Picks yet again (Fatter ultex?)

[Dazza1004]

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.

[Roobubba]

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!

[Andrew W]

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.

[Roobubba]

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

[MDV]

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.

[WezV]

is anyone else worrried about the pick wear on roo's guitar - or is that just me ;)

[Andrew W]

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?

[Loomer]

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.

[Alex]

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? ;-)



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.

[Roobubba]

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

[Twinfan]

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

[Roobubba]

I can't go back to the non triangle picks though :(

[Antag]

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.

[Roobubba]

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!

[Antag]

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...