.com/yngwie-malmsteen-guitar-pick-brand-gauge/

Dunlop Delrin 500 1.5mm

2. Eddie Van Halen :
http://www.evhgear.com/news/2014/01/ask-eddie-all-about-the-picks/

0.6mm Nylon
< 0.6mm in the 80's
Brass and Copper before

3. Steven Vai :
http://www.vai.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18112

Ibanez Steven Vai Signature pick, 1.0mm Heavy

4. Angus Young :
https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/let-there-be-rock-acdc-lead-guitarist-angus-young-picking-hard

Fender Extra Heavy Picks with a lot of plastic in them?

5. Jimmy Page :
http://www.feelnumb.com/2011/07/17/what-guitar-pick-does-jimmy-page-use/

Dunlop Herco Flex 75 Nylon Pick

6. Ritchie Blackmore :
https://www.thehighwaystar.com/interviews/blackmore/guitarplayer/guitarplay4.html

Tortoise Shell, custom shape, one side squared, the other, pointed.

“

What kind of picks and strings do you use?

I use tortoiseshell picks, one end squared, one end pointed. I have them specially made for me because you can't get them at all. I use tortoiseshell because plastic is too soft; I like them brick hard. I've used this shape ever since I was 11, and I just cannot play with those round things everybody plays with, because when you jump a string you tend to hit the other string on the way. With this pick you can be more nimble. I use Picato strings; I've always used them. They're the best; Eric Clapton turned me on to these. He's now using Fender - I don't know why. Why Ernie Ball has the monopoly on strings I'll never know. The gauges I use are .010, .011, .014, .026, .036 and .042.

“

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

StevenStanleyBayes — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 11:11:07 +0000

Also, I have been playing with Fender Tru Shell Extre Heavy ( modified ) and Gravity Picks Acrylic Sunrise 1.5mm ( modified ).

1. Gravity Acrylic Pick ( Modified )

The two picks perform excellently. The acrylic pick needed a lot of playing to achieve fast playability and is an ultra fast pick thereafter.

2. Fender Tru Shell Pick ( Modified )

The Fender pick is more interesting. I am not sure whether I am right or wrong, but, after modification, the pick has to stay for a while to “ harden “. Because the pick is made of proteins, this may be true. Similar to other organic materials, say, bread. When bread stays for a long while, bread hardens. This MAY BE the case with the pick too.

Anyway, the pick has been made to replicate the real tortoise shell pick which is now illegal. I have never seen a real tortoise shell pick, but, there is a possibility these were not very fast and were slightly scratchy on the string and, thus, not ultra fast. The Fender pick is super fast, but, I do not know whether this has been the goal of Fender. Again, the main goal of Fender MAY have been to replicate the original tortoise shell pick with all the advantages AND disadvantages and not to make a faster pick than the original.

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

StevenStanleyBayes — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 09:11:02 +0000

1. The Hardest Wood I Can Find

I am exceptionally proud to inform you I have found African ( Gaboon ) Ebony wood and I have made a couple of Ebony picks. I need to test these picks more, but, the first impression is these picks are ultra fast, yet, a bit scratchy, i. e., abrasive. The picks are not scratchy when sanded often with a succession of 1000, 2000 and 3000 grid paper or sponge. There is zing but not as high as metal, normal as with most any pick except some.

African ( Gaboon ) Ebony is extremely hard, one of the hardest woods on the planet. Best be cut with hacksaw for metals and is pretty much the same as metal. The wood can be easily split with a chisel. An important consideration is to use the grain of the wood throughout the length of the wood. In other words, the grain must run from the handle of the pick towards the tip of the pick.

A good idea is to make a pick in the opposite of the normal way, i. e., the grain runs from side to side, just to find what happens.

African ( Gaboon ) Ebony has a hardness of 3080 on the Janka scale which is one of the highest. Ebony is so dense and heavy, so the wood sinks in water. Ebony was used by the British navy to protect the side of their ships from cannon fire which bounces back unable to penetrate through th hard wood.

I have also found a harder wood : Pink Ivory Wood which has a Janka hardness of 3250. I have not yet purchased and tried this wood.

2. Home Made Acrylic and Polycarbonate

To find these materials is extremely high. Yet, there are some possibilities : work glasses and, mainly, magnifying lenses can be made of extremely clear acrylic or polycarbonate. Acrylic magnifying lenses are sold in St. Michaels.

All of these are supposed to be very hard but not brittle and scratch resistant. Yet, clarity is the main parameter. This is why, I am unhappy, the lenses may have been built for clarity and not for hardness. Also, the manufacturers may need to make them not as hard to avoid a possible brittleness. Yet, a good idea may be to cut an acrylic magnifying lens and try to make picks thereof. The pick must be extremely well polished after made. The successive grids may be 1000, 2000, 3000 and much more, such as 5000. Real wool may need to be used.

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

StevenStanleyBayes — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 09:10:17 +0000

You have just said the company and the thickness. Can you, please, say which pick you use?

The word " plastic " is not a description of a material in this case because the word is very general and almost all Dunlop picks are made of plastic.

Plastics ( or Plastic Mass ) is a commercial word for Polymers. Polymers are Nylon, Polycarbonates, Acrylic, Celluloid, Polyoxymethylene ( Delrin, Acetal, etcetera ).

However, although I do not do this, usually, because the Internet is not a good source of information because anyone can say anything which may not be true, under the Freedom of Speech law, I searched what pick Yngwie Malmsteem used and I found this : http://pickingpower.com/yngwie-malmsteen-guitar-pick-brand-gauge/

This article does explicitly say, the pick is Dunlop Delrin 500 1.5mm Standard Shape : https://www.jimdunlop.com/product/41p-7-10137-01946-1.do

Obviously, you all are interested in what Yngwie Malmsteem says and does. However, I want to say what I think and do :

Without knowing Yngwie Malmsteem uses Delrin 500, I have clearly stated Delrin 500 is a very good pick material. One of the favourite picks I use is heavily modified Dunlop, Delrin 500 2mm with the tip sharpened vertically to be thinner than 1mm.

So, here is what I think : The shape of the pick is not good but can be easily reshaped to be vertically and horizontally sharp. 1.5mm may be too thick but, when vertically sharpened, the pick would be faster. A stronger pick is made from 2mm, yet, 1.5mm can be used for sharpening.

The material is more important. The shape can be changed, the material, not very easily. Delrin 500 is good material, yet, there are faster. Dunlop Jazz III XL Series Nylon is faster. Dunlop Carbon Fiber is the fastest or one of the fastest.

Here are other picks materials in the same category : Fender Delrin Touring Rock On! ( may be faster ), Dunlop Delrex Gator, Dunlop Tortex, Clayton Acetal ( may be the fastest of this category ), etcetera.

Again, do NOT take what I say wrongly : Dunlop Delrin 500 is an excellent material. You cannot go wrong with this material. When you have the stamp of approval of Yngwie Malmsteem, you can definitely not go wrong!

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

timtheshredder — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 04:15:51 +0000

I don't use anything fancy. The Dunlop 1.5mm plastic pick works awesome for me. I figure if it's good enough for Yngwie, it's good enough for me. :lol:

Re: Guitar Pick Materials

StevenStanleyBayes — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 09:43:29 +0000

A List of New Ideas :

1. Stone Picks ( in a Process to Order ) : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tooyful-3-Pieces-Guitar-Finger-Picks-Pendant-Plectrums-Malachite-Stone-2mm-for-Guitar-Bass-Banjo-Ukulele/32841803542.html ( There are other stone picks at AliExpress and elsewhere. ) Please, note : Stone and bone picks may not be faster than metal and may generate just as much ( or more ) noise, thus, to test stone picks may be just for entertainment purposes. Please, note : there are Agate picks at AliExpress.com

2. Winspear Picks ( May Be Difficult or Impossible to Find ) : https://www.winspearinstrumental.com/collections/plectrums

3. Teflon Picks ( May Be Difficult or Impossible to Find )

4. Cubic Zirconia Picks ( may not be available ).