Guitar Picks With a Round Point

[Gertrude Moser]

Just as different amps "work" better with certain guitars, so too with picks. I have tried lots but pretty much exclusively use the Pro Plecs. I no longer own a flat top, but if you do, I highly recommend the Dunlop Ultex picks.

[floatingpickup]

I used Dunlop Jazz III's until recently, when I switched to the 3.0 mm Dunlop Nylon Big Stubby. I switched to a thicker pick after trying Dugains and Wegens, which I like, but I keep losing picks and they are too expensive. The only problem with the nylon big stubby, is I find the material a little hard compared to the Dugains I have (horn). I just ordered some Dunlop Primetones to see how they stack up.
Keith

[SamBooka]

Still looking for primetones and americanas without paying an arm and a leg for them.

If anyone is interested you can get them from Stringsandbeyond
I got 6 of each (so 12 picks) for 19$. 1.65ish a pick isnt too bad.

[D.G.]

I switched to a thicker pick after trying Dugains and Wegens, which I like, but I keep losing picks and they are too expensive.

All my guitars have a pick which lives in the strings (slipped under at the 3-5 fret depending on how thick the pick is.) This way I don't lose 'em. I also like light colored picks so if I drop 'em on stage I can find then more easily.

[floatingpickup]

All my guitars have a pick which lives in the strings (slipped under at the 3-5 fret depending on how thick the pick is.) This way I don't lose 'em. I also like light colored picks so if I drop 'em on stage I can find then more easily.

I thought I was the only guitar player who drops picks on stage all the time. I just take a pocket full of them to the gig.
Keith

[Moonray]

Since you're talking picks here I'd like to observe that using a fat pick...
By which I would be talking about something like a rounded JazzTone.
I noticed that it seemed to take less effort to cross strings, I wondered
why and looked at it and thought , well you don't have to travel so far
cause the pick is nearly "there" already.
Anyone else reach this view?
I still use a regular Fender heavy 358...I just tilt the pick naturally on
a slight angle ,I've done that for as long as I can remember...which come to
think of it is on a good day more than I care to.
For me, having the guitar fairly high up on a strap gives the neck an angle
to the floor and makes it very easy to place the pick on an angle that
minimizes the road traveled when string crossing.
Warms the tone too.
Straighten up the pick for a more clear sound on the bass strings.
Becomes as natural as pretty easily....try it, you may like it.

[floatingpickup]

Since you're talking picks here I'd like to observe that using a fat pick...
By which I would be talking about something like a rounded JazzTone.
I noticed that it seemed to take less effort to cross strings, I wondered
why and looked at it and thought , well you don't have to travel so far
cause the pick is nearly "there" already.
Anyone else reach this view?
I still use a regular Fender heavy 358...I just tilt the pick naturally on
a slight angle ,I've done that for as long as I can remember...which come to
think of it is on a good day more than I care to.
For me, having the guitar fairly high up on a strap gives the neck an angle
to the floor and makes it very easy to place the pick on an angle that
minimizes the road traveled when string crossing.
Warms the tone too.
Straighten up the pick for a more clear sound on the bass strings.
Becomes as natural as pretty easily....try it, you may like it.

I believe the "fat" picks travel across the strings easier because there is no give and therefore they don't bend away from the direction you are heading. Also, the more rounded shape of a pick like a Dugain or a Big Stubby slides across the string effortlessly. That's my theory. Whatever the reason, I find that I can play fast phrases easier and more smoothly with fat picks.
Keith

[MarkRhodes]

I thought I was the only guitar player who drops picks on stage all the time. I just take a pocket full of them to the gig.
Keith

I saw a video of Metheny and noticed he had several tips on top of his guitar, held in place by electrical tape. (Just enough to hold them down, not so much to make them hard to pick up on the fly.) I thought, "man, that's a good idea."

[Flyin' Brian]

Speaking of Metheny, I got to thinking about picks vs. sound and I came to the conclusion that the FEEL of the pick is way more important than chasing sound with it. Metheny is a case in point. He's been using simple 351 size thin picks forever. He explained somewhere that the reason he holds the pick so weird is that he could only find thins in his hometown so he held them between his thumb and fingers in a way that allowed him to "bow" them slightly to make them feel stiffer.

Now anyone who has followed PM over the years is well aware that his tone has changed over the years and is probably as dark as it's ever been right now.

The fact that he's gotten so many different tones with the same pick led me to believe that chasing tone with a pick is a waste of time and energy, and like I said, feel and comfort is what counts.

[JPMike]

I didn't read the whole thing, but I recommend D'Andrea Pro Plecs, I LOVE THEM!!!

[SamBooka]

Personally, I am waiting for Dunlop come out with the Wes Montgomery signature pick

[FrankyNoTone]

...
Now anyone who has followed PM over the years is well aware that his tone has changed over the years and is probably as dark as it's ever been right now.

The fact that he's gotten so many different tones with the same pick led me to believe that chasing tone with a pick is a waste of time and energy, and like I said, feel and comfort is what counts.

Umm, he changed a lot of equipment over the years like his guitar, amp, effects... could that have something to do with his tone change as well?

It seems that he's now using Planet Wave's Duralin picks, which is an acetal/delrin formula (coincidentally picked up some of these today in the 1.5mm guage):
Planet Waves Accessories : News Details

As far as his picking is concerned, its like Hendrix and how he noted that all these people copied every mistake he made on recordings:
Pat Answers - Pat Metheny talks trios, tones & technique

METHENY ON HIS ILLOGICAL PICKING

When you hear Pat Metheny's fluid improvised lines-often zooming by at a swift clip-it's hard to imagine he believes his picking technique leaves much to be desired.

"When I watch Pat Martino play, his picking technique is the most efficient thing I've ever seen," says Metheny. "There's very little movement, and it's very practical. My technique is absolutely illogical."

"People often ask me why I hold the pick backwards. The reason is I could only get Fender Thin picks in Lee's Summit, Missouri, where I grew up. I couldn't stand the way those picks sounded, so I learned to hold them backwards-with the round edge towards the strings-and to bend the edge a little between my thumb and two fingers. That made the thin pick sound more like a medium."

"I didn't see any really good guitar players when I was starting out, because there weren't many around my town. When I finally did see guys who could really play, I thought, 'Wow, I'm picking all wrong!' But by then it was too late, because I was already making records. I do think about taking a month off and studying with someone like Frank Gambale, because there are things I can't quite do, which I could do if I had a more efficient picking technique."

And now, I'm going to throw Pat's own words back at him with some slight variations (some people might know the original)

"...some guitar players just need to get with it and not get treated like they are mentally unable to deal with different picks. i don't think you are doing anyone any favors by shielding them from the larger opportunities that using picks as tone tools offers."

[Billnc]

I prefer Carol Kaye white bass picks. I think she is the only source for the damn things.