Been playing guitar around 20 years, STILL can't choose a guitar pick.

[tuttermuts]

Hi all,
So as the title says I've been playing around 20 years now and for the last 10 or so I've never been 100% comfortable settling on a single guitar pick.
I played Jazz III's and variations of it for most of my "carreer", partially due to me studying Jazz. It's fast, thick, it gets the job done for fast bebop lines.
Then came a time where I was searching everything, a band, a style, a guitar, the right size strings,... and I also carried around a small case filled with all kinds of guitar picks.
That has been my motto ever since, I play a different kind of pick each time I pick up a guitar.
This has worked great for me and it has had it's benefits: you never get stuck into routines of habit, you always have just enough of an adjustment period where your playing is a little extra expressive because of it and you always stay encouraged to reinterpreting things surrounding your picking.
However lately I feel I bump into certain walls=>
-Jazz III style: it's reliable and precise but if I'm letting the stage jitters get to my head I start to cramp up and I lose any sense of spontaneousness using a jazzIII.
-Thin tortex (the orange one): recently did a gig with these which isn't my habbit=> worked awesome! the size helps with stringskips and fast chord strumming, however a few weeks later I pick it up at home and I feel sluggish and sloppy.
-Ultex: firm and glides across the strings nicely, but gets blunt pretty fast, again, sometimes this one works awesome.
And I could go on and on...
Am I alone on not being able to pick one and settle? Sometimes I get a little envious of people who have settled, get a bunch of the same and you know what to expect each time...

 

[TedEH]

Have you considered that you might be shooting yourself in the foot by not allowing yourself to settle on something that works for you? You don't have to min/max every part of the guitar playing process. I don't read this as "can't choose", I read this as "refuse to choose". Which is fine. If that's what you want to do, then you do you, as they say. But if you want to pick one, just pick one. Order 100 of them and stop using the others. Done. When you need one, grab from the pile and don't think twice about it. Problem solved. There are so many parts of the chain to think about - it's ok to exclude this one.

 

[tuttermuts]

Have you considered that you might be shooting yourself in the foot by not allowing yourself to settle on something that works for you? You don't have to min/max every part of the guitar playing process. I don't read this as "can't choose", I read this as "refuse to choose". Which is fine. If that's what you want to do, then you do you, as they say. But if you want to pick one, just pick one. Order 100 of them and stop using the others. Done. When you need one, grab from the pile and don't think twice about it. Problem solved. There are so many parts of the chain to think about - it's ok to exclude this one.

So I took your advice with me for a while and sat an on it, I think I'll start narrowing it down from here on out.
I'm going to start looking in the direction of a pick that's similar to the orange tortex but pointier. Maybe slightly thicker,...At any rate find a pick and just go with it.

Cheers

 

[mpexus]

Used Max Grip for ages since anything else and forces me to grip harder or they slip from my fingers then I found DAVA and its what I use 99% of the time. Use their Neon Green "small sized" ones. They are bit smaller than regular Picks but a bit bigger than the Maxgrip.

 

[budda]

Been rocking jazz iii’s since this forum introduced me to them.

 

[cwhitey2]

Jazz iii all day.

 

[c7spheres]

The pick you seek is either the orange or yellow Dunlop Wedge or even a normal Jim Dunlop branded celluloid medium. It's one of those I'm 90% sure.

 

[cindarkness]

Been there done that, but have been using the Eric Johnson Jazz III for a year now and not planning to swap any time soon.

I started with thick ones, Dunlop Gator Grip 1.5mm and soon started using some Gravity 2mm translucent pick. Don't remember which one, I've lost all of them
Then I remember swearing by those Hetfield White Fang 1.0 picks, pretty nice grip imho. And now, the before mentioned Jazz III signature. Found it randomly and almost instantly felt like that's what I've been searching for.

 

[profwoot]

I think it's better to use too many picks than to use the same one forever, but at some point it's probably good to narrow it down a little bit.

For me, I stick with Dunlop's "Flow" shape, as it has the sharp point of a Jazz III and is about the size of a Jazz III XL but a thicker taper and broader shoulders so it fits in my grip better and can be thinner without bending as much as a normal shape. I've been using the Misha, Rabea, Petrucci, and Andy James Flow sig picks, but recently started using the Tortex Flows because they last a little longer before the tip gets blunted and they provide just a little extra tactile feedback due to the slightly stronger material, which has been good for my technique. I imagine I'll go back to the Mishas eventually as they slide off the strings faster, but for now my accuracy has improved with the extra feedback.

 

[PuckishGuitar]

I went through the big pick reevaluation a year or so ago after using yellow Tortex for forever. I finally decided to try Jazz III, and I think I've settled between red Jazz III, Tortex IIIXL 1.14mm, and Ultex 2mm III. It mainly comes down to how I'm gripping it that day, the red III are usually grabbed first but fairly unforgiving grip-wise for me, while the Tortex IIIXL are great for playing a long session while not feeling quite as precise. Never thought that thicker picks would work for me since I never liked green and thicker Tortex, but the point on the III just hits right. After experimenting with so many I can also tell the difference in tone in my playing, like thicker than 1.14mm Tortex IIIXL and it starts sounding dull, but the Ultex gives a grindy, sharp attack.

I think there is some value to trying out different picks since it could help improve certain skills and give the tone and attack you may be after, but only if they actually work for what you are playing. I can never go back to my stock of yellow Tortex except for cowboy chord strum tunes, and see no reason to practice with them.

 

[dspellman]

Hi all,
So as the title says I've been playing around 20 years now and for the last 10 or so I've never been 100% comfortable settling on a single guitar pick.

I settled on two.

One is my most used (for actual playing) Gravity Pick -- 1.5 to 2.0mm "Razer" standard. Expensive at around $5 each, but for some reason I never lose them.

The other is my least used -- Pick Punch picks by the thousands. The Gravities disappear when my pick-thieving friends some over and the Pick Punch versions are out in dishes, hundreds at a time. They're mostly akin to a Fender Medium (when punched out of an old credit or gift card at the rate of about six per card) and work just fine with a cheap acoustic.

 

[slavboi_delight]

Jazz iii 0.6
Since years
And i have toilet lids for hands

 

[ThunderUnderground]

Im on the pick quest just now. Trying to find a good balance between good pick attack and something that has some level of flex, im left side dominant but play guitar right hand so holding the pick is an issue. Ive found that Dunlop nylon 0.73mm works best for me, decent note separation but still has the ability to punch through all the strings on a chord if needed. I also use the 0.60mm variant from time to time but note separation/attack is compromised.

One thing i do is use skateboard grip tape on my picks, it makes the surface more grippy obviously but it also adds some mass on either side of the pick which means its easier for me to hold.

 

[jaxadam]

Black Jazz III

 

[Bandersnatch]

I went through the same thing and landed on the Jazz III XL in Tortex. I use an orbital sander to make them more pointy but that's what I've been using for the last year or two(?).

 

[Whoman Bean]

This is the way:

Plectrums

www.winspearinstrumental.com

Fountainhead is great.

 

[Grindspine]

I used Dunlop Jazz Stubby 3 mm for years. When I worked full-time as a guitar tech, I was wearing through at least a pick a week if not more. I ended up finding Dragon's Heart guitar picks. The GT is pretty good, with a carbon fiber fill in the polyimide base. What I have used for the last few years though is the Dragon's Heart Hardened pick, with glass fiber fill. I never cracked or broken one of these picks, and only wore the tip off of one in the last few years.

 

[Stiman]

So I took your advice with me for a while and sat an on it, I think I'll start narrowing it down from here on out.
I'm going to start looking in the direction of a pick that's similar to the orange tortex but pointier. Maybe slightly thicker,...At any rate find a pick and just go with it.

Cheers

Try the Tortex Flow pick in that color. Same material, slightly smaller size and sharper tip.

 

[USMarine75]

The universe is trying to tell you something. Ditch the pick.

 

[Calija]

This might be a little more difficult but if you have a freind or know someone with a 3d printer than its pretty easy to get your own. Ive been doing this for a while with one of my friends and its worked pretty well. We have been using a resin printer and ive been playing them for quite a while and they have worked really well so far.
Im not sure if they would be good for your personal taste but they hardly bend and are only 2mm thick.
If would want thinner bendy picks then you can experiment with the thickness as well as a lot of the variables while printing to get somethingyou want. As a metal head I dont know how good this is for jazz but they have been great for me.
You can also make the pick three sided which saves even more moeny but that might be uncomfortable for you.
Im not sure how good this works with PLA printers but i know resin works fantasic. You can find heaps of desings online and you just have to download the file and send it to who ever has the printer.
when you do settle on something you can add little desings and patterns on it.