It‘s easier on the bridge because there is more tension which gives you more control. Whether this is right or not is up to you - if it sounds and feels right to you, it is right. But you will definitaley get a treblier sound when picking on the bridge. I think the most important thing is a) that you do not cramp your arm/hand and b) that you use a medium or even better a heavy pick as this will give you more control. Some say that in any case you have to do it out from your wrist but apparently there are different ways working for different people. i would recommend you to practice on the bridge spot that works for you to develop a feeling for it and later on to try more of the neck direction. The different sounds that you can create by that can be useful to play with.

I think a good tip is to practise it at a lower speed first. If you look at f.e. Dick Dales‘s version of Misirlou you can hear very well how he accentuates triplets and always plays the notes exactly into the bar and doesn‘t just pick as many notes as fast as he can, which is what many beginners (including me) do when they enter that technique. Hope this helps and happy practising!

Last edited: Mar 13, 2020 06:17:18

The same effect you get that playing near the bridge is why many of us play thicker strings. Try .12s on the JM, they're the optimal size. Also, my personal experience is a slightly thinner pick works very well for trem picking (.50)

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Thick strings definitely help, but it's really all about pick arm/hand control. Practice practice practice.

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Sonic_Blue wrote:

Thanks for all the tips. I have heard people recommend a thick pick but others recommend a thin pick. I guess I will have to try both.

I don't get how SURF guitar players can recommend or play with a pick thicker than 1.00 mm

I had an active member on here say they use a 2.5mm pick. May I ask how do you tremolo pick a .54 gauge low E string with a 2.5mm pick?

I use a .73 and even that is sometimes too thick for me. I like popping the strings so it gets a very wet, muted drip. You can't pop/snap a note with non-bending picks.

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TheFintastics wrote:

I don't get how SURF guitar players can recommend or play with a pick thicker than 1.00 mm

Amen to that. Am I very late to the party in suggesting that forum software is in dire need of a like button?

Little or no pick flex means parts of the body (fingers, hand, elbow, shoulder, arm) are doing all the work. That is a one-way ticket to fatigue and cramp as well as unsatisfactory results in terms of timing and dynamics.

Pick flex (a little or a lot) allows the pick to do at least some of the work as it 'cycles':

On a downstroke, the pick bends up (towards player), rebounds down (away from player) after note, putting it in ideal position/shape to play the next stroke which is an upstroke and the same pick flex action occurs in the opposite direction.

Beyond flex, so many people go for normal teardrop shape picks or even the little jazz numbers.

Big bluegrass flatpicks are big and triangular because they allow the player to determine the amount of flex by gripping nearer or farther away from the point and by using the pick flex for fast note sequences in the same way described above.

The happy compromise are the 'rounded triangle' picks made by Dunlop Ultex, Tusq (they call theirs the bi-angle) and others. It's sized between a flatpick and a standard teardrop pick. Big enough to offer a variety of grip locations which in turn offers a variety of flex which in turn aids rhythm playing as well as lead playing especially the fast stuff. Fatigue is greatly reduced because the fingers aren't pinching as hard trying to keep the pick oriented just so.

Beyond all that a bit of pick flex gives each note's attack a little bit extra. U2's The Edge is (infamous) for those Herdim nylon picks with all the dimples (actually little raised circles like a ping pong paddle). He plays them 'upside down' ie fat end on the strings. The rough surface creates a kind of harmonic or ghost-note with each stroke. Pick flex with a smooth pick can produce a similar percussive sound - there is a bit of lag as it scrapes across the string at the end of the downstroke which is often part and parcel of a surf lead and is especially audible with a trebly, clean tone and reverb.

I think the pick gauge is just a link in the chain. Depending on the way you pick and the way you use your body parts (arm, elbow, wrist, etc) thinner picks might work for you or they might not. I personally find heavier picks waaay more controllable. Speaking of Dick Dale he used pretty heavy gauge strings (16-60) and also picks more on the heavy side. Judging from the pics and vids online his plecs seemed to be at least 1.00 mm:(https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=670-ECHzQe0)

From a Dick Dale interview:

“You see, I got the power of my playing from my animals and surfing and from martial arts,” Dale told me in a 1993 interview. “When I play that guitar, I bang on it like I’m chopping down a tree. I don’t play a guitar like someone who went to school at Juilliard, playing with just wrist and finger action. All my action starts from my abdomen and goes through my spine and goes up to my shoulders and arms and legs.

“I pick so hard on those big strings that my picks melt,” he added. “When I’m sliding up and down those big 50-gauge strings, it’s like putting your hand on a grinder. My fingers will bleed at times and it’ll hurt, but I’ll just jump all over that stage, goin’ for it.”

Source: https://earofnewt.com/2019/03/17/dick-dale-the-strat-shredding-pick-melting-king-of-the-surf-guitar-is-dead-at-81/

.sorry double post

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Last edited: Mar 13, 2020 13:02:00

TheFintastics wrote:

I had an active member on here say they use a 2.5mm pick. May I ask how do you tremolo pick a .54 gauge low E string with a 2.5mm pick?

Not sure if you're referring to my post or not, but I use that 2.5mm pick on bass. My low E string is .095 (Bass VI) or .105 (Gibson RD) and there's little tremolo picking involved ;)

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Last edited: Mar 13, 2020 14:05:16

Dick Dale called it staccato. Therefore it is staccato.