Are heavy picks better for fast tremolo picking?

Jeremiah

I've never really been that interested in speed, but since I've been getting more and more into surf music recently, I've been trying to improve the speed and accuracy of my tremolo picking.

I've always preferred light picks (generally Dunlop Nylon 0.46mm), for both the sound and the feel, but wondered if this would make it harder to get a good tremolo picking technique.

I could see how this could be the case from a physics/mechanical point of view, as a more flexible pick bends more each time it hits the string, so may take more time to recover for the next stroke.

I also know that Dick Dale famously used both very heavy picks and heavy gauge strings.

Anyway, just wondering what the forum's advice is on whether I should switch to using heavier picks, or just stop distracting myself by worrying about gear and just focus on practising with what I already have...

fastonebaz

Heavy picks are the norm for fast picking. 

sweepy

Small heavy picks preferably 

BeardyAndy

I thought the along the same lines as you but recently received some of the 2mm Gravity picks and they are great for strumming but I find thinner picks better for playing solo's. If a song is mostly "chug chug chug" i'll use the gravity pick but if there's a solo, especially up around the 12th fret, i'll use an orange Tortex or Herco Flex 75s.

Your best bet is to buy a selection and try them.

more

It is in part a personal choice . But , thin picks are often used for strumming over light strings . The picks tend to become thicker as the strings be come heavier  and a  darker picking  style is required. 

Jalapeno

After years of playing Dunlop .76 mm nylon a teacher told me to stiffen up (oo-er missus). So for electric I now use 1.7mm Tortex (Purple), jazz 3mm jazz stubby, gypsy a 5mm Wegen.

fastonebaz

Jalapeno said:

After years of playing Dunlop .76 mm nylon a teacher told me to stiffen up (oo-er missus). So for electric I now use 1.7mm Tortex (Purple), jazz 3mm jazz stubby, gypsy a 5mm Wegen.

A 5mm'er!  jeepers, that must be tough to be accurate

stratman3142

Best to try a pick for a while and see if it works for you. I prefer Jazz III picks.

Thicker picks tend to be the norm. But Paul Gilbert uses thin picks and his picking is massively better than mine (and most others).

Cranky

For fast strumming and casual playing, I love that .46-.60 range.  For fast surf rock picking on a single string, a smaller thicker jazz pick feels right.  But it's tough for me to strum with a thick pick, the feel is too heavy and the tone sounds dampened.

DLM

Yes.

clarkefan

Whatever works for you.  I like tortex 1mm-ish for this.  I tried the Jazz size but they're not for me, I prefer the normal size and I hold it closer to the tip for fast picking.  I'm thinking of trying something thinner, see what difference that would make if any.

I used to really like very thin picks but over time graduated back to heavier.

For what it's worth the sig EVH pick that Dunlop sell, and he uses, is 0.6 and "bendy", whatever works

Jeremiah

I have some Dunlop .88 and 1.0mm picks that I normally use for bass. When I've tried them on guitar in the past, they felt horribly clunky compared to the thinner ones, but maybe I should be a bit more persistent with them this time.

I wonder if the ideal pick would be made of a very stiff material so it could be thin but also not too bendy - I once had a stainless steel pick that was a bit like this but I stopped using it because it wrecked the strings and was also very slippery and kept sliding out of my fingers.

soma1975

Inspired from Tom Bukovac I have actually gone down in pick gauge and am now using Fender Tortuga thins. 

hollywoodrox

I’ve gone from using jazz III Kirk Hammett picks all the time to the heavier white jazz III tortex

Dominic

fastonebaz said:

Jalapeno said:

After years of playing Dunlop .76 mm nylon a teacher told me to stiffen up (oo-er missus). So for electric I now use 1.7mm Tortex (Purple), jazz 3mm jazz stubby, gypsy a 5mm Wegen.

A 5mm'er!  jeepers, that must be tough to be accurate

You'd be really surprised how quickly you adapt and how effective that size is......Improved by fast playing enormously

clarkefan

Dominic said:

fastonebaz said:

Jalapeno said:

After years of playing Dunlop .76 mm nylon a teacher told me to stiffen up (oo-er missus). So for electric I now use 1.7mm Tortex (Purple), jazz 3mm jazz stubby, gypsy a 5mm Wegen.

A 5mm'er!  jeepers, that must be tough to be accurate

You'd be really surprised how quickly you adapt and how effective that size is......Improved by fast playing enormously

I'm confused, you're saying a 5mm thick plectrum improved your fast playing, do you mean you play faster with a 5mm thick plectrum? Is this possible?

EricTheWeary

I think a thin nylon plectrum probably isn’t ideal for this. Modern surf players tend to use 11s and a stiff pick. Not that I ever got good at it but the tremolo picking thing is about getting it clean and working up the speed with a metronome. I don’t think there’s a magic solution in a pick but I’d have thought 0.46 is too floppy. 

Cranky

EricTheWeary said:

I think a thin nylon plectrum probably isn’t ideal for this. Modern surf players tend to use 11s and a stiff pick. Not that I ever got good at it but the tremolo picking thing is about getting it clean and working up the speed with a metronome. I don’t think there’s a magic solution in a pick but I’d have thought 0.46 is too floppy. 

.46 is definitely pushing it.  .60 is pretty decent I find for fast alternate picking (here a .46 isn't terrible either), but fast flat picking like for a metal song is basically impossible with a thin pick like that, for me at least.  My forearm tightens up really fast in those cases and the pick feels like it's about to snap.

WiresDreamDisasters

It's whatever pick you feel most comfortable with and are most dextrous with. I use a .73 Tortex Jazz III tip - the yellow ones. Dinnae do me any harm!

Jeremiah

Thanks for all the replies

I've been trying moving to a .88 since I have a few lying around and it's amazing how different it is - compared to the .46 it feels like hitting the strings with a brick - I wonder if it might be better to move up slowly, eg to .60 first rather than jumping to a pick that's nearly twice as thick.

One thing I notice about the thin pick is that it causes some natural compression - if I try to hit the strings harder, it causes the pick to flex more rather than giving a lot more energy to the string. I guess this means the thicker picks give the player greater control of dynamics - which is probably a positive for good players who actually have control of dynamics!

Snags

I can't play fast for toffee (arguably can't play slowly for toffee either), but after years of using "medium" picks (<1mm) I've ended up on 1.5mm Gravity picks for electric, and after a brief adjustment it has generally made me much more accurate. Not necessarily any quicker, that would require some proper practice, but definitely more accurate and consistent.