Sideways

Buco

Jazzaferri wrote: »

I'm going to try a Kenny Smith in both the rounded and speed bevels. Tip is midway between the SR and the TP tip.

That's exactly what I've been eying :laugh:

Mandobart

Wim Glen that's exactly how I hold a guitar pick when I use it on a mandolin, too.

MattHenry

Damn, y'all and your $35 picks are going to lure me to temptation!

Also, I see about five posts from different folks who clearly should be filling an envelope with their abandoned Dunlop 2mm and 1.5mm and snail mailing them uncle Matty.

Interesting stuff all around, guys. Thanks for all the suggestions and reviews!

Buco

MattHenry wrote: »

Damn, y'all and your $35 picks are going to lure me to temptation!

Also, I see about five posts from different folks who clearly should be filling an envelope with their abandoned Dunlop 2mm and 1.5mm and snail mailing them uncle Matty.

Interesting stuff all around, guys. Thanks for all the suggestions and reviews!

That $35 is the first one I spent on a pick that was worth every penny, after spending over $100 on other various usual suspects. Of course pick choice is a personal taste so...
I've already mentioned in another thread, if you'd like my Dunlops send me the address, they're yours.

MattHenry

Thanks, Buco!

Instead of all buying new Dunlops a dozen at a time we can just pass the same ones around as we snob our way up the pick hierarchy.

I wonder what % of the Dunlop enthusiasm shared by all the young euro players is a result of how cheap and ubiquitous they are. Like if I was at DIJ playing $15 Wegens and somebody was said "Hey, do you have a pick I can use?" I'd be like "God no! I guard this thing with my life and I only have one backup!! I lay awake at night reminding myself where to find it in the morning!!!"

This Blue Chip talk kinda reminds me of my experience with wine: if there's really good wine that I'd like twice as much but it costs $30 a bottle instead of like $9... then I kinda don't even wanna know about it. The idea that the Blue Chips last forever is a nice, semi-practical wrinkle though.

Crap, now I'm talking myself into it again. =/

Jazzaferri

I started using Blue Chip picks when I was playing dobro. An hour or two off king on a Dunlop heavy thumbpick and there would be a 1/8 in cutaway in the leading edge of the pick. Heavy strings, high tension, heavy picking. One of the top guys, Jerry Douglas would go through two in a gig.

Blue Chips changed that. In GJ I suspect they will last a lifetime of playing.

@Buco....great minds think alike :-j

wim

MattHenry wrote: »

In terms of adjustments, the knuckle just behind my index fingernail is starting to get cut up (Gonzalo says his is completely dead on his index and ring finger, I think), and my playing at gigs is quieter now so I have to resist the urge to tense up or play harder to make up the volume.

Oh yes, I found the same! After the switch, my hand gets closer to the string. It was already brushing strings lightly when I was using wegen and guzz, so the flesh there was tough already, but evidently the contact becomes more this way - because it took a few months of ouch and bleeding for it to toughen up again.

Now there's visibly bigger callousing on the index, and actually each of my middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the right hand have hardened up a bit too, so all 4 fingers brush the strings for me (I've definitely seen the roughed up index and middle finger knuckles on other sideways pickers .. not sure about all 4 though, possibly I still need to make further slight adjustments)

As for volume - still capable of hitting the same levels, but I'm playing quieter on average too. it's like there's more control over the dynamics this way, which is a good thing. I love the dynamics in Django's playing and I really don't want to be one of those guys that just plays every note at full volume, it can sound tasteless

MattHenry

Well now that @Buco is sending me his extra Dunlops i'm committed to getting through the ouch phase. The backs of my other three fingers aren't getting any more abuse than usual so far.

@Wim, I keep meaning to tell you: after DIJ I got one of those ErgoPlay contraptions like the one you were using. I left it at a gig and lost it after a year or so and now I make my own little bolsters, which I find to be less annoying and more packable. My latest attempt is made from a cross section of a foam roller but in half and covered in gaffer tape. It fits in my case behind the neck. If you're coming to DIJ next year I'll bring you one!

Matteo

It seems that we have two opposing viewpoints here. Either you buy the most expensive boutique pick there is, or you buy cheap plastic ones, in bulk. Anything in between just shows a lack of sincerity and class, as a guitar player and as a person. ;-)

Chiefbigeasy

Nothing like a good pick controversy to bring us all to the forum.

I'm not any different. I've been working at this music for about 18 months and have been struggling with picking from the beginning. The biggest and best revelation I've been able to digest and use has come from studying Stochelo's style. Many teachers emphasize playing relaxed and loose; Michael even details that advice to include one's whole body, through the arm, ending at the fingers holding the pick, because tension anywhere can affect playing.

But what I finally got by listening to Stochelo and enrolling in his school for a month (and picking up In The Style of Stochelo Rosenberg), is that playing lightly, less loud and using more dynamics, was the key to efficient, and, eventually, more facile and swift playing.

For the purposes of this discussion, I also bought some Wegen Big City picks that Stochelo uses. I was using the big Wegen 3mm Gypsy Jazz pick which I evolved to through various picks named here in this discussion (except for the Blue Chip!). Trying to copy the way Stochelo plays, in particular, his picking style, has made quite a difference for me. I also notice that he angles his pick down a bit, which appears to help me more naturally fall past the string to the next one to achieve the rest stroke style more naturally.

Additionally, since the Big City pick is thinner than the 3mm Wegen Gypsy Jazz, there appears to be less pronounce "click" during the playing. This could also be because I'm playing softer or at least more dynamically as well.

When I read this thread, I went back and tried some of the Dunlops and other picks with round sides I went through earlier. What I found I didn't like was that, although they made some picking and rhythm playing easier, the sound--especially the lead work--now sounded much more muted and dark. I realized that the Wegens, in particular the Big City, made my Altamira D hole guitar sound more balanced and open. I can now vary the attack and position of the attack--closer or farther from the bridge--to get a wider array of sounds.

Can't say that I'm not interested in the Blue Chip, but, other than durability--which is not as big an issue if I'm playing more dynamically--I wonder if I will get a better sound from it.

I like the idea of a pick exchange mentioned above. I've got three Wegen gypsy jazz picks I'm probably not going to use anymore. I'm wondering if I get a Blue Chip and don't care for it, if anyone here would be willing to buy it used at a reasonable price. After all, if they're that indestructible, shouldn't they retain their value?