For those who like heavy guitar picks - what types do you like and why?

jdgm

Jazz III forever. For some reason I like the red ones.

TA22GT

V-Pick Lite in medium gauge. 

They are so dynamic and I can't play anything else now. Like having an overdrive button!

bingefeller

Megii said:

bingefeller said:

Let us know how you get on with the Flow picks.

I will indeed @bingefeller - I notice the ones I ordered are the jumbo size (Strings Direct don't seem to do the 3mm in the standard size) but it's a starting point. If I basically like them, but feel I'd prefer a smaller size, or maybe the 2mm or one of the other variants, then that's still telling me something useful. Quite liked the look of the John Petrucci signature ones to be honest, but maybe it's just the nice red colour with the design on... I have high hopes anyhow!

You might like the jumbo, I preferred the feel of the normal sized ones.  If you like the Jazz 207s then the jumbo Flow are the same size IIRC.  The Petrucci Flow picks are the same sized as regular Flow picks,

The Andy James sig are in a Jumbo size - he is the player who the Flow picks were made for.  He played those Jazz 207s and he liked them, but he also liked Ultex.  Dunlop made him a Jazz 207 in Ultex and he stuck with it for a long time and he sold them on his websites.  It was from there that the Flow picks came about.  

guitarcookie1

The 2mm purple Dunlop ones for me, anything else just feels wrong (and I pick with one of the rounded corners, not the pointed end). 

Legionreturns

I use gravity razors for lead stuff, although they're quite expensive 

Megii

bingefeller said:

Megii said:

bingefeller said:

Let us know how you get on with the Flow picks.

I will indeed @bingefeller - I notice the ones I ordered are the jumbo size (Strings Direct don't seem to do the 3mm in the standard size) but it's a starting point. If I basically like them, but feel I'd prefer a smaller size, or maybe the 2mm or one of the other variants, then that's still telling me something useful. Quite liked the look of the John Petrucci signature ones to be honest, but maybe it's just the nice red colour with the design on... I have high hopes anyhow!

You might like the jumbo, I preferred the feel of the normal sized ones.  If you like the Jazz 207s then the jumbo Flow are the same size IIRC.  The Petrucci Flow picks are the same sized as regular Flow picks,

The Andy James sig are in a Jumbo size - he is the player who the Flow picks were made for.  He played those Jazz 207s and he liked them, but he also liked Ultex.  Dunlop made him a Jazz 207 in Ultex and he stuck with it for a long time and he sold them on his websites.  It was from there that the Flow picks came about.  

Cheers @bingefeller - I might indeed. To be honest, I seem to be fairly flexible with regard to pick size - I just hold them close to the tip in the same way and it's generally OK. I checked on the Dunlop website, and it looks like they don't do a 3mm one in the standard size, only the jumbo - so that's my only option for the 3mm anyhow.

Interesting about the link with the 207s and the Andy Jame origin of the flow picks, didn't realise about that. I do have a hunch that somewhere in the flow range could be "my" pick anyhow, hoping I'm right. The 207s may be a bit too rounded for me, but I do want to try them all the same.

ICBM

Dunlop or Alice - Chinese copy of the same thing - Big Stubby 3mm. (For bass.)

The dimple in the middle makes it easy to keep hold of them.

mudslide73

Ultex Jazz iii 2.0mm for me.. 

Corvus

Another V pick user, mostly 2.5 mm I think. I've also made versions from buffalo horn and yes its dull work.. Also aluminium, T6 which is a hard stiff grade. Liked those, when warmed up they felt almost liquid, like part of you, but very fine ally dust came off them so back to V picks it is.

Only thing is finding the clear ones when you drop them!

bingefeller

Megii said:

bingefeller said:

Megii said:

bingefeller said:

Let us know how you get on with the Flow picks.

I will indeed @bingefeller - I notice the ones I ordered are the jumbo size (Strings Direct don't seem to do the 3mm in the standard size) but it's a starting point. If I basically like them, but feel I'd prefer a smaller size, or maybe the 2mm or one of the other variants, then that's still telling me something useful. Quite liked the look of the John Petrucci signature ones to be honest, but maybe it's just the nice red colour with the design on... I have high hopes anyhow!

You might like the jumbo, I preferred the feel of the normal sized ones.  If you like the Jazz 207s then the jumbo Flow are the same size IIRC.  The Petrucci Flow picks are the same sized as regular Flow picks,

The Andy James sig are in a Jumbo size - he is the player who the Flow picks were made for.  He played those Jazz 208s and he liked them, but he also liked Ultex.  Dunlop made him a Jazz 207 in Ultex and he stuck with it for a long time and he sold them on his websites.  It was from there that the Flow picks came about.  

Cheers @bingefeller - I might indeed. To be honest, I seem to be fairly flexible with regard to pick size - I just hold them close to the tip in the same way and it's generally OK. I checked on the Dunlop website, and it looks like they don't do a 3mm one in the standard size, only the jumbo - so that's my only option for the 3mm anyhow.

Interesting about the link with the 207s and the Andy Jame origin of the flow picks, didn't realise about that. I do have a hunch that somewhere in the flow range could be "my" pick anyhow, hoping I'm right. The 207s may be a bit too rounded for me, but I do want to try them all the same.

I should have said Jazz 208s!!!!  The pointier ones.

octatonic

Super thick doesn't work for me- they are fine for chord work but speed picking becomes a hassle.

I've been using Planet Waves Black Ice 1.5mm since they came out and no plan to change from them.
A nice balance between weight and precision.

TheMarlin

V Pick Snake, and Colossus. V Pick Screamer is a great pick of you prefer something slimmer. 

Megii

bingefeller said:

Megii said:

bingefeller said:

Megii said:

bingefeller said:

Let us know how you get on with the Flow picks.

I will indeed @bingefeller - I notice the ones I ordered are the jumbo size (Strings Direct don't seem to do the 3mm in the standard size) but it's a starting point. If I basically like them, but feel I'd prefer a smaller size, or maybe the 2mm or one of the other variants, then that's still telling me something useful. Quite liked the look of the John Petrucci signature ones to be honest, but maybe it's just the nice red colour with the design on... I have high hopes anyhow!

You might like the jumbo, I preferred the feel of the normal sized ones.  If you like the Jazz 207s then the jumbo Flow are the same size IIRC.  The Petrucci Flow picks are the same sized as regular Flow picks,

The Andy James sig are in a Jumbo size - he is the player who the Flow picks were made for.  He played those Jazz 208s and he liked them, but he also liked Ultex.  Dunlop made him a Jazz 207 in Ultex and he stuck with it for a long time and he sold them on his websites.  It was from there that the Flow picks came about.  

Cheers @bingefeller - I might indeed. To be honest, I seem to be fairly flexible with regard to pick size - I just hold them close to the tip in the same way and it's generally OK. I checked on the Dunlop website, and it looks like they don't do a 3mm one in the standard size, only the jumbo - so that's my only option for the 3mm anyhow.

Interesting about the link with the 207s and the Andy Jame origin of the flow picks, didn't realise about that. I do have a hunch that somewhere in the flow range could be "my" pick anyhow, hoping I'm right. The 207s may be a bit too rounded for me, but I do want to try them all the same.

I should have said Jazz 208s!!!!  The pointier ones.

Ah, fair enough - the 208 does look very close to the Andy James flow pick shape-wise. I can always do a bit of re-shaping on the 207s if needed. Strings Direct were out of the 208s, or I might have got those.

Megii

octatonic said:

Super thick doesn't work for me- they are fine for chord work but speed picking becomes a hassle.

I've been using Planet Waves Black Ice 1.5mm since they came out and no plan to change from them.
A nice balance between weight and precision.

I can understand that - in my case, I do like the thicker picks, but I need them to have some kind of bevel to a finer tip, and not just be kind of bluntly rounded. I'll have a look at the Planet Waves offerings though - hadn't thought of those.

TheMarlin said:

V Pick Snake, and Colossus. V Pick Screamer is a great pick of you prefer something slimmer. 

Will have to have a proper look at the V-Picks range - if there is something that looks about right for me shape-wise, that could be a contender, cheers.

steer

I love buying and trying out new picks. 

I used to use the standard big stubby mainly, but then I discovered the nylon bug stubby, which I like a lot more. I also use and like the Dunlop Jazz 3. Two more different plectrums you probably could not find, but they are my go-to picks, as well as the one good old Dava control pick that I have owned for about 15 years.  

Megii

bingefeller said:

Let us know how you get on with the Flow picks.

So - picks arrived today (hoping for yesterday, but appears one of those rare occasions Royal Mail 1st class takes an extra day). Thought I'd just post on my immediate impressions, with a few pics, for @bingefeller, and anyone else interested.

The new picks:




Of the 3, I think I do like the Flow 3.0mm best - it really does seem to promote accuracy and speed for single note playing. Also I think I got it right first time regarding going for the 3.0 jumbo version - it's good for me in terms of size and I don't think going any less thick would give me anything useful. And the molded pattern front and back does assist a lot with grip. I was a bit less sure about it for playing funk strumming stuff (Nile Rogers riffs for example), which is something I need quite often, but after a little experimentation, I think I can probably use it for this also, and again, it does help with precision. A question of a bit of adaptation I'd say, but that is always going to be the case.

The 207 is not at all bad in many ways, and the thinner profile somehow seems to compensate for the rounder tip - it's still quite precise feeling to me. Where I struggle more is with keeping the pick constantly located in my fingers. I may try doing something - filing or drilling holes - to improve this aspect, but also, perhaps I'll be able to adapt, time will tell.

Least good is the 5mm Primetone, to my surprise - I think the main issue is that the bevel at the point is too shallow, so I end up catching the side corners if I try to pick at all firmly. And if I concentrate on not catching the corners, then I still get a rather skaty, weedy kind of tone, and the note attack seems imprecise. Kind of a feeling of skating over the strings without the pick making a proper contact. Having said this, I think with a bit of filing and smoothing, to make the bevel less shallow, and it could be very different, and I might like it for more straight ahead clean jazz kind of use - although faffing about with filing and stuff was something I really hoped to get away from.

So - most likely outcome at this point seems to me to be I'll go with the Flow Jumbo 3.0mm's - they really seem like a find to me, and I may order a few more immediately.  I'll just put a couple of pics of the self-made horn pick I've been using most recently - at the mo, it feels nice and familiar, and good to use, but I have to admit it's already beaten by the Flow for that precise, fast feel on single note lead playing.



Also, I may still investigate the nylon Stubby and V-picks options, but I already feel I've found something very good with the Flow 3.0.

Megii

Actually, a bit more playing, and both the 207 and the Flow picks have really got something. I'm surprised, as previously I've not really been able to get on with any picks I've bought, which was what sent down the road of making my own in the first place. I think some of it has to do with improvement over time in my picking technique, which has allowed me to make better use of off-the-shelf picks, and partly I've just lucked out with these two that I chose to try. The 207s seem to have a bit of a softer tone range, and maybe more of a straight-ahead, clean jazz kind of pick. Having said that, I love the clean, bright but still beefy tone of the Flow, plus that precise fast feel. Both picks very nice to use - a personal taste thing of course, but glad I got both types. Funny how, despite being a jazzer, the ones I'm not sold on are the 5mm thick picks - imprecise feeling and a weedy tone is what I get from those...

edit: just realised, the 5mm ones I'm not so keen on are called "Primetones" (not "Jazztones as I originally called them) - I think the advertised pictures of these are misleading, as they don't show the very shallow bevel and marked corners to the profile - so disappointing there. The "Jazztones" are the 207s, which I do like.

Ossyrocks

Legionreturns said:

I use gravity razors for lead stuff, although they're quite expensive 

I’ve been using Gravity picks for about 10 years. Once I got the right one, I can’t use anything else really.

Striker Big Mini is what I use. Great feel, tone and accuracy. I think they improved my playing. Another good thing about them is that they are symmetrical, you can use any of the three corners.

My preferred one is 1.5mm but you can get heavier.

Rob

bingefeller

Nice write up @Megii.   I found the 5mm Primetone hard to play with on the bass strings.  Maybe it was because I wasn’t feeling the pick in the windings as much as I was with thinner picks.  

I picked up a nylon 3mm Stubby a few years back and found that it kind of stuck to the strings. I’m not sure if Dunlop has changed the formula for the nylon stubbies since then to make them more of a smoother plastic and less of a sticky nylon.  

Megii

bingefeller said:

Nice write up @Megii.   I found the 5mm Primetone hard to play with on the bass strings.  Maybe it was because I wasn’t feeling the pick in the windings as much as I was with thinner picks.  

I picked up a nylon 3mm Stubby a few years back and found that it kind of stuck to the strings. I’m not sure if Dunlop has changed the formula for the nylon stubbies since then to make them more of a smoother plastic and less of a sticky nylon.  

Cheers @bingefeller - I have to say I've learnt something today, to coin a phrase - which is that pick thickness is not the be all and end all. That 5mm Primetone is maybe a bit too much in this regard, although the way it's shaped definitely isn't helping. I find it awkward on all the strings to be honest, and it sometimes seems to get stuck between the strings. But I'll get the file and sandpaper out and see if I can improve matters - not impressed really though. The diagonal grooves for grip do seem to work well at least, I'll give them that...

The Flow is really at least as good as I'd hoped - I did have a hunch about that one, so it's more than lived up to that. And the surprise is really the 207, which I like a lot also - and although not at all the same, it does seem similar to use compared to the Flow, so I can easily swap from one to the other.

Not sure re the Stubby picks really - I did actually try one briefly, maybe 5 or more years ago, and didn't get on at all. But that was when I was just starting out with picks again after decades of not using a pick at all - my pick technique is much better now, so I might like them just fine I suppose. I did make some picks of my own from Delrin plastic, which I suspect is similar to nylon - easy to use, but a bit "smooth" sounding attack-wise. I've found I like a harder material for the pick, as it gives a bit of character to the note attack.