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Buco speaking the truth over here - which brings me back to "Drop $40 on the two types of Wegen will give you a killer jumping off point" I made earlier. I have comment on another post somewhere where I went super in-depth on different aspects of a handful of picks I used quite a bit... but at the end of the day you're going to like/want a specific sound. But you won't know until you have that experience. And Wegen (and the Dunlop) is the cheapest way to do that short of bumming picks at djams.
What about materials? From the replies i can see polymers > metals. I also saw picks made from mammoth bones which at first glance looks crazy!
Thinking about this lately, sound it's also about physics, not only the player ability
What are your experiences with various materials?
He's constantly experimenting, bringing in new materials and even changing how he calls existing materials. It can be very confusing. But he's very responsive to emails so he'll give you info that you need directly.
Here's a video with Christiaan testing 4 very similar picks (Dunlop, Wegen Big City, The other brand I mentioned earlier, and a custom pick made from vintage, real tortoise): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzdpLUs4yPU
If you're looking for sonic differences, this is the best you'll get. It's also a rough price differentiator (though spending more money =/= better tone). Dunlop is <$1, Wegen ~$5, CVH pick is ~$25, Tortise is $??? but comes with a likely high cost and ethical questions.
Those are the picks i am currently expecting to come:
- Dunlop gator grip 2mm
- Wegen Gypsyjazz pick 3,5mm
- Le Niglo N1 Silver
I hope those are good picks to start
The 5mm Wegen doesn’t click so much as the 3.5mm but rhythm is smoooth Buco. Some wise words above. I have a manouche pick that sounds amazing it’s just nothing like I ordered! I’m gonna keep experimenting with manouche picks though.
5mm is hefty... needs the slogan "too thick to click" 😂
This thread prompted me to pull out some of the picks the big city's replaced for me, including jazz III's in both red and tortex, a 3.5 standard Wegen, and some 5mm primetones. Overall, the top picks of that bunch are the Big City's and the 3.5mm Wegen and I actually don't mind playing with the thicker 3.5 as much as I thought I would after months of just using the BC's. I switched to argentine 10's recently and adore the tone I'm getting, and the 3.5 pick actually drives an even warmer sound with a bit more volume, which is great. However, all of that is ruined by the extra pick noise, particularly on individual notes where alternate picking becomes alternate clicking. It's why I dumped that 3.5 in the first place, even though tonally speaking it's a solid pick.
Is pick noise so bad? I am a massive fan of Lollo Meyer and one of the things I love about his sound is his pick noise.
I don’t want to sound like some squeaky clean sample of a gypsy jazz guitarist. I want fret buzz, rattle, pick noise and farting in my playing.
I guess it's not that awful, but maybe more distracting than I prefer when playing on my own. I don't record anything acoustically so I don't know how perceivable it is when someone else hears it. I can appreciate the percussive element added by heavier playing, and the sound fret buzz can add, but there's something about the pick noise that's aharmonic, similar to tailpiece rattle, that doesn't sit with me.