Best pick?

djangoisgod · April 2013

Dunlop gypsy jazz? Wegen gypsy? Wegen fatone? Selmer? What is your preferred pick and what do you typically play? -thanks

marcelodamon · April 2013

I haven't tried the Dunlop or the Selmer, but if you can afford it try a blue chip pick. They are simply amazing. I use the **** 100 which has the same shape as the Wegen gypsy jazz pick (which was my pick of choice until I came across the Blue Chip.

Check out my post about it on www.djangology.net:

http://www.djangology.net/2011/10/the-m ... ever-made/

Regards,

Marcelo Damon

Jazzaferri · April 2013

I use a custom made Blue Chip top is same as a Wegen Big City pointy bit is the Blue Chip TP profile.

Quietest slickest pick I have found so far.

hanear21 · April 2013

I got to try a hand carved tagua nut pick a while back and I really loved it! It was about the same as a 2.5mm wegen in design. The person who made it said that they were going to start selling them pretty soon, but until then I don't really know how you would get a hold of one.

AmundLauritzen · April 2013

Wegen BigCity 1.8mm here.

I used those overhyped 3.5mm picks for a while. I even have a 5mm I tried for a short while. While those fat picks are great for rhythm, they are kind of sloppy for lead playing and the tone they produce is too dull for my taste.
The BigCity 1.8mm pick gives me good control of the strings and produces the tone I like. I always like to try new gear but I've stuck with these for a year and a half now and don't plan on changing any time soon. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I say.

jimvence · April 2013

AmundLauritzen wrote:

Wegen BigCity 1.8mm here.

I used those overhyped 3.5mm picks for a while. I even have a 5mm I tried for a short while. While those fat picks are great for rhythm, they are kind of sloppy for lead playing and the tone they produce is too dull for my taste.
The BigCity 1.8mm pick gives me good control of the strings and produces the tone I like. I always like to try new gear but I've stuck with these for a year and a half now and don't plan on changing any time soon. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I say.

+1 on the Big City -- I followed your same path -- going up to a 5mm for awhile. I buy the 2.2mm version.

And then to my backup pick -- one I think most of us have tried at one time or another -- the simple plastic Dunlop Big Stubby!

Jazzaferri · April 2013

I used the Big City on a lot of rhythm for about a 6 months. I prefer the sound of my blue chip now. If I recall Correctly, I preferred the sound of the 2.5 smaller shaped wegen for rhythm at the time but switching picks was not on and I was playing more lead than rhythm.

The big city takes a little more work to get the nice dry rhythm sound than the regular wegen design IMO but the differences are pretty subtle and in the end I am not sure it really matters as long as you are happy with your sound.

A lot of sax players use the same gear as a player they admire in the erroneous idea that they will get the same sound. We are all built a little different and we all learned differently. Have the sound you want to get in your head and work at getting that sound. Try different gear, if it makes it easier to get your sound great, if not move on to the next.

Bones · April 2013

What Amund said.

I've mostly been a rhythm player so I've always used the thicker Wegens but recently I switched to a thinner Wegen (I think 2 or 2.5mm) since I'm working more on leads and I definitely like it better for leads (louder more focussed tone and easier to control).

But for rhythm I still think that the thicker pick is warmer, smoother sounding. The thinner picks are harder (for me) to get a nice dry tone for rhythm. The tone tends to be harsh (to my ear) for rhythm with the thinner picks but I know a lot of guys use them and get a great sound so it is probably just a matter of making an adjustment in the technique.

Matteo · April 2013

Wegen Fatone (5 mm), for both rhythm and soloing. It works, it just took some time to learn how to handle it. The reason I use it is that I get the best sound from my guitar with it.