Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Roobubba on January 08, 2011, 11:20:09 AM
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I like the Dunlop ultex picks. They don't necessarily sound the best to me, but they LAST. I love the Stubby Triangle 3mm picks for feel and sound, but I shred them all over my guitar and they don't last long enough (I can destroy 9 corners in a set, and it leaves a hell of a mess on my guitar!).
But I can only find up to 1.14mm Ultex picks, and they're a bit too flexible.
So I'm specifically looking for either a thicker ultex pick (triangles only), or an alternative which is hard wearing (I like pick attack btw).
Ideas?
Roo
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I've switched to V-picks - you might like them. I use the "small pointed V":
http://www.ekmpowershop8.com/ekmps/shops/madisaf/individual-v-pick-guitar-picks-57-p.asp
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Jesus Roo do you pick your strings with the force of Thor behind you? :lol:
http://v-picks.com/productdetails.php?q=40&page=picks
This could work well for you
or maybe something this insane
http://v-picks.com/productdetails.php?q=39&page=picks
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Roo I told you V-picks ages ago ;)
Large pointed, 2.75mm they have them on strings direct, it's not as big as a tri stubby. If you wanted something as big as a tri stubby you'd need to buy a freakishly large pointed directly from them
http://v-picks.com/productdetails.php?q=21&page=picks
Dave! When did you start using V-picks? I still can't believe you can play with a shredder pick, I've got better with it but still don't like it. Meaning to get the Tortex Sharp and Jazz III clones they started doing.
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I got my first V-pick about 6 months ago? Bought a couple at a guitar show and liked them.
I've got some Jazz III Ultex's left that I gig with to use them up, and have about half a dozen V-picks knocking about that I'll replace when needed. I like 'em!
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I've been using Blue Chip picks. $35 USD per, but they do not wear whatsoever, the tone and attack is great and they have this weird gliding quality to them when strumming or sweeping. http://shop.bluechippick.net/ They are marketed towards American Blue Grass players as a tortoise shell replacement. I don't really dig Blue Grass, but those guys can outpick many metallers for sure.
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$35 for a pick!
Disgusting price.
I refuse to order one.
For at least 2 weeks
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Ahh so you can get V-picks in the UK then, didn't really fancy ordering them from over the pond. How do they last in comparison with ultex? I find the majority of picks get shredded really quickly!
Roo
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They last well matey, plus you can use all three corners ;)
I reckon youshould give one a go :)
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I have the same problem. I burn through picks like mad, on account of having a bit of a jackhammer picking hand. Ultex jazz IIIs are the best for me. I've tried all sorts, but either the pick attack is unacceptable or I burn through them.
Some of the more recent trials:
Ibanez sandgrips - great sound, love the feel and the shape and size. 1 hour till the points too far gone.
Pickboy carbon nylon. Same story, but 30 minutes till they're out.
Max grips - great wear resistance, really stiff, dont like the sound
Sam/philosfulls mother of pearl picks - great sound, moderate wear resistance, not paying 12 quid for 10-15 hours playing.
Black Ice - low wear resistance and cr@p attack
There have been a few others, but I forget now. I didnt like the V-Picks because the edge is really clumsy nad blunt and pick attack is cr@p as a result.
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Roo they last for ages, £3.21 for delivery from America last time.
Really wanna try the blue chip picks
MDV: Which V-Picks you tried and what did you think to the shredder pick I lent you at the meet? I much prefer the 1.5mm to the 2.75mm, still no flex but more articulation, not as much as my Tortex Sharp 1.5mm (current favourite). Hence I wanna try the new V-Pick clone of it so I have articulation that lasts :D
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There was that one. I bought a few as well. I dont remember which, they didnt hold my attention long.
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Thanks for the feedback guys, will have to try a few out. It may be that I just have to stick with the ultex triangles for now. I just wish they made them 1.5mm or fatter (preferably 3mm like the stubby triangles I love so much!). Tortex is no good, I get through one of those in a rehearsal.
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I have a very thick Planet Waves lying around here. They feel a lot like the Tortex, maybe they have thicker ones.
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They can be very thick but still get shredded very quickly though, that's the trick! Finding a pick that's both thick enough and hard wearing enough!
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Have you tried Red Bear? They are expensive but last a long time.
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Not yet, Phil, thanks for the heads up!
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Actually you might like the V-pick screamer too, it the same size and shape as a V-pick large pointed but the edges themselves are more pointed than rounded ie looks more like the edges of my 3mm tri stubby, if it was a slightly bigger it would match a tri stubby exactly.
I can take a photo if you want for size reference.
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Actually you might like the V-pick screamer too, it the same size and shape as a V-pick large pointed but the edges themselves are more pointed than rounded ie looks more like the edges of my 3mm tri stubby, if it was a slightly bigger it would match a tri stubby exactly.
I can take a photo if you want for size reference.
cheers, JDC, that'd be very helpful!
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darrrr got mixed up, I got a V-pick medium pointed (2.75mm), my screamer (2.75) is slightly bigger than that and my v-pick lite large pointed (1.5mm) is bigger than both.
basically you want a screamer or a freakishly large pointed, maybe a freakishly large lite pointed (still no flex)
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Have you tried Red Bear? They are expensive but last a long time.
mine are wearing a bit now, but i use them constantly. they sound great! was thinking of ordering some more.
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Have you tried Red Bear? They are expensive but last a long time.
mine are wearing a bit now, but i use them constantly. they sound great! was thinking of ordering some more.
How long did that take? Just ordered new V-picks, one of which I'm pretty sure is going to be absolute perfect for me. Still tempted to try 2 of the red bears.
Erm blue chip jazz III xl clone 2.5mm... $75!!! I think the 1.5mm $35 one would be stiff enough for my needs
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cheers, JDC, that'd be very helpful!
sorted
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Have you tried Red Bear? They are expensive but last a long time.
mine are wearing a bit now, but i use them constantly. they sound great! was thinking of ordering some more.
How long did that take? Just ordered new V-picks, one of which I'm pretty sure is going to be absolute perfect for me. Still tempted to try 2 of the red bears.
Erm blue chip jazz III xl clone 2.5mm... $75!!! I think the 1.5mm $35 one would be stiff enough for my needs
i forget when i started with the first one, maybe 9 months to a year (!?). they wear in a slightly different way to Dunlop torex picks. I do pick fairly hard with 11-48 strings, but I'm not a stupid hard picker. still plenty of life left too, just the edge got a bit 'sharpened' where i pick. the shape of the pick is still intact.
the nice thing with those red bear picks is the tone is thicker, and with better attack than the tortex ones i use to use.
edit: the V-picks look interesting too. it'd be nice to have a pick made of the same material and thickness as the red bear ones i'm using, but with the shape of a dunlop tortex, maybe a little larger.
edit 2: i still use tortex live for fear of losing the nice red bears!
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$35 for a pick!
Disgusting price.
I refuse to order one.
For at least 2 weeks
Haha, that's what I thought until I remembered that I sure have spent more than $35 on music stuff that was beyond failure. As long as you can manage to not lose it, it's a bargain. But hey, if you want to save a few bucks you could go with this genuine meteor guitar pick. http://compare.ebay.com/like/360201702838?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&rvr_id=196794890161&crlp=1_263602_304662&UA=%3F*F%3F&GUID=8d566cf412a0a0e203d18b91fce6242a&itemid=360201702838&ff4=263602_304662
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As long as you can manage to not lose it, it's a bargain.
Actually I think thats true. Whenever I go back to the torex for live use, they feel shiteee. Costwise its like buying a nice lead or a cheapo pedal - so they are decently priced I think.
edit: the tone is also negatively impacted, but thats hard to put my finger on without careful consideration. i see Red bear now do some lower cost varieties which I might experiment with since I'd like to move away from the tortex completely
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Righto, that's 3 large pointed and a screamer ordered from strings direct. Will see how these V-picks go, hopefully they last as long or longer than ultex.
Cheers for the help!
Roo
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Righto, that's 3 large pointed and a screamer ordered from strings direct. Will see how these V-picks go, hopefully they last as long or longer than ultex.
Cheers for the help!
Roo
would be interested how you find them
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Roob,
I ordered some v picks going back three or 4 months. At the time it was cheaper for me to order from the States and have them delivered than from here in the Uk. Service was exerlant took delivery of them in about 3 days. Guess if you do that route you just need to keep the cost small enough not to interest anyone for taxes.
All in all i find them easy to use though am not sold on the tone with some of them.
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I also have a bone pick, which is very hard, and I think there are metal picks out there as well.
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Have you tried Red Bear? They are expensive but last a long time.
I have trouble using anything else these days, they are fantastic.
After going through about 8 different sizes and options I have settled for No9, heavy with grip holes and no bevel.
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Just been sorting through some old photos and found this. This is what happens to one corner of a Dunlop Stubby Triangle (3mm) during one track at a gig (a particularly thrashy track, it must be said). That was shaved off on the strings, leaving a load of white plastic shavings all over my guitar! This is before I found ultex, and was the reason for me changing in the first place.
Roo
EDIT smaller pic!
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I don't know if this useful or not but I was given a free pick in a shop on Denmark Street today that might meet your needs. It's from Pickboy and the model appears to be called 'ASSUR'. It says it's made out of "genuine horn" and though I haven't measured it, it looks about 3mm thick. The pick feels really tough and the tone is great. As I haven't had it long I can't comment on its longevity but it looks like it might be pretty robust. The shape is like a pointier version of the classic plectrum shape so it might also meet your pointy requirements too. How widely available they are I don't know. The guy in the shop said he got a few samples to dish out to see what people thought. So far I'm impressed.
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Well, I ordered 3 large pointed and 1 screamer V-picks from strings direct, but I can't tell the difference between any of the 4 picks they sent. I *think* they're all large pointed.
They arrived yesterday from a Saturday order: great! Just in time for band practice. First impressions: good. Solid, no flex. Could do with being a bit bigger - I wouldn't call these picks 'large', but they're just about big enough so that's okay. They seem reasonably tough, I would expect to get maybe 4 or 5 practices out of one of these. The corner I was using last night has some scr@pes on it which it got on the first track we played to warm up, but it's in reasonably good shape.
Overall, pretty impressed. Certainly not blown away, mind, I had expected them to be harder wearing than this, but they're roughly on a par with ultex (which are much thinner, of course), so I'm reasonably happy with that.
Thanks for the advice, guys. I will still have a trawl through some of the other suggestions as and when I need new picks to see if I can find something a bit more hard wearing, but these are definitely a step in the right direction.
Roo
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Probably the most hard wearing picks I've tried of late are 'Max Grips'. Dunlops, black, jazz II size (though I think they make something bigger with the same material). Inflexible, very tough.
Or you could just use steel picks. Or get some made from tungsten carbide or something. Correction; get one made from tungsten carbide. If you can wear through that...then....then...I dont know what then. Theres no hope for you.
Coming soon to a guitar shop near roo - Diamond picks! Not good enough? Aggregated carbon nanotube picks.
Maybe this will bring about a whole new career path. You KNOW you want to make agregated carbon nanotube picks. Its your destiny.
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is anyone else worrried about the pick wear on roo's guitar - or is that just me ;)
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is anyone else worrried about the pick wear on roo's guitar - or is that just me ;)
Time to start work on the Tungsten carbide scratch-plate?
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My "secret weapon" for the last couple of years, have been handmade stone plectrums from http://www.stenplektrum.dk/ .
I can GUARANTEE you that you'll wear out before they do, and the attack is phenomenal.
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is anyone else worrried about the pick wear on roo's guitar - or is that just me ;)
Yeah, something's not right there. Maybe wrong pick angle. Or too much caffeine? ;-)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/theonlywarlock/DecemberJanuary030.jpg)
Left to right, lower row: Ivory, ebony, wood, bone.
The bone one is really good, very hard and thin. The others are very fat, I like the ivory most of those.
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By way of update, V-picks don't last through a gig. I always tend to dig in a bit harder live, and last night I wore out two corners of a large pointed V-pick. If only they made ultex picks thicker than the stupid 1.25mm or whatever it is they go up to - it's not enough!!!
Might have to go through this topic again and select some other options to try out!
Roo
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You must play bloody hard Roo - I've got V-Picks I've been using for ages and there's still plenty of life left in them :o
You can get Ultex Sharps in 2mm?
http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/sharp
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I can't go back to the non triangle picks though :(
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I get bags of Delrin large triangle shape from Steve Clayton. Hard wearing (they wear rather than snap - I'v enever broken one), nice grip, like the slightly "blunt" feel over the standard shape.
Currently using .88mm on 6-strings & 1mm on 7-strings.
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Do they do 2.5-3mm version of those, Antag? And when you say hard wearing, how hard wearing? I've never snapped a pick (but then snapping 3mm of anything on a <1mm string is going to be tough), but I grind off the sides very quickly!
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No, 'fraid not. Just checked & the Delrin only go up to 1.14mm
Perhaps I shouldn't have posted in this thread in the first place: my weedy .73, .88 & 1mm picks on 10-46 & 10-59 gauge strings on a 25½" scale tuned to E & Eb are a million miles away from your playing requirements :lol:
I do have a few of the Clayton 1.26mm Acetal picks lying around. They aren't as "bright" as Delrin on the strings. They're also available in 1.52 & 1.9 gauges (though I don't have any of those)
PM me your address & I'll happily throw a few of my 1mm Delrin & 1.26 Acetal into an envelope if you like...
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Strings Direct (http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/1319-clayton_acetal_rounded_tri_wedge_pick_12_pack) have the big Acetal ones in 12-packs...
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Give those Blue Chip picks a shot. They seriously will not wear for a very long time. If you have sweaty fingers, you'll have to take some medium rough sandpaper to it(not the tip) for a few secs for extra grip. That's what I do and it's stellar. Then again, regular Jazz IIIs were too slippery for me some times. I've been wanting to try the Ice Pix brass ones though. $5 for a 3 pack vs $35 for one Blue Chip. The Blue Chip have a great gliding feel and tone and don't have much of a pick attack that comes through the strings is the thing. Good luck!
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No, 'fraid not. Just checked & the Delrin only go up to 1.14mm
Perhaps I shouldn't have posted in this thread in the first place: my weedy .73, .88 & 1mm picks on 10-46 & 10-59 gauge strings on a 25½" scale tuned to E & Eb are a million miles away from your playing requirements :lol:
I do have a few of the Clayton 1.26mm Acetal picks lying around. They aren't as "bright" as Delrin on the strings. They're also available in 1.52 & 1.9 gauges (though I don't have any of those)
PM me your address & I'll happily throw a few of my 1mm Delrin & 1.26 Acetal into an envelope if you like...
Oh hey that's very kind, but to be honest I think you'll probably find better use for them - I'd rather not waste them, even if they are cheap! I might have to have a look at some *hard* materials. MDV's right, tungsten carbide or aggregated carbon nanotube picks might be the only option :D
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Do they do 2.5-3mm version of those, Antag? And when you say hard wearing, how hard wearing? I've never snapped a pick (but then snapping 3mm of anything on a <1mm string is going to be tough), but I grind off the sides very quickly!
You should try Red Bear. I might have something around that would suit you. I got a whole range of picks to try when I first ordered them. I know I had some disgustingly thick ones! PM me and I'll get them to you next time I'm over.
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For fun, thought I'd take a shot of one of the edges. This is from about 20 minutes of playing at the gig last Thursday!
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Get a brass pick. That's just nasty for 20 mins.
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If you put some lube on the pick it might last longer ;)