straw poll: what's your favourite pick for trad/celtic playing?

[zoukboy]

It's probably worth repeating here that even more important than the choice of pick material, shape, and gauge, is the way it is held and the technique with which it is used. The angle of the pick to the string(s) and the shape of the stroke are what determines the results.

[Jill McAuley]

It's probably worth repeating here that even more important than the choice of pick material, shape, and gauge, is the way it is held and the technique with which it is used. The angle of the pick to the string(s) and the shape of the stroke are what determines the results.

Yes, I wonder if I'm angling the Weber pick differently from the way I angle the Blue Chip - the Weber is teardrop shaped vs. the Blue Chip being triangular. I play with the shoulder end of the Weber pick but I think I'm holding it slightly differently to accommodate the different size.

[Bertram Henze]

.73,.72 Ultex/Ultem triangles here. I see no escape.

[Dagger Gordon]

On mandolin a Dunlop .88, which I also use for tenor banjo and melody playing on my octave.
For about 30 years I only ever used a white Sharkfin, and I still prefer that on my guitar and for playing rhythm on the octave.

I don't like heavy picks at all.

[Steve L]

I mostly use the green Dunlop Tortex Jazz picks with the sharp point. I've been trying out the Primetone 1.3 and like it but keep returning to the Dunlops.

[zoukboy]

Clayton Acetal Polymer large triangle.
.063mm for bouzouki/guitar/mando
.050mm for tenor banjo,
sometimes .080mm for mando and guitar



Planet Waves Duralin Wide 1.10mm (for electric guitar)

Forgot to add that I use this one for tenor guitar, Clayton Duraplex .50mm rounded triangle:

[Colin Lindsay]

I use large triangles, about 0.44mm. For fast playing I don't need to be trying to line up a point; with three to choose from if it slips then it's easy to rotate to the next one.

[Loretta Callahan]

For my mandolin, I am using the Dunlop 512P14 Primetone 1.4 mm Triangle Sculpted Plectra Guitar Picks with Grip
almost exclusively

For my banjo, I'm using the .76 Dunlop Ultex Triangle, but may go to the a lighter pick as I become more experienced

[John Kelly]

For what it's worth, I generally have been using various picks in the 0.75 - 1mm sizes, teardrop and triangular as preferences, and recently I have been using one of those punches (a gift from my daughter a while back) to punch out picks from old credit cards. I reshape them from the pointed, teardrop shape to take the point off and give them a rounder tip, and I bevel and polish the edges. What I like is the fact that by positioning the card correctly in the punch I can get the raised lettering to give me a good, solid grip. Not a cheapskate solution as it takes a bit of time and effort to get the edges shaped and bevelled!

[BBarton]

Blue Chip TD40 or TD35 for mandolin.
Clayton Raven 0.50 (teardrop) for tenor banjo.

[derbex]

I like pointy picks, generally small jazz shapes and quite stiff. I have been using the Dava Jazz grips on the flattop and a Dunlop Jazz III on the archtop.

I am using big (for me D'Andrea) triangle on the OM, quite dark but really brings out the bass on the heavy strings, as the strings get older this gets swapped out for something loke a Dunlop orange tortex which is much brighter.

[Fergus Lester]

Dunlop Tortex Yellow 0.7mm. I have a tin full of different ones and thats the best of them so far (new to mandolin)

[Fergus Lester]

and for picking tunes on the guitar, Dunlop Riffs .96mm (flourescent green, easy to find in dark pubs)

[Fergus Lester]

But been trying others today. Dunlop Jazz III is good. Dunlop Big Stubby 3mm sounds good but find it hard to hold.

[WW52]

For mandolin I mostly used Clayton Ultem triangles .72, .80 and .94 for many years, gradually gravitating to thicker ones. I still use Ultems and Ultex, along with a 1.4 brown Primetone triangle, but my main "go to" mando pick is currently a beveled BC TAD60-1R.
For tenor banjo I mostly prefer the Clayton Ultem .72 or .80 triangle, but have used the BC from time to time.

I play with a forward shifted pick angle at various degrees, depending on the tone I'm trying to get, and I like a beveled pick edge.

[Rob Meyer]

I've tried a lot of picks of varying thicknesses and materials over the years and I have become a real fan of Cool Picks "Beta Sand" picks. They have sand-textured grips that are a major assets when playing outdoor gigs in the summer. Even when I am sweating like crazy I can still hold onto them. They play similarly to Dunlop Ultex, but have a bit more flex, which I like for my style of play (mixture of melody, cross picking and strumming). As for thickness, I use 0.8 mm for OM and bouzouki and 0.6 mm for waldzither and tenor banjo. That said, I prefer the Dunlop Nylon 0.73 mm standard flatpack for guitar when I am not playing finger style (use my nails then).

[Bob Michel]

I know that many players in this style get excellent results with relatively thin (<1.0mm) picks, but they've never worked for me. The thinnest pick I like is the Dunlop Ultex 1.14. For years I relied mainly on Big Stubbies, especially the 3.0mm variety, and I still use them now and then. There's also a Dunlop jazz guitar pick I fancy; I think it's a 206, but can't be sure, since the number has long since worn off the ones I own.

In recent years, though, I've swung back toward using rounded picks: Golden Gates and Dawgs (I don't know which generation of the latter I have, but they're probably ten or fifteen years old). I find they require a more precise and consistent attack than pointed ones; there's less margin of error, and that's a good thing. Better control, darker tone and greater volume (when I want it, as in a session) all recommend a heavier, less pointy pick to me.

Bob Michel
Near Philly

[Dagger Gordon]

For mandolin a Dunlop .88, which people seem to regard as quite light but it's as heavy as I've been able to use.

For many years I only ever used white Sharkfins, and that is still what I use for guitar and playing rhythm on my octave mandolin, but I now use a Dunlop .88 for melody on the octave.

I've never bothered with expensive picks. I've long since realised that what seems to work for me is certainly not what bluegrass players like. I'm not sure what trad players mostly use, so this is quite an interesting thread.

[kmmando]

Jim Dunlop tortex orange 60m for me on nearly everything, teardrop shaped ones. But I do use the Herdim triangular Appalachian dulcimer picks on my Greek bouzoukis for recording, slightly more warm and jangly.

[kmmando]

these things ....


http://www.clemmerdulcimer.com/store...&product_id=75

[Beanzy]

Bowlback; own shape in 1mm buffalo horn, no one makes the right shape.
Carved top; reshaped Primetone 1.5mm, different take on the shape I like to make.
Dunlop Derlin 1.55mm in similar shape to the carved top.

[Beanzy]

Just realised I forgot to say that last one is for the mandoloncello and I sometimes use 2mm on that.

[Bren]

For mandolin a Dunlop .88, which people seem to regard as quite light but it's as heavy as I've been able to use.

I use a Dunlop Tortex equilateral .88mm (i.e the green one). Most people who borrow it say it's heavy. I suppose there's thickness and then there's stiffness - two different qualities.



The size and shape I choose is mainly because, through clumsiness or bad habit or whatever, I need good breadth or I miss the strings altogether. But that green pick does produce a very nice sound when you hit them right.

[ollaimh]

i use different thicknesses for different tensions. however many picks turn in my fingers while playing, so the brain picks with a textured grip are my favourites. they don't turn while i am playing. i have a couple of another type i like as well for a heavy pick that have seven or eight holes. both good sound and don't move while playing.

[Paul Brett]

On mandolin up to lately I used a BC CT55 and sometimes a Wegen I had Michel shape for me. Right now I'm using the Wegen Bluegrass guitar picks and love them.

On tenor banjo I use Clayton Acetal .50 or .63 and on guitar I generally use the same.