Bone "squeak"

kevingcox

Hey all,

Got my hands on my first bone pick a little while ago, and I have noticed a tendency for a little "squeakiness" as I play, especially on the higher strings. I have played around with pick attack a bit and sometimes it seems to make a difference, sometimes not so much.

It is something I can live with, because I like the feel of the material, but I was also thinking about trying some horn picks. I guess from a biological view it is pretty much the same material, but has anyone noticed a difference using horn? Is this a pretty normal thing and I am just being too touchy about it?

For the record, I play on a ratty old saga gitane so maybe it isn't as pronounced on a better guitar?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

-Kevin

seeirwin

I don't have experience with either pick, but you might try horn because it's keratin and other proteins around a living core of bone, so may be some difference. I have several tortoise shell picks (like horn, they are primarily keratin), and I haven't noticed them to be squeaky. Plus it's always fun to try new picks!

HCQ

My experience is that horn sounds great but is not nearly as loud or bright. I usually use a bone or 2.5mm Wegens as they sound similar. Th Wegens don't have the scratchy sound, but I like bone better anyway. When plugged into an amp, I use horn which helps the tone sound a little richer and evens out the string to string dynamics. This is for my Favino sized Dell Arte.

On my Selmer sized guitar I use Wegen 3.5mm for straight acoustic and Horn for plugged in playing.

I get my bone and horn picks from Big City Strings.

Just my $0.02.

Jazzaferri

I use a Blue Chip pick .080" (about 2mm) Large Jazz shape with the tip the same profile as their tri-point. They make them specially for me but I am sure they would do so for anyone.

It is the quietest slickest pick I have ever used and after a year and a half of playing 2-3 hors a day it is showing no signs of wear. :shock:

klaatu

Kevin,

i just ran across this post. I had the same experience with a Dugain bone pick (you didn't mention the brand). It sounded really nice, but there was a distinct squeak or scraping sound that I couldn't live with. It was also rather hard to hold onto because it was so slick. He makes an acetate pick that is sort of a fake tortoise shell that I liked much better, very quiet and a very wam tone. Quit different from the sharp sound of the various Wegens. Next time we get together I'll bring it along and you can try it out.

kevingcox

Hey Ben,

Funny, I actually got an acetate one but I find it hard to hold on to, which is why I have been looking for that gorilla snot stuff you mentioned but apparently it is out of production.

And as a personal aside, it is so hard going back to my Gitan after playing both of your Shopis guitars last night. You are going to force my hand into buying something better sooner than I should!

klaatu

I've got a container of gorilla snot. You can have some, a little goes a long way!

And IMHO you're more than overdue for an upgrade, my friend.