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Thread: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

  1. #76
    Wood and Wire Perry Babasin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    I suppose it depends what sound quality you are pursuing. For my style of playing I prefer a round smooth Jazzier tone like Dawg and yes, I do use these picks. You can get a loud but mellower sound, much more subtle quality with the rounded edge, and tremolo sounds very cool.

    This is one of the things that bothers me about discussions here on the cafe board about what constitutes a "good" mandolin sound. It seems to me that 1000 people will have 1000 different opinions. For me the sharp aggressive Monroe style playing is not what I'm after! I have always been a fan of mandolin, but coming from a folkier, jazzier background in the '70s I was drawn to the DGQ sound and was blown away long before I heard his Bluegrass stuff! I have come to appreciate and like a lot of Bluegrass, but for my own sound and song writing, I way prefer a less harsh attack and much smoother tone!

    So are you really asking or just pondering the conundrum of the cosmic poker chip? From your own photographic samples you can see that the Grisman pick has a near point, where the Golden Gate is very round on all corners.
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  3. #77
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    The original Dawg pick was rounder, mush like the Golden Gate. The current Dawg pick has a bit more of a point, as shown in the display in Post #51. But nowhere near as much a point as a typical guitar pick (Dunlop, Fender, etc). Indeed, the top row of that photo, #2-4, shows this gradation of pointyness quite emphatically. The two Dawgs are closer to each other in shape than is the newer Dawg to the Dunlop.
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  5. #78
    Registered User sblock's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    Some mandolinists are able to get a sharp attack and release of the strings, even though their picks have rather rounded corners, or even no corners at all (circular picks). Other mandolinists require a fairly sharp point. Still others prefer to use semi-rounded points, and these can vary wildly.

    I contend that it is incorrect to over-generalize by saying that a rounder point (or none at all) somehow leads to a "rounder" (or smoother, or jazzier) tone. No so! It depends a whole lot on the person who's wielding the pick, and exactly how they hold it during the pickstroke! It also depends on a number of other physical factors, including, but not limited to: (1) the material from which the pick is made, (2) the thickness the pick, and (3) presence or absence of a bevel on the edge.

    In a phrase: a round pick does not equate to a round tone.

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  7. #79
    Registered User DavidKOS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Perry Babasin View Post
    For me the sharp aggressive Monroe style playing is not what I'm after! I have always been a fan of mandolin, but coming from a folkier, jazzier background in the '70s I was drawn to the DGQ sound ....

    So are you really asking or just pondering the conundrum of the cosmic poker chip? From your own photographic samples you can see that the Grisman pick has a near point, where the Golden Gate is very round on all corners.
    Yeah, there is a difference, even between various vintages of Dawg picks.

    Interesting that you mention the difference between Monroe's sound and Grisman's. I sort of prefer Monroe's aggressiveness.

    Quote Originally Posted by sblock View Post
    It depends a whole lot on the person who's wielding the pick, and exactly how they hold it during the pickstroke!
    That's so true. the player is the real variable here.

  8. #80
    Registered User tkdboyd's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidKOS View Post
    Yeah, there is a difference, even between various vintages of Dawg picks.

    Interesting that you mention the difference between Monroe's sound and Grisman's. I sort of prefer Monroe's aggressiveness.



    That's so true. the player is the real variable here.
    I would trade all but one of my plectrums and one of my mandolins to sound/perform as well as a Calace, a Burns, a Monroe, or a Grisman!

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  10. #81
    totally amateur k0k0peli's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidKOS View Post
    That's so true. the player is the real variable here.
    Quite. In a current thread over on Ukulele Underground a junior-high-school music teacher tells of evaluating his students, each playing on a single 'class' 'uke, and EVERY SINGLE STUDENT brings their own sound to the very same instrument. Some warmer, some brighter, some... different, but each with their own individual 'hand' on display. ('Hand' is an old telegrapher's term for the unique style of every operator.) Hand the very same mando and pick to 100 players and 100 different sounds would emerge.

    Instruments and picks are tools. How we handle them is what matters.
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  12. #82
    Registered User Nick Gellie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jesse Harmon View Post
    Long time Golden Gate user. Pointy picks seem a more staccato tone to me, rounded have a more smooth and legato attack. Thought I could inter change with Dawg but for some reason couldn't. One of those questions that have to be resolved like a koan I think. Intuitively.
    I am with you on that. I have tried pointy picks including the Primetone 1.5 - I have found that with my picking action the Golden Gate pulls good tone and glides pver the double strings really well with my Collings MT2-O. The Wegen mandolin pick works well on my mandola and bouzouki getting a more treble sound out of these bassier instruments.
    Nic Gellie

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  14. #83
    Registered User Petrus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Perry Babasin View Post
    This is one of the things that bothers me about discussions here on the cafe board about what constitutes a "good" mandolin sound. It seems to me that 1000 people will have 1000 different opinions.
    That's a feature, not a bug. I don't even have the same opinion myself two days in a row sometimes.

    Now, what's the deal with those Roman picks? You only play with the point so what's the purpose for that long oblong shape and why hold it in that weird fashion? Is it really some Roman thing like la dolce vita or something even more esoteric?

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  16. #84
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    As with guitar, now with mandolin, my pick preference seems to change periodically, as my playing progresses. I find that the thicker, less pointy picks are easier for tremolo and have greater attack. I keep an assortment of picks laid out and every few months I just try a bunch of them, then settle in on one to use daily for the next few months.

    Since everybody has their own playing style, it becomes essential to find the pick that fully accommodates that style. It's really a very personal choice and what works for another player might not be right for me. So I just try to find what works for me and over time it seems to be a slightly moving target.

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  18. #85

    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    I am really liking the curved V pick Memphis Belle I bought on the cafe board. Up stroke take some getting used to, but it is comfortable. The sound seems warmer from more flesh dampening the surface off the pick. Next week, maybe something different.... Echoing a point above, "what works for you."
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  20. #86
    Registered User DavidKOS's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by Petrus View Post

    Now, what's the deal with those Roman picks? You only play with the point so what's the purpose for that long oblong shape and why hold it in that weird fashion? Is it really some Roman thing like la dolce vita or something even more esoteric?
    It has to do with balance and how the long Roman pick is supposed to move a bit as you play, hence the hand grip. I made a couple and still am not convinced that there are any advantages to my playing. So far I still prefer the Neapolitan or Pettine style picks.

  21. #87
    Henry Lawton hank's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    [QUOTE][I always carry a pick, pocket knife, and a lighter everywhere (and I gave up cigarettes years ago). You never know when you'll need to pick something, cut something, or light something on fire./QUOTE]
    I've seen a few performers do all three with their pick alone.
    "A sudden clash of thunder, the mind doors burst open, and lo, there sits old man Buddha-nature in all his homeliness."
    CHAO-PIEN

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  23. #88

    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    I recently found a ten dollar bill I had forgotten I had stashed in my wallet,
    so I grabbed a couple V picks, A small pointed ruby for mandolin, and a medium pointed pearly gates for guitar,
    just to see what all the fuss is about, and I gotta say I like em'

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  25. #89
    MandolaViola bratsche's Avatar
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    Default Re: Am I missing the "point" about the Dawg-type picks?

    Quote Originally Posted by xSinner13x View Post
    I recently found a ten dollar bill I had forgotten I had stashed in my wallet,
    so I grabbed a couple V picks, A small pointed ruby for mandolin, and a medium pointed pearly gates for guitar,
    just to see what all the fuss is about, and I gotta say I like em'
    I recently tried and like the V-Picks too, except my favorite is the "freakishly large" pointed 2.75mm triangle. I had never paid particular attention to their dimensional measurements when I ordered them, and was surprised to find that this pick was actually dwarfed by many of my pointed triangles that I had made for myself from various materials, and really not any wider than many commercial large triangles. (So I guess mine should be called "ginormously humungous" or something... LOL) It is good... but I don't want anything smaller.

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