Burning the Midnight Pick...

[Bertram Henze]

...or whatever is happening here: after 1/2 hour of playing (Clayton Ultem on phosphor bronze) this black stuff has accumulated on the pick tip and the strings. It's kind of soot-like, I can wipe most of it away. I never had this effect with Dunlop Ultex (allegedly the same material).




Any ideas what this is? Am I just playing too fast?

[Tobin]

Bizarre!

I get pick dust in the windings of my G and D strings no matter what pick I'm using. It's usually a brown accumulation (my main picks seem to be brown) right where my pick contacts the strings. But I've never noticed it fluffing up onto the pick before.

The fact that yours is black and coming from a pick that's not black is ...weird. Chemical reaction of some sort?

[Simon DS]

Could put a voltmeter across it, compared the same spacing with the top part of the pick, see if it's metalic?

[Zach Wilson]

My telecaster does that to tortex picks. I'm not sure why. I have Curt Mangas strings on there right now. I keep thinking it's the string but I'm really not sure.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Bertram - It would be interesting to note (no pun intended),whether this happens when picking 'wound' or 'un-wound' strings only,or both of them. The un-wound, plain steel string wire,is drawn through dies to reduce it to it's final diameter. Those dies are usually lubricated with graphite grease or powder. That's the black stuff that gets onto our fingers when playing on new strings. If it appears on the pick when playing on the un-wound strings only,that could be the cause - graphite. If it appears on the pick when playing on the wound strings only,then if the strings are Bronze wound,it maybe that the pick material in that particular pick,has some afinity for the Bronze & is picking up minute traces of it. I never saw anything like it when i used to use white Wegen picks. It maybe that there's a minute amount of corrosion on the strings,which will happen naturally over time,so maybe it's that ????.
A good wipe over to remove any surface 'whatever' & then try different picks on the wound or un-wound strings individually, & see what happens,
Ivan

[Bertram Henze]

A good wipe over to remove any surface 'whatever' & then try different picks on the wound or un-wound strings individually, & see what happens

Test results are in: Clayton Ultem vs Dunlop Ultex, plain strings vs wound strings. Strings wiped-down before every test, new pick corner for every test.
Dunlop+plain: nothing
Dunlop+wound: nothing
Clayton+plain: black stuff forming
Clayton+wound: black stuff forming

The mystery lives on.

[Jess L.]

I get that, but not as heavy, and not as quick. Always have, regardless of instrument or pick/strings brand (not counting nylon-strung banjos).

Although all my picks have been various local music-store cheapies & probably made from similar materials, so not really much variation in my picks over the years. That might explain my consistent results.

I always just assumed it was metal being worn away from the strings and gradually building up on the pick, but since it's always been so consistent across all the instruments, I never really thought about it much beyond that.

I do have corrosive (or something) skin, if I touch non-stainless-steel ferrous metal I have to wipe it down afterwards or it'll rust fairly quickly. But I don't know if that's related to the pick discoloration.

I've also always used one form or another of oily products for rust-inhibition, decades ago it was "lemon oil" but currently I use FastFret. Undoubtedly some of that oily stuff gradually transfers to the pick over time, maybe makes it more likely (somehow) to attract particles to stick to it?

Oh! And I have always generously used graphite (pencil) on bridge slots. That would definitely be the right color to match the stuff I get on my picks, even on really really old strings. Maybe string vibration causes it to migrate down the string?

But that still wouldn't explain why Bertram got different results with different picks... maybe different plastics react differently somehow??? I got no idea but it's a fascinating mystery.

What about static electricity? Some materials do seem to attract more dust and other particles. Maybe a different formula of plastic attracts more microscopic metal particles from the strings, and/or graphite from bridge?

[dschonbrun]

Are you using phosphor bronze wound strings?

Looks to me like very fine copper/bronze particles that are turning black-greenish. Could be a result of friction, vibration, pick material, or just dirt. I get some of that blackening on my white Wegenpicks with the DiAdarrio 74's. I suspect it's copper/bronze micro-transfer.

D

[Bertram Henze]

The wound strings are indeed D'Addario phosphor bronze, but the test shows that it happens on plain steel as well.