Jazz Guitar Pick

[Easy2grasp]

Have always used these:

I have a few of these from Billy Bean that his nephew gave me when I was in Philadelphia last. This pick was Billy's favorite, also.

[Gtroates]

For Strat, Tele, Gretsch 6128, 6120, or 6136 playing rock, pop, or blues: 358 Fender Heavy celluloid

For acoustic steel string strumming and bluegrass flatpicking: Fender Medium celluloid 351

For jazz on any guitar including archtops and solid bodies: Bluechip BC Jazz 50

[fasteddie]

Fender 351 Heavy or Extra Heavy

[whiskey02]

Have you purchased Proplecs recently, and if so are they "flat" picks? I love the tone of PP but gave up on them a couple years ago because when I moved up in size from the 358 teardrops (which I never had a problem with) to the Jazz size, of the dozen I bought about half were curled like pringles. I contacted D'Andrea and they quickly sent me another dozen, of which, wait for it,....8 or 9 were warped. I have since then moved up even larger after changing my technique to the bluegrass player Tri size. Have been using Dunlop Ultex (rather happily) but I'd love to have some PP, but I don't trust them to deliver a quality product at this point.

After trying every shape known to man, I've come full circle to the trusty 351 shape, in Extra Heavy, using the "shoulders" - the fat sides - rather than the point. These Pyramids have a very smooth finish all the way around the edge and the best tone to my ear, better than the current Fender/D'Andrea offerings.

For archtop acoustic, I've experimented with quite a number of options, but have currently settled on Wegen 1.5mm and 2mm mandolin picks. They have a nice warmth and not much "click" on the attack. They also have a nice grippy texture - no slipping around.

Attachment 69700

Here are some of the archtop pick contenders - you can see I don't like pointy picks. These - and a few others - get pulled out and tried every now and then for particular uses.

Attachment 69701

[L50EF15]

Fender 351 Extra Heavy on electric and acoustic guitars and tenor banjo, Dunlop Jazz III on 5 string banjo and uke.

[arielcee]

Quite liking the dunlop tortex jazz iii xl 1.5mm these days. Jazz iii standard are a nice shape and tip, but a little short and the xl's are near perfect.

[K-Tar]

I started using the Bluechip 50, haven't looked back since...

[coolvinny]

Blue Chip KS60 unbeveled. Love that it's an equilateral triangle, lasts forever and gets a huge fat tone out of both acoustic and amplified guitars. I probably mentioned this pick a few pages back but thought I'd post again.

The KS50 is also quite good. I find the KS40 too thin for my taste.

[MarkRhodes]

A spring-loaded guitar pick. Who'lda thunk it?
Never tried one. Not sure I will, but if I had the chance I would because I'm awful curious about picks. (Though I mainly use Jazz IIIs now, which are simple as can be.)

Black Mountain Thumb Picks – Black Mountain Picks

[Doctor Jeff]

Cool idea. I haven’t found thumbpicks to my liking so far, but this might be worth a try.

Justin Johnson is a monster slide player. He specializes in cigar box guitars and has even played the hell out of a shovel outfitted with strings and a pickup.

Justin Johnson - Home | Facebook

He plays here a lot and is good buddies with a guy who makes very distinctive CBG’s in the area:

Maddog Cigar Box Guitars - Home | Facebook

[dmorash]

I use them on occasion. Pretty good design. What I like about them is you can get them on and off pretty quick. So if you have tunes that you prefer the jazz 3, then you can switch between them quickly unlike the velcro strap type thumb/flatpick.

[P.J.]

Don't have any information on leather picks I'm afraid. This video shows a technique called hybrid picking, ie using both pick and fingers. That may be the answer to your tone problem.

Hybrid picking and Teles go together like soup and crackers or mornings and coffee.

[jzucker]

So, I use the rounded triangle picks. I go through a lot of picks and I tend to buy a couple hundred at a time just so I have them if the manufacturer stops making them.

I had been using the celluloid d'addario 1.0mm and the d'andrea .96mm but wanted something heavier. I discovered that d'addario made a 1.25mm version and saw that d'andrea makes a 1.5mm proplec in that shape.

I ordered 200 of each. Hopefully this will last me the rest of my life, right?

So I got the proplecs and loved them. The sound is fat and dark and amazing...Except that about 1/2 of the picks were warped. I could still use them in theory but I can feel the pick wiggling slightly between my thumb and index finger. That's how warped they are. I took one of the ones that wasn't warped and used it for about a week. They really sound amazing but I discovered that once they get even a little wear, they start to develop a scratchy / rough attack and don't glide over the strings as well. (I'm using thomastik flats so it shouldn't be an issue). I tried rubbing them against my jeans like I can do with celluloid picks but it doesn't seem to work with these. They must melt at a higher temperature. With the celluloid, the friction actually causes the edge to melt and smooth slightly with friction. OTOH, the celluloid picks never develop that scratchy sound. They seem to self-polish when they wear.

So segue to the d'addario picks. They arrived and they have that unique sound that celluloid has. (Better than plain ole plastic). It's slightly brighter - which after using the proplec for a week - was not necessarily a great thing. I do like them though and have been using celluloid picks for years. After a few days, I started thinking that they are bending a little when I play really hard which seemed odd because the fender extra heavy picks I used to use (1.21mm) are extremely rigid. I took one of the 1.0mm d'addario picks and thought that it doesn't seem significantly lighter/thinner than the 1.25mm.

I got out my digital calipers and measured them. The daddario 1.25mm picks are 1.1mm. I measured several more of them and got the same measurements. I measured several of the 1.0 picks and all of them measured out to be .99mm. The fender extra heavy measured out at 1.2mm and the dandrea measured out at 1.47mm.

I contacted amazon and raised an issue with the seller and I'm probably going to exchange them. I'm guessing they are made in china for daddario and were not manufactured to the right specification. Since both bags of picks had the same issue, I don't have much confidence that another order will fix the problem...

Too bad fender doesn't make these in extra heavy but I guess if they did, they'd just be having them manufactured abroad, possibly in the same factory that made the ones I currently have...

[Cunamara]

So I got the proplecs and loved them. The sound is fat and dark and amazing...Except that about 1/2 of the picks were warped. I could still use them in theory but I can feel the pick wiggling slightly between my thumb and index finger. That's how warped they are. I took one of the ones that wasn't warped and used it for about a week. They really sound amazing but I discovered that once they get even a little wear, they start to develop a scratchy / rough attack and don't glide over the strings as well.

Weird. I have used the Pro Plecs for years and I've never had that happen. Some of them are a little rough along the edge out of the box but none of them have developed roughness from wear; I use round wound strings. But I use a different shape (358) and have a very different picking style than you have. Perhaps that makes the issue less for me?

I think a lot of products like this are made off spec and simply no one ever checks, whether D'Addario or the customer. I have actually long suspected that virtually all the non-boutique picks on the market are made by Dunlop under contract.

[Danny W.]

I use D'Andrea 1.21mm Classic Celluloid in 351 shape and find that they never seem to develop sharp edges or even show any tip wear on round-wound strings. I usually replace the ones in my gig bag when the writing has worn off but I still use those at home. A dozen years ago I bought a half gross and seem to be in no danger of running out. When I used Fender heavies I bought a gross every year or two year.

I just measured a handful of the D'Andreas and they were all 1.20 to 1.22mm. Never find warped ones, either, though I have 1mm Tortex and similar materials that all seem to be warped to some degree.

Danny W.

[jzucker]

Weird. I have used the Pro Plecs for years and I've never had that happen. Some of them are a little rough along the edge out of the box but none of them have developed roughness from wear; I use round wound strings. But I use a different shape (358) and have a very different picking style than you have. Perhaps that makes the issue less for me?

I think a lot of products like this are made off spec and simply no one ever checks, whether D'Addario or the customer. I have actually long suspected that virtually all the non-boutique picks on the market are made by Dunlop under contract.

on my guitar forum, a bunch of folks reported exactly the same issues with the proplecs.

[jzucker]

I use D'Andrea 1.21mm Classic Celluloid in 351 shape and find that they never seem to develop sharp edges or even show any tip wear on round-wound strings. I usually replace the ones in my gig bag when the writing has worn off but I still use those at home. A dozen years ago I bought a half gross and seem to be in no danger of running out. When I used Fender heavies I bought a gross every year or two year.

I just measured a handful of the D'Andreas and they were all 1.20 to 1.22mm. Never find warped ones, either, though I have 1mm Tortex and similar materials that all seem to be warped to some degree.

Danny W.

unfortunately, they don't make the celluloid rounded triangle picks any heavier than .96mm

[Jabberwocky]

????????Westville???? | WALKiN'

Each pick measures 25mm wide by 24.5mm tall.

[lukmanohnz]

I am a fan of rounded triangle shaped picks as well. D’Andrea Radex are my current faves but they are a softer, darker tone than celluloid. I haven’t had problems with warpage. Dunlop makes a Tortex pick at 1.14 mm in the triangle shape. They are a bit pointy, but I use abrasive sheets to shape them to my liking.

[arielcee]

I've used the Clayton Acetal rounded triangle picks for years. They do take a few days of playing to get a good edge. Best fat sounding picks imo though. They're about the same size as the Fenders iirc; they come in 1.00mm, 1.26, 1.52, 1.9. I think they're made in Oregon.

[jzucker]

I've used the Clayton Acetal rounded triangle picks for years. They do take a few days of playing to get a good edge. Best fat sounding picks imo though. They're about the same size as the Fenders iirc; they come in 1.00mm, 1.26, 1.52, 1.9. I think they're made in Oregon.

hated the edge on those. Same with the dunlop mentioned above

[TOMMO]

Maybe you would like the Dunlop Primetone? I use the 1.5mm trianle with round edges.

[stevus]

????????Westville???? | WALKiN'

Each pick measures 25mm wide by 24.5mm tall.

Indeed, the Westville picks are great and very consistent. I have a couple of these. But my favourites are Pleks picks, made in Italy. More expensive, but worth it.

[Alter]

Where can someone order 200 pro plecs? They seem to be very difficult to find, almost nowhere in Europe..

[fep]

I bought a bunch of D'Andrea, better consistent quality than the Fenders. I just use a .71 351 shape, like the venerable Fender medium, but the quality control should translate. Bought them maybe 5 years ago though.