Lets look at our guitars thread

[Eddie Strohacker]

andy-xr said:

These are the best picks ever

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/dunlop-jazz-iii-guitar-pi...

I used to use tortex .88 but cant quite get the same thumb grip on them for some reason after the Jazz IIIs

£4.50 for six plectrums

Gary, who owns GAK has a house on the Palm Jumeirah, just so you know.

[Dr Z]

I see the Jazz III users are winning out here!

Might have to check them out, although the pointy end seems a bit too pointy for my tastes.

[Ekona]

I'm a Dunlop 500 guy myself. I'll use a 0.7, a 1.5 or a 2.0 depending on mood and what I'm trying to play, but they're the ones I stick with and I think they may even be the very first brand of picks I ever used.

I've tried quite a few others of late, including some Dunlop BIg Stubbys which I'd heard very good things about. My enjoyment of those lasted about 5 mins, as when I looked down at the guitar I could see that it had started to leave red marks all over my nice clean white pickups Yeah, they went straight in the bin. Lesson learnt, stick with what you know.


Also, don't play so hard that your pick is catching on your pickups

[Loyly]

Eddie Strohacker said:

My all time favourites. Just right for me & so I bought a catering pack amounting to a lifetime supply.

The grip area of these feels so good but I find them far too floppy for fast, accurate picking. I've not tried a really heavy one, though.

[enjo]

I use Dunlop gator grip 2mm for electric and 0.71mm for Acoustic

The tele as it now stands:



It gives a real 3D effect, under oil it would really pop - it's tempting to just oil over it as is but I know I'd regret it...

I've also rolled the edges of the fretboard so I'll need to start getting some oil on that soon (I've decided not to stain the neck)

[FreeLitres]

I dont like the standard Jazz III pics as they seem too thick and rounded right at the picking point. They might work better for me if I filed them down to make them thinner and sharper at the tip.

[Lucas CAV]

I'll use any pick that I can find when I want to play... Makes no odds to me! No idea what brand any are....

[Ekona]

Ekona said:

Anyone have any experience with the Ernie Ball Classic Rock n Roll strings at all?

You may remember I asked this question a few weeks ago, and I thought it might be a nice idea to follow it up in case anyone else is considering them.

The guitar was set up at the same time as having these fitted, and I went for the standard 10-46 set. Now I must admit that I was far from impressed when I first plugged the guitar in after putting the new strings on: Bearing in mind my main goal was to have a warmer, less treble-y sound than usual, I was astonished by how sharp these actually sounded. Maybe not any different to any other set of new strings in terms of brightness, but not what I was after at all. Oh well says I, it was worth the experiment and they're not any more expensive than my usual strings.

And then I played them some more, and then some more, and then some more...

Wow. Now I am seriously impressed with these. Bearing in mind I've not changed any settings on my amp to make sure that any differences were only from the strings, now I'm a good few weeks in (and probably about 8-10 hours of play time) these strings have delivered exactly what was asked of them. Running the bridge pickup, which is a Gibson 57 Classic + on my Epi LP Tribute, it's lost any of the occasional harshness that might accidentally seep through if you didn't get the picking just right, and a gentle strum now elicits a tone that wraps you up like a good blanket. The neck pickup is, if anything, even better: It's lovely and thick, more so than usual, and I can imagine a much better player than myself being able to turn out some wonderful blues lead with it.


So yeah, highly recommended, but you really do have to give them a chance to bed in. If you were to put these on just before a show or recording, I think you'd be very disappointed, but after a couple of hours of working them they really do make a noticeable difference to the tone. For modern metal or bright funk they'd be rubbish, but for a classic rock or blues tone (hell, I reckon they'd be great for jazz too) then you could do worse than give these a pop.

[BlackFlag]

Dunlop nylons in 1mm.

[Dr Z]

enjo said:

The tele as it now stands:



It gives a real 3D effect, under oil it would really pop - it's tempting to just oil over it as is but I know I'd regret it...

I've also rolled the edges of the fretboard so I'll need to start getting some oil on that soon (I've decided not to stain the neck)

Coming along nicely. How are you doing the burst? Using any DIY kits out there?

[OldSkoolRS]

BlackFlag said:

Dunlop nylons in 1mm.

Yeap, me too. Though I confess I was using the .77mm ones for donkeys years and only went up to 1mm recently after being recommended to use a thicker pick by my tutor.

[JaymzDead]

FreeLitres said:

I dont like the standard Jazz III pics as they seem too thick and rounded right at the picking point. They might work better for me if I filed them down to make them thinner and sharper at the tip.

Have you tried the John Petrucci signature Jazz IIIs? They have a thinner, sharper tip.

[smn159]

Pfft. I've still got one from the Guitar Centre in Slough with a 5 digit phone number printed on it.

[andy-xr]

JaymzDead said:

FreeLitres said:

I dont like the standard Jazz III pics as they seem too thick and rounded right at the picking point. They might work better for me if I filed them down to make them thinner and sharper at the tip.

Have you tried the John Petrucci signature Jazz IIIs? They have a thinner, sharper tip.

I find them harder to play with to be honest, they're a little smaller and I found I need to have really short/trimmed nails and expose a bit more of the pick compared to the Jazz IIIs.
When you're set up for faster playing I think they work well, but I dont like them as much for strumming.

I do find the JP ones easier to pull harmonics from though and they feel a lot better than Tortex that I used to use. a happy medium for me is the Jazz IIIs

Here's a comparison of them side by side

[Dr Z]

So I rummaged around to find picks lying about for a re-evaluation. These are ones I have tried:



I still do see a benefit with the 2mm delrins for myself. The gators were interesting, better grip for my sweaty hands (live only! ) but scratchy attack is quite prominent when you want to play softly...

The thinner picks seemed to catch on the strings more, where the delrins slide off nicely.

My standard 16th note scale practice routine saw an increase of 5 bpm speed with the 2mm delrins...could be familiarity. Need to work on the left hand & right hand technique.

The thinner delrins still don't flex as much as others, so I'm feeling it still gives good value to different attack styles for electric.

[enjo]

Dr Z said:

Coming along nicely. How are you doing the burst? Using any DIY kits out there?

Thanks, I've ordered some ColorTone dyes (vintage amber and tobacco) which I will use to hand rub a classic 2 tone burst... Or hopefully something vaguely similar.

[curlyks2]

[Mastodon2]

Eddie Strohacker said:

£4.50 for six plectrums

Gary, who owns GAK has a house on the Palm Jumeirah, just so you know.

Good for him, a successful businessman should be allowed to enjoy his money.

[Eddie Strohacker]

Mastodon2 said:

Eddie Strohacker said:

£4.50 for six plectrums

Gary, who owns GAK has a house on the Palm Jumeirah, just so you know.

Good for him, a successful businessman should be allowed to enjoy his money.

I wasn't being entirely serious. Cheer up mate, you'll feel better.

[Walter Sobchak]

More amp related than guitar but is it possible to get a decent edge of breakup sound out of a solid state amp?.