Tone hounds -- how far are you willing to go?

[AndyR]

Thanks for that Phil - I was going to ask you how you laid your hands on "light".

After my post last night, I played until I was stopped (by my wife wanting her dinner!), and I figured out that medium was OK, but I probably really want light. The medium I have is superb for my lead style, but it lacks a little attack for my crunchy rhythm style - then I realised it's because it's the "heaviest" or thickest pick I've ever used!

[PhilKing]

Thanks for that Phil - I was going to ask you how you laid your hands on "light".

Hi Andy, they do have lights in the shop sometimes, or you can request them in the comments.  I tried all the gauges, the Extra Heavy can function as door stops in an emergency!

[gingataff]

I want a Jazz III XL style one, I wonder if they can make it

Me too! Although I like the regular Jazz III too and I think the L'il Jazzer is pretty close.

[Roobubba]

Re-animating this thread to ask a few questions of the RedBear pick owners:

After the few months since ordering your picks, do you still use the same picks, have you detected any wear in them, do they still perform as they did originally, and would you still recommend them?

The reason I ask is that, while I love my dunlop Stubby Triangle 3mm picks, they do shed a lot of bits over my guitar as they get shredded up by my chunky strings!!

I'm really after something triangular in shape and very sturdy. I remembered this topic and thought I should check them out. Can anyone comment on the thickness of the picks? I'm not sure whether medium/heavy/extra heavy would be appropriate given my current preference for 3mm picks!

Cheers in advance,

Roo

[AndyR]

I bought just the one - I believe it's a "medium", but it's the heaviest thing I've ever used, heavier than the free BKP picks.

After an initial honeymoon of a week or so, I stopped using it regularly and found I liked the BKP free ones. So I ordered a stack of slightly less heavy (than the free ones) BKP picks.

I now use three types of pick depending on the guitar and tone required:

1. Dunlop nylon. Grey things, .88 I think. These have been my stock picks for years and years, and I've come back to them in the last couple of months. They give me my required amount of attack and I find them the most expressive for the way I vary picking. They take quite a while to wear as well. If I were to go gigging, these would still be what I want taped to my mic stand...

2. BKP picks. When I want a "tortoiseshell" type of pick. Sometimes this is my go-to pick at the moment (especially on the "guitar-that-shall-not-be-named" :lol:). I get roughly the same sort of effect out of them as nylon picks. I wouldn't be upset if I turned up to a gig with only these. The big downside for me is that I wear them down quite quickly (both heavy and medium) and I find they wear unevenly for me - I get little scooped patches appearing with sharp edges.

3. The Red Bear. I do like this pick - I seem to reach for it when I want a "luxury" mellow feel. I couldn't gig with it though - doesn't seem to have any attack at all in my hands, even on the "guitar-that-shall-not-be-named", which is where I probably use it most. My chug- or shuffle- rhythm playing on a crunch tone just does not have the bite to cut through a mix with this pick. And... it does wear down :o - it is definitely not a "pick for life" when I use it :lol:. However, the wear is very even and the pick is going to usable for quite some time (years at this rate) if I don't lose it. I must admit though, if I found the tone/attack more usable for my own application, then I would regard it as cost-effective when compared, say, to the BKP picks.

On clips I've done recently, I have used all three picks during over-dubs to obtain different tones with the same guitar and amp settings.

Hope that helps! I'd say give one a go...

(Notice how I managed to avoid saying "tele" in all of that... D'OH! :lol:)

[Fourth Feline]

I've bought a few of these

http://www.dugainpicks.com/

The stone ones are great, such a nice bell-like attack.  Great for jazz and blues.

As an update to my ( much ) earlier post - I too have become rather addicted to the unique feel and tonal qualities of my 'Dugain'  Agate pick.  Used for Jazz , and heard through the warm transparency of B.K.P. 'Manhattan' Pickups - these really do sound unlike anything else I have ever tried.  I got the idea from listening to a Jazz / Chord melody instrumental album by local artist ( and Matamp endorsee ) Adrian Ingram. He was cited as using an ( un-named ) agate pick, and I loved the sound.

The B.K.P. Manahattans where ( for me ) the key to really hearing the difference between picks - and of course the recent switch to learning Jazz through a small clean sounding / Acoustic amplifier.  I am very happy with the pick.  Don't worry about losing these  things, as after each playing - you tend to put it  back in the packet - and into a safe place straight away.  

 

[Denim n Leather]

Re-animating this thread to ask a few questions of the RedBear pick owners:

After the few months since ordering your picks, do you still use the same picks, have you detected any wear in them, do they still perform as they did originally, and would you still recommend them?

Yes, still use 'em. Minimal wear. Heartily recommended.

[WezV]

i have fallen back into grabbing whatever is closest, i have a bowl of plecs and the red bears dont get left in it just incase they go walkabouts

i still always go for the redbear when playing the acoustics or evaluating the tone of an electric

[JamesHealey]

load of shite, just grab whats in my wallet or what ever they have at the music shop.
anything from 0.88 to 1.14 dunlops does me..

Im quite particular about tone because I can be but at the end of the day..

I've used squire strats with a humbucker in them into a marshall mg30 mic'd up at gigs and it's gone well..

The player is the important part.

[WezV]

I've used squire strats with a humbucker in them into a marshall mg30 mic'd up at gigs and it's gone well..

The player is the important part.

quite agree with that

load of shitee,

not so sure about that.  i certainly dont think high quality plecs are needed for good tone but i do feel and hear the benefits these offer.

I'm still happy playing with whatever is closest most of the time

[Roobubba]

load of shitee, just grab whats in my wallet or what ever they have at the music shop.
anything from 0.88 to 1.14 dunlops does me..

Im quite particular about tone because I can be but at the end of the day..

I've used squire strats with a humbucker in them into a marshall mg30 mic'd up at gigs and it's gone well..

The player is the important part.

For me, the major question now is not shedding large amounts of pick onto my guitar ;) I mean, I wipe it down after playing, but still, it's a pain in the backside!! But these picks don't necessarily look ideal. They don't seem to make them all that thick, although I suppose I could just 'get used' to a thinner pick... I'll stick with my current batch of stubby triangles and see about something else after they've all worn down (about another year or so).

Cheers for the responses.

Roo

[ToneMonkey]

The main benefit that I can see from having one of these picks (well for me anyway) would be the exact same reason that I bough a fountain pen for work.  I used to get through biro's like I get through picks.  I could never keep one for more than a couple of days without the fairies taking it away.  Now that I have a decent pen, I look after it and know where it is.  Must have saved the company about fifty quid by now.

If I had a pick that I had to look after, I'd probably be able to find it a lot easier than cheapo's that I use now......... although I do drop them in the sound hole of my acoustic a lot, so I have been know to use that as storage every now and again  :oops:

[AndyR]

I've bought a few of these

http://www.dugainpicks.com/

The stone ones are great, such a nice bell-like attack.  Great for jazz and blues.

As an update to my ( much ) earlier post - I too have become rather addicted to the unique feel and tonal qualities of my 'Dugain'  Agate pick.  

Woooo! didn't notice this first time round - just been to their website, I think I might need to get meself a little pressie :lol:

Mebbe the bone picks, but I'm mainly thinking a hematite slide... (although, and I've tried a LOT, I've never found anything to beat the piece of brass-tube that my drummer got the physics department at university to cut for me back in 1982...)

I'm also wondering whether Twinfan ought to be getting a rosewood pick now? :lol:

[Denim n Leather]

The band bios on Dugain are priceless!!

[nfe]

The Dugain ones are certainly awfully pretty. But I hold picks quite differently as I play, sometimes even over the course of a lick, and as such am pretty wary of anything with a moulded (or indeed, sculpted) "grip".