Advice on pick making

littlemark

I'm not sure the divit works on that pick.

Willie

Hello Twang and everybody else here,

the "pickposts" made me grab my nail file and begin to work on picks I didn't really like to play with.

Upper row left: Ortega wooden picks before and after shaping, right Dugain. Much more sound after work! .

Below: my good old "can't-remember-which-brand-pick" (mahagoni, my favourite darker and more robust sound, didn't need to work on it) and Chicken Pick (no result: same thin and plinky sound before and after shaping).

I will continue and try to remove even more mass. I didn't dare to do that shaping job before reading your posts, thank you all for the inspiration.

flaco

Thanks for the video! I've made Gypsy picks from Kirinite and posted about it in other threads here. It's an easy material to work with and seems to be pretty durable. One thing I've found is that the angle of the bevel is critical to the sound. Two picks that look pretty similar can sound different based on the bevel. A more acute angle will make the pick brighter, and less of a bevel will make it darker.

If someone wants to get into this, the main thing is that you want to start off with a cheap material, because it's going to be a learning process. I use a small coping saw to rough out the shape, a Dremel with a sanding disk attachment to get it to the final shape and size, and a small file to form the bevel. Then I use some sandpaper and the nail buffer to polish the edge. I have tried making a jig to get the bevel more consistent, but it's still a work in progress.

I gave away all but one of the picks I've made, so I need to work on making up some more.

pdg

What do you mean by "acute angle," as it applies to the pick?

flaco

Terrible picture for effect: all other things being equal, the pick with the sharper bevel (top) will be brighter sounding.

ChristopheCarington

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/105339#Comment_105339

Having multiple picks from the same maker that are all the same material (and most are the same thickness) - this is absolutely the biggest impact on tone in my opinion. Pick density (thickness & material) also influence sound, but to a much lesser effect (see Chrisitian Van Hemert's video on the perfect pick).

pdg

Thanks @flaco , for the drawings.

I've noticed that it seems there's a complicated relationship between lots of variables. I still haven't figured it out. Is there a school of (GJ) pick-making (like bow-making)?!

Here are some of the variables that I've observed affecting tone and playability.

-- bevel angle, like you say,

-- bevel "depth" (sand all the way down to a knife's edge like in your drawings, vs. leave some "meat" on the other side of the pick),

-- bevel shape (straight line, vs. curve down (becomes more perpendicular) as it meets the opposite side),

-- tip shape (radius),

-- pick thickness.

-- the final result: looking head-on at the beveled tip, it looks like the business end of a screwdriver, so what is that resulting shape -- width, sharpness, angles?

Also, these things not only affect tone, but also seriously affect playability. I've found that a too "acute" bevel, or too deep a bevel, can cause too much resistance in playing followed by too much "explosion" felt by the thumb and index finger. It can make a pick feel like it's too thin, doesn't play smoothly.

Hard to get a handle on all this!

juanderer

My recommendation is "don't do it!"

Twang

Dont worry, think I've been scared off enough!

Buco

No, try it man. Even a mass produced pick like Dunlop 207, once I put a bevel on it, it sounded tenfold better. Well, it went from "why am I even keeping this" to "wow this sounds sooo nice".