For sheer fwip (the initial attack of a reverb spring), I use the softest Fender 351 Thin I can find. Other than that, I use either a 351 Medium, or sometimes a piece of Zildjian cymbal, cut to the same shape. Fastest pick on the planet, and an almighty sharp sound, too.

Older players here may recall the Min'd pick, endorsed by John Dougherty. Made of stone, and polished to jewel-like standards, it was fast, but sounded much more like a celluoid pick. To bad they broke easily when dropped.

unlunf

MY RIGHT HAND IS FASTER THAN YOURS!
(copyright 2003, Bruce Welch)

For the past 5 years I've used the Fender Medium "shell" pick that Turnip posted. Before that I switched around alot, and decided to just stick with the Fender's for awhile. Just in the past few weeks I've been looking for a new pick. Lately I've been switching between Dunlop Tortex Green .88mm and Dunlop Tortex Purple 1.14mm. I'm not sure which one I really like yet. I prefer the Purple for trem picking as it hangs up less on the string for me. But, the Green is more comfortable for standard playing. So, the jury is still out on this...

~Ace

I'm Batman...No not <I>that</I> Batman. :p

I have recently found that the jazz style picks Mike G reccomended are extremly good. I never tried them because i was primarily a rythm metal player in my old life and they are small in the hand, but for lead picking wow they are great.

Since this thread has popped back up (or should I say "picked" back up... and cut me some slack, it's 3:45 am here), I wanted to toss a few more pennies into the fountain....

First, back in the original post I talked about the "cat's tongue" picks, looks like they struck a distribution deal with Snarling Dog, and now can be found on Musician's Friend. Just search "snarling dog picks".

Second, I know people in the past have mentioned the "ultex" picks as supposedly being close to real tortoise shell. Anyone played them? Thoughts? I would like to hear a thing or two about them before I drop $2.50 on a test run.

~B~

Hey Wannes,
I have played tortexes before, and I always associated them more with being the standard "run of the mill" plastic guitar pick.

The ultex ones I'm talking about are these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Dunlop-421P-Ultex-Picks?sku=110032

They say they're designed to feel and sound like the original tortoise shell picks, but some reviews say they wear in no time.

I'll stick with my glowing alien heads!

~B~

SurfBandBill
Hey Wannes,
I have played tortexes before, and I always associated them more with being the standard "run of the mill" plastic guitar pick.

The ultex ones I'm talking about are these:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Dunlop-421P-Ultex-Picks?sku=110032

They say they're designed to feel and sound like the original tortoise shell picks, but some reviews say they wear in no time.

I'll stick with my glowing alien heads!

~B~

yeah those are the ultexes I meant too - with the rhinos.

well, musiciansfriend sure has its own opinion and doesn't just copy paste form the manufacturers' site, cause what MF says about ultex, dunlop says about tortex - in the ultex description there is no mention of real tortoise. check
http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/picks&cat=6

that being said, the way I see it, tortex emulates both feel and sound of tortoise, while ultex sounds like tortoise but feels like a more modern, flexible pick. - they sound much alike and their surface is much alike.

yeah they wear fast - all picks wear fast! - the EBE aliens wear less fast, but sound completly different., much less snappy. it all depends on whether it works (soundwise) with the rest of the stuff, and what's the sound your after

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/

Last edited: Jul 19, 2006 02:13:04

well, whatever, I now use these. actually a pretty nice pick ( yeah they have thicker gauges)

WR

dunlop tiki taboo picks:

Rules to live by #314:
"When in Italy, if the menu says something's grilled, don't assume it is."

https://www.facebook.com/The-Malbehavers-286429584796173/

I have to agree with Ivan on the dunlop .96 They are just the best picks ever!

for surf picking i like the jim dunlop usa nylon 1mm. they are stiff and easy to keep in my finger and thumb. for anything else fender mediums are good or (hate to admit this) the dickies picks are ok. but sometimes its to hard to switch when i stop playing surf so the dunlops get used alot more than the others. can also do more weird soundswith them.

I've got a stubby.

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I like these Dunlops for fast playing. The plastic tip has a tendency to be very smooth when speed picking.

I've also been trying out the Fernandes Techra picks. I like them a lot as well. They glide over the strings quite nicely but allow you to dig in when you want to.

image

I also use a more standard flatpick and I've found the brand doesn't matter much. Lately I've been using these picks I got from The Ventures at the NAMM show.

image

I was using a white Jimmy Vaughan strat at rehearsal last Friday and had just removed the protective covering. I was using one of the red Ventures picks. At the end of the night I had red pick dust under the strings and visual evidence of what a guitar string does to a pick after an hour and a half of Surf shredding.

image

image

There is Surf east of Sepulveda.