Dunlop Wegen Like picks

richter4208

This is probably old news, but check these out:

http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/Primetone-picks

Anyone try them? I think I'm going to order a few to see if I like them. I might not have as big a heart attack every time I misplace my wegen's.

They look close style wise but are made from some other material it appears.

Jon

I tried some, and loved the sound (to my ears a lot better than Wegens), but they weren't at all durable, and after a song or two of vigorous rest stroke picking, would dent, essentially making them unusable as the dent would then catch on the string. I hit the guitar very hard, but I've never had this problem with other picks. It was unfortunate, because the tone was fantastic (not too bright, and not "clicky" if you know what I mean).

Jon

anthon_74

I use the thinner gauge of the larger ones as a backup. It's not as good as the wegen, but works great as a back up. I also use it whenever I'm teaching or playing rock.

I've never noticed the dent issue personally, and I hit the strings hard as well.

Anthony

wim

Jon, I think I know what you mean by too 'clicky' , and it irritates me with my wegen pick but I had always attributed it to some unknown error in my technique ..

What is a pick you recommend which isn't clicky but is durable enough for a hard hitter? And please don't tell me to carve my own out of Unobtanium ..

Jon

Ha! I think the Guzz S3 sounds great - best sound of the plastic ones to my ears, and though it wears a little quicker than a Wegen, it'll still last a while. Still experimenting with making one that sounds like what I want (looking for a darker, less prescence-y sound). Currently working on woods. Tried a black ebony one that sounded great...

Jon

mikegnik

I used the 3mm and 5mm varieties of these for a while, when I first got going with GJ. The 5mm was pretty beefy to hold but I got used to it. I did not prefer the 3mm one at the time as it seemed just a bit too thin for my hand.

However, I personally felt the opposite of Jon's view- to me the "click factor" was quite high and did irritate me.

I also wore into my 5mm and felt the material was too soft to be a viable long-term pick choice. Calling it a back-up pick isn't a bad call. I played hard and for a long time before that happened. I did not try to sand out the grooves, and for me it was less of a dent and more of a burr, reminiscent of what happens if you play aggressively with a shiny Fender pick (celluloid, I believe).

I finally bit the bullet and bought a couple of Wegen picks at Django in June and felt the standard Gypsy Jazz pick by Wegen is all of comfortable, durable and and sonorous (that is to say it sounds well).

The Dunlops cost an awful lot less, don't they! If you have young kids around the house as I do, you might want to wedge one of these in your strings as a decoy:)

Cheers,
Mike

richter4208

Sounds like dunlop might want to try using another plastic to make these and they might be more popular. I mean, the design of the pick is almost exactly like a wegen, might as well try to make them harder too.

I really like the ridges on the Wegen. It just felt right from the get go. I came from using Jazz III picks which I thought I'd always use.

wim

thanks. have just ordered a guzz s3, as well as at pro70 and some argies. 8)

Topsy

Moments after joining the forum I ordered a Wegen GP 250.... you guys are ALREADY costing me money!!!

Greetings.
Les H.

Archtop Eddy

Regarding Wegen clicking factor, from my experience the black Wegen picks have a slightly darker tone and do not seem to click as much as the white ones. Meanwhile, while the Wegen-like Dunlops are fine picks, I find it amusing to see what a baldfaced attempt it is by Dunlop to capitalize on Michel Wegen's success with his Gypsy Jazz picks. The grooved thumb rest, the name (Primetone vs Fatone) etc. Dunlop is so big, they must sell about a thousand picks for every pick Michel sells, yet they have to take him on on his small niche turf. It's like a big company like Saga building boatloads of cheap Selmeresque guitars after small luthiers like Park, Dupont and Dunn built a following with their fine handcrafted instruments. Wait a minute! That happened didn't it?! Nevermind... AE

richter4208

I agree with you Eddy. It's a bit weird for Dunlop to do it JUST like wegen when they could have changed the design enough not to be insulting.

What's even more interesting is they didn't copy the material. It makes me wonder if the material Wegen uses is much more expensive or hard to manufacture, maybe just plain hard to work with period? Anyway, he still has something unique unless dunlop tries to copy the material more closely I suppose.