Plectrum thickness and finding a 'medium PLUS' one.

soma1975

Been used to playing with Dunlop Tortex 1mm TIII picks for ages, basically since they came out and prior to that mainly Tortex 1mm or 1.14mm picks for years. 

As a little experiment I bought a pack of celluloid Fender Mediums.

They felt bloody great and although maybe a smidge too much, the bit of flex in them really helped the pick move between strings for the way I play. Everything felt looser and more like I had control and there was a nice bit of top end brought back to the tone too which is welcome with a GE fuzz. At the speed I play I guess I don't need the precision of the TIII tip of the thickness of pick I had and the celluloid picks don't grab or rasp at the strings the way tortex does. 

I think the mediums are somewhere around 0.70mm thickness so I'd like to split the difference and get some 0.80 or 0.88mm celluloid picks. 

Cannot find any of the bastards anywhere except some D'andreas that are like £25 to import so sod that.

Anyways, comedian Jim Jeffries to play me in the movie. Anyone else here swapped back to celluloid and/or lighter picks?

Any recommendations welcome too. 

Edit: In summary, can you find me some decent .88mm celluloid picks in the standard Fender 351 shape? Cheers. 

dangriffiths

After trying more variants than I care to admit from super cheap to pricey enough to panic about losing them I found Dunlop Primetone Jazz III XL are my favourite. I started with 1.4mm but also like 0.88mm depending on musical style/guitar. 

soma1975

I plays with Jazz IIIs for a while. The TIIIs seemed like a good halfway between normal and pointy triangle. 

Sassafras

Dunlop Stubbies are nice and smooth. They're not raspy like tortex.
I think they're made from some sort of hard nylon. 1, 2 or 3mm sizes.

soma1975

Yeah but it's the bit of flex i'm after as well so even 1mm is a bit too stiff

Haych

I used Stubby 3mm for years, not because I'm a technical player but I just liked the feel of the pick and the thickness.  I quite liked the pointy end too and found playing with anything not pointy was awkward.

Problem was they didn't last.  An hour playing and the tip would wear out.  

I came across Dunlop Ultex Sharp and tried them out and have been using the 0.9mm for a good couple of years now.  They're still stiff enough but give a little which I like and the tip is perfect, not too pointy but not round either, and they last for ages.

MagicBus

Ultex . 73 or . 88 are worth a try, not celluloid I know, but .... 

soma1975

Ultex basically the same as tortex. Have some here but they don't glide off the strings like celluloid ones do. Cheers though. 

Seems like a real gap in the market for this!

MagicBus

soma1975 said:

Ultex basically the same as tortex. Have some here but they don't glide off the strings like celluloid ones do. Cheers though. 

Seems like a real gap in the market for this!

I agree actually and have been where you are now. I too looked for a celluloid pick in between medium and heavy, couldn't find one either. I mostly use a Dunlop heavy celluloid pick now as I find the medium break too easily. 

bbill335

have you tried the heavy fender ones? I reckon they're about .9mm compared to my go-to 1mm totrex/ultex and the *best*, daddario cortex

soma1975

MagicBus said:

soma1975 said:

Ultex basically the same as tortex. Have some here but they don't glide off the strings like celluloid ones do. Cheers though. 

Seems like a real gap in the market for this!

I agree actually and have been where you are now. I too looked for a celluloid pick in between medium and heavy, couldn't find one either. I mostly use a Dunlop heavy celluloid pick now as I find the medium break too easily. 

Yeah it's a real pain. Fender apparently used to make a medium-heavy which would be perfect but they stopped production of it a while back. The cunts. 

@bbill335 Fender said they were 1mm. But they might be lying bastards. Will look into it cheers. 

PolarityMan

Haych said:

I used Stubby 3mm for years, not because I'm a technical player but I just liked the feel of the pick and the thickness.  I quite liked the pointy end too and found playing with anything not pointy was awkward.

Problem was they didn't last.  An hour playing and the tip would wear out.  

I came across Dunlop Ultex Sharp and tried them out and have been using the 0.9mm for a good couple of years now.  They're still stiff enough but give a little which I like and the tip is perfect, not too pointy but not round either, and they last for ages.

Ultex is great, everyone in my band uses black fangs

PolarityMan

I concede the drummer struggles with them though

bbill335

The fender heavys might be 1mm, might be the brands are inconsistent on what 1mm actually is, but they don't feel as heavy as the dunlops. 

simonhpieman

bbill335 said:

have you tried the heavy fender ones? I reckon they're about .9mm compared to my go-to 1mm totrex/ultex and the *best*, daddario cortex

Sorry to hijack slighty.

I love D'Addario Cortex for feel and bright tone but they barely last me a gig - the edges crack then catch on the strings and ultimately, they shatter. I find they blunt quite quickly too. Anyone else find this?

I feel like they changed recipe slightly when they changed the print on the front from black to silver. They're not exactly cheap, either.

I got some Ultex to try out in comparison and while the experience was similar the tip was too rounded compared to the Cortex.

I can't bloody win!

bbill335

I use the round, blunted ends anyway so if they wear down, it doesn't bother me

soma1975

bbill335 said:

The fender heavys might be 1mm, might be the brands are inconsistent on what 1mm actually is, but they don't feel as heavy as the dunlops. 

Cool will get some in. 

FelineGuitars

@soma1975  this might be the answer

https://www.picktown.co.uk/pages/pick-options

Have some printed from Picktown - they do a number of thicknesses in celluloid - then you can have the gauge you like and have them personalised too. They are a good company and if you wanted to split between some of one gauge and some of another they will as long as they are printed the same

soma1975

Ooh lovely that's probably the answer. Thanks. 

andy_k

I dont experiment much with picks, but have tried all the gauges of tortex sharps, i settled on the blues, 1 MM, used to like a stiff pick-so it was the blacks, tried the whites-stiffer, never got into it, so i went to the purples, and then the greens, either side of the blues, which are just right, and when the 'sharp' goes I rub them on a concrete floor both sides until they are sharp again, leaves a slight raised section which is awesome for pick slides, and helps the grip too. Imagine using a 'peso' on a set of 8's????

soma1975

Update on this.  After a couple of weeks getting really into the fender medium celluloids. I seem a lot more accurate and looser than when I played with thicker tortex picks. 

Seems a real shortcut for my technique and dynamics to improve.