Best pick-less click-La Pompe style

happyjazzer · July 8

I'm a La Pompe rhythm player, have been in the rhythm section for many years. (I leave solo style to the guys who can). My question is what pick have you tried that has the least--or no--click? Have you found one yet? Make of material used to make the pick? Thickness of pick you prefer for La Pomp?

Look forward to your answers.

wim · July 9

Dunlop gator grip, 2mm. There's no noticeable click at all. It's made of a softer material and the trade-off there is that they wear through relatively quickly.

They're cheap as chips, I bought a 72 pack a decade ago for 15 bucks that I'm still working through. I just leave them scattered around the house in drawers and pockets, so there's always one within reach. The pick shape needs no "wearing in", they're good to go immediately.

Good for rhythm and lead. You should hold them sideways for the right sound.

Russell Letson · July 9

I like the Wegen bluegrass picks, and I also use the shoulder rather than the pointy part. They're thicker than my non-Wegen favorites, the Dunlop Tortex blues and purples (also played with the shoulder side). I tend to use the Dunlops in situations where there's danger of losing a pick in the dark or through spaced decking.

But my favorite is a Wegen Dipper a friend gave me--I think it's a 1.4--which I also turn to use the roundest side.

voutoreenie · July 9

Completely agreed with wim that Dunlop Gators are the easiest to play without getting any annoying click sounds but you can still greatly reduce (or even eliminate) the click from a thick plastic pick the more you "choke up" on the grip during la pompe, at least in my experience. Obviously, this come with the disadvantage of your knuckles making more contact with the strings, which can lead to blisters...but you'll also get some nice callouses if you can endure the pain from building them up. Plastic material itself also makes a difference and Wegans are definitely on the louder side for clicks, imo.

That's probably what was most frustrating for me when I first switched over to rest stroke, all the blisters on my right hand fingers from brushing on the strings...however, they do eventually go away both from developing callouses and as you gain better control on the attack to avoid "scraping" too much.