Pick tip

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HootsmonHootsmon Frets: 15925
All the internet and instruction book books recommend only the smallest tip of the pick should be exposed to the string......this has never worked for me, how about you?
tae be or not tae be
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Comments

  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700
    I need to leave a bit extra sticking out, otherwise I shred the end of my picking hand's index finger.

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • Yes and this is I think why anything 1mm and above feels completely rigid to me. 
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  • Only if I *really* concentrate on showing as little pick to the strings as possible. I end up either grazing my hand on the strings or miss them entirely though.

    Twisted Imaginings - A Horror And Gore Themed Blog http://bit.ly/2DF1NYi


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  • I certainly don't use the very tip of the pick. As long as your attacking the string with the pick slightly angled (and not parallel) you should be ok.
    I seem to have about 2 -3 mm of a pointy Jazz III showing. I'm constantly making tiny adjustments when playing, which is why I don't like the Max Grip picks.
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  • I do adjust for strumming (exposing more tip for some flex).

    Dava control picks are quite cool for this but they tend to cost more than Dunlops and I still lose them at the same rate 
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  • ClarkyClarky Frets: 3261
    edited February 2017
    I have my pick slanting slightly backwards like a fang
    so I use the tip and part of the side..
    I find it helps the pick slide across the string without getting snagged..

    play every note as if it were your first
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  • BarneyBarney Frets: 614
    What is working very well for me just now is practising a movement but not actually touching the string but still getting sound from the left hand fingers hitting the fretboard ....so a bit like hammer on and pull offs just over basic scales....
    If just done slowly you are getting the movement of the alternate picking and linking both hands ...then slowly introduce the picking hand to the string it gets you so you are just using the plec tip and its very smooth ..

    Iv been doing this for a couple of weeks now after i heard about it and my picking has came on more than ever and sounds much smoother...2 or 3 mins a day every day for me has got big changes

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  • sev112sev112 Frets: 2739
    Seems unnecessarily restricting and limiting IMHO I regularly use a larger triangle shaped pick. I use the tip at times Sometimes I use "more" of the pick tip, to get volume or power, for example strumming What I often do is pick by "sliding" the long edge across the string, and I even adjust the angle of attack. All these things give me a different sound and tone - I think ! :) . Certainly the latter gives me a rasp sound, particularly if I use the Bottom part of a sharks fin plectrum However I do think that it gives me greater certainty of precision and ensuring I hit the string I am trying to ! :) Ostensibly having the tip very close to your thumb/finger is great for precision if you are playing quick notes on the same string, but introduces challenge when moving to other strings and certainly if missing out strings when "finger picking"/"flat picking" arpeggios Always good to experiment. Anyone never used a sharks fin plectrum, go and buy a few different gauges and try them out, making sure you try each of the edges and both sides - for example I sometimes use the main "tooth" facing upwards and sometimes downwards
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  • bignormbignorm Frets: 191
    edited March 2017
    I think plectrum thickness is a very personal thing coz each person is different and it also boils down to what style of music you're playing too. 
    I use a large triangle pick that's only 0.56mm thick. My technique varies depending on playing chords or lead.  
    For fast picking or solos, I only have the tip showing and the whole pick is put under tension around my thumb so it's very rigid. 
    When playing funkier rythmns I tend to have a lot of pick showing so it's very flexible. 

    I tried using thicker picks, but just don't like the feel when they hit the strings, thinner picks flex and are far more forgiving.
    Saying that though I still have a couple of 3mm triangle Stubbies from the early 90s that I used in the studio when recording some solo's and they sounded awesome..I love that tock sound as it hit the string but it felt totally alien to me and I couldn't get use to it.  

    I'd love to have a pick with two different thicknesses. Rounded triangle with 0.56mm on two edges and 3mm on the other.
    You could then turn the pick for solos or funky rythmns.. shit I should patent that quick 
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  • UnclePsychosisUnclePsychosis Frets: 12881
    edited March 2017
    bignorm said:

    I use a large triangle pick that's only 56mm thick.

    Is it the corner of a door or something? :D :D :D


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  • bignormbignorm Frets: 191
    bignorm said:

    I use a large triangle pick that's only 56mm thick.

    Is it the corner of a door or something? :D :D :D


    Bwahaha ... no wonder I go through strings 
    0.56 thick. Doh 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    1.5mm pick with just the tip protruding.
    It is faster for me that way.
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  • I have recently changed to a Prime tone Jazz III.  After quite a bit of experimenting, this is what sounded closest to my nails.  It has made it a lot easier to balance the volume and tone between the pick and my fingers when I do  the one bit of hybrid picking I know.
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  • DanjiDanji Frets: 225
    Prime tone user here too, I used to use the purple Dunlop picks that are bevelled, but the PTs are awesome.  I'm not a fan of pointy ends of the picks.

    I hold it pointing up rather than down and use just a little bit of the pick.
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